Unità 1 – Lezione 12: Leggi l’italiano: a, b, c

Read Italian: a, b, c

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) uses a symbol for every sound of a language. Every dictionary will give you the phonetic transcription of a word using these symbols, so that you can learn how to read it.


Lettera A

Listen and repeat.

The phonetic symbol for this sound is [a].

  • amare /a’mare/

The symbol / ‘ / means that the stress goes on the syllable that follows it: ama-re.


Leggi queste parole e poi controlla la pronuncia corretta di seguito.
Read these words and then check the correct pronunciation below.

  • amare /a’mare/
  • banana /ba’nana/
  • ala /’ala/
  • Panama /’panama/
  • cave /’kave/

Lettera B

Listen and repeat.

The phonetic symbol for this sound is [b].


Leggi queste parole e poi controlla la pronuncia corretta di seguito.
Read these words and then check the correct pronunciation below.

  • banco /’banko/
  • baco /’bako/
  • Barbara /’barbara/
  • abate /a’bate/
  • babbo /’babbo/

Lettera C

ca – co – cu

Listen and repeat.

The phonetic symbol for this sound is [k].

  • casa  /’kasa/
  • cosa /’kɔsa/
  • cubo /’kubo/

ce – ci

Listen and repeat.

The phonetic symbol for this sound is [ʧ].

  • cena /’ʧena/
  • cibo /’ʧibo/

Notice that we hear the sound [i] when letter i is followed by a consonant like in the word cibo. When letter i is followed by another vowel, this [i] sound disappears:

  • ciao /‘ʧao/
  • cielo /’ʧɛlo/
  • bacio /’baʧo/

che – chi

Listen and repeat.

The phonetic symbol for this sound is [k].

  • cheto /’keto/
  • chilo /’kilo/

Leggi queste parole e poi controlla la pronuncia corretta di seguito.
Read these words and then check the correct pronunciation below.

  • cascata /kas’kata/
  • colore /ko’lore/
  • acuto /a’kuto/
  • acido /’aʧido/
  • lancia /‘lanʧa/
  • cieco /’ʧɛko/
  • broncio /’bronʧo/
  • aceto /a’ʧeto/
  • barche /‘barke/
  • archi /’arki/

If you have any questions or doubts, leave a comment below.

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