The
sounds of the S
1. The impure sound of the S or /Z/.
a) When the S is between two vowel or before letters such as: B, D, M, R and G you need to pronounce it as /Z/.
esa= /eza/ osa= /oza/ usa= /uza/ osi= /ozi/
ESEMPI:
casa
Asino
(donkey) |
Asilo (chocolate) |
Fase
(phase) |
Casa
(house, home) |
Deserto
(desert) |
Fisarmonica (accordion) |
Cosa
(thing) |
Desiderio (wish, desire) |
Sbaglio (error) |
Così
(so) |
Disastro (disaster) |
Sbadigliare (yawn) |
Scusa
(excuse) |
Disgrazia
(misfortune) |
Smarrito (lost) |
Cesello
(chisel) |
Dose (dose) |
Smorfia (grimace) |
2. The pure sound of the SS or /S/.
a) When the S is doubled, its sound is soft. You pronounce it as /S/.isso =/iso/ asso=/aso/ assa=/asa/ esso=/eso/
ESEMPI:
passatempo
|
Abisso
(abyss)
|
Essere (to be)
|
|
Abbassare
(to lower)
|
Fisso
(fixed)
|
|
Basso
(short)
|
Passatempo (pastime)
|
|
Cassa
(cashier)
|
Passione (passion)
|
|
Bassotto
(dachshund)
|
Ripasso
(revision, exercise)
|
|
Essenza
(essence)
|
Stesso (same)
|