Italian ItalianThe voiced vs. voiceless distinction is normally manifested acoutstically by the presence vs. absence of periodicity resulting from vocal fold vibration (cf. French).
There are six single and six geminate plosives, p b t d k g, pp bb tt dd kk gg, as follows:
Symbol Word Transcription p pane "pane b banco "banko t tana "tana d danno "danno k cane "kane g gamba "gamba pp coppa "kOppa bb gobba "gObba tt zitto "tsitto dd cadde "kadde kk nocca "nOkka gg fugga "fuggaThe plosives t, tt, d, dd have a dental, not an alveolar place of articulation.
There are four single and four geminate affricates, ts dz tS dZ, tts ddz ttS ddZ:
ts zitto "tsitto dz zona "dzOna tS cena "tSena dZ gita "dZita tts bozza "bOttsa ddz mezzo "mEddzo ttS braccio "brattSo ddZ oggi "OddZiThere are five single and four geminate fricatives, f v s z S, ff vv ss SS:
f fame "fame v vano "vano s sano "sano z sbaglio "zbaLLo (initial only in clusters) S scendo "Sendo ff beffa "bEffa vv bevvi "bevvi ss cassa "kassa SS ascia "aSSaThere are three single and three geminate nasals, m n J, mm nn JJ, three single and three geminate liquids, r l L, rr ll LL, and two semivowels, j w:
m molla "mOlla n nocca "nOkka J gnocco "JOkko mm grammo "grammo nn panna "panna JJ bagno "baJJo r rete "rete l lama "lama L gli Li (only in function words) rr ferro "fErro ll colla "kOlla LL foglia "fOLLa j ieri "jEri w uomo "wOmoNote: the velar nasal N is an allophone of n used before a velar. It may be written either way, thus <banco> banko or baNko.
There is no single--geminate opposition for the following six consonants in intervocalic position (including across word boundaries):
Five are always geminate: tts ddz SS JJ LL One is always single: zVowels
i mite "mite e rete "rete E meta "mEta a rata "rata O moto "mOto o dove "dove u muto "mutoIn unstressed position, the oppositions e - E and o - O are often neutralised.
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Maintained by J.C. Wells. Created 1995 09 19, last modified 1996 03 18