Italian has a reputation for being spelled the way it sounds, and most of the time it is. Then you see pesca on a menu and find out it can mean “peach” or “fishing”, depending on a vowel the spelling doesn’t show.
The International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA, shows what the letters leave out. This guide gives you the Italian IPA chart from Wikipedia’s pronunciation key, picks the 12 symbols worth learning first, and shows where Italian spelling goes quiet: open and closed e and o, double consonants, stress, and the two sounds of s and z.
You don’t need to memorize the chart. You need to read a transcription well enough to check a word, then hear it and say it.
What is the IPA, and how much of it do you need?
The IPA is a pronunciation alphabet maintained by the International Phonetic Association, founded in Paris in 1886. Its guiding rule is one sound, one symbol: a symbol always stands for the same sound, whatever the language. The full IPA chart has 107 letters for consonants and vowels, plus dozens of marks, but Wikipedia’s Italian key needs only 32 symbols for native words. Most of them look and sound like English letters, so the real work is a dozen symbols and a few small marks.
How do you read Italian IPA?
Read it left to right, one symbol per sound. Wiktionary puts the transcription between slashes, like /ˈpittsa/. Wikipedia’s key uses square brackets, like [ˈfaːto], when it shows finer detail such as vowel length. For learning Italian you can read both the same way.
Beyond the letters, a few marks do most of the work:
- Stress ˈ sits before the stressed syllable: gelato /dʒeˈlato/ is stressed on la. Italian spelling rarely shows stress, so this is the mark to watch most. A low mark ˌ shows a weaker secondary stress, which Wikipedia’s key calls extremely rare in Italian.
- Length ː looks like a colon and makes the vowel before it longer. Wikipedia’s key puts it on a stressed vowel that ends any syllable except the last, as in primo [ˈpriːmo].
- A doubled letter means a long consonant. Fatto is /ˈfatto/, with a held /t/.
- The dot . marks a syllable break. Wiktionary prints it between syllables, as in /ˈpit.t͡sa/, and Wikipedia’s key shows it in continuo [konˈtiːnu.o].
Wiktionary also joins two-letter symbols such as /t͡s/ and /d͡ʒ/ with a small arc, the tie bar, to show they are one sound. This guide leaves out the dots and arcs, as the symbol column of Wikipedia’s key does.
Which Italian IPA symbols should you learn first?
Start with the four e and o vowels, the trilled /r/, and seven consonants hidden behind spellings such as gli, gn, sc and z. Read each example, then say it aloud. Symbols come from the Wikipedia pronunciation key for Italian, which links each one to a page with a recording of the sound. Transcriptions come from Wiktionary.
| Symbol | Example | How it sounds |
|---|---|---|
| /e/ | vero /ˈvero/ — true | Closed e, like fade |
| /ɛ/ | bello /ˈbɛllo/ — beautiful | Open e, like bed |
| /o/ | sole /ˈsole/ — sun | Closed o, like story |
| /ɔ/ | otto /ˈɔtto/ — eight | Open o, like off |
| /r/ | Roma /ˈroma/ — Rome | Trilled with the tip of the tongue; a single r is often one quick tap |
| /ʎ/ | famiglia /faˈmiʎʎa/ — family | Like the lli in billion, said as one sound |
| /ɲ/ | gnocchi /ˈɲɔkki/ — gnocchi | Like the ny in canyon |
| /ʃ/ | pesce /ˈpeʃʃe/ — fish | Like shoe |
| /tʃ/ | ciao /ˈtʃao/ — hi, bye | Like check |
| /dʒ/ | gelato /dʒeˈlato/ — ice cream | Like job |
| /ts/ | pizza /ˈpittsa/ — pizza | Like the ts in cats |
| /dz/ | zero /ˈdzɛro/ — zero | Like the ds in dads |
If you have read our French IPA guide, several of these will look familiar, such as /ʃ/, /ɲ/ and /ɛ/. Italian has no nasal vowels, though, and its /r/ is trilled at the front of the mouth.
What do the other Italian IPA symbols sound like?
The rest of the chart is close to English or turns up only in foreign words. Between them, the two tables cover every symbol in Wikipedia’s Italian key, and the example words below are the key’s own. Treat the English words as rough guides and play the key’s recording for any symbol that is new to you.
| Symbol | Example | How it sounds |
|---|---|---|
| /a/ | alto, sarà | Like fast in Scottish English |
| /i/ | viso, sì, zia | Like ski |
| /u/ | usi, ragù, tuo | Like rule |
| /j/ | ieri, saio, più | Like yes |
| /w/ | uova, guado, qui | Like wine |
| /b f l m p v/ | banca, fatto, lato, mano, primo, vado | About as in English |
| /t d/ | tranne, mito, dove, dado | Like star and today, with the tongue against the upper teeth |
| /k/ | cosa, finché, quei, kiwi | Like scar; spelled c, ch, q or k |
| /ɡ/ | gatto, agro, ghetto | Like again; spelled g or gh |
| /n/ | nano, punto, pensare | Like nest |
| /ŋ/ | unghia, anche, dunque | Like sing; how n sounds before /k/ or /ɡ/ |
| /ɱ/ | anfibio, invece | Like the m in comfort; how n sounds before /f/ or /v/ |
| /s/ | sano, scusa, pasto | Like sorry |
| /z/ | sbirro, presentare, asma | Like amazon; always the sound of s before a voiced consonant |
| /h/ | hobby, hertz | Like house; in foreign words, and usually dropped |
| /θ/ | Thatcher, Pérez | Like thing; usually replaced by a native sound such as /t/ or /s/ |
| /x/ | jota, Bach, khamsin | Like loch in Scottish English; often replaced by /k/ |
| /ʒ/ | Fuji, garage, casual | Like vision; in foreign words |
| /ø/ | viveur, goethiano, Churchill | Like murder in British English; may be replaced by /ɛ/ or /e/ |
| /y/ | parure, brûlé, Führer | Like future in Scottish English; often said as /u/ |
The last six rows cover foreign words and names, where Italian speakers often use a native sound instead. Skip them until you meet one.
What Italian spelling doesn’t show
Wikipedia’s article on Italian spelling calls written Italian almost phonemic: letters and sounds match nearly one to one. The exceptions it lists include stress, the quality of e and o, and whether s and z are voiced. Double consonants are usually spelled, but not always. These are the places where a transcription tells you something the word doesn’t.
Open and closed e and o
Italian has seven vowels in stressed syllables but only five vowel letters. So e stands for closed /e/ or open /ɛ/, and o for closed /o/ or open /ɔ/. That is the pesca problem: /ˈpɛska/ is a peach and /ˈpeska/ is fishing. Botte works the same way: /ˈbotte/ is a barrel and /ˈbɔtte/ means blows.
Spelling marks the difference only on a stressed final vowel, with an accent: perché /perˈke/ has a closed e and caffè /kafˈfɛ/ an open one. Inside a word, accents are generally found only in dictionaries. Wiktionary shows them in its hyphenation line, as pè‧sca and pé‧sca. Open vowels occur only in stressed syllables, so an unstressed e or o is always closed.
Italians don’t all agree on these vowels. Wiktionary lists /perˈkɛ/ for Lombardy and parts of Emilia-Romagna, and Wikipedia’s article on Italian phonology notes that some varieties, in Palermo and Piedmont for example, lose the distinction altogether. Learn the standard vowel from the IPA, then copy the speaker you are listening to.
Double consonants, including the ones you can’t see
A double letter in Italian is a longer consonant, and it changes the word. Fato /ˈfato/ is fate and fatto /ˈfatto/ is a fact, or “done”. Nonno /ˈnɔnno/ is a grandfather and nono /ˈnɔno/ means ninth. Hold the consonant a moment before you let it go.
The vowel before it changes too. Wikipedia’s key writes fato as [ˈfaːto], with a long stressed vowel, and fatto as [ˈfatto], with a short one. Some transcriptions, including parts of the phonology article, write a double consonant with the length mark instead, as [tː] rather than [tt]. Both mean the same long sound.
Five consonants are always long between vowels, even when they are spelled with one letter: /ts/, /dz/, /ʃ/, /ɲ/ and /ʎ/. That is why pesce is /ˈpeʃʃe/, ogni (every) is /ˈoɲɲi/ and famiglia is /faˈmiʎʎa/. Here the IPA shows a double sound that the spelling hides.
Doubling between words
Italian can also double the first consonant of a word because of the word before it. This is called syntactic doubling. It happens after stressed one-syllable words such as va, after some short words such as a and e, and after words stressed on their last vowel, such as città. Wiktionary writes va bene (“okay”) as /ˌva‿bˈbɛne/, with a doubled /b/ and a ‿ linking the two words. It also flags words that cause doubling with an asterisk, as in caffè /kafˈfɛ/*.
Syntactic doubling is part of standard Italian and normal speech in Tuscany and central and southern Italy. Northern speakers use it inconsistently, and Wiktionary gives a northern /ˈva ˈbene/, with no doubling and a closed e.
Gn, gli, sc and the two sounds of c and g
These spellings follow fixed rules, and the IPA turns each one into a single, clear symbol:
- gn is /ɲ/, as in gnocchi /ˈɲɔkki/.
- gli is /ʎ/, as in aglio /ˈaʎʎo/ (garlic). A few words from Greek, such as glicine (wisteria), keep a hard /ɡl/.
- sc before e or i is /ʃ/, as in scena /ˈʃɛna/ (scene). Before a, o or u it is /sk/, as in scusa /ˈskuza/ (excuse).
- c and g before e or i are /tʃ/ and /dʒ/, as in cena /ˈtʃena/ (dinner) and gelato. Add an h and they turn hard: chi /ki/ (who), spaghetti /spaˈɡetti/.
Put two of these rules together and you get bruschetta, /brusˈketta/: the sch is /sk/, not the /ʃ/ of shoe.
Which syllable is stressed
Italian stress is set word by word. It most often falls on the second-to-last syllable, as in gelato /dʒeˈlato/, but not always. Spelling marks it only when the stress is on the final vowel, as in città /tʃitˈta/ (city). Everywhere else the stress mark is your only clue, and it can change the word: ancora /anˈkora/ means “still” or “again”, while /ˈankora/ is an anchor.
Voiced or voiceless s and z
The letter z can be /ts/, as in pizza, or /dz/, as in zero, and the spelling won’t tell you which. Between vowels, s varies by region: Wiktionary gives casa (house) as /ˈkasa/ in traditional, central and southern pronunciation and /ˈkaza/ in the north.
How to put Italian IPA to work
- Look words up as you meet them. Search an Italian word on Wiktionary and check two things first: the stress mark and any e or o. Those are what the spelling most often hides.
- Listen before you read. Play the line at normal speed and again slowly, and piece it back together by ear. Check the transcription afterwards to confirm the vowel you thought you heard.
- Say one real line aloud. In Copycat Cafe (we make it), the third A1 Italian lesson takes place at a train station. A woman asks where platform four is, then adds: “Ah! Vorrei anche un caffè.” (“Oh! I’d also like a coffee.”) Two lookups show what to aim for: vorrei /vorˈrɛj/ and caffè /kafˈfɛ/ each have an open /ɛ/ and a double consonant. Say it aloud and you get a 0–100 pronunciation score on every word, which points you to the word that needs another try.
- Then use the line in conversation. Chat with Copy, your AI conversation partner, where you pick your own replies instead of reciting the dialogue.
Steps two to four are how a Copycat Cafe lesson runs: Watch, Copy, Chat. The IPA is the reference you check along the way. The Personal plan costs $174/year or $29/month in the US, with a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee on the first payment.
Back to pesca
Next time pesca shows up on a menu, the IPA settles it: /ˈpɛska/, with an open e, is the fruit. Use the chart that way, as a quick check when the spelling goes quiet. Then go back to hearing the line, copying it, and saying it to someone who answers.
Learning Spanish or German too? We have the same guide for Spanish IPA and German IPA.