Some letters in the Italian language have similar voices so in this lesson, we are going to see what these letters are and give you some examples for each group of letters that have a similar voice so you can practice the difference between each sound.
1. Phonological oppositions in Italian: the letters B and P sound.
| B [b] | P [p] |
| Bacco [‘bakko] (Bacchus) | Pacco [‘pakko] (Package) |
| Basta [‘basta] (Enough) | Pasta [‘pasta] (Pasta) |
| Basso [‘basso] (Bass) | Passo [‘passo] (Step) |
| Belle [‘bɛlle] (Beautiful) pl.f | Pelle [‘pelle] (Skin) |
2. phonological oppositions in Italian: the letters D and T sound.
| D [d] | T [t] |
| Dopo [dɔpo/dopo] (After) | Topo [tɔpo] (Mouse) |
| Tondo [tondo] (Round) | Tonto [tonto] (Tonto) |
| Vendi [vendi] (Sell) | Venti [venti] (Winds) |
| Detto [detto] (Said) | Tetto [tetto] (Roof) |
3. Phonological oppositions in Italian: the letters F and V sound.
| F [f] | V [v] |
| Fetta [fetta] (Slice) | Vetta [vetta] (Summit) |
| Fino [fino] (Until) | Vino [vino] (Wine) |
| Foglio [fɔʎʎo] (Sheet) | Voglio [vɔʎʎo] (I want) |
| Fede [fede] (Wedding ring) | Vede [vede] (You see) |
4. Phonological oppositions in Italian: the letters C and G sound.
| C [tʃ] | G [ʤ] | C [k] | G [g] |
| Celato [tʃe’lato] (Hidden) | Gelato [ʤe’lato] (Ice-cream) | Cola [kɔla] (There) | Gola [gola] (Throat) |
| Faccio [fattʃo] (I do) | Faggio [fadʤo] (Beech tree) | Cara [kara] (Dear) | Gara [gare] (Competition) |
| Accetto [at’tʃɛtto] (I accept) | Oggetto [od’ʤɛtto] (Object) | Foca [fɔka] (Seal) | Foga [foga] (Fogue) |
5. Phonological oppositions in Italian: the letters Gli and Li sound
| Gli [ʎ] | Li [I] |
| Migliore [miʎ’ʎore] (Improve) | Milione [mi’ljone] (Million) |
| Taglia [taʎʎa] (Cut) | Dalia [dalja] (Dahlia) |
| Tagliente [taʎ’ʎɛnte] (Sharp) | Saliente [sa’ljɛnte] (Salient) |
Exercises on the lesson here
Next lesson:
Phonological oppositions part 2