CONSONANTS
The Italian consonant system has 29 obstruents and 14 sonorants. The
obstruents are classified along two dimensions, voiced vs. voiceless and
single vs. geminate; the sonorants are (by definition) all voiced, but are
also distinguished on the single-geminate axis, with the exception of two
semivowel glides.
The voiced vs. voiceless distinction is normally manifested acoustically by the presence vs. absence of periodicity resulting from vocal fold vibration (cf. French).
There are six single and six geminate plosives, p b t d k g, pp bb tt
dd kk gg, as follows:
| SYMBOL | WORD | TRANSCRIPTION | |
| p | pane | "pane | |
| b | banco | "banko | |
| t | tana | "tana | |
| d | danno | "danno | |
| k | cane | "kane | |
| g | gamba | "gamba | |
| pp | coppa | "kOppa | |
| bb | gobba | "gObba | |
| tt | zitto | "tsitto | |
| dd | cadde | "kadde | |
| kk | nocca | "nOkka | |
| gg | fugga | "fugga |
The plosives t, tt, d, dd have a dental, not an alveolar place of articulation.
There are four single and four geminate affricates, ts dz tS dZ, tts ddz ttS ddZ:
| SYMBOL | WORD | TRANSCRIPTION | |
| ts | zitto | "tsitto | |
| dz | zona | "dzOna | |
| tS | cena | "tSena | |
| dZ | gita | "dZita | |
| tts | bozza | "bOttsa | |
| ddz | mezzo | "mEddzo | |
| ttS | braccio | "brattSo | |
| ddZ | oggi | "OddZi |
There are five single and four geminate fricatives, f v s z S, ff vv ss
SS:
| SYMBOL | WORD | TRANSCRIPTION | |
| f | fame | "fame | |
| v | vano | "vano | |
| s | sano | "sano | |
| z | sbaglio | "zbaLLo | initial only in cluster |
| S | scendo | "Sendo | |
| ff | beffa | "bEffa | |
| vv | bevvi | "bevvi | |
| ss | cassa | "kassa | |
| SS | ascia | "aSSa |
There are three single and geminate nasals, m n J, mm nn JJ, three
single and three geminate liquids, r l L, rr ll LL, and two semivowels,
j w:
| SYMBOL | WORD | TRANSCRIPTION | |
| m | molla | "mOlla | |
| n | nocca | "nOkka | |
| J | gnocco | "JOkko | |
| mm | grammo | "grammo | |
| nn | panna | "panna | |
| JJ | bagno | "baJJo | |
| r | rete | "rete | |
| l | lama | "lama | |
| L | gli | Li | only in function words |
| rr | ferro | "fErro | |
| ll | colla | "kOlla | |
| LL | foglia | "fOLLa | |
| j | ieri | "jEri | |
| w | uomo | "wOmo |
Note: The velar nasal N is an allophone of n used before a velar. It may be written either way, thus <banco> banko or baNko.
There is no single-geminate opposition for the following six consonants in
intervocalic position (including across word boundaries):
Five are always geminate: tts ddz SS JJ LL
One is always single: z
VOWELS
The vowel system comprises seven vowels, i e E a O o u:
| SYMBOL | WORD | TRANSCRIPTION | |
| i | mite | "mite | |
| e | rete | "rete | |
| E | meta | "mEta | |
| a | rata | "rata | |
| O | moto | "mOto | |
| o | dove | "dove | |
| u | muto | "muto |
In unstressed position, the oppositions e - E and o - O are often neutralised.