Editing Italian language (section)

== Phonology ==
{{Main|Italian phonology}}
[[File:It-Vangeli.ogg|thumb|[[s:Bible (King James)/Luke#Chapter 2|Luke 2]], 1–7 of the Bible being read by a speaker of Italian from [[Milan]]]]

{{Excerpt|Italian phonology|Consonants}}
Italian has a seven-vowel system, consisting of {{IPA|/a, ɛ, e, i, ɔ, o, u/}}, and 23 consonants. Compared with most other Romance languages, Italian phonology is conservative, preserving many words nearly unchanged from [[Vulgar Latin]]. Some examples:
* Italian ''{{Wikt-lang|it|quattordici}}'' 'fourteen' < Latin {{smallcaps|{{Wikt-lang|la|quattuordecim}}}} (cf. Spanish ''{{Wikt-lang|es|catorce}}'', French ''{{Wikt-lang|fr|quatorze}}'' {{IPA|/katɔʁz/}}, [[Catalan language|Catalan]] and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] {{lang|pt|[[wikt:catorze|catorze]]|italic=yes}})
* Italian ''settimana'' 'week' < Latin {{smallcaps|septimāna}} (cf. Romanian ''săptămână'', Spanish and Portuguese ''semana'', French ''semaine'' {{IPA|/səmɛn/}}, [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ''setmana'')
* Italian ''medesimo'' 'same' < Vulgar Latin *{{smallcaps|medi(p)simum}} (cf. Spanish ''mismo'', [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] ''mesmo'', French ''même'' {{IPA|/mɛm/}}, [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ''mateix''; Italian usually prefers the shorter ''stesso'')
* Italian ''guadagnare'' 'to win, earn, gain' < Vulgar Latin *{{smallcaps|guadaniāre}} < [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] {{IPA|/waidanjan/}} (cf. Spanish ''ganar'', Portuguese ''ganhar'', French ''gagner'' {{IPA|/ɡaɲe/}}, [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ''guanyar'').

The conservative nature of Italian phonology is partly explained by its origin. Italian stems from a literary language that is derived from the 13th-century speech of the city of [[Florence]] in the region of [[Tuscany]], and has changed little in the last 700 years or so. Furthermore, the Tuscan dialect is the most conservative of all [[Regional Italian|Italian dialects]], radically different from the [[Gallo-Italian languages]] less than {{convert|100|mi|km|order=flip|-1}} to the north (across the [[La Spezia–Rimini Line]]).

The following are some of the conservative phonological features of Italian, as compared with the common [[Western Romance]] languages (French, Spanish, [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Galician language|Galician]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]]). Some of these features are also present in [[Romanian language|Romanian]].
* Little or no [[Phoneme|phonemic]] [[lenition]] of consonants between vowels, e.g. {{smallcaps|vīta}} > ''vita'' 'life' (cf. Romanian ''viață'', Spanish ''vida'' {{IPA|[ˈbiða]}}, French ''vie''), {{smallcaps|pedem}} > ''piede'' 'foot' (cf. Spanish ''pie'', French ''pied'' {{IPA|/pje/}}).
** Words that are an exception to this rule exist, such as: {{smallcaps|scvtella}} > ''scodella'' 'bowl', {{smallcaps|recipere}} > ''ricevere'' 'receive', {{smallcaps|lacvs}} > ''lago'' 'lake', {{smallcaps|acvs}} > ''ago'' 'needle', (only in the [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]] accent and historical standard Italian) {{smallcaps|vīsus}} > ''viso'' {{IPA|/vizo/}} 'face'.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DOP: Dizionario di Ortografia e Pronunzia della lingua italiana |url=https://dop.netadcom.com/p.aspx?nID=lettera-S |access-date=2024-08-24 |website=dop.netadcom.com}}</ref>
* Preservation of geminate consonants, e.g. {{smallcaps|annum}} > {{IPA|/ˈanːo/}} {{lang|it|anno}} 'year' (cf. Spanish {{lang|es|año}} {{IPA|/ˈaɲo/}}, French {{lang|fr|an}} {{IPA|/ɑ̃/}}, Romanian {{lang|ro|an}}, Portuguese {{lang|pt|ano}} {{IPA|/ˈɐnu/}}).
* Preservation of all [[Proto-Romance]] final vowels, e.g. {{smallcaps|pacem}} > {{lang|it|pace}} 'peace' (cf. Romanian {{lang|ro|pace}}, Spanish {{lang|es|paz}}, French {{lang|fr|paix}} {{IPA|/pɛ/}}), {{smallcaps|octō}} > {{lang|it|otto}} 'eight' (cf. Romanian {{lang|ro|opt}}, Spanish {{lang|es|ocho}}, French {{lang|fr|huit}} {{IPA|/ɥi(t)/}}), {{smallcaps|fēcī}} > {{lang|it|feci}} 'I did' (cf. Romanian dialectal {{lang|ro|feci}}, Spanish {{lang|es|hice}}, French {{lang|fr|fis}} {{IPA|/fi/}}).
* Preservation of most intertonic vowels (those between the stressed syllable and either the beginning or ending syllable). This accounts for some of the most noticeable differences, as in the forms ''quattordici'' and ''settimana'' given above.
* Slower consonant development, e.g. {{smallcaps|folia}} > Italo-Western {{IPA|/fɔʎʎa/}} > ''foglia'' {{IPA|/ˈfɔʎʎa/}} 'leaf' (cf. Romanian ''foaie'' {{IPA|/ˈfo̯aje/}}, Spanish ''hoja'' {{IPA|/ˈoxa/}}, French ''feuille'' {{IPA|/fœj/}}; but note Portuguese ''folha'' {{IPA|/ˈfoʎɐ/}}).

Compared with most other Romance languages, Italian has many inconsistent outcomes, where the same underlying sound produces different results in different words, e.g. {{smallcaps|laxāre}} > ''lasciare'' and ''lassare'', {{smallcaps|captiāre}} > ''cacciare'' and ''cazzare'', {{smallcaps|(ex)dēroteolāre}} > ''sdrucciolare'', ''druzzolare'' and ''ruzzolare'', {{smallcaps|rēgīna}} > ''regina'' and ''reina''. Although in all these examples the second form has fallen out of usage, the dimorphism is thought to reflect the several-hundred-year period during which Italian developed as a literary language divorced from any native-speaking population, with an origin in 12th/13th-century Tuscan but with many words borrowed from [[Languages of Italy|languages]] farther to the north, with different sound outcomes. (The [[La Spezia–Rimini Line]], the most important [[isogloss]] in the entire Romance-language area, passes only about {{convert|20|mi|km|-1|order=flip|disp=or}} north of Florence.) Dual outcomes of Latin {{IPA|/p t k/}} between vowels, such as {{smallcaps|lŏcvm}} > ''luogo'' but {{smallcaps|fŏcvm}} > ''fuoco'', was once thought to be due to borrowing of northern voiced forms, but is now generally viewed as the result of early phonetic variation within Tuscany.

Some other features that distinguish Italian from the Western Romance languages:
* Latin {{smallcaps|ce-,ci-}} becomes {{IPA|/tʃe, tʃi/}} rather than {{IPA|/(t)se, (t)si/}}.
* Latin {{smallcaps|-ct-}} becomes {{IPA|/tt/}} rather than {{IPA|/jt/}} or {{IPA|/tʃ/}}: {{smallcaps|octō}} > ''otto'' 'eight' (cf. Spanish ''ocho'', French ''huit,'' Portuguese ''oito'').
* Vulgar Latin {{smallcaps|-cl-}} becomes ''cchi'' {{IPA|/kkj/}} rather than {{IPA|/ʎ/}}: {{smallcaps|oclum}} > ''occhio'' 'eye' (cf. Portuguese ''olho'' {{IPA|/ˈoʎu/}}, French ''œil'' {{IPA|/œj/}} < {{IPA|/œʎ/}}); but Romanian ''ochi'' {{IPA|/okʲ/}}.
* Final {{IPA|/s/}} is not preserved, and vowel changes rather than {{IPA|/s/}} are used to mark the plural: ''amico'', ''amici'' 'male friend(s)', ''amica'', ''amiche'' 'female friend(s)' (cf. Romanian ''amic'', ''amici'' and ''amică'', ''amice''; Spanish ''amigo(s)'' 'male friend(s)', ''amiga(s)'' 'female friend(s)'); {{smallcaps|trēs, sex}} → ''tre, sei'' 'three, six' (cf. Romanian ''trei'', ''șase''; Spanish ''tres'', ''seis'').

Standard Italian also differs in some respects from most nearby Italian languages:
* Perhaps most noticeable is the total lack of [[metaphony (Romance languages)|metaphony]], although metaphony is a feature characterizing nearly every other [[Languages of Italy|Italian language]].
* No simplification of original {{IPA|/nd/}}, {{IPA|/mb/}} (which often became {{IPA|/nn/, /mm/}} elsewhere).

=== Assimilation ===
Italian [[phonotactics]] do not usually permit verbs and polysyllabic nouns to end with consonants, except in poetry and song, so foreign words may receive [[Epenthetic vowel#Anaptyxis|extra terminal vowel sounds]].<!--(Maybe this should go under history?)--->