Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken by about 62 million people, most of
whom live in Italy. Standard Italian is based on Tuscan dialects and is
somewhat intermediate between the languages of Southern Italy and the
Gallo-Romance languages of the North. Italian has double (or long)
consonants, like Latin (but unlike most modern Romance languages, e.g.
French and Spanish). As in most Romance languages (with the notable
exception of French), stress is distinctive.

Italian is an official language in Italy, San Marino and in the Ticino and
Grisons cantons or regions of Switzerland. It is also the second official
language in Vatican City and in some areas of Istria in Slovenia and Croatia
with Italian minority.

Some people claim that Tuscan became the standard language because it's so
close to Latin, but other languages spoken in Italy are even closer to Latin
(e.g. sardo logudorese as well as some Southern Italian idioms). It was also
not the beauty of Dante's language but rather the economic power that
Tuscany had at the time, specially considering Pisa's influence. Also, the
increasing cultural relevance of Florence in the period of Umanesimo (before
Rinascimento) made its vulgare become a standard in art, quickly imported to Rome.

Italian is the language used in musical terms-such as pianoforte,
fortissimo, etc.

Pronouns

Pronouns are generally unnecessary in Italian unless required to
disambiguate the meaning of a sentence. Usually, the verb ending provides
information about the subject.

              Singular                        Plural

  1st Person  io - I                          noi - we

  2nd Person  tu - you (one person,           voi - you (plural, familiar)
              familiar)

              lei - she
  3rd Person  Lei - you (one person, polite)  loro - they
              lui - he                        Loro - you (plural, polite)

Lei and Loro (written with a capitalized L) have special meaning in addition
to their meanings as "she" and "they". Lei is the polite form of tu (which
is only used for individuals one is familiar with, or for children), and
similarly, Loro is the polite form of voi.

Verbs

Italian verb infinitives have one of three endings, either -are, -ere, or
-ire. Most Italian verbs are regular.

Questions are formed by a rising intonation at the end of the sentence, as
in most European languages, possibly with the reversal of the subject and
verb also.

Present Indicative Regular Conjugation Patterns

This is the basic conjugation pattern used to indicate that something is
occuring now.

  -are        Singular  Plural

  1st Person  -o        -iamo

  2nd Person  -i        -ate

  3rd Person  -a        -ano

Example: mangiare, "to eat".

     Io mangio. (or just Mangio.) I eat.
     Antonio mangia. Antonio eats.
     Antonio mangia? Does Antonio eat?
     Mangia Antonio? Does Antonio eat?

guardare, "to watch"

     Noi guardiamo la televisione. (or just Guardiamo la televisione.) We
     watch television.

  -ere        Singular  Plural

  1st Person  -o        -iamo

  2nd Person  -i        -ete

  3rd Person  -e        -ono

Example: leggere, "to read"

     Leggono i libri. They read books.
     Leggo il giornale. I read the newspaper.

Some regular -ire verbs conjugate normally, and some conjugate according to
the -isco pattern. There is no way to tell other than to memorize which are
which.

  -ire (normal form)  Singular  Plural

  1st Person          -o        -iamo

  2nd Person          -i        -ite

  3rd Person          -e        -ono

Example: partire, "to leave"

     Partite. You leave. (plural; used if talking to two or more persons one
     is familiar with.)
     Parti. You leave. (singular; used if talking to only one person one is
     familiar with.)
     Partono. Depending on context, could mean either You leave (if
     addressing more than one person formally), or could also mean They
     leave.

  -ire (-isco form)  Singular  Plural

  1st Person         -isco     -iamo

  2nd Person         -isci     -ite

  3rd Person         -isce     -ono

Example: capire, "to understand".

     Io capisco or just Capisco. "I understand."
     Capisci? "Do you understand?"

Graphemes and Phonemes of Italian

i /i/

e, � /e/

e, � /E/

a /a/

o /o/

o /O/

u /u/

Plosives

p /p/

b /b/

t /t/

d /d/

c before velar vowels, ch- before palatal vowels, q before u in some words,
k in foreign words /k/

g- before velar vowels, gh- before palatal vowels /g/

Affricates

z /ts/

z /dz/

c- before palatal vowels; ci- before velar vowels /tS/

g- before palatal vowels, gi- before velar vowels /dZ/

Fricatives

f /f/

v /v/

s /s/

s /z/

sc- before palatal vowels, sci- before velar vowels /S/

Nasals

m /m/

n /n/

gn /n_j/ palatal [n]

Laterals

l /l/

gl(i) /l_j/ palatal [l]

Vibrant

r /r/

Minimal pairs

/'fato/ - /'fatto/

/'kade/ - /'kadde/

/'kasa/ - /'kassa/

/'pala/ - /'palla/

/'karo/ - /'karro/

/'pena/ - /'penna/

Length is distinctive for all consonants except /ts, dz, S, z, n_j, l_j/.

Some common phrases

   * Italian: italiano /ita'ljano/ (ee-tah-lee-AN-oh)
   * hello: ciao /'tSao/ (CHAH-oh) (informal); buon giorno /'bwon 'dZorno/
     (bwon JOR-noh) (good morning), buona sera /'bwona 's:era/ (BWO-na
     SAY-ra) (good evening)
   * good-bye: arrivederci /ar:ive'dertSi/ (a-ree-veh-DARE-chi)
   * please: per favore /'per fa'vore/ (per fa-VOAR-ay)
   * thank you: grazie /'gradzje/ (GRAD-zee-eh)
   * that one: quello /'kwel:o/ (KWEL-low) (masculiune); quella /'kwel:a/
     (KWEL-lah) (feminine)
   * how much? quanto /'kwanto/ (KWAN-tow)
   * English: inglese /iN'gleze/ (ing-GLAY-zay)
   * yes: s� /si/ (see)
   * no: no /no/ (no)
   * sorry: scusa /'skuza/ (SKOO-zah) (familiar); scusi /'skuzi/ (SKOO-zee)
     (polite)
   * I don't understand: non capisco /'non ka'pisko/ (known kah-PEES-koh)
   * where's the bathroom?: dov'� il bagno? /do've il 'baJo/
     (dow-vay-eel-ba-"spanish �"-oh)
   * generic toast: salute /sa'lute/ (sall-OO-teh); cincin /tSin'tSin/
     (cheen-CHEEN)

   * cara or cara mia (feminine); caro or caro mio (masculine) -
     approximately means my darling or my dear; common term of endearment.

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