Italian vowel
I is always pronounced in the same way, no matter its position in the word. It sounds like the ee in eel, or also see. It’s never pronounced as the i in pin or tin.
Its IPA symbol is /i/.
I
I sound
Examples:
Ivi, fili, istrici, figli, ispidi
(/ˈivi/, /ˈfili/, /ˈistriʧi/, /ˈfiʎʎi/, /ˈispidi/)
There, threads, porcupines, sons, shaggy
Length of the I sound
The I sound in Italian can be short or long.
It is long if it’s stressed and it’s at the end of the syllable, but not at the end of a word. For example…
Vicini
(/viˈʧini/)
Neighbors
Listen closely. The second “i” in vicini is long, since it’s stressed and is at the end of the syllable (ci).
Dipinti
(/diˈpinti/)
Paintings
The stress is yet again on the second “i” vowel, but its length is short because the syllable ends with an -n (pin).
Other Italian words with the I sound
Ricci
(/ˈritʧi/)
Hedgehogs
Stili
(/stiˈli/)
Styles
Inni
(/ˈinni/)
Hymns
Indicibili
(/indiˈʧibili/)
Unspeakable
Indizi
(/inˈdittsi/)
Clues
Libri
(/ˈlibri/)
Books
Your turn!
Pronounce each given word.
Easy
Hard
More free Italian resources
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