Introduction: Ciao! Welcome to the exciting world of the Italian alphabet. Just like in English, letters make up words in Italian. But guess what? Italian letters sound a bit different, and there are some cool surprises waiting for you!
Italian Alphabet vs. English Alphabet: The Italian alphabet has 21 letters, just a little less than the English one. Letters have both capital and small variants. Some letters are friends with the English ones, but others might sound new to your ears.
Let’s Dive In: Let’s meet the Italian alphabet one letter at a time, along with example words!
| ITALIAN LETTER | SOUND PRODUCED | ITALIAN EXAMPLE | PRONUNCIATION IN ENGLISH | ENGLISH MEANING |
| A (a) | ah | amore | ah-mo-reh | love |
| B (b) | b | bambino | bahm-bee-noh | baby |
| C (c) | k/ch | cane/ cinema | kah-neh/ chee-neh-mah | dog/ cinema |
| D (d) | d | dolce | dohl-che | sweet |
| E (e) | eh | elefante | eh-leh-fahn-the | elephant |
| F (f) | ef-fe | fame | fah-meh | hunger |
| G (g) | jee | gufo/ gelato | goo-foh/ je-lah-toh | owl/ ice-cream |
| H (h) | ahk-kah | |||
| I (i) | ee | idea | ee-deh-ah | idea |
| J (j) | ||||
| K (k) | ||||
| L (L) | ehl-eh | latte | lath-the | milk |
| M (m) | ehm-meh | madre | mah-dreh | mother |
| N (n) | ehn-neh | naso | nah-zoh | nose |
| O (o) | oh | odore | oh-doh-reh | small/odour |
| P (p) | pee | penna | pehn-nah | pen |
| Q (q) | koo | quadro | kwah-droh | painting |
| R (r) | ehr-reh | rosso | roh-ssoh | red |
| S (s) | ehs-seh | sole | soh-leh | sun |
| T (t) | tee | tavolo | tah-voh-loh | table |
| U (u) | oo | uva | oo-vah | grapes |
| V (v) | voo/vee | violino | vee-oh-lee-noh | violin |
| W(w) | ||||
| X (x) | ||||
| Y (y) | ||||
| Z (z) | tseh-tah | zio | zee-oh | uncle |
Although the letters J, K, W, X and Y are missing in the Italian alphabet, yet they are used in Italy in some cases, like in foreign words, acronyms, brand names, number plates on cars etc.
For example,
Foreign words:
J: jazz, jeans, jet, judo etc
K: karate, kayak, kiwi, kung fu etc
W: wafer, water-proof, Wi-Fi, wireless etc
X: XL, xerocopia, xilofone etc
Y: yacht, Yankee, yoga, yogurt…
ACRONYMS:
JPEG
KFC
WAP
XML
YMCA
Brand names:
Jack & Jones, Jockey, JCB, Jaguar etc
Kappa, Calvin Klein, KIKO MILANO etc
Walmart, WOMO, Whirlpool etc
Xbox, Luxottica, Lexus etc