Lesson 1: The vowels, phonetic, consonants in sicilian language

The Vowels

Phonetic

 

The vowels in the Sicilian language are five:  a, e, i, o, u .

These vowels can have a short sound or a long one, according to the position they occupy in the word in which they are located.

When these vowels have an accent at the end of the word, they have a strong sound.

The sound of these vowels is as follows:

 

a   is pronounced as in the word          palm                parma

e   is pronounced as in the word          echo                leccu

i    is pronounced as in the word          ring               aneddu 

o   is pronounced as in the word          lost                  persu

u   is pronounced as in the word          foot                 pedi

 

Consonants

 

b has a labial sound and is pronounced as in bold (arditu), bag (bag), bacìllus (bacillu):

            bagnu              bath

            beddu              beautiful

            biàncu             white

c has a guttural or hard sound with the vowels a, o, u, as in cart, cold, cool:

cani                 dog

café`               coffee

cocu                cook

c has also a guttural or hard sound with e and i if the vowel is preceded by the h, as is pronounced as in kennel, kick,:

chiàvi           key

chiàru          clair

checcu         stutterer

c has a palatal soft sound if is followed by e and i as in change, chief:

celu               sky

cira               wax

           ciumi             river

In some cases the sound of c acquires the sound of the sh as in shift, shield:

            Sciumi             river

            Sciaràri           to smell

            Sciuri              flower

d has a dental sound as in deal, dark:

diàriu          diary

dinàri          money

denti           teeth

f  is pronounced as in fear, far:

fumu           smoke

fari              to do

finu             fine

g , as  c, has a guttural or hard sound if followed by a, o, u, as in garage, goal, goose:

gattu               cat

gòdiri              to enjoy

gula                throat

g  is also guttural or hard with e and i if it is followed by the h, as in ghetto, gift:

ghiàcciu           ice

gherciu            cross-eyed 

ghiòmmaru     ball of tread

g can also be palatal if followed by e and i, as in gentle, giant:

            giùvini             young

            gèmitu             moan

giùgnu             June

If g is followed by the n, it acquires a nasal sound, as in canyon:

gnurànti          ignorant 

gnissàri          to plaster

            gnumìnia        ignominy

h has no sound. It is used to make the hard sound preceded by the c and the g.

l  is liquid as in the words limp, law:

            linu               linen

luna              moon

lana              wool

m  is labial and is pronounced as in the words  market, minister:

maìstru       teacher

miu              mine

mègghiu      better

n is palatal and is pronounced as in nail, neck, none:

nasu             nose

nidu             nest

nanu             dwarf

p is labial and is pronounced as in paràde, pedal, pig:

piàttu           plate

ponti            bridge

            pumu            apple

q is always followed by u as in quake, quest, quick:

quàli               which

quànnu          when

àcqua              water

r  is pronounced as in radio, ready, ring:

rama               branch

raggia             rage

riccu               rich

s is pronounced as in sack, second, sick :

saìtta            arrow

siccu             thin, dry

suli               sun

t  is pronounced as in table, tempest, tip:

tali               such

tempu          weather, time

timùni          rudder    

v is pronounced as in value, vein, view:

vinu             wine

vuluntà       will

volu             flight

z is pronounced as in zero, zipper zone:

zona             zone

ziu                uncle
zeru              zero