The modern Italian alphabet has 26 letters, but 5 (J, K, W, X and Y) are not native Italian letters.
They appear in words with Greek/Latin origin and in many foreign terms that are widely used in Italian.
Table of Contents
The Italian Phonetic Alphabet – Easy & Helpful Video!
The Italian Alphabet – The Table
Here’s the Italian alphabet table with 21 letters:
| Lettere (letters) | Nomi (names) | Fonemi(phonemes) | Examples |
| A, a | a | a (car) | stanza (room) |
| B, b | bi | b (same as english) | bar (bar) |
| C, c | ci | c dolce (choose) | cielo (sky) |
| C, c | ci | c duro (can) | con (with) |
| D,d | di | d (same as english) | del (of the) |
| E, e | e | e aperta (and) | e (and) |
| E, e | e | e chiusa (her) | immensità (immensity) |
| F, f | effe | f (same as english) | fumo (smoke) |
| G, g | gi | g dolce (join) | genio (genius) |
| G, g | gi | g dura (gap) | gas (gas) |
| H, h | acca | no sound in Italian | ho (I have) |
| I, i | i | i (read) | idea (idea) |
| L, l | elle | l (same as english) | lago (lake) |
| M, m | emme | m (same as english) | ma (but) |
| N, n | enne | n (same as english) | non (not) |
| O, o | o | o aperta (rod) | organo (organ) |
| O, o | o | o chiusa (road) | mondo (world) |
| P, p | pi | p (same as english) | più (plus) |
| Q, q | ku | k (same as english) | qui (here) |
| R, r | erre | r (same as english) | Roma (Rome) |
| S, s | esse | s (same as english) | sei (six) |
| T, t | ti | t (similar to english) | tutto (all) |
| U, u | u | u (room) | uno (one) |
| V, v | vi | v (same as english) | vocale (vocal) |
| Z, z | zeta | z sorda – z sonora | zio (uncle) |
The Italian Alphabet – Video with the Pronunciation
The Italian Alphabet – The 5 Foreign Letters
Here’ are the 5 letters (J, K, W, X and Y) used in the modern italian alphabet for many foreign terms:
| Lettere (letters) | Nomi (name) | Fonemi (phonemes) |
| j | i lunga | i (read) |
| k | cappa | k (same as english) |
| w | wu doppio | v (veil) |
| x | ics | cs (accident) |
| y | ypsilon | i (read) |
3 Peculiar Italian Consonants Clusters
Here are three consonant clusters with a peculiar pronunciation:
| Lettere (letters) | Nomi (names) | Fonemi (phonemes) | Examples |
| gn | gi-enne | n (spanish ņ) | gnomo (gnome) |
| gl | gi-elle | l (call you) | aglio (garlic) |
| sc | esse-ci | sh (shell) | scienze (science) |
The Italian Alphabet Song – The Name of the Letters
Here’s a funny song for learning the name of all Italian alphabet letters:
The Italian Spelling Alphabet
Here’s how to spell the Italian words to avoid any mistake when you speak on phone, in offices, and so on:
| A= a come Ancona | B = bi come Bari |
| C = ci come Como | D = di come Domodossola |
| E = e come Empoli | F = effe come Firenze |
| G = gi come Genova | H = acca come Hotel |
| I = i come Imola | J = i lunga come Jolly |
| K = cappa come K.O. | L = elle come Livorno |
| M = emme come Milano | N = enne come Napoli |
| O = o come Otranto | P = pi come Palermo |
| Q = qu come Quadro | R = erre come Roma |
| S = esse come Savona | T = ti come Torino |
| U = u come Udine | V = vi come Venezia |
| W = wu doppia/doppia wu – come Washington | X = ics come Raggi X |
| Y = ipsilon come Yacht | Z = zeta come Zara |
As you can see, the names of several Italian Cities are used in this spelling system. Here’s a map to learn their location in Italy:
4 Italian Acronyms
| ONU | FIAT | ASL | UE |
| Organizzazione (Organization) Nazioni (Nations) Unite (United) |
Fabbrica (Factory) Italiana (Italian) Auto (Cars) Torino (Turin) |
Azienda (Company) Sanitaria (Healthcare) Locale (Local) |
Unione (Union) Europea (European) |
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