I’ve noticed on my blog stats that people have a few concerns about pronouncing Italian words from SAVING THE GRIFFIN. Here’s a quick guide.
If you’re familiar with Spanish, it should be extremely easy because the vowels are similar.
A: ah as dog
E: ay as in day
I: ee as in need
O: oh as in hoe
U: oo as in blue
RR: roll those r’s.
Checchi: Cakey
C’e: chay rhyming with day.
Mangia: MAHN-jah (Jah like jog)
Dai: sounds a lot like die, but it is a dipthong: dah-ee.
The C’s and G’s in Italian can confuse. A ‘ch’ used in combination with i or e will have the hard k sound as will a “c” followd by an “o” or “u”. Therefore “chi” would sound like “key”. A “gh” in combination with an ‘i’ or ‘e’ will have the sound of gate as will a “g” followed by an “o” or “u”.
It may all sound a bit tricky, but in reality, Italian is a much easier language with respect to spelling than English. In fact, Italians imported “lo spelling” because that concept wasn’t in their vocabulary! As I noted in another post, my first grader could read Italian beautifully even if she didn’t have the first idea what she was saying. Feel free to ask any questions about pronunciation in the comments section. I’ll try to get back to you promptly.
Kristin Wolden Nitz 