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THE ALPHABET
1. The Italian Alphabet consists of the following twenty-one
letters :
A, B, C, D. E, F, G, H. I, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, Z. 1
A, E, I, O. U, are vowels, and the other letters are consonants .
2. The Italian language is very nearly pronounced as it is written.
There are no real diphthongs in Italian .
PRONUNCIATION OF THE VOWELS .
3. A is pronounced like the a, in artist . Ex. "amara ," bitter .
4. E has two different sounds ; one like that of the e in the
English word emigrant. Ex. ; " pena," punishment, " fedele,"
faithful; the other a broad sound, like that of the a in the English
word gate . Ex. "balestra ," cross-bow, "bella," beautiful .
5. Throughout this grammar a dot is placed under the letter e,
thus e, when it has the broad sound of the a in the English word
gate .
6. 1 The Letters, K, W, X, Y, are not made use of in spelling
Italian words.
The letter J was formerly used in spelling many Italian words, but
it is now generally discarded ; the letter i, which has very nearly
the same sound as j (see rule 7), being used instead .
ON PRONUNCIATION AND SPELLING . 2
7. I is pronounced like the ee, in eel. Ex. " vita " life .
8. O has two different sounds ; one like that of the o, in the
English word vote; as "fiore ," flower, " colpo," blow, " molto," much;
the other like that of the o in the English word orphan. Ex. " oro,"1
gold, "Corpo," body, "tosto," soon.
9. Throughout this grammar a dot is placed under the letter o,
thus o, when it has the broad sound of the v in the English word
orphan.
10. U is pronounced like the oo, in the English word moon. Ex. "
uno," one, "universo ," universe , "volume ," volume .
PRONUNCIATION OF THE CONSONANTS.
11. The consonants B, D, F, 2 L, M, N, P, R 3 T, 4 and V, are
pronounced in the same manner as in English.
PRONUNCIATION OF THE LETTER C.
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