Italian vowel
U is always pronounced in the same way, no matter its position in the word. It sounds like the oo in loo, but it’s more closed.
Its IPA symbol is /u/.
| U | U sound |
Examples:
| Uva, lupo, ululare, super, mucca | Grapes, wolf, to howl, super, cow |
Length of the U sound
The U 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…
| Laguna | Lagoon |
Listen closely. The “u” in laguna is long, since it’s stressed and is at the end of the syllable (gu).
| Presunta | Alleged |
The stress is yet again on the second “u” vowel, but its length is short because the syllable ends with an -n (sun).
Other Italian words with the U sound
| Upupa | Hoopoe | |
| Puzza | Bad smell | |
| Lusso | Luxury | |
| Salubre | Healthy | |
| Lucciola | Firefly | |
| Futuro | Future |
Your turn!
Pronounce each given word.
Easy
Hard
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