All along I thought I knew how to pronounce this common word. Most people seem to me, to drop the "e" at the end and simply say "grazie" (or in English grat - z, with a rolling r) but I was listen to some new Italian language CDs and the speakers clearly pronounce the (Italian) i and the (Italian) e separately. It's very fast but it is there.


What is the proper way to pronounce this common word?

{{spelling corrected by Amy}}

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Amy,

Pleeeeze prounce the "i" - there are no wasted vowels in Italian.

Also - pleeeeze don't say "Bon Jorno" or "Bona Zerra"

quote:

Originally posted by Roy:
Pleeeeze prounce the "i" - there are no wasted vowels in Italian.

Also - pleeeeze don't say "Bon Jorno" or "Bona Zerra"

Yikes I just noticed that I spelled grazie wrong in the subject line.

You didn't understand my post or maybe it it was the misspelled word in the subject line?. I do hear most people pronouncing the i, it is the e that I do not hear from a lot of speakers. But point taken on the vowels.

Thanks for the tip on "Bon Jorno" or "Bona Zerra". I am now hearing the u in Buon.

I guess this means I am starting to fine tune my Italian?

I haved lived on and off (soon to be ON again, yay!) in Northern Italy and the "e" is always always pronounced.

My grandmother, however, is a first generation Italian-American and her family all came from the south. She has always just pronounced it "grazi".

I find it sounds too weird and always pronounce that little "e" at the end. I think it varies depending on where in Italy you go.

I do think you should learn to do it right and not worry how people say it in regional dialects.
Say GRAHT-see-yeh. The large letters indicate the stressed syllable. Say it slowly about 400 times and then speed it up and it should come out right.
And BTW, it is not zerra, mai mai mai. zerra would be pronounced TSEH-rah. It is just SEH-rah.
"Buona sera, signorina, kiss me good night."

It varies on where you go, like lots of other phonetics in Italian... but I think that for a non Italian (unless your family comes from Italy and you learned your Italian at home or unless you spent a long time in a specific area so you learnt their particular accent/phonetics) it's always a good idea to speak "orthodox" Italian!
So the E at the end is pronounced!
Roy, the "Bon Jorno" and "Bona Zerra" thing made me laugh!!!!

Yes, well it's the old story of mozzarella vs mozzarell'. I ask for the first in the wonderful Italian deli near me here, and I invariably get the second.

M

quote:

I ask for the first in the wonderful Italian deli near me here, and I invariably get the second.

I suppose that it's as yummy or even better than the plain boring mozzarella!!