Italian orthography (theconventions used in writing Italian) uses theLatin alphabet to write theItalian language. This article focuses on the writing of Standard Italian, based historically on theFlorentine variety ofTuscan.^[1]

Written Italian is very regular and almost completelyphonemic—having an almost one-to-one correspondence between letters (or sequences of letters) and sounds (or sequences of sounds). The main exceptions are thatstress placement andvowel quality (for⟨e⟩ and⟨o⟩) are not notated,⟨s⟩ and⟨z⟩ may be voiced or not,⟨i⟩ and⟨u⟩ may represent vowels or semivowels, and asilent⟨h⟩ is used in a very few cases other than the digraphs⟨ch⟩ and⟨gh⟩ (used for the hard⟨c⟩ and⟨g⟩ sounds before⟨e⟩ and⟨i⟩).

The base alphabet consists of 21 letters: five vowels (A, E, I, O, U) and 16 consonants. The letters J, K, W, X and Y are not native to Italian, but appear in words ofancient Greek origin (e.g.Xilofono), loanwords (e.g. "weekend"),^[2] foreign names (e.g. John), scientific terms (e.g. km) and in a handful of native words—such as the namesKalsa,Jesolo,Bettino Craxi, andCybo, which all derive fromregional languages. In addition,grave andacute accents may modify vowel letters; thecircumflex is much rarer and is found only in older texts.

Double consonants represent truegeminates and are pronounced as such:anno, "year", pronounced[ˈanno] (cf. Englishtennails). The short–long length contrast is phonemic, e.g.ritto[ˈritto], "upright", vs.rito[ˈriːto], "rite, ritual",carro[ˈkarro], "cart, wagon", vs.caro[ˈkaːro], "dear, expensive".

The Italian alphabet has fivevowel letters,⟨a e i o u⟩. Of those, only⟨a⟩ represents onesound value, while all others have two. In addition,⟨e⟩ and⟨i⟩ indicate a different pronunciation of a preceding⟨c⟩ or⟨g⟩ (see below).

Instressedsyllables,⟨e⟩ represents bothopen/ɛ/ andclose/e/. Similarly,⟨o⟩ represents both open/ɔ/ and close/o/ (seeItalian phonology for further details on those sounds). There is typically noorthographic distinction between the open and close sounds represented, althoughaccent marks are used in certain instances (seebelow). There are someminimal pairs, calledheteronyms, where the same spelling is used for distinct words with distinct vowel sounds. In unstressed syllables, only the close variants occur.

In addition to representing the vowels/i/ and/u/,⟨i⟩ and⟨u⟩ also typically represent thesemivowels/j/ and/w/, when unstressed and occurring before another vowel. Many exceptions exist (e.g.attuale,deciduo,deviare,dioscuro,fatuo,iato,inebriare,ingenuo,liana,proficuo,riarso,viaggio). An⟨i⟩ may indicate that a preceding⟨c⟩ or⟨g⟩ is "soft" (ciao).

The letters⟨c⟩ and⟨g⟩ represent theplosives/k/ and/ɡ/ before⟨r⟩ and before the vowels⟨a⟩,⟨o⟩,⟨u⟩. They represent theaffricates/tʃ/ and/dʒ/ when they precede a front vowel (⟨i⟩ or⟨e⟩).

The letter⟨i⟩ can also function withindigraphs (two letters representing one sound)⟨ci⟩ and⟨gi⟩ to indicate "soft" (affricate)/tʃ/ or/dʒ/ before another vowel. In these instances, the vowel following the digraph is stressed, and⟨i⟩ represents no vowel sound:ciò (/tʃɔ/),giù (/dʒu/). An item such asCIA "CIA", pronounced/ˈtʃi.a/ with/i/ stressed, contains no digraph.

For words of more than one syllable, stress position must be known in order to distinguish between digraph⟨ci⟩ or⟨gi⟩ containing no actual phonological vowel/i/ and sequences of affricate and stressed/i/. For example, the wordscamicia, "shirt", andfarmacia, "pharmacy", share the spelling⟨-cia⟩, but contrast in that only the first⟨i⟩ is stressed incamicia, thus⟨-cia⟩ represents/tʃa/ with no/i/ sound (likewise,grigio ends in/dʒo/ and the namesGianni andGianna contain only two actual vowels:/ˈdʒanni/,/ˈdʒanna/). Infarmacia/i/ is stressed, so that⟨ci⟩ is not a digraph but represents two of the three constituents of/ˈtʃi.a/.

When the "hard" (plosive) pronunciation/k/ or/ɡ/ occurs before a front vowel⟨i⟩ or⟨e⟩, digraphs⟨ch⟩ and⟨gh⟩ are used, so that⟨che⟩ represents/ke/ or/kɛ/ and⟨chi⟩ represents/ki/ or/kj/. The same principle applies to⟨gh⟩:⟨ghe⟩ and⟨ghi⟩ represent/ɡe/ or/ɡɛ/ and/ɡi/ or/ɡj/.

In the evolution fromLatin to Italian, the postalveolar affricates/tʃ/ and/dʒ/ werecontextual variants of thevelar consonants/k/ and/ɡ/. They eventually came to be fullphonemes, and orthographic adjustments were introduced to distinguish them. The phonemicity of the affricates can be demonstrated withminimal pairs:

The trigraphs⟨cch⟩ and⟨ggh⟩ are used to indicategeminate/kk/ and/ɡɡ/, when they occur before⟨i⟩ or⟨e⟩; e.g.occhi/ˈɔkki/ "eyes",agghindare/aɡɡinˈdare/ "to dress up". The double letters⟨cc⟩ and⟨gg⟩ before⟨i⟩ or⟨e⟩ and⟨cci⟩ and⟨ggi⟩ before other vowels represent the geminated affricates/ttʃ/ and/ddʒ/, e. g.riccio, "hedgehog",peggio, "worse".

⟨g⟩ joins with⟨l⟩ to form a digraph representing palatal/ʎ/ before⟨i⟩ (before other vowels, the trigraph⟨gli⟩ is used), and with⟨n⟩ to represent/ɲ/ with any vowel following. Between vowels these are pronounced phonetically long, as in/ˈaʎʎo/aglio, "garlic",/ˈoɲɲi/ogni, "each". By way of exception,⟨gl⟩ before⟨i⟩ represents/ɡl/ in some words derived from Greek, such asglicine, "wisteria", from learned Latin, such asnegligente, "negligent", and in a few adaptations from other languages such asglissando/ɡlisˈsando/, partially italianised from Frenchglissant.⟨gl⟩ before vowels other than⟨i⟩ represents straightforward/ɡl/.

Thedigraph⟨sc⟩ is used before⟨e⟩ and⟨i⟩ to represent/ʃ/; before other vowels,⟨sci⟩ is used for/ʃ/. Otherwise,⟨sc⟩ represents/sk/, the⟨c⟩ of which follows the normal orthographic rules explained above.

Intervocalic/ʎ/,/ɲ/, and/ʃ/ are alwaysgeminated and no orthographic distinction is made to indicate this.^[3]

Some words are spelled with⟨cie⟩,⟨gie⟩, and⟨scie⟩. Historically, the letters⟨ie⟩ in these combinations represented a diphthong, but in modern pronunciation these combinations are indistinguishable from⟨ce⟩,⟨ge⟩, and⟨sce⟩. Notable examples:cieco/ˈtʃɛko/ "blind" (homophonous withceco, "Czech"),cielo/ˈtʃɛlo/ "sky" (homophonous withcelo, "I conceal"),scienza/ˈʃɛntsa/ "science".

The plurals of words ending in -⟨cia⟩, -⟨gia⟩ are written with -⟨cie⟩, -⟨gie⟩ if preceded by a vowel (camicia, "skirt" →camicie, "skirts",valigia, "suitcase" →valigie, "suitcases") or with -⟨ce⟩, -⟨ge⟩ if preceded by a consonant (provincia, "province" →province, "provinces"). This rule has been established since the 1950s; prior to that, etymological spellings such asvalige andprovincie were in use.

The letter combination⟨gnia⟩ is pronounced the same as⟨gna⟩ and occurs when the ending-iamo (1st person plural present indicative and 1st person plural present subjunctive) or-iate (2nd person plural present subjunctive) is attached to a stem ending in⟨gn⟩:sognare, "to dream" →sogniamo, "we dream".

Normally/kw/ is represented by⟨qu⟩, but it is represented by⟨cu⟩ in some words, such ascuoco,cuoio,cuore,scuola,scuotere, andpercuotere. These words all contain a/kwɔ/ sequence derived from an original/kɔ/ which was subsequentlydiphthongised. The sequence/kkw/ is always spelled⟨cqu⟩ (e.g.acqua), with exceptions being spelled⟨qqu⟩ in the wordssoqquadro, its derivationsoqquadrare, andbeqquadro andbiqquadro, two alternative forms ofbequadro orbiquadro.^[4]

⟨s⟩ and⟨z⟩ are ambiguous tovoicing.

⟨s⟩ represents adentalsibilant consonant, either/s/ or/z/. However, these two phonemes are incomplementary distribution everywhere except between two vowels in the same word and, even with such words, there are very fewminimal pairs.

• Thevoiceless/s/ occurs:
  • At the start of a word before a vowel (e.g.Sara/ˈsara/) or a voiceless consonant (e.g.spuntare/spunˈtare/)
  • After any consonant (e.g.transitare/transiˈtare/)
  • In the middle of a word before a voiceless consonant (e.g.raspa/ˈraspa/)
  • At the start of the second part of a compound word (e.g.affittasi,disotto,girasole,prosegue,risaputo,reggiseno). These words are formed by adding a prefix to a word beginning with/s/
• Thevoiced/z/ occurs before voiced consonants (e.g.sbranare/zbraˈnare/).
• It can be either voiceless or voiced (/s/ or/z/) between vowels; in standard Tuscany-based pronunciation some words are pronounced with/s/ between vowels (e.g.casa,cosa,così,mese,naso,peso,cinese,piemontese,goloso), but most words are pronounced with/z/ (e.g.bisogno,rosa,cisalpino,medesimo,invaso); in Northern Italy (and also increasingly in Tuscany)⟨s⟩ between vowels is always pronounced with/z/ whereas in Southern Italy⟨s⟩ between vowels is always pronounced/s/.

⟨ss⟩ always represents voiceless/ss/:grosso/ˈɡrɔsso/,successo/sutˈtʃɛsso/,passato/pasˈsato/, etc.

⟨z⟩ represents adentalaffricate consonant; either/dz/ (zanzara/dzanˈdzara/) or/ts/ (canzone/kanˈtsone/), depending on context, although there are few minimal pairs.

• It is normally voiceless/ts/:^[5]
  • At the start of a word in which the second syllable starts with a voiceless consonant (zampa/ˈtsampa/,zoccolo/ˈtsɔkkolo/,zufolo/ˈtsufolo/)
    • Exceptions (because they are of Greek origin):zaffiro,zefiro,zotico,zeta,zafferano,Zacinto
  • When followed by an⟨i⟩ which is followed, in turn, by another vowel (e.g.zio/ˈtsi.o/,agenzia/adʒenˈtsi.a/,grazie/ˈɡrattsje/)
    • Exceptions:azienda/adˈdzjɛnda/, all words derived from words obeying other rules (e.g.romanziere/romanˈdzjɛre/, which is derived fromromanzo)
  • After the letter⟨l⟩ (e.g.alzare/alˈtsare/)
    • Exceptions:elzeviro/eldzeˈviro/ andBelzebù/beldzeˈbu/
  • In the suffixes-anza,-enza and-onzolo (e.g.usanza/uˈzantsa/,credenza/kreˈdɛntsa/,ballonzolo/balˈlontsolo/)
• It is normally voiced/dz/:
  • At the start of a word in which the second syllable starts with a voiced consonant or the letter⟨z⟩ itself (e.g.zebra/ˈdzɛbra/,zuzzurellone/dzuddzurelˈlone/)
    • Exceptions:zanna/ˈtsanna/,zigano/tsiˈɡano/
  • At the start of a word when followed by two vowels (e.g.zaino/ˈdzaino/)
    • Exceptions:zio and its derived terms (see above)
  • If it is single (not doubled) and between two single vowels (e.g.azalea/addzaˈlɛa/)
    • Exceptions:nazismo/natˈtsizmo/ (from the German pronunciation of⟨z⟩)

Between vowels and/or semivowels (/j/ and/w/),⟨z⟩ is pronounced as if doubled (/tts/ or/ddz/, e.g.vizio/ˈvittsjo/,polizia/politˈtsi.a/). Generally, intervocalicz is written doubled, but it is written single in most words where it precedes⟨i⟩ followed by any vowel and in some learned words.

⟨zz⟩ may represent either a voiceless alveolar affricate/tts/ or its voiced counterpart/ddz/:^[6] voiceless in e.g.pazzo/ˈpattso/,ragazzo/raˈɡattso/,pizza/ˈpittsa/,grandezza/ɡranˈdettsa/, voiced inrazzo/ˈraddzo/,mezzo/ˈmɛddzo/,azzardo/adˈdzardo/,azzurro/adˈdzurro/,orizzonte/oridˈdzonte/,zizzania/dzidˈdzanja/. Most words are consistently pronounced with/tts/ or/ddz/ throughout Italy in the standard language (e.g.gazza/ˈɡaddza/ "magpie",tazza/ˈtattsa/ "mug"), but a few words, such asfrizzare, "effervesce, sting", exist in both voiced and voiceless forms, differing byregister or by geographic area, while others have different meanings depending on whether they are pronounced in voiced or voiceless form (e.g.razza:/ˈrattsa/ (race, breed) or/ˈraddza/ (ray, skate)).^[7][8] The verbal ending-izzare from Greek -ίζειν is always pronounced/ddz/ (e.g.organizzare/orɡanidˈdzare/), maintained in bothinflected forms andderivations:organizzo/orɡaˈniddzo/ "I organise",organizzazione/orɡaniddzatˈtsjone/ "organisation". Likefrizzare above, however, not all verbs ending in -izzare continuesuffixed Greek -ίζειν, having instead -izz- as part of theverb stem.Indirizzare, for example, of Latin origin reconstructed as *INDIRECTIARE, has/tts/ in all forms containing the rootindirizz-.

In addition to being used to indicate a hard⟨c⟩ or⟨g⟩ before front vowels (see above),⟨h⟩ is used to distinguishho,hai,ha,hanno (present indicative ofavere, "to have") fromo ("or"),ai ("to the", m. pl.),a ("to"),anno ("year"); since⟨h⟩ is always silent, there is no difference in the pronunciation of such words. The letter⟨h⟩ is also used in some interjections, where it always comes immediately after the first vowel in the word (e.g.eh,boh,ahi,ahimè). Infiller wordsehm anduhm both ⟨h⟩ and the preceding vowel are silent.^[9][10] ⟨h⟩ is used in some loanwords, by far the most common of which ishotel,^[4] but alsohandicap, habitat, hardware, hall ("lobby, foyer"),hamburger, horror, hobby.^[11] Silent⟨h⟩ is also found in some Italian toponyms:Chorio,Dho,Hano,Mathi,Noha,Proh,Rho,Roghudi,Santhià,Tharros,Thiene,Thiesi,Thurio,Vho; and surnames:Dahò,Dehò,De Bartholomaeis,De Thomasis,Matthey,Rahò,Rhodio,Tha,Thei,Theodoli,Thieghi,Thiella,Thiglia,Tholosano,Thomatis,Thorel,Thovez.^[12]

The letter⟨j⟩ (i lunga, "long I", orgei) is not considered part of the standard Italian alphabet; however, it is used in someLatin words, in proper nouns (such asJesi,Letojanni,Juventus, etc.), in words borrowed from foreign languages (most common:jeans, but alsojazz,jet,jeep,banjo),^[13] and in an archaic spelling of Italian.

Until the 19th century,⟨j⟩ was used in Italian instead of⟨i⟩ in word-initial risingdiphthongs, as a replacement for final -⟨ii⟩, and between vowels (as inSavoja); this rule was quite strict in official writing.

The letter⟨j⟩ represents/j/ in Latin and Italian and dialect words such asRomanesco dialectajo/ˈajjo/ ("garlic"; cf. Italianaglio/ˈaʎʎo/); it represents/dʒ/ in borrowings from English (includingjudo, borrowed from Japanese via English); and/ʒ/ in borrowings from French (julienne, bijou).

The letters⟨k⟩ (cappa),⟨w⟩ (V doppia ordoppia V, "double V"),⟨x⟩ (ics) and⟨y⟩ (ipsilon orI greca, "Greek I") are not part of the standard Italian alphabet and are used only in unassimilated or partially assimilated loanwords.

The letter⟨k⟩ is used inkarma,kayak,kiwi,kamikaze,^[14] etc.; it is always pronounced/k/. It is often used informally among young people as a replacement for⟨ch⟩, paralleling the use of⟨k⟩ in English (for example,ke instead ofche).

The letter⟨w⟩ is used inweb,whisky,water, "water closet / toilet",western, "Western movie",watt,^[15] etc; it is alternately pronounced/w/ (inweb,whisky,western) or/v/ (inwater,watt), the latter especially in German loanwords and foreign names. A capital⟨W⟩ is used as an abbreviation ofviva orevviva ("long live"). Although⟨w⟩ is namedV doppia ordoppia V, in initialisms such asB. M. W., T. W. A., W. W. F., W. C., www it is normally read simply asvu.

The letter⟨x⟩ represents either/ks/, as inextra,uxorio,xilofono, or/ɡz/ when it is preceded by⟨e⟩ and followed by a vowel, e.g.exoterico.^[16] In most words, it may be replaced with⟨s⟩ or⟨ss⟩ (with different pronunciation:xilofono/silofono,taxi/tassì) or, rarely, by⟨cs⟩ (with the same pronunciation:claxon/clacson). In some other languages of Italy, it represents/z/ (Venetian),/ʃ/ (Sicilian), or/ʒ/ (Sardinian andLigurian).

The letter⟨y⟩ is used inyoga,yogurt,yacht,Uruguay, etc. This letter is sometimes replaced by⟨i⟩ in some words such asyoga/ioga andyogurt/iogurt, but the spellings with⟨y⟩ are much more common.

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Theacute accent (´) may be used on⟨é⟩ and⟨ó⟩ to represent stressedclose-mid vowels. This use of accents is generally mandatory only to indicate stress on a word-final vowel; elsewhere, accents are generally found only in dictionaries. Since final⟨o⟩ is hardly ever close-mid,⟨ó⟩ is very rarely encountered in written Italian (e.g.metró, "subway", from the original French pronunciation ofmétro with a final-stressed/o/).^{[citation needed]}

Thegrave accent (`) is found on⟨à⟩,⟨è⟩,⟨ì⟩,⟨ò⟩,⟨ù⟩. It may be used on⟨è⟩ and⟨ò⟩ when they representopen-mid vowels. The accents may also be used to differentiateminimal pairs within Italian (for examplepèsca, "peach", vs.pésca, "fishing"), but in practice this is limited to didactic texts. In the case of final⟨ì⟩ and⟨ù⟩, both diacritics are encountered. By far the most common option is the grave accent,⟨ì⟩ and⟨ù⟩, although this may be due to the rarity of the acute accent to represent stress; the alternative of employing the acute,⟨í⟩ and⟨ú⟩, is in practice limited to erudite texts, but can be justified as both vowels are high (as inCatalan). However, since there are no corresponding low (or lax) vowels to contrast with in Italian, both choices are equally acceptable.^{[citation needed]}

Thecircumflex accent (ˆ) can be used to mark thecontraction of two unstressed vowels/ii/ ending a word, normally pronounced[i], so that the plural ofstudio, "study, office", may be written⟨studi⟩,⟨studii⟩ or⟨studî⟩. The form with circumflex is found mainly in older texts, although it may still appear in contexts where ambiguity might arise fromhomography. For example, it can be used to differentiate words such asgeni ("genes", plural ofgene) andgenî ("geniuses", plural ofgenio) orprincipi ("princes", plural ofprincipe) andprincipî ("principles", plural ofprincipio). In general, current usage usually prefers a single⟨i⟩ instead of a double⟨ii⟩ or an⟨î⟩ with circumflex.^[17]

Monosyllabic words generally lack an accent (e.g.ho,me). The accent is written, however, if there is an⟨i⟩ or a⟨u⟩ preceding another vowel (più,può). This applies even if the⟨i⟩ is "silent", i.e. part of the digraphs⟨ci⟩ or⟨gi⟩ representing/tʃ/ and/dʒ/ (ciò,giù). It does not apply, however, if the word begins with⟨qu⟩ (qua,qui). Many monosyllabic words are spelled with an accent in order to avoid ambiguity with other words (e.g.là,lì versusla,li). This is known asaccento distintivo and also occurs in other Romance languages (e.g. theSpanishtilde diacrítica).^{[citation needed]}

"Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura
ché la diritta via era smarrita."

Lines 1–3 of Canto 1 of the Inferno, Part 1 of theDivina Commedia byDante Alighieri, a highly influential poem. Translation (Longfellow): "Midway upon the journey of our life \ I found myself in a dark wood \ for the straight way was lost."^[18]

• Gian Giorgio Trissino, humanist who proposed an orthography in 1524. Some of his proposals were taken.
• Claudio Tolomei, humanist who proposed an orthography in 1525

• Maiden, Martin; Robustelli, Cecilia (2014).A Reference Grammar of Modern Italian (2nd ed.).Routledge.ISBN 9781444116786. Retrieved19 June 2021.

• Danesi, Marcel (1996).Italian the Easy way.

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