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An Introduction To Italian Lyric Diction

This document provides an overview of some key characteristics of the Italian language. It discusses topics like vowel and consonant sounds, stress patterns, spelling rules, and guidelines for proper pronunciation. Some key points include: - Italian favors open syllables and clear vowel sounds, and consonants are pronounced gently compared to English. - Accent marks are used to indicate stressed vowels and distinguish between homonyms. Words can be contracted or have letters omitted through elision. - Word stress typically falls on the penultimate syllable but can also be on the last syllable or earlier in some cases. - Italian has fewer vowel sounds than English and some English vowels are never used. Consonant sounds can vary

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697 views

An Introduction To Italian Lyric Diction

This document provides an overview of some key characteristics of the Italian language. It discusses topics like vowel and consonant sounds, stress patterns, spelling rules, and guidelines for proper pronunciation. Some key points include: - Italian favors open syllables and clear vowel sounds, and consonants are pronounced gently compared to English. - Accent marks are used to indicate stressed vowels and distinguish between homonyms. Words can be contracted or have letters omitted through elision. - Word stress typically falls on the penultimate syllable but can also be on the last syllable or earlier in some cases. - Italian has fewer vowel sounds than English and some English vowels are never used. Consonant sounds can vary

Uploaded by

thomas_bandy
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Dr.

Thomas Bandy, Oberlin Conservatory



I suoni dellitaliano (The Sounds of Italian)

Major characteristics of the language:
Native speakers use more energy, enthusiasm, and
gesticulation than English speakers tend to
Like all Romance languages, tends to favor open
syllables (those that end in a vowel)
Few choices for vowels, and those are always clear
and individual, especially when unstressed
Does not use aspirated sounds (b, p, t) as in English
or German; pronounced gently
Double consonants are emphasized
Above all, the language is legato; it flows

GliAccenti: Accent marks
To indicate that the final vowel is stressed: Gi
already, torner s/he will return, perch
because, amer I will love
To distinguish between monosyllabic homonyms: che
which vs. ch because, di of vs. d day, e and
vs. is, si if vs. s yes, la the vs. l there

How words change their forms
Contraction: omitting letters in the middle; cuore
core heart, egli ei he, belli bei beautiful,
quali quai what
Elision: omission of a final vowel with an
apostrophe; unopera (una) an opera, onestuomo
(onesto) honest man
Compound words: gentiluomo [gentile]
Truncation: common in libretti and poetry! Must
end in l, m, n, r; Dove son? (sono) where are they?,
una gran festa (grande) a grand festival, cor/cuor
(core/cuore) heart

Word stress: stress means length
4% on the final syllable (parola tronca): piet pity,
Signor (Signore) sir, fer wounded
50% on the penultimate (parola piana plain word):
pizza, insalata, immagineremmo we would imagine
10% on the antepenultimate (parola sdrucciola slid
word): camera room, medico doctor, opera,
baritono, -issimo/-evole/-abile, some 3ppl verbs
Rarely on the fourth-from-last (parola bisdrucciola
twice-slid word): esaminano they examine
The rest are single-syllable, very common words

English vowels that are never used: [] aside, [] cat, []
cup, [] turn, [] bit, [] push

Only seven vowel sounds: [a], [], [e], [i], [], [o], [u]
Stressed e/o can be open (, ) OR closed (, )
look it up and write it in!
Unstressed e/o can only be closed (up for debate)
[j] and [w] are semivowels, glides of [i] and [u]:
piano [pja:no], gioia [o:ja], guerra [gwr:ra], uomo
[w:mo], quieto [kwj:to], BUT riamare [riama:re]

Many common words look like glides but ARENT:
io, lui, tuo, suo, addio, il desio, natio, loblio, la bugia
falsehood, fantasia, la follia, la via, pria

soft hard
+ i/e + a/o/u
c k
g g
sc sk

iand h are your tools to switch softness and hardness:
ci [i] here vs. chi [ki] who
giro [i:ro] turn vs. ghiro [gi:ro] dormouse
scema [e:ma] lesson vs. schema [ske:ma] scheme

Geminated (double) consonants:
la casa [ka:za] house vs. la cassa [kas:sa] case, chest
leco [:ko] echovs. ecco [k:ko] here/there it is
il papa [pa:pa] pope vs. la pappa [pap:pa] baby food
sce/sci [:] when intervocalic la scena [la::na]
gli [:] aglio e olio garlic and oil [a:o e :ljo]
gn [:] lasagna [laza:a], ogni every [o:i]

BUT: another kind of n-hook is not doubled:
n+ k/g [] ancora again [ako:ra], sangue [sagwe]

r: flipped when single/intervocalic; rolled everywhere else!
s before a voiced consonant, or intervocalic, is [z]
la casa house [ka:za] (not Spanish)
cos thus, thats how [kozi:]
lo sbaglio mistake [zba:o]
sleale disloyal [zlea:le]
la sventura same [zventu:ra]
z can be voiced [dz] or unvoiced [ts]: you MUST look it up!
mezzo middle [md:dzo]
mezzo rotten, spoiled [met:tso]
la grandezza size [grandet:tsa]
la romanza romance, song [romandza]

Linking words:
After l/m/n/r, you can link/geminate consonants
amiam per sempre, con lei, il giovane, con noi (no
shadow vowels the dreadest Pavarottitis!)
Cons-vowel links: NEVER use glottals: fatal errore,
non ha, in amore, or ora, andiam insiem
Vowel-vowel links: synalepha. Two or three vowels
on one note you MUST choose one to get most of
the length! prende ogni, che il mondo, foglia e fiori

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