The fyllables gua, gue, gui, are pronounced ga, ge, gi, or rather, gwa, gwe, gwi.

The fyllables ghe, ghi, are pronounced gue, gui; as, botteghe fhops, fay bottégue; luoghi places, fay luogui.

Z.

Z, as well fingle as double, is generally pronounced like Ts; as, zio an uncle, fay tsio; zóppo lame, fay tsoppo; bellezza beauty, fay bellétfa; fazzoletta a handkerchief, say fatsoletta; nozze a wedding, fay notfe; diligenza diligence, fay diligentfa; forza ftrength, fay fortfa. And note, that in pronouncing thefe words, a finall reft is to be made on the t before the s.

Z is pronounced like ds, in words which in Englifh and Latin are wrote with a Z; as, Lazaro Lazarus, fay Ladfaro; zona a zone, fay dfona; gazzetta a gazette, say gadfetta; mizo the middle, fay midfo; azuro blue, fay adfuro.

H.

The letter H is neither afpirated, nor pronounced in the beginning of words; as, Hora an hour; bo I have; humano human; read ora, ò, osmano.

S.

The letter S, in the beginning of words, is pronounced as in English; as, Salute health, fervo a fervant, fopra upon.

S, before e, f, p, t, keeps its natural found; as, fcalà a ladder, véspa a wafp, stúdio study.

S, before d, g, l, m, n, r, u, is pronounced like z; as, fdegno difdain, read zdegno; sguardo a look, read zguardo; fmánia madness, read zmánia, &c.

S, between two Vowels, is pronounced also like %; as, mífero miferable, fay mízero; desío a defire, fay dezio; cafa a house, fay caza; ufo ufed, fay uzo. Except S in cofi fo, which is pronounced coffi. Sa, in these two words only, cofa a thing, and rosa gnawed, is pronounced in like manner. Si, when added to other words, keeps its natural found; as, ferivefi they write, parlafi they fay, &c.

T.

T, before ia, ie, ii, io, in the middle or ending of words, is pronounced ts; as gratia grace, fay gratia; natione a nation, fay natione; vitii vices, fay vitfii; ótio idleness, fay ótfio. Except, in the words following, ambaftia extafy, faettia a pinnace, malatia fickness, questióne a queftion, moleftia trouble; the letters preceeding the letter t: Alfo in tiene he holdeth, potiáte ye may be able, patiámo we may fuffer, patiate ye may fuffer; and fome other Verbs which will be learnt by practice.

Note. The other Confonants b. d. f. 1. m. n. p. r. are pronounced as in English: Instead of k, the Italians ufe ch; and instead of ph, the letter f.

Fcr

For the Learner's more ready improvement, let him attend to the following Recapitulation of the Italian Pronunciation.

Obferve always to reft on the pronunciation of the Vowels accented thus, tà, virtù, cecità, amò, amerò, amerà, credè, fentì, crederà, sentirà.

Note.

Note. By thefe Examples it may be feen, that the Italian Tongue does not fo greatly differ in pronunciation from the English; but, notwithstanding this, it may at all times be moft proper to attend to the instructions of an able Master, as every language has fome peculiar expreffions which are better learnt by the ear, than by any written Rules.

General OBSERVATIONS.

I.

HE Italian Tongue differs in this from the French, that all words are written after the fame manner they are pronounced.

ΤΗ

II. That the Confonants in the beginning of compound words are doubled, as, ab- battere, ap-pogiare, ap-preffo, dif- ficile, of-fendere, &c.

III. The letter g is doubled, when followed by ia and is, and make together but one fyllable; as, Loggia a lodge, Maggio May: But if the Vowels ia and io be divided or pronounced diftinct, the g is not doubled; as, agio eafy, privilegio privilege, malvagio bad.

The letter g is alfo doubled in the infinitive mood of verbs, and in those tenfes where a vowel comes before gere; as, leggere to read, reggere to govern; otherwife the g remains fingle; as, fingere to feign, pingere to paint, &c.

IV. All words that begin in English with anj confonant, as, Jefus, Jofeph, Journal, are by the Italians wrote by G; as, Giefu, Gioseppe, Giornale.

V. That

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V. That the Vowels E, O, and I, are not pronounced when they follow the letters 1, n, 1, and for the most part not expreffed in writing, unlefs they end the sentence; as,

Bel tempo fà, it is fair weather, not bello.
Di buon ingégno, of a good wit, not buone.
Un mal non vien sólo, a mifchief comes not
alone, not uno male.

Huomin' da bene, honeft men, not huomini. Alfo fometimes when they follow t, d, or m; as, Fra Bernardo, Brother Bernard, not Frate. Gran Soggetto, an eminent man, not grande,

&c.

Note. To this Rule there are fome exceptions in the words Animo the mind, Regno a kingdom, Apollo the God Apollo, and fome others; as, Apollo fiede nel trono, Apollo fitteth on the throne, not Apol frede, &c.

VI. Words beginning with S, require the preceeding word to end with a Vowel; as, grande Stato, quello spirito, effere state, for gran ftato, quel Spirito, effer ftato.

VII. Words of the infinitive mood are not cut off at the end, though a Vowel follows; as, parlare alto to speak aloud, not parlar alto: And note the final Vowels of words are always to be pronounced very soft; also, that the Italian Poets take great liberty in retrenching or cutting off words at their pleasure, which will be readily obferved by reading the best Authors.

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