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Home » 1. L’alfabeto Italiano / The Italian alphabet (letter names)

1. L’alfabeto Italiano / The Italian alphabet (letter names)

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There are twenty-one letters in the Italian alphabet: sixteen consonants (b-c-d-f-g-h-l-m-n-p-q-r-s-t-v-z) and five vowels (a-o-u-i-e).

Here is a table for each letter with its name and an example for each letter.

Lettera maiuscola
(Uppercase letter)
Lettera minuscola
(Lowercase letter)
Nomi delle lettere
(Name of the letter)
Esempio
(Example)
Aaa
(ah)
Ape
(Bee)
Bbbi
(bee)
Balena
(Whale)
Ccci
(chee)
Cane
(Dog)
Dddi
(dee)
Delfino
(Dolphin)
Eee
(eh)
Elefante
(Elephant)
Ffeffe
(ehf-feh)
Farfalla
(Butterfly)
Gggi
(jee)
Giraffa
(Giraffe)
Hhacca
(ahk-kah)
Hyena
(Hyena)
Iii
(ee)
Ippopotamo
(Hippopotamus)
Llelle
(ehl-leh)
Leone
(Lion)
Mmemme
(ehm-meh)
Maiale
(Pig)
Nnenne
(ehn-neh)
Nido
(Nest)
Ooo
(o)
Orso
(Bear)
Pppi
(pee)
Pappagallo
(Parot)
Qqcu
(koo)
Quaglia
(Quail)
Rrerre
(ehr-reh)
Rana
(Frog)
Ssesse
(ehs-seh)
Squalo
(Shark)
Ttti
(tee)
Topo
(Mouse)
Uuu
(oo)
Upupa
(Hoopoe)
Vvvi
(voo)
Vipera
(Vipera)
Zzzeta
(tseh-tah)
Zanzara
(Mosquito)

The following letters are used to transcribe foreign words and are not part of the Italian alphabet.

Lettera maiuscola
(Uppercase letter)
Lettera minuscola
(Lowercase letter)
Nomi delle lettere
(Name of the letter)
Esempio
(Example)
Jji lunga
(Ee- loongah)
Jazz
KkCappa
(kappa)
Kiwi
WwDoppia vu
(Doh-ppeeah voo)
Web
Xxics
(Eeks)
Xilofono
(Xylophone)
Yyipsilon/ i greca
(Eeps-loh-n)
(Ee-greh-kah)
Yacht