Italian

From FrathWiki
Jump to: navigation, search

Italian is a Romance language, spoken primarily in Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican City, and Malta. There is also a large amount of speakers of Italian in France, Croatia, Ethiopia and Slovenia.

History

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants
Bilabial Labiod. Inter-dental Alveolar Post-alv. Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive p b k g
Fricative f v s z ʃ (ʒ)
Affricate ʦ ʣ ʧ ʤ
Approximants & glides (w) (j)
Trill r
Flap ɾ
Lateral Approximant l/ɫ ʎ

</div>

  • Most of the orthographic Italian symbols are the same as their IPA equivalents. These include: b, p, m, n, f, v, t, d, and l.
  • c is normally /k/, except when i or e immediately succeed it. ch is pronounced /k/ and is used when i or e do immediately succeed it.
  • c is /ʧ/ when i or e immediately succeed it. Unless the i is stressed, it's usually silent.
  • g is normally /g/, except when i or e immediately succeed it. gh is pronounced /g/ and is used when i or e do immediately succeed it.
  • g is /ʤ/ when i or e immediately succeed it. Unless the i is stressed, it's silent.
  • sc is normally /sk/, except when i or e immediately succeed it. sch is pronounced /sk/ and is used when i or e do immediately succeed it.
  • sc is /ʃ/ when i or e immediately succeed it. If the i isn't stressed it's usually silent.
  • gn is pronounced /ɲ/.
  • ng and nc are pronounced /ŋg/ and /ŋk/ respectively, unless directly followed by i or e. In those cases, ng and nc are pronounced /nʤ/ and /nʧ/ respectively. When spelt ngh or nch they are pronounced /ŋg/ and /ŋk/ respectively.
  • r is pronounced /r/ or /ɾ/ depending on individual or dialect.
  • gli is pronounced /ʎi/.
  • The glides /w/ and /j/ are actually mutations of the vowels u and i and are represented by those orthographically. It can occurs with other vowel diphthongs as well.
  • z is pronounced /ʦ/ or /ʣ/ depending on the dialect and the word.
  • s is pronounced /s/ or /z/ depending on the dialect and the word. It's usually pronounced [z] when intervocalic and [s] otherwise.

Vowels

Vowels
Front Central Back
Unround Unrounded Rounded
High i u
Open-mid e o
Close-mid ɛ ɔ
Low a
  • Most of the vowels are spelt the way they are in the IPA, so i /i/, e /e/, a /a/, o /o/, and u /u/.
  • Stressed è and ò (with or without accents) are pronounced /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ respectively.
  • When diphthongised, u and i become similar to /w/ and /j/.

Grammar

Nouns

Gender

Number

Articles

Pronouns

Adjectives

Prepositions

Contractions

Conjunctions

Verbs

Present

Future

Imperfect

Past Absolute

Conditional

Subjunctive

Present
Imperfect

Compound

Passive

Verb essere and stare

Verb avere

Sources

This article is one of quite a few pages about Natlangs.

Indo-european natlangs:

Balto-Slavic Natlangs: Czech * Russian
Celtic Natlangs: Revived Middle Cornish * Pictish
Germanic Natlangs:
North Germanic Natlangs: Norwegian
West Germanic Natlangs: Anglo-Saxon * Dutch * English (Old English * Middle English * Modern English * Scots) * German (High German * Low German)
Indo-Iranian Natlangs: Pahlavi
Italic Natlangs: French * Italian * Latin * Spanish
Debated: Cimmerian

Uralic Natlangs: Finnish * Khanty * Mansi * Mordvinic * Proto-Uralic
Altaic (controversial): Japanese
Sino-Tibetan Natlangs:
Uto-Aztecan Natlangs: Nahuatl

-

Isolate Natlangs: Basque * *
Hypothetical/debated Natlangs and Natlang families: Danubian * Europic (obsolete)