| Pronouncing Double Consonants in Italian |
 |
Seeing Double? Pronounce It Twice
| Join the Discussion |
"It seems that Italian teachers and Italian speakers describe double consonants as being pronounced twice. But I don't hear them that way."
JOESTOE5
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
"Quanti anni hai?"—How old are you? sounds like an innocent question posed by someone just learning the Italian language. But it can be a real conversation stopper, leading to guffaws, laughter, and embarrassment, when mispronounced. That's because many beginners pronounce anni (years) as ani (anuses). Speaking Italian doesn't have to leave you tongue-tied, though.
Bus Stop? Bus Top
Glance at an Italian magazine or newspaper, and the letters appear the same. That's because English and Italian share the same alphabet, with the exception of five letters. But listen closely to a native Italian, and you'll soon realize that there's a substantial difference in the sounds represented by those same alphabetic characters.
Many Italian words have double consonants. They occur in any part of the word, but never as the first or last letters. The English language also has several words with double consonants, such as bookkeeper, cattle, and tattle. In Italian, though, double consonants sound stronger than in English. English speakers typically stumble when pronouncing double consonants in Italian since there are so few instances in English that require pronouncing both consonants. Italian uses double consonants as an important part of the pronunciation of the language.
Say It With Meaning
Not sure how to pronounce double consonants in Italian? Try pronouncing it twice or holding it for an extra beat. Listen to a native Italian and asking them to pronounce word pairs such as papa/pappa until you can hear the difference. English phrases such as "bus stop" and "bad dog" approximate the sound of double consonants in Italian. Failing to make the distinction can lead to misunderstanding or worse.
To add to the confusion, one characteristic of certain Italian dialects is the pronouncing of words as if some of the single consonants were doubled. Technically termed raddoppiamento fonosintattico, it typically occurs in specific phonetic context.
Double Trouble
To avoid asking for a bowl of your father (papa) at the local trattoria instead of bread soup (pappa), be aware of these word pairs of single/double consonants whose entire meaning changes depending on whether a particular consonant is doubled:
| agio—ease, comfort |
aggio—premium |
| ano—anus |
anno—year |
| casa—house |
cassa—crate, box |
| eco—echo |
ecco—here |
| gramo—miserable |
grammo—gram |
| nono—ninth |
nonno—grandfather |
| note—note |
notte—night |
| pala—shovel |
palla—ball |
| papa—father |
pappa—bread soup |
| pena—pain |
penna—pen |
| rosa—rose |
rossa—red |
| sbafo—scrounging |
sbaffo—smear |
| sera—evening |
serra—greenhouse |
| sete—thirst |
sette—seven |
Split Up The Twins
Wondering how Italian words with consonant geminates (letter pairs) are divided into syllables? It's a split decision: Double letters always break into separate syllables. For example: addosso: ad-dos-so; ferro: fer-ro; mamma: mam-ma; soqquadro:soq-quad-ro.
Not Just Consonants
Double vowels occur infrequently in Italian, but there are a few instances. The vowels are pronounced the same as single vowels, but in these cases a longer sound should be heard: cooperare (to cooperate); zii (uncles); veemenza (vehemence); pompeii.
Besides individual Italian vocabulary words with double letters, the 1st person plurals of certain verb tenses also have double consonants:
| future/futuro |
conditional/condizionale |
| andremo (we will go) |
andremmo (we would go) |
| lavoreremo (we will work) |
lavoreremmo (we would work) |
