Italian Practice

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Pronunciation Exercise: The Accented Final Vowel

Pronunciation Exercise: The Accented Final Vowel by Ronald Glenn Wrigley, M.A.

Native English speakers often have difficulty mastering the pronunciation of double consonants in Italian. Keep in mind that every letter in an Italian word must be pronounced, so it logically follows that double consonants are pronounced longer than single consonants:

Sano (pronounced sa-no)/sanno (pronounced san-no)

Lego (pronounced le-go)/leggo (pronounced leg-go)

Fata (pronounced fa-ta)/fatta (pronounced fat-ta)

Papa (pronounced pa-pa)/pappa (pronounced pap-pa)

The double ss in Italian has a different pronunciation than the single s:

casa (the s is pronounced as in the English word “hose”)

cassa (the ss is pronounced as in the English word “house”)

Exercise 17

TRACK 11

Listen to the following words in Track 11, repeating each word that you hear.

<tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="center"/> <thead> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>single consonant</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>double consonant</emphasis></p></td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>sano</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>sanno</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>lego</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>leggo</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>pena</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>penna</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>fata</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>fatta</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>giovane</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>Giovanni</emphasis></p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <div class="npmo"> <img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/np/italian-practice/track.jpg"> <div class="npcp"><p>TRACK 12</p></div> </div> <p>Listen to each sentence in Track 12, then read aloud the complete sentences. Note the difference in pronunciation between the single and double consonants.</p> <ul> <li><p><emphasis>La fata azzurra l'ha fatta.</emphasis></p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Ho dato da mangiare al gatto.</emphasis></p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Sanno che siamo arrivati sani e salvi.</emphasis></p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Mi fa pena che abbia perso la penna.</emphasis></p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Leggo un libro.</emphasis></p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Lego un pacco.</emphasis></p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Mi hanno chiamato due volte quest'anno.</emphasis></p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Pago alla cassa.</emphasis></p></li> <li><p><emphasis>La casa è bella.</emphasis></p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Giovanni è giovane.</emphasis></p></li> </ul>  <div id="pagination"><ul><li class="prev"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/subject-pronouns-avere-and-essere/days-of-the-week.htm" title="Days of the Week">Days of the Week</a></li><li class="next"><a 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