Bisyllabic clusters

Take note that there are some words ending with ...cia, ...cie, ...gia, ...gie, where these clusters do not have the above-mentioned sound. This is not due to an irregular pronounciation, but simply to the fact that what looks like a single cluster is actually made of two separate syllables (i.e. these clusters are bisyllabic). Focus these examples:

grigia, meaning grey (in feminine form), is made of the following syllables: gri - gia, and sounds as English "gryhjah" (soundless "h" !); as you see, the gia cluster makes one syllable, following the sound table discussed above;

bugia, meaning a lie, is made of the following syllables: bu - gi - a, and sounds like English "bwjyhah" (soundless "h" !), because what looks like a single gia cluster is really made of two separate syllables: gi and a, therefore pronounced separately;

For the time being, simply ignore this apparently complicated situation, and keep following the cluster sound table: any tricky or unusual pronounciation will be clearly indicated.

1.4 DOUBLE CONSONANTS

Many Italian words have double consonants. They can be found in any part of the word, but never as first letters or as last letters. In most cases they are followed by a vowel, as in dubbio = doubt, gatto = cat, etc.; but in some cases they may be followed by r, as in labbra = lips, attrito = friction, etc. Instead, another consonant never occurs before a double consonant. Also English has several words with double consonants, as supple, bottle, abbot. In Italian, though, double consonants sound stronger than in English; this is obtainable by breaking the sound, for example as if the word cattle was spelled ca-ttle: the tt sound should therefore be heard more. Any consonant can be doubled, except letter h (never doubled, because it is always soundless), or for non-standard ones (j, k, w, x, y).

1.5 ACCENT (OR STRESS)

Although there is no strict rule, most Italian words have an accent on the penultimate syllable. The stress actually falls on one syllable, but in spoken language it is easier to remember which vowel carries the stress, more than the full syllable. For instance, in the word possibile (possible) the stress is carried by syllable si (unlike in English), but it is easier to remember that the first vowel i is stressed. In the following examples I will use accented vowels for the Italian spelling, to show which is the stressed vowel. Take note that it is very unusual for Italian words to be spelled with accented letters, with very few exceptions discussed further down in this page. To help the reader, the stressed syllables have also been marked in the "English spelling" version by using bold letters, as explained at the end of the previous paragraph 1.4. A few examples:

lampadìna	"lahmpahdyhnah"	light bulb
carbòne	"karbohneh"	coal
supermercàto	"swpehrmehrkahtoh"	supermarket
senatòre	"sehnahtohreh"	senator
aereoplàno	"ahehrehohplahnoh"	airoplane
arcobaléno	"ahrkohbahlehnoh"	rainbow
riconoscènte	"ryhkohnohshenteh" (English "sh" !)	thankful

But some other words have stress on an earlier syllable:

mòbile	"mohbyhleh"	piece of furniture
ràpido	"rahpyhdoh"	fast, quick
telèfono	"tehlehfohnoh"	telephone
lìbero	"lyhbehroh"	free
pòvero	"pohvehroh"	poor