Neapolitan orthography consists of 22 Latin letters. Much like Italian orthography, it does not contain k, w, x, or y even though these letters might be found in some foreign words; like traditional Italian, it does contain the letter j. The English pronunciation guidelines that follow are based on General American pronunciation and the values used may not be applicable to other dialects. (See also: International Phonetic Alphabet chart for English dialects.)
All Romance languages are closely related. Although Neapolitan shares a high degree of its vocabulary with Italian, the official language of Italy, differences in pronunciation often make the connection unrecognizable to those without knowledge of Neapolitan. The most striking phonological difference is the Neapolitan weakening of unstressed vowels into schwa (schwa is pronounced like the a in about or the u in upon). However it is also possible (and quite common for some Neapolitans) to speak standard Italian with a "Neapolitan accent"; that is, by pronouncing un-stressed vowels as schwa but by otherwise using only entirely standard words and grammatical forms. This is not Neapolitan proper, but a mere difference in Italian pronunciation.
Therefore, while pronunciation presents the strongest barrier to comprehension, the grammar of Neapolitan is what sets it apart from Italian. In Neapolitan, for example, the gender and number of a word is expressed by a change in the accented vowel, whereas in Italian it is expressed by a change in the final vowel (e.g. luongo [ˈlwoŋɡə], longa [ˈloŋɡə]; Italian lungo, lunga; masc. "long", fem. "long"). These and other morpho-syntactic differences distinguish the Neapolitan language from the Italian language and the Neapolitan accent.
Vowels[]
While there are only five graphic vowels in Neapolitan, phonemically, there are eight. Stressed vowels e and o can be either "closed" or "open" and the pronunciation is different for the two. The grave accent (à, è, ò) is used to denote open vowels, and the acute accent (é, í, ó, ú) is used to denote closed vowels, with alternative ì and ù. However, accent marks are not commonly used in the actual spelling of words except when they occur on the final syllable of a word, such as Totò, arrivà, or pecché and when they appear here in other positions it is only to demonstrate where the stress, or accent, falls in some words. Also, the circumflex is used to mark a long vowel where it wouldn't normally occur (e.g. sî "you are").
Letter | IPA | Pronunciation guide |
---|---|---|
æ | /æ/ | pronounced the same as in English |
a | /a/~[ɑ] /ə/ |
a is usually open and is pronounced like the a in father when it is the final, unstressed vowel, its pronunciation is indistinct and approaches the sound of the schwa |
ʌ | /ʌ/ | pronounced the same as in English |
e | /ɛ/ /e/ /ə/ |
stressed, open e is pronounced like the e in bet stressed, closed e is pronounced like the a in fame except that it does not die off into ee unstressed e is pronounced as a schwa |
ə | /ɪ/ | pronounced the same as in English |
i | /i/ | i is always closed and is pronounced like the ee in meet |
o | /ɔ/ /o/ /ə/ |
stressed, open o is pronounced like the o in often stressed, closed o is pronounced like the o in closed except that it does not die off into oo unstressed o is pronounced as a schwa |
ɔ | /ɒ/ | pronounced the same as in English |
u | /u/ | u is always closed and is pronounced like the oo in boot |
Consonants[]
Letter | IPA | Pronunciation guide |
---|---|---|
b | /b/ | pronounced the same as in English, always geminated when preceded by another vowel |
c | /t͡ʃ/~[ʃ] [d͡ʒ] /k/ [ɡ] |
when followed by e or i the pronunciation is somewhere between the sh in share and the ch in chore, especially after a vowel otherwise it is like the k in skip (not like the c in call, which is aspirated) in both cases voiced after n |
d | /d/ | dental version of the English d |
f | /f/ | pronounced the same as in English |
g | /d͡ʒ/, /ɡ/ |
when followed by e or i the pronunciation is like the g of germane, always geminated when preceded by another vowel otherwise it is like the g in gum |
h | h is always silent and is only used to differentiate words pronounced the same and otherwise spelled alike (e.g. a, ha; anno, hanno) and after g or c to preserve the hard sound when e or i follows (e.g. ce, che; gi, ghi) | |
j | /j/ | referred to as a semi-consonant, is pronounced like English y as in yet |
k | /x/ | pronounced the same as in English |
l | /l/ | pronounced the same as in English |
m | /m/ | pronounced the same as in English |
n | /n/ | pronounced the same as in English; if followed by a consonant, it variously changes its point of articulation |
p | /p/ [b] |
pronounced the same as the p in English spill (not as the p in pill, which is aspirated) voiced after m |
q | /kʷ/ | represented by orthographic qu, pronounced the same as in English |
r | /r/~[ɾ] | when between two vowels it is sounds very much like the American tt in butter but in reality it is a single tic of a trilled r when at the beginning of a word or when preceded by or followed by another consonant, it is trilled |
s | /s/ [d͡z] [z] |
pronounced the same as in English sound unless it comes before a consonant other than /t d n r l/ pronounced as ds in lads after n pronounced as English z before d |
ʃ | /ʃ/ [ʒ] |
pronounced sh when followed by a voiceless consonant (except /t/) zh when followed by a voiced consonant (except /n d r l/) |
t | /t/ [d] |
dental version of the English t as in state (not as the t in tool, which is aspirated) voiced after n |
v | /v/ | pronounced the same as in English |
w | /ɰ/ | pronounced the same as in English |
x | /k(ə)s/ | pronounced as if it was k-s, with a pause between the letters |
y | /ɣ/ | pronounced the same as in English |
z | /d͡z/ /t͡s/ |
voiced z is pronounced like the ds in lads unvoiced z (not occurring after n) is pronounced like the ts in jetsam |
ʒ | /ʒ/ | pronounced the same as in English |
Digraphs and trigraphs[]
The following clusters are always geminated if vowel-following.
Letter | IPA | Pronunciation Guide |
---|---|---|
gn | /ɲ/ | palatal version of the ni in the English onion |
gl(i) | /ʎ/~[ʝ] | palatal version of the lli in the English million, most commonly realized like a strong version of y in the English yes. |
sc | /ʃ/ | when followed by e or i it is pronounced as the sh in the English ship |
External links[]
List of language orthographies [edit] |
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Anii · Anjam · Bari · Burum · Dusun · Kanakanabu · Kashubian · Malecite-Passamaquoddy · Mocho' · Neapolitan · Piedmontese · Rotuman · Zia |