Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Italian pronunciation.

I have always thought the "Z" in words like "Zucchero" are pronounced
with the English "S" sound. But then I hear this lady pronouncing it
as a "Z". Is this because she has some type of accent?
http://italian.about.com/library/media/audio/fare22413.wav

 with the English "S" sound.
Nope. In Italian "z" is pronounced in two ways. One is the z of zucchero
(the one you heard), the other one is the one in azione. The first one is
voiced, the second one is voiceless.
http://italian.about.com/cs/pronunciation/ht/pronounceconson.htm
http://italian.about.com/cs/pronunciation/ht/pronouncevowels.htm
http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa082703a.htm
Sebastiano

On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 10:44:17 GMT, jonny wrote:
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It's pronounced either [ts] (English "tsar") or [dz] (d + "z" in "zero" or
"s" in "because"). It depends on the word and on the accent.
Ciao, FB
-- 
Io ho deciso di rifiutarmi di vederlo: Ettore con la faccia di Eric Banana
mi fa venire i conati.
(commento sul film "Troy" apparso su it.fan.scrittori.tolkien)

 as a "Z". Is this because she has some type of accent?
nope, that's correct :)

"s" in "because"). It depends on the word and on the accent.
This is what I meant, I thought it was always "Sue-cchero" as opposed
to "Zoo-cchero" obviously not.


http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa082703a.htm
This made me smile. I didn't know that there's only a subtle
difference between asking "how old are you?" and "how many arseholes
do you have?" :)))

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Thanks.

 do you have?" :)))
lol that's noticeable

...
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the italian lady was probably right , no "s" sound in zucchero

...
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the italian lady was probably right , no "s" sound in zucchero

 the italian lady was probably right , no "s" sound in zucchero
she's right although she has a horrible voice :-)

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According to that last URL that Seb posted..
Quanti anni hai? can be mistakenly pronounced as "Quanti ani hai"?
I'm off to practise my pronounciation! :)

 I'm off to practise my pronounciation! :)
....but pronunciation is extermely important :-)

 do you have?" :)))
A typical children's joke is to ask "Quanti ani hai?" very quickly, so that
the other can't hear the difference, and then obviously to end with big
laughs at the answer "Sei" :-)
-- 
Lorenzo Castelli
E-Mail: 
gcas...@racine.ra.it

 Quanti anni hai? can be mistakenly pronounced as "Quanti ani hai"?
^_^
In NY I ordered a Sex on the *Bitch*. The bartender, of course a nice girl,
laughed out loud.
Sebastiano

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lol, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a "sex on the bitch" after
all there's a "screaming orgasm" and a "muff diver". Actually I can
imagine someone with a foreign accent pronouncing "beach", "bitch".
Did you get the wrong word or was it just your accent?. I can remember
a Jamaican man asking me how much the "Pool Table" was, when I worked
in a TV shop. I told him that we didn't sell "pool tables". To cut a
long story short he was asking how much the "portable" was, as in
"portable TV":)

 "portable TV":)
LOL
Sebastiano

On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 18:10:40 GMT, jonny wrote:
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jonny boy... practise your spelling, too <VBG> "pronUnciation" ...
(Remember, we're here to help them learn English :)
-- 
Pear pea a chair, Ray. Core Reggie eel me oh eat alien, oh... :)
Joey DoWop, working on a temporary account.

"jonny" <j...@jj.jj> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:c5hrj01r35i9kqhro...@4ax.com...
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For accuracy's sake, note that in the word "zucchero" *should* be pronounced
with the /ts/ sound, not the /dz/ one. Anyway, many native speakers (myself
included) always use the /dz/ sound when the "z" is in beginning of word. In
theory, many common word should - following the dictionary - have the /ts/
sound: zio, zitto, zucca...
I'm not totally sure whether the lady used /ts/ or /dz/ (sound quality is
low with my speakers and the difference is very little anyway) probably the
latter.
Lorenzo

On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 10:44:17 GMT, jonny wrote:
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It seems to me she's not Italian either. It sounds /c@n 'tsukk@r@/.
Bye, FB
-- 
"Come, dear, we have already missed five, if not six, trains. To miss any
more might expose us to comment on the platform."
("The Importance of Being Earnest", Oscar Wilde)

"jonny" <j...@jj.jj> wrote in message
news:4utrj0hpup44l4kpr...@4ax.com...
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So that's why mothers in the Veneto always tell their children "batete
bene le dopie"!   :>)
Joe from Massachusetts