I will indicate them in the following sentences with a tick : They change the configuration of the vowel that precedes them. The double consonants are a significant feature of the Italian language. Mio padre si chiama Davide e conosce un sacco di cose ГЁ Mio padre // si chiama Davide // e conosce un sacco di cose Double consonants Unless they are clearly marked (by ,В or ), these micro-pauses are represented by the following marker: They are useful to give the Italian sentence an authentic rhythm. Groups of words are separated by micro-pauses. This influences, once again, all of the other syllables (the voice pattern: up-up-up-up-down up-up-up-up-down)Д¬he persona simpatica! > ChД“_pД“rsЕЌnДЃ_ sД«mpГ tica In the third and final example, the voice falls on two places: on the quantity of the desire and on the desired destination of the speaker. This influences the syllables of all of the words. The 3 words вЂњcheвЂќ, вЂњpersonaвЂќ and вЂњsimpaticoвЂќ as single words are pronounced as if they were a single word: chД“_pД“rsЕЌnДЃ_ sД«mpГ tica. I will use a short underscore to highlight this : This plays a pivotal rule in the way tones are used in a sentence. As a result words are aggregated into blocks. This is commonly done in Italian and we call it aggregation of words. Aggregation of words and micro-pausesДЄrticles, adjectives and particles are minor and shorter segments that are assimilated to the other more important words. The same is true in the second example: the main sentence stress falls on the syllable вЂњ pГ вЂќ of вЂњ sД«mpГ ticaвЂќ because the speaker wants to emphasize the quality of the person.

The sentence stress falls on buГІnoВ because the speaker wants to emphasize the quality of the coffee. In the following examples, I will underline the word in question:Д¬omвЂ™ГЁ buono questo caffГЁ! > CЕЌmвЂ™Д“ buГІnoВ quД“stЕЌ cДЃffГЁ!Д¬he persona simpatica! > ChД“ pД“rsЕЌnДЃ sД«mpГ tica This can affect the stress and pronunciation of vowels in surrounding words. The main stress is determined by certain accented words in a sentence. ДЂncГІra > ДЃn-cГІ-ra ( high toneвЂ“ main stress вЂ“ neutral tone)Д¬ittГ > cД«t-tГ ( high toneВ вЂ“ main stress) ГЂncora > Г n-co-ra (main stress вЂ“ neutral tone вЂ“ neutral tone) Subsequent syllables after the main stress have a low tone, and no markerВ is put on them (similar to the neutral tone in Chinese). The syllable or syllables preceding the main stress are generally pronounced with a high toneВ (similar to the first tone in Chinese): The marker is The main stress can be anywhere within a word: on the first, second, third or final syllable. As said in part 2/3, the fourth tone of Mandarin Chinese can be used to describe the main stress: Г , ГЁ, Г¬, ГІ ,Г№. The voice falls on this syllable and literally stops for a micro-second: This is why Italian sounds musical to non-native Italian speakers.

In Italian the main stress is on the individual accented syllableВ of a word. Italian has two important phonetic features: Observe the rhythm of the language and alter single word pronunciation to fit sentence stress (dynamics of language).ДЄn example of phonetic analysis in Italian.A native-like accents requires the speaker to:

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