The Italian Alphabet
- Rosa Javier
- Dec 13, 2022
- 1 min read
Updated: Jan 11, 2023
Italian Alphabet and Pronunciation of Letters
L’Alfabeto e la Pronunciazione delle lettere
The Alphabet (with pronunciation under)
A (ahh)
B (bee)
C (chee)
D (dee)
E (eh)
F (effe)
G (gee)
H (ah-kah)
I (eeh)
L (eh-leh)
M (eh-meh)
N (eh-neh)
O (oh)
P (pee)
Q (Koo)
R (eh-rreh)
S (eh-seh)
T (tee)
U (ooh)
V (Vooh)
Z
(Zeh-tah)
In Italian, the following letters are not the norm, and are considered foreign, however, they do have Italian names:
J (jay) or [eeh-loon-gah]
K [kah-pah]
W [doh-ppi-ah-voo]
X [ee-k-x]
Y [eep-see- Loh-n] or [eeh greh-ka]
I also wanted to briefly go over some letter combinations that have particular sounds:
Ch (K sound)
Gh (Ga, Go, etc)
Gli (close to the word yes or Yiddish)
Gn (NY sound from canyon)
Sce/sci (SH sound)
Words in English that help with Italian letter pronunciation
From the Italian Alphabet:
Apple: the A
Bee: B
Children: C
Disco: D
Elephant: E
Factory: F
General: G
Honest: H (not pronounced)
Iligal: I
Mental: M
Nathan: N
Operation: O
People: P
Quarter: Q
Rock: R
Sing: S
Tv: T
Multi: U (Moo-L Tee)
Volt: V
Zone: Z
Foreign Letters:
Jay: J
Kate: K
What: W
Xenon: X (although foreign to Italian language, the X is used a lot in Sicilian dialect due to their Greek influence)
Ilegal: Y (the Y in Italian works as an i (eeh)
Compound letters
Chorus: Ch (hard K sound)
Gator: Gh (to make the g sound like ga)
Yes: Gli (Not exactly like Yes, but the closest in English)
Canyon: Gn
Shelter: Sce/sci
I hope this helps you with your Italian learning goals!
