Vowels are the cornerstone of Italian. The Italian language is heavily vowel-centered and this is what gives it its lovely melodic sing-song sound that we all know and love.
The Italian word for ‘vowel’ is actually VOCALE so you can see the relationship between vowels and ‘vocalizing’ because that is what we are actually doing when we use vowels in words, they are just much more prevalent in Italian.
So, if you really want to sound as authentically Italian as possible, then getting your vowel pronunciation down is a crucial place to start. We don’t expect you to be perfect, of course! Italians actually find the English/American accent very endearing in Italian, so you shouldn’t be too worried about it!
The important thing with pronunciation is to know what the correct sound is and aim as best you can to replicate it.
As stated before, Italian has 7 vowel sounds in total. This means that there are two vowel letters, E and O, that have two different pronunciations each.
Compare this to English, which has the same 5 vowel letters but around 20 different vowel sounds! The exact number depends on the variety of English you speak but it nevertheless makes Italian pronunciation seem much simpler now, doesn’t it! However, since in English we do have so many more vowel sounds, the challenge is narrowing the range of vowel sounds down to hit the Italian vowels precisely.
The two sounds of both E and O are known as ‘open’ and ‘closed’ which refers to how the vowel is articulated in the mouth to produce the different sounds. They might sound very similar to you at first, but listen carefully and you should be able to distinguish them.
Italian Vowel Sounds
Letter A E/É E/È I O O/Ò U
Sound /a/ /e/ /É›/ /i/ /o/ /É”/ /u/
Something to keep in mind is that throughout our pronunciation guides, you will encounter a LOT of new vocabulary!
Don’t get overwhelmed and think that you have to learn and memorize all these new words straight away, they are used purely to illustrate the pronunciation of Italian vowels and consonants as we address them and expose you from the beginning to real Italian.
The words we have given you for every example are intentionally simple and frequently-used – perfect for a beginner. Though we don’t expect you to memorize them all, it’s a good idea to be exposed to and become familiar with these useful words.
The following section displays each of the 7 vowel sounds occurring in common, everyday words. Listen to each word carefully, repeat each word as you hear it and note the difference between the open and the closed vowel sounds of E and O.
a – /a/
â–ª AMICA friend (female)
â–ª PANE bread
â–ª CASA house
e – /e/ (Closed E)
â–ª ELEFANTE elephant
â–ª VENTI twenty
â–ª CENA dinner
e – /É›/ (Open E)
â–ª PESCA peach
â–ª VENTO wind
â–ª BELLO beautiful
i – /i/
â–ª AMICI friends
â–ª INCIDENTE accident
â–ª IDEA idea
o – /o/ (Closed O)
â–ª NOME name
â–ª ALTO tall
â–ª ORA hour
o – /É”/ (Open E)
â–ª COSA name
â–ª TONICA tonic water
â–ª OPERA work
u – /u/
â–ª CURIOSO curious
â–ª DURO hard
â–ª MUSICA music
When it comes to the open and closed vowels, some regional varieties of Italian don’t actually distinguish between open and closed vowels, like in parts of Sicily and around Milan in the north, where E and O are always open. Likewise, there are other regions where only the closed E and O are used.
So what should you take away from this?
Basically, at this point in time, you really don’t need to worry too much about getting the open and closed vowels spot on, just be aware that there is a difference and try your best to produce all vowels as cleanly, clearly and crisply as you can!