pronunciation

[ClubMan]

How do you pronounce falafel?

Deep fried sawdust.

 

[extopia]

F∂-LAH-f∂l

The ∂ is an unstressed syllable for those of you not in the know! Like the first o in "potato".

 

[landlord]

I had heard echinacea pronounced as eck-in-aisa

 

[brodiebabe]

How do you pronounce Focaccia? As in the bread. I have heard
Fo-Ca- sia as well as Fo-ca- chia.

 

[ragazza]

Foccacia is pronounced "fo-ca-chia".

On the food theme, "Bruschetta" is pronounced "brus-KE-ta" not "brus-CHET-ta"..

 

[casiopea]

Yup, as ragazza said: fo-ca-chia where chia is prounced "cha" (not key-aaaa) as in the dance step cha-cha-cha

 

[brodiebabe]

What about Ciabatta?

 

[DrMoriarty]

'Cha-BATT-a'

 

[Purple]

Spot on Dr.M. I shudder when I hear Key-a-Bata.

 

[Betsy Og]

What about:

Hang sangwidge and a mug a tay

High falutin' I-talian bread with ye

 

[Gordanus]

Italian is written phonetically. 'c' is always soft and pronounced the way our usual 'ch' is said as in cha-cha-cha above; 'ch' is always hard as in chemist. there are a few exceptions which I don't remember. No spelling problems for Italian kids!

 

[DrMoriarty]

'c' is always soft and pronounced the way our usual 'ch' is said...

...before a slender vowel (i or e, as in 'ciao', 'cento anni', etc.). It's hard — i.e. pronounced 'k' — before a broad vowel (a, o or u; as in 'casa', 'cosa', 'curiosa'). And 'ch' is always hard (as in 'chiesa' [kye-za]).

But you're right, Italian pronunciation/spelling is extraordinarily regular, compared to any of the other Romance languages (never mind the likes of English!)

Repeat after me, now: 'Davvero, il Dottor' Moriarty è tutto casa e chiesa..!'

 

[Gordanus]

Thanks Dr M. Sei molto gentile. Grazie tanto. As I remember Spanish is also quite straightforward. As for non-Romance languages, German is also phonetic - just break those long words down!