Pronunciation of Italian in English Definition

Italian
adj

1. Belonging or relating to Italy, a republic in S Europe, its inhabitants or their language.

noun

1. A citizen or inhabitant of, or person born in, Italy.
2. The official language of Italy, also spoken in parts of Switzerland, San Marino, the Vatican City, Sardinia and some urban parts of the US.
3a. colloq
A restaurant that serves Italian food, eg pizzas, pasta dishes, etc;
3b. colloq
A meal in one of these restaurants.
Example: went out for an Italian

Etymology: 15c: from Latin Italianus, from Italia Italy.

Info:

○ gl should strictly be pronounced /lj/, close to its Italian pronunciation, eg in zabaglione, but it is increasingly being pronounced /gl/, eg especially in tagliatelle, Modigliani.

○ gh is pronounced /g/, as in spaghetti.

○ gn is pronounced /nj/, as in gnocchi.

○ g before e or i is pronounced /dF/, as in arpeggio.

○ ch is pronounced /k/, as in Chianti.c before e or i is pronounced /tG/, as in ciao.

○ z at the beginning of a word is pronounced /z/, but within a word is pronounced /ts/ or /dz/, as in scherzo and intermezzo.