Consonants
Notes: * Between two vowels, or between a vowel and an approximant () or a liquid (), consonants can be both singleton or geminate. Geminate consonants shorten the preceding vowel (or block phonetic lengthening) and the first element of the geminate is unreleased. For example, compare ('fate') with ('fact' or 'did'/'done'). However, , , , , are always geminate intervocalically, including across word boundaries. Similarly, nasals, liquids, and sibilants are pronounced slightly longer in medial consonant clusters. * , , and are the only consonants that cannot be geminated. * are laminal denti-alveolar , commonly called "dental" for simplicity. * are pre-velar before . * have two variants: ** Dentalized laminal alveolar (commonly called "dental" for simplicity), pronounced with the blade of the tongue very close to the upper front teeth, with the tip of the tongue resting behind lower front teeth. ** Non-retracted apical alveolar . The stop component of the "apical" affricates is actually laminal denti-alveolar. * are apical alveolar in most environments. are laminal denti-alveolar before and palatalized laminal postalveolar before . is velar before . * and do not contrast before and , where they are pronounced and , respectively. * and areVowels
Phonotactics
Onset
Italian allows up to three consonants in syllable-initial position, although there are limitations: CC * + any voiceless stop or . E.g. ''spavento'' ('fright') * + any voiced stop, . E.g. ''srotolare'' ('unroll') * , or any stop + . E.g. ''frana'' ('landslide') * , or any stop except + . E.g. ''platano'' ('planetree') * , or any stop or nasal + . E.g. ''fiume'' ('river'), ''vuole'' ('he/she wants'), ''si''amo ('we are'), ''su''ono ('sound') * In words of foreign origin (mostly Greek), which are only partially assimilated, other combinations such as (e.g. ''pneumatico''), (e.g. ''mnemonico''), (e.g. ''tmesi''), and (e.g. ''pseudo-'') occur. As an onset, the cluster + voiceless consonant is inherently unstable. Phonetically, word-internal ''s''+C normally syllabifies as ' 'toad', ' (neighborhood of Rome). Phonetic syllabification of the cluster also occurs at word boundaries if a vowel precedes it without pause, e.g. ' 'the history', implying the same syllable break at the structural level, , thus always latent due to the extrasyllabic , but unrealized phonetically unless a vowel precedes. A competing analysis accepts that while the syllabification is accurate historically, modern retreat of ''i''-Nucleus
The nucleus is the only mandatory part of a syllable (for instance, ''a'' 'to, at' is a word) and must be a vowel or a diphthong. In a falling diphthong the most common second elements are or but other combinations such as ''idea'' , ''trae'' may also be interpreted as diphthongs. Combinations of with vowels are often labelled diphthongs, allowing for combinations of with falling diphthongs to be called triphthongs. One view holds that it is more accurate to label as consonants and as consonant-vowel sequences rather than rising diphthongs. In that interpretation, Italian has only falling diphthongs (phonemically at least, cf. Synaeresis) and no triphthongs.Coda
Italian permits a small number of coda consonants. Outside of loanwords, the permitted consonants are: * The first element of any geminate, e.g. ''tutto'' ('everything'), ''avvertire'' ('to warn'). * ASyntactic gemination
Word-initial consonants are geminated after certain vowel-final words in the same prosodic unit. There are two types of triggers of initial gemination: some unstressed particles, prepositions, and other monosyllabic words, and any oxytonic polysyllabic word. As an example of the first type, ''casa'' ('house') is pronounced but ''a casa'' ('homeward') is pronounced . This is not a purely phonological process, as no gemination is cued by the ''la'' in ''la casa'' 'the house' , and there is nothing detectable in the structure of the preposition ''a'' to account for the gemination. This type normally originates in language history: modern ''a'', for example, derives from Latin AD, and today's geminate in is a continuation of what was once a simple assimilation. Gemination cued by final stressed vowels, however, is transparently phonological. Final stressed vowels are short by nature; if a consonant follows a short stressed vowel the syllable must be closed, thus the consonant following the final stressed vowel is drawn to lengthen: ''parlò portoghese'' 's/he spoke Portuguese' vs. ''parla portoghese'' 's/he speaks Portuguese'. To summarize, syntactic gemination occurs in standard Italian mainly in the following two cases: * After word-final stressed vowels (words such as ''sanità'', ''perché'', ''poté'', ''morì'' and so on). * After the words ''a'', ''che'', ''chi'', ''come'', ''da'', ''do'', ''dove'', ''e'', ''fa'', ''fra'', ''fu'', ''gru'', ''ha'', ''ho'', ''ma'', ''me'', ''mo' '' (in the phrase ''a mo' di''), ''no'', ''o'', ''qua'', ''qualche'', ''qui'', ''so'', ''sopra'', ''sta'', ''sto'', ''su'', ''te'', ''tra'', ''tre'', ''tu'', ''va'', ''vo''. Syntactic gemination is the normal native pronunciation in central Italy (both "stress-induced" and "lexical") andRegional variation
The above IPA symbols and description refer to standard Italian, based on a somewhat idealized version of the Tuscan-derived national language. As is common in many cultures, this single version of the language was pushed as neutral, proper, and eventually superior, leading to some stigmatization of varying accents. Television news anchors and other high-profile figures had to put aside their regional Italian when in the public sphere. However, in more recent years the enforcement of this standard has fallen out of favor in Italy, and news reporters, actors, and the like are now more free to deliver their words in their native regional variety of Italian, which appeals to the Italian population's range of linguistic diversity. The variety is still not represented in its wholeness and accents from the south are maybe to be considered less popular, except in shows set in the south and in comedy, a field in which Naples, Sicily and the south in general have always been present. Although it still represents the basics for the standard variety, the loosened restrictions have led to Tuscan being seen for what it is, just one dialect among many with its own regional peculiarities and qualities, many of which are shared with Umbria, southern Marche and northern Lazio. * In Tuscany (although not in standard Italian, which is derived from, but not equivalent to, Tuscan dialect), voiceless stops are typically pronounced as fricatives between vowels. That is, → : e.g. ''i capitani'' 'the captains' , a phenomenon known as the ''gorgia toscana'' 'Tuscan throat'. In a much more widespread area of central Italy, postalveolar affricates are deaffricated when intervocalic so that ''in Cina'' ('in China') is pronounced but ''la Cina'' ('the China') is , and ''bacio'' 'kiss' is rather than standard Italian . This deaffrication can result in minimal pairs distinguished only by length of the fricatives, issuing from and from geminate : ''lacerò'' 's/he ripped' vs. ''lascerò'' 'I will leave'. * In nonstandard varieties of central and southern Italian, some stops at the end of a syllable completely assimilate to the following consonant. For example, a Venetian might say ''tecnica'' as or in violation of normal Italian consonant contact restrictions, while a Florentine would probably pronounce ''tecnica'' as , a Roman on a range from to (in southern Italian, complex clusters usually are separated by a vowel: a Neapolitan would say , a Sicilian ). Similarly, although the cluster has developed historically as through assimilation, a learned word such as ''ictus'' will be pronounced by some, by others. * In popular (non-Tuscan) central and southern Italian speech, and tend to always be geminated ( and ) when between two vowels, or a vowel and a sonorant (, , , or ). Sometimes this is also used in written language, e.g. writing ''robba'' instead of ''roba'' ('property'), to suggest a regional accent, although this spelling is considered incorrect. In Tuscany and beyond in central and southern Italy, intervocalic non-geminate is realized as (parallel to realized as described above). * The two phonemes and have merged in many varieties of Italian: when between two vowels within the same word, it tends to always be pronounced in northern Italy, and in central and southern Italy (except in the Arbëreshë community). A notable example is the word ''casa'' ('house'): in northern Italy it is pronounced ; in southern-central Italy it is pronounced . * In several southern varieties, voiceless stops tend to be voiced if following a sonorant, as an influence of the still largely spoken regional languages: ''campo'' is often pronounced , and Antonio is frequently . The various Tuscan, Corsican and central Italian dialects are, to some extent, the closest ones to standard Italian in terms of linguistic features, since the latter is based on a somewhat polished form of Florentine.Childhood phonological development
Very little research has been done on the earliest stages of phonological development in Italian. This article primarily describes phonological development after the first year of life. See the main article on phonological development for a description of first year stages. Many of the earliest stages are thought to be universal to all infants.Phoneme inventory
Word-final consonants are rarely produced during the early stages of word production. Consonants are usually found in word-initial position, or in intervocalic position.17 months
Most consonants are word-initial: They are the stops , , , and and the nasal . A preference for a front place of articulation is present.21 months
More phones now appear in intervocalic contexts. The additions to the phonetic inventory are the voiced stop , the nasal , the voiceless affricate , and the liquid .24 months
The fricatives , , and are added, primarily at the intervocalic position.27 months
Approximately equal numbers of phones are now produced in word-initial and intervocalic position. Additions to the phonetic inventory are the voiced stop and the consonant cluster . While the word-initial inventory now tends to have all the phones of the adult targets (adult production of the child's words), the intervocalic inventory tends to still be missing four consonants or consonant clusters of the adult targets: , , , and . Stops are the most common manner of articulation at all stages and are produced more often than they are present in the target words at around 18 months. Gradually this frequency decreases to almost target-like frequency by around 27 months. The opposite process happens with fricatives, affricates, laterals and trills. Initially, the production of these phonemes is significantly less than what is found in the target words and the production continues to increases to target-like frequency. Alveolars and bilabials are the two most common places of articulation, with alveolar production steadily increasing after the first stage and bilabial production gently decreasing. Labiodental and postalveolar production increases throughout development, while velar production decreases.Phonotactics
Syllable structures
= 6–10 months
= Babbling becomes distinct from previous, less structured vocal play. Initially, syllable structure is limited to CVCV, called reduplicated babbling. At this stage, children's vocalizations have a weak relation to adult Italian and the Italian lexicon.= 11–14 months
= The most-used syllable type changes as children age, and the distribution of syllables takes on increasingly Italian characteristics. This ability significantly increases between the ages of 11 and 12 months, 12 and 13 months, and 13 and 14 months. Consonant clusters are still absent. Children's first ten words appear around month 12, and take CVCV format (e.g. ''mamma'' 'mom', ''papà'' 'dad').= 18–24 months
= Reduplicated babbling is replaced by variegated babbling, producing syllable structures such as C1VC2V (e.g. ''cane'' 'dog', ''topo'' 'mouse'). Production of trisyllabic words begins (e.g. ''pecora'' 'sheep', ''matita'' 'pencil'). Consonant clusters are now present (e.g. ''bimba'' 'female child', ''venti'' 'twenty'). Ambient language plays an increasingly significant role as children begin to solidify early syllable structure. Syllable combinations that are infrequent in the Italian lexicon, such as velar-labial sequences (e.g. ''capra'' 'goat' or ''gamba'' 'leg') are infrequently produced correctly by children, and are often subject to consonant harmony.Stress patterns
In Italian, stress is lexical, meaning it is word-specific and partly unpredictable. Penultimate stress (primary stress on the second-to-last syllable) is also generally preferred."Stress in Italian occurs most often on the penultimate syllable (Phonological awareness
Children develop syllabic segmentation awareness earlier than phonemic segmentation awareness. In earlier stages, syllables are perceived as a separate phonetic unit, while phonemes are perceived as assimilated units by coarticulation in spoken language. By first grade, Italian children are nearing full development of segmentation awareness on both syllables and phonemes. Compared to those children whose mother tongue exhibits closed syllable structure (CVC,CCVC, CVCC, etc.), Italian-speaking children develop this segmentation awareness earlier, possibly due to its open syllable structure (CVCV, CVCVCV, etc.). Rigidity in Italian ( shallow orthography and open syllable structure) makes it easier for Italian-speaking children to be aware of those segments.Sample texts
Provided here is a rendition of the Bible, Luke 2, 1–7, as read by a native Italian speaker from Milan. As a northerner, his pronunciation lacks syntactic doubling ( instead of ) and intervocalic ( instead of ). The speaker realises as in some positions.2:1 In quei giorni, un decreto di Cesare Augusto ordinava che si facesse un censimento di tutta la terra.The differences in pronunciation are underlined in the following transcriptions; the velar is an allophone of . Vowel length is also not phonemic. A rough phonetic transcription of the audio sample is:
2 Questo primo censimento fu fatto quando Quirino era governatore della Siria.
3 Tutti andavano a farsi registrare, ciascuno nella propria città.
4 Anche Giuseppe, che era della casa e della famiglia di Davide, dalla città di Nazaret e dalla Galilea si recò in Giudea nella città di Davide, chiamata Betlemme,
5 per farsi registrare insieme a Maria, sua sposa, che era incinta.
6 Proprio mentre si trovavano lì, venne il tempo per lei di partorire.
7 Mise al mondo il suo primogenito, lo avvolse in fasce e lo depose in una mangiatoia, poiché non c'era posto per loro nella locanda.
2:1The standard Italian pronunciation of the text is:
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See also
*References
Bibliography
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