Italian (italiano) is a Romance language that evolved directly from Latin in the Italo-Western branch. It is spoken primarily in Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, and southern Switzerland.
Today, Italian is spoken by approximately 67 million native speakers[1] and about 85 million total speakers worldwide. It is the official language of Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, and one of the official languages of Switzerland[2], with language standards maintained by the Accademia della Crusca[3].
The Italian alphabet has 28 letters – 5 basic vowels, 7 accented vowel letters, and 21 consonants. Italian pronunciation is highly regular, with most letters pronounced consistently. The language also features digraphs and double consonants.
Below is the breakdown of all letters and characters used in Italian.
Italian Vowel Letters
The Italian alphabet has 5 basic vowel letters: a, e, i, o, u. Italian vowels are pure sounds and are pronounced consistently, making Italian pronunciation relatively straightforward.
Italian Vowels (Lowercase)
Italian Vowels (Uppercase)
Italian Accented Vowel Letters
Italian uses 7 accented vowel letters: à, è, é, ì, ò, ó, ù (and their uppercase forms). These accents indicate stress and help distinguish words with different meanings. The grave accent (`) is most common.
Italian Accented Vowels (Lowercase)
Italian Accented Vowels (Uppercase)
Italian Double Consonants
Italian uses double consonants (consonanti doppie) which significantly affect pronunciation and meaning. Examples include bb, cc, dd, ff, gg, ll, mm, nn, pp, rr, ss, tt.
The difference between single and double consonants can change word meanings entirely.
Italian Digraphs
Italian uses digraphs (two-letter combinations) that represent single sounds: ch (sounds like "k"), gh (hard "g"), gl (palatalised "l"), gn (like Spanish "ñ"), and sc (can be "sk" or "sh").
These digraphs are essential for proper Italian pronunciation.
Italian Consonant Letters
Italian has 16 native consonant letters. The letters J, K, W, X, Y are used mainly in loan words from other languages.
Italian consonants are generally pronounced as written, contributing to the language's phonetic nature.
Italian Consonants (Lowercase)
Italian Consonants (Uppercase)
Special Characters in Italian
Italian writing uses punctuation marks and symbols including period (.), comma (,), question mark (?), exclamation (!), apostrophe ('), and Italian quotation marks (« »). The Euro symbol (€) is also commonly used.
Italian punctuation follows similar rules to other Romance languages.
Digits in Italian
Italian uses the standard Arabic numerals 0–9, with Italian number names: zero, uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove.
Like many European languages, Italian uses a comma (,) as the decimal separator.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
References:
- [1] Ethnologue. "Italian Language (ITA) - L1 & L2 Speakers, Status, Map". Retrieved from https://www.ethnologue.com/language/ita/
- [2] Italian Government Law 482/1999. "Article 1 - Official Language of the Republic". Official law establishing Italian as national language (URL no longer accessible)
- [3] Accademia della Crusca. "Italian Language Academy - Official Authority". Retrieved from https://accademiadellacrusca.it/
Sambhu Raj Singh · 
