La Bella Lingua Italiana
Going to another country is an eye-opening (and ear-opening) experience! In Italia you will be immersed in this beautiful language of music and poetry. If you have studied Spanish or French, it will seem very recognizable. The vowel sounds of italiano are very much like those of Spanish. I would encourage you to learn as much as you can before you go to Italy. It will only make your stay there all the more meaningful. I can only give you some basics in a short blog posting such as this, but I would like to also meet with all of you sometime this spring and practice a little more face-to-face the kinds of Italian phrases and questions that you may realistically use while in Italy. If you are linguistically ambitious, I can get you more in-depth materials so you can dig in more into this beautiful language.
Benvenuto a Italia! - Welcome to Italy!
Italian is very phonetic, which means that once you learn to make the sounds for the letters, it is pretty easy to read and pronounce. One of the main things I would like to see you learn is to know how to pronounce things such as place names, people's names, and foods. I would also like you to be able to say some of the basic "polite language" and make basic tourist requests.
Pronunziazione - Pronunciation
Many letters in Italian are about the same as English. The following letters are the ones you will need to learn how to pronounce differently. Throughout this blog, I will put Italian words in italics. I will also use an English-based phonetic transcription to try to help you pronounce the words. I will put the pronunciation in quotation marks. I will also put the ACCENTED SYLLABLE in capital letters so you know where to put the stress.
Learn the following well:
A is pronounced as English "a" in "far." ("ah")
E is pronounced as English "a" in "fate." ("eh")
I is pronounced as English "ee" in "feet." ("ee")
O is pronounced as English "o" in "oh." ("oh")
U is pronounced as English "oo" in "boot." ("oo")
C before "e" or "i" has the sound of English "ch" in "church."
C before "a," "o," or "u" has the sound of English "k."
CH before "e" or "i" also has the sound of English "k."
CC is the same as C; CCH is the same as CH.
SC before "e" or "i" has the sound of English "sh" in "bush.
G before "a," "o," or "u" has the hard sound of "g" in "get."
G before "e" or "i' has the soft sound of "j" in "jet."
GN is pronounced like the "ni" in English "onion" or the "ny" in "canyon."
H is never pronounced.
R is pronounced with the tip of the tongue more like Spanish.
Z is pronounced like "ts" in English. (pizza, for example, is "PEE-tsah.")
Here are some places we will visit that you should know how to pronounce:
Italy Italia "ee-TAHL-ee-ah"
Milan Milano "mee-LAHN-oh"
Florence Firenze "fee-REHN-tseh"
Rome Roma "ROH-mah"
Sorrento Sorrento "soh-REHN-toh"
Capri Capri "CAH-pree" (Notice the accent on the first syllable!)
In the upcoming blog postings, I will give specific buildings, squares, and other places in the cities we will visit and use this pronunciation system.
Italiano basico - Basic Italian
Good morning buon giorno "boo-OHN JOHR-noh"
Good evening buona sera "boo-OH-nah SEH-rah"
Good-bye arrivederci "ah-ree-veh-DEHR-chee"
Please per piacere "PEHR pee-ah-CHEH-reh"
Thank you grazie "GRAH-tsee-eh"
You're welcome prego "PREH-goh"
Hi - Bye ciao "CHOW" (nice all-purpose word)
Excuse me (apology) scusi "SKOO-zee"
Excuse me (permission) permesso "pehr-MEH-soh"
The following are good to know when engaging someone in conversation:
I speak English. Io parlo l'inglese. "YOH PAHR-loh leen-GLEH-zeh"
I don't speak Italian. Io non parlo l'italiano. "YOH NOHN PAHR-loh lee-tah-lee-AH-noh"
I don't understand. Non capisco. "NOHN cah-PEE-skoh"
Do you speak English? Parla l'inglese? "PAHR-lah leen-GLEH-zeh"
The following are good when going places, in hotels restaurants, and buying things:
Let's go! (we're going) Andiamo! "ahn-dee-AH-moh"
Where is ___? Dove e ____? "DOH-veh eh"
How much does this cost? Quanto costa questo? "KWAHN-toh KOH-stah KWEST-oh"
I (don't) like it. (Non) mi piace. "(NOHN) mee pee-AH-cheh"
It's too expensive. E troppo cara. "eh TROH-poh KAH-rah"
I'd like (to have)... Vorrei... "vor-REH"
The key to room ____ La chiave per la camera ___. "lah kee-AH-veh pehr lah KAH-meh-rah ____ (See numbers below when asking for a room number.)
The bill, please! Il conto, per piacere! "eel KOHN-toh pehr pee-ah-CHEH-reh"
Here it is! Ecco! "EH-koh"
You will see many signs. These are common:
Open Aperto "ah-PEHR-toh"
Closed Chiuso "kee-OO-soh"
Entrance Ingresso "een-GREH-soh"
Exit Uscita "oo-SHEE-tah"
Prohibited Vietato "vee-eh-TAH-toh"
Elevator Ascensore "ah-shen-SOHR-eh"
We will spend a week in Italy and our mornings, afternoons, and evenings will all be busy. Here are the days and some time phrases:
Sunday domenica "doh-MEHN-ee-kah"
Monday lunedi "loo-neh-DEE"
Tuesday martedi "mahr-teh-DEE"
Wednesday mercoledi "mehr-koh-leh-DEE"
Thursday giovedi "joh- veh-DEE"
Friday venerdi "veh-nehr-DEE"
Saturday sabato "SAH-bah-toh"
This morning stamattina "stah-mah-TEE-nah"
This afternoon questo pomeriggio "KWEH-stoh poh-meh-REE-joh"
This evening stasera "stah-SEH-rah"
Tonight stanotte "stah-NOH-teh"
today oggi "OH-jee"
yesterday ieri "ee-EHR-ee"
tomorrow domani "doh-MAH-nee"
every day tutti i giorni "TOO-tee ee JOHR-nee"
all day tutto il giorno "TOO-toh eel JOHR-noh"
Finally, the numbers. It's a very good idea to learn these:
1 uno "OO-noh"
2 due "DOO-eh"
3 tre "treh"
4 quattro "KWAH-troh"
5 cinque "CHEEN-kweh"
6 sei "seh"
7 sette "SEH-teh"
8 otto "OH-toh"
9 nove "NOH-veh"
10 dieci "dee-EH-chee"
11 undici "OON-dee-chee"
12 dodici "DOH-dee-chee"
13 tredici "TREH-dee-chee"
14 quattordici "KWAH-tohr-dee-chee"
15 quindici "KWEEN-dee-chee"
16 sedici "SEH-dee-chee"
17 diciassette "dee-chah-SEH-teh"
18 diciotto "dee-CHOH-toh"
19 diciannove "dee-CHAH-noh-veh"
20 venti "VEHN-tee"
21 ventuno "vehn-TOO-noh"
22 ventidue "vehn-tee-DOO-eh"
23 ventitre "vehn-tee-TREH"
24 ventiquatro "vehn-tee-KWAH-troh"
25 venticinque "vehn-tee-CHEEN-kweh"
26 ventisei "vehn-tee-SEH"
27 ventisette "vehn-tee-SEH-teh"
28 ventiotto "vehn-tee-OH-toh"
29 ventinove "vehn-tee-NOH-veh"
30 trenta "TREHN-tah"
Practice your numbers and other basic phrases often and you will be surprised how usefull they will be in Italy.
Buon Viaggio! Good Trip!
