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| Modern Italian, based on an alphabet of 21 letters, derives directly from ancient Latin spoken in Italy from the time of Emperor Augustus. Like Latin-derived Spanish and French, it belongs to the Western Romance group of the Indo-European language family. About 80 million people speak Italian, most within the geographical borders of the Italian peninsula and also in French Corsica, Swiss Canton Ticino, and the Principality of Monaco. | ||
| A | ah | H | atha | Q | koo |
| B | bee | I | ee | R | ereh |
| C | chee | L | eleh | S | eseh |
| D | dee | M | emeh | T | tee |
| E | eh | N | eneh | U | oo |
| F | efeh | O | oh | V | voo |
| G | jee | P | peh | Z | zetah |
| Italian Greetings | ||
| Yes | Si | see |
| No | No | nho |
| Good Morning | Buon giorno | boo-an jour-nho |
| Good Afternoon | Buon pomeriggio | boo-an po-may-reach-yo |
| Good Evening | Buona Sera | boo-anah seh-rah |
| Goodbye | Ciao | Chee-ow |
| Please | Per favore | per fah-voh-ray |
| Thank You | Grazie | grah-tsee |
| Small Talk | ||
| How are you? | Come-sta | koh-meh stah |
| Good | Buona (m) Buona (f) |
boo-uh-nuh (m) boo-uh-nah (f) |
| Bad | Cattivo (m) Cattiva (f) |
kah-tee-voh (m) kah-tee-vah (f) |
| So-So | Cosi cosi | coh-zi coh-zi |
| What's Your Name? | Come si chiama? | koh-meh see chee-ah-mah |
| Nice to meet you | Felice di conoscerla | Feh-lee-chay dee cono-sher-lah |
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Hockey Talk * |
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| Hockey | hockey | whoa-kay |
| Puck | disco bella | dee-sko bell-uh |
| Goal! | meta! | may-tuh |
| Forward | avanti | ah-vahn-ti |
| Defenseman | difensore | dee-fen-sore-eh |
| Goaltender | portiere | por-tee-air-eh |
| *Terms are more often associated with soccer. When speaking hockey in Italy, you specify hockey player as 'hockeista' or 'discatore' (literally, 'puck-mover'). For example, a soccer fullback is merely a difensore, but a defender on a hockey blueline would be noted by the complete term: "hockheista difensore." | ||
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