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Easy learn the 16 Italian consonants with examples.

There are sixteen consonants (b-c-d-f-g-h-l-m-n-p-q-r-s-t-v-z) in the Italian alphabet.

Lettera maiuscola
(Uppercase letter)
Lettera minuscola
(Lowercase letter)
Nomi delle lettere
(Name of the letter)
Esempio
(Example)
Bbbi
(bee)
Balena
(Whale)
Ccci
(chee)
Cane
(Dog)
Dddi
(dee)
Delfino
(Dolphin)
Ffeffe
(ehf-feh)
Farfalla
(Butterfly)
Gggi
(jee)
Giraffa
(Giraffe)
Hhacca
(ahk-kah)
Hyena
(Hyena)
Llelle
(ehl-leh)
Leone
(Lion)
Mmemme
(ehm-meh)
Maiale
(Pig)
Nnenne
(ehn-neh)
Nido
(Nest)
Pppi
(pee)
Pappagallo
(Parot)
Qqcu
(koo)
Quaglia
(Quail)
Rrerre
(ehr-reh)
Rana
(Frog)
Ssesse
(ehs-seh)
Squalo
(Shark)
Ttti
(tee)
Topo
(Mouse)
Vvvi
(voo)
Vipera
(Vipera)
Zzzeta
(tseh-tah)
Zanzara
(Mosquito)
Italian consonants

Le semiconsonanti / The semi-consonants.

The i and the u, when they are not stressed and are followed by another vowel with which they form a diphthong [ieri (yesterday), uomo (man)], can have an intermediate sound between a vowel and a consonant. For this reason, they are called semiconsonants.

In the phonetic alphabet, they are transcribed with /j/ and /w/.

Alfabeto Italiano
(Italian alphabet)
Alfabeto fonetico internazionale
(International phonetic alphabet)
Esempio
(Example)
Grafia fonetica
(Phonetic spelling)
IjPiede(Foot)
Dietro
(Behind)
Pjɛde
Djɛtro
UwSuono(Sound)
Uovo
(Egg)
Swɔno
wɔvo
Italian consonants

When we pronounce the vowels i and u (of lino and uva) the air passes through the canal phonatory without encountering obstacles and only making the vocal cords vibrate.

However, when we pronounce the semi-consonant i and u the channel narrows producing the classic intermediate sound between that of a vowel and that of a consonant (as, for example, in English yes or in French hier).


Next lesson:

The consonants (the letters c,p,b,q,h)