Editing Italian orthography (section)

==Alphabet==
The base alphabet consists of 21 letters: five vowels (A, E, I, O, U) and 16 consonants. The letters J, K, W, X and Y are not part of the proper alphabet, but appear in words of [[ancient Greek]] origin (e.g. ''[[Xilophone|Xilofono]]''), loanwords (e.g. "weekend"),<ref>{{cite web|title=Italian Extraction Guide &ndash; Section A: Italian Handwriting|url=https://script.byu.edu/Plugins/FileManager/Files/Documents/Italian_Extraction_Guide-Section_A.pdf|website=[[Brigham Young University]]|year=1981|quote=The letters J, K, W, X, and Y appear in the Italian alphabet, but are used mainly in foreign words adopted into the Italian vocabulary.|access-date=2 March 2021|archive-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422025606/https://script.byu.edu/Plugins/FileManager/Files/Documents/Italian_Extraction_Guide-Section_A.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> foreign names (e.g. John), scientific terms (e.g. km) and in a handful of native words—such as the names ''[[Kalsa]]'', ''[[Jesolo]]'', ''[[Bettino Craxi]]'', and ''[[Cybo]]'', which all derive from [[Languages of Italy|regional languages]]. In addition, [[grave accent|grave]] and [[acute accent|acute]] accents may modify vowel letters; [[circumflex]] accent is much rarer and is found only in older texts.

[[File:KB Italian.svg|thumb|An Italian computer keyboard layout]]
[[File:Corsivo- come scriverlo a mano in italiano, schede didattiche con alcuni esempi di Paolo Villa (prima edizione commons wikimedia org)-Letters-characters in italics-cursive- how to write it by hand in Italian.pdf|thumb|An Italian handwriting script, taught in primary school]]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Letter
! Name
! [[help:IPA/Italian|IPA]]
! Diacritics
|-
| [[A]], a
| {{lang|it|a}} {{IPA|it|ˈa|}}
| {{IPAslink|ä|a}}
| à
|-
| [[B]], b
| {{lang|it|bi}} {{IPA|it|ˈbi|}}
| {{IPAslink|b}}
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
| [[C]], c
| {{lang|it|ci}} {{IPA|it|ˈtʃi|}}
| {{IPAslink|k}} ''or'' {{IPAslink|tʃ}}
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
| [[D]], d
| {{lang|it|di}} {{IPA|it|ˈdi|}}
| {{IPAslink|d̪|d}}
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
| [[E]], e
| {{lang|it|e}} {{IPA|it|ˈe|}}
| {{IPAslink|e}} ''or'' {{IPAslink|ɛ}}
| è, é
|-
| [[F]], f
| {{lang|it|effe}} {{IPA|it|ˈɛffe|}}
| {{IPAslink|f}}
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
| [[G]], g
| {{lang|it|gi}} {{IPA|it|ˈdʒi|}}
| {{IPAslink|ɡ}} ''or'' {{IPAslink|dʒ}}
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
| [[H]], h
| {{lang|it|acca}} {{IPA|it|ˈakka|}}
| ∅ ''silent''
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
| [[I]], i
| {{lang|it|i}} {{IPA|it|ˈi|}}
| {{IPAslink|i}} ''or'' {{IPAslink|j}}
| ì, í, [î]
|-
| [[L]], l
| {{lang|it|elle}} {{IPA|it|ˈɛlle|}}
| {{IPAslink|l}}
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
| [[M]], m
| {{lang|it|emme}} {{IPA|it|ˈɛmme|}}
| {{IPAslink|m}}
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
| [[N]], n
| {{lang|it|enne}} {{IPA|it|ˈɛnne|}}
| {{IPAslink|n}}
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
| [[O]], o
| {{lang|it|o}} {{IPA|it|ˈɔ|}}
| {{IPAslink|o}} ''or'' {{IPAslink|ɔ}}
| ò, ó
|-
| [[P]], p
| {{lang|it|pi}} {{IPA|it|ˈpi|}}
| {{IPAslink|p}}
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
| [[Q]], q
| {{lang|it|cu}} ({{lang|it|qu}}) {{IPA|it|ˈku|}}
| {{IPAslink|k}}
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
| [[R]], r
| {{lang|it|erre}} {{IPA|it|ˈɛrre|}}
| {{IPAslink|r}}
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
| [[S]], s
| {{lang|it|esse}} {{IPA|it|ˈɛsse|}}
| {{IPAslink|s}} ''or'' {{IPAslink|z}}
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
| [[T]], t
| {{lang|it|ti}} {{IPA|it|ˈti|}}
| {{IPAslink|t̪|t}}
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
| [[U]], u
| {{lang|it|u}} {{IPA|it|ˈu|}}
| {{IPAslink|u}} ''or'' {{IPAslink|w}}
| ù, ú
|-
| [[V]], v
| {{lang|it|vi}} {{IPA|it|ˈvi|}}, {{lang|it|vu}} {{IPA|it|ˈvu|}}
| {{IPAslink|v}}
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
| [[Z]], z
| {{lang|it|zeta}} {{IPA|it|ˈdzɛːta|}}
| {{IPAslink|ts}} ''or'' {{IPAslink|dz}}
| style="background-color:#E0E0E0" |
|-
|}

Double consonants represent true [[gemination|geminates]] and are pronounced as such: {{lang|it|anno}}, "year", pronounced {{IPA|it|ˈanno|}} (cf. English ''te'''n''' '''n'''ails''). The short–long length contrast is phonemic, e.g. {{lang|it|ritto}} {{IPA|it|ˈritto|}}, "upright", vs. {{lang|it|rito}} {{IPA|it|ˈriːto|}}, "rite, ritual", {{lang|it|carro}} {{IPA|it|ˈkarro|}}, "cart, wagon", vs. {{lang|it|caro}} {{IPA|it|ˈkaːro|}}, "dear, expensive".