1.4. Graphemes

GRAPHEME	SOUND	EXAMPLE	TRANSCRIPTION
<a>, <à>	[a]	vacca, àngolo	['vakka], ['aŋgolo]
<æ>	[ɛ]	cæco (etymological variant of cèco)	['ʧɛ:ko]
<b>	[b]	bène	['bɛ:ne]
<c>	[k] before <a, o/ò, u>	casa	['ka:sa]
	[ʧ] before <e/è, i>	cèlo	['ʧɛ:lo]
<ch>	[k]	màchina	['ma:kina]
		chòro (etymological variant of còro)	['kɔ:ɾo]
<cî>	[ʧ] before <a, o/ò, u>	cîusma, crocîare (derived from croce)	['ʧusma], [kɾo 'ʧa:ɾe]
<d>	[d]	dama	['da:ma]
<dz>	[ʣ]	verdza	['veɾʣa]
<e>, <é>	[e]	estella, léttera	[es'tella], ['letteɾa]
<f>	[f]	fòrte	['fɔɾte]
<g>	[g] before <a, o/ò, u>	gomma	['gomma]
	[ʤ] before <e/è, i>	lege	['le:ʤe]
<gh>	[g] before <e/è, i>	portughese	[poɾtu 'ge:se]
<gî>	[ʤ] before <a, o/ò, u>	fugîa	['fu:ʤa]
<gn>	[gn] or [ŋn]1	legno	['legno] / ['leŋno]
<h>	[ ]	havere	[ a've:ɾe]
<i>, <í>	[i]	artista, vía	[aɾ'tista], ['via]
<i>	[j] in diphthongs	aria, plebèio	['aɾja], [ple'bɛjo]
<j>	[ʤ]	ja	[ʤa]
<k>	[k]	kilogramma	[kilo'gɾamma]
<l>	[l]	lègere	['lɛ:ʤeɾe]
<lî>	[ʎ]	lîama	['ʎa:ma]
<m>	[m]	mare	['ma:ɾe]
<n>	[n]	nòve	[‘nɔ:ve]
<o>, <ó>	[o]	gomma, pólvere	['gomma], ['polveɾe]
<ò>	[ɔ]	còrpo	['kɔɾpo]
<œ>	[e]	pœna (etymological variant of pena)	['pe:na]
<p>	[p]	patre	['pa:tɾe]
<ph>	[f]	graphía (etymological variant of grafía)	[gɾa'fi:a]
<qu>	[kw]2	aqua	['a:kwa]
<r>	[ɾ]	ròsa, marito	['ɾɔ:sa], [ma**'ɾ**i:to]
<rh>	[ɾ]	rhetòrica (etymological variant of retòrica)	[ɾe'tɔ:ɾika]
<rr>	[ɾ]	carro	['karo]
<s>	[s]	casa	['ka:sa]
<sî>	[ʃ]	sîèrpa	['ʃɛɾpa]
<t>	[t]	tèmpo	['tɛmpo]
<th>	[t]	theatro (etymological variant of teatro)	[te'atɾo]
<ti>	[ʦj] before vowel, but not before <s>3	optione	[op 'ʦjo:ne]
<ts>	[ts]	altsare	[al 'ʦaɾe]
<u>, <ú>	[u]	tu, súccaro	[tu], ['sukkaɾo]
<u>	[w] in diphtongs	causa	['kawsa]
<v>	[v]	vino	['vi:no]
<w>	[w]	whisky	['wiski]
<x>	[ks]	pròximo	['pɾɔksimo]
<y>	[i]	whisky	['wiski]
		typo (etymological variant of tipo)	['ti:po]
	[j] in diphthongs	Nòva York	[nɔva 'joɾk]
<z>	[z] or [ʣ]	zòna	['zɔ:na] / ['ʣɔ:na]

Footnotes

1. The sequence <gn> was pronounced in Latin as [ŋn]; and the first consonant is nasal in all Romance languages. From Latin /ŋn/ (like in LĬGNU): /mn/ in Romanian (lemn), /nn/ in Sardinian (linna < plural LĬGNA) and /ɲɲ/ in Italian (legno), and /ɲ/ in Portuguese (lenho), Spanish (leño), Catalan (lleny) and French (old French leigne < LĬGNA). ↩

2. <qu> can sound like [k] in the following words: que, qui, quèn and compound words containing any of these words. Regularized spellings also exist: che, chi, chèn. ↩

3. This etymological spelling, present in loanwords (<ts> is used in inherited words), is not possible before a tonic <i>: primatsía (not *primatiia). On the other hand, after <s>, the pronunciation is [tj] (not [ʦj]), like in questione, cristiano. ↩