Italian alphabet
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The Italian alphabet is a variant of the Latin alphabet used by the Italian language (letters marked with an * are considered foreign letters, which are letters used only in foreign words and foreign names):
| A | a | J* | i lunga | R | erre |
| B | bi | K* | cappa | S | esse |
| C | ci | L | elle | T | ti |
| D | di | M | emme | U | u |
| E | e | N | enne | V | vi or vu |
| F | effe | W* | vi doppia or vu doppia | ||
| G | gi | O | o | X* | ics |
| H | acca | P | pi | Y* | ipsilon or i greca |
| I | i | Q | cu | Z | zeta |
[edit] Substitutes for foreign letters
- The letter J, when pronounced like English consonantal Y as in most languages, is substituted by I; when the original word is English, it can be replaced with G when followed by the vowels I or E, or GI when followed by the vowels A, O, or U;
- The letter K is substituted by C when it precedes the vowels A, O, U, or a CH when it precedes the vowels I or E;
- The letter W is replaced by U as a consonant;
- The letter X represents a sound, /ks/, rarely encountered in Italian, and corresponds often to a /s/;
- The letter Y corresponds normally to an I.
[edit] Use of J, K, W, X and Y in Italian
Recent trends have it that foreign letters are seen as "exotic" and positive. Young people use often "K" instead of "CH" to save a character in SMS messages, and generally to "break the rules". "J" is, due to English influence, often pronounced /dʒ/, also in imported names such an Jessica (/ˈdʒessika/). In Italian orthography, it would be written Gessica. Nicknames often involve a final Y, as Miky for Michela. All these uses are normally not standard.
However, a small number of words coming from foreign languages, or derived from Greek or Latin, do make use of non-standard characters, and are considered correct: xilofono, xenofobia, yen.
