Editing Italian orthography (section)

==C and G==
{{See also|Hard and soft C|Hard and soft G}}
The letters {{angbr|c}} and {{angbr|g}} represent the [[plosive]]s {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} before {{angbr|r}} and before the vowels {{angbr|a}}, {{angbr|o}}, {{angbr|u}}. They represent the [[affricate]]s {{IPA|/tʃ/}} and {{IPA|/dʒ/}} when they precede a front vowel ({{angbr|i}} or {{angbr|e}}).

The letter {{angbr|i}} can also function within [[digraph (orthography)|digraph]]s (two letters representing one sound) {{angbr|ci}} and {{angbr|gi}} to indicate "soft" (affricate) {{IPA|/tʃ/}} or {{IPA|/dʒ/}} before another vowel. In these instances, the vowel following the digraph is stressed, and {{angbr|i}} represents no vowel sound: {{lang|it|ciò}} ({{IPA|/tʃɔ/}}), {{lang|it|giù}} ({{IPA|/dʒu/}}). An item such as ''CIA'' "[[CIA]]", pronounced {{IPA|/ˈtʃi.a/}} with {{IPA|/i/}} stressed, contains no digraph.

For words of more than one syllable, stress position must be known in order to distinguish between digraph {{angbr|ci}} or {{angbr|gi}} containing no actual phonological vowel {{IPA|/i/}} and sequences of affricate and stressed {{IPA|/i/}}. For example, the words {{lang|it|camicia}}, "shirt", and {{lang|it|farmacia}}, "pharmacy", share the spelling {{angbr|-cia}}, but contrast in that only the first {{angbr|i}} is stressed in {{lang|it|camicia}}, thus {{angbr|-cia}} represents {{IPA|/tʃa/}} with no {{IPA|/i/}} sound (likewise, ''grigio'' ends in {{IPA|/dʒo/}} and the names {{lang|it|Gianni}} and {{lang|it|Gianna}} contain only two actual vowels: {{IPA|/ˈdʒanni/}}, {{IPA|/ˈdʒanna/}}). In {{lang|it|farmacia}} {{IPA|/i/}} is stressed, so that {{angbr|ci}} is not a digraph, but represents two of the three constituents of {{IPA|/ˈtʃi.a/}}.

When the "hard" (plosive) pronunciation {{IPA|/k/}} or {{IPA|/ɡ/}} occurs before a front vowel {{angbr|i}} or {{angbr|e}}, digraphs {{angbr|ch}} and {{angbr|gh}} are used, so that {{angbr|che}} represents {{IPA|/ke/}} or {{IPA|/kɛ/}} and {{angbr|chi}} represents {{IPA|/ki/}} or {{IPA|/kj/}}. The same principle applies to {{angbr|gh}}: {{angbr|ghe}} and {{angbr|ghi}} represent {{IPA|/ɡe/}} or {{IPA|/ɡɛ/}} and {{IPA|/ɡi/}} or {{IPA|/ɡj/}}.

In the evolution from [[Latin]] to Italian, the postalveolar affricates {{IPA|/tʃ/}} and {{IPA|/dʒ/}} were [[allophone|contextual variants]] of the [[velar consonant]]s {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}}. They eventually came to be full [[phoneme]]s, and orthographic adjustments were introduced to distinguish them. The phonemicity of the affricates can be demonstrated with [[minimal pair]]s:

{| class="wikitable"
!
!colspan="2"| [[Plosive]]
!colspan="2"| [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
|-
!rowspan="2"|Before {{angbr|i}},&nbsp;{{angbr|e}}
|ch||{{Wikt-lang|it|china}} {{IPA|/ˈkina/}} "[[India ink]]"
|c||{{Wikt-lang|it|Cina}} {{IPA|/ˈtʃina/}} "[[China]]"
|-
|gh||{{Wikt-lang|it|ghiro}} {{IPA|/ˈɡiro/}} "[[dormouse]]"
|g||{{Wikt-lang|it|giro}} {{IPA|/ˈdʒiro/}} "lap", "tour"
|-
!rowspan="2"|Elsewhere
|c||{{Wikt-lang|it|caramella}} {{IPA|/karaˈmɛlla/}} "[[candy]]"
|ci||{{Wikt-lang|it|ciaramella}} {{IPA|/tʃaraˈmɛlla/}} "[[shawm]]"
|-
|g||{{Wikt-lang|it|gallo}} {{IPA|/ˈɡallo/}} "[[rooster]]"
|gi||{{Wikt-lang|it|giallo}} {{IPA|/ˈdʒallo/}} "[[yellow]]"
|}

The trigraphs {{angbr|cch}} and {{angbr|ggh}} are used to indicate [[geminate]] {{IPA|/kk/}} and {{IPA|/ɡɡ/}}, when they occur before {{angbr|i}} or {{angbr|e}}; e.g. {{Wikt-lang|it|occhi}} {{IPA|/ˈɔkki/}} "eyes", {{Wikt-lang|it|agghindare}} {{IPA|/aɡɡinˈdare/}} "to dress up". The double letters {{angbr|cc}} and {{angbr|gg}} before {{angbr|i}} or {{angbr|e}} and {{angbr|cci}} and {{angbr|ggi}} before other vowels represent the geminated affricates {{IPA|/ttʃ/}} and {{IPA|/ddʒ/}}, e. g. {{Wikt-lang|it|riccio}}, "hedgehog", {{Wikt-lang|it|peggio}}, "worse".

{{angbr|g}} joins with {{angbr|l}} to form a digraph representing palatal {{IPA|/ʎ/}} before {{angbr|i}} (before other vowels, the trigraph {{angbr|gli}} is used), and with {{angbr|n}} to represent {{IPA|/ɲ/}} with any vowel following. Between vowels these are pronounced phonetically long, as in {{IPA|/ˈaʎʎo/}} {{lang|it|aglio}}, "garlic", {{IPA|/ˈoɲɲi/}} {{lang|it|ogni}}, "each". By way of exception, {{angbr|gl}} before {{angbr|i}} represents {{IPA|/ɡl/}} in some words derived from Greek, such as {{Wikt-lang|it|glicine}}, "wisteria", from learned Latin, such as {{Wikt-lang|it|negligente}}, "negligent", and in a few adaptations from other languages such as {{lang|it|[[glissando]]}} {{IPA|/ɡlisˈsando/}}, partially italianised from French {{lang|fr|glissant}}. {{angbr|gl}} before vowels other than {{angbr|i}} represents straightforward {{IPA|/ɡl/}}.

The [[digraph (orthography)|digraph]] {{angbr|sc}} is used before {{angbr|e}} and {{angbr|i}} to represent {{IPA|/ʃ/}}; before other vowels, {{angbr|sci}} is used for {{IPA|/ʃ/}}. Otherwise, {{angbr|sc}} represents {{IPA|/sk/}}, the {{angbr|c}} of which follows the normal orthographic rules explained above.

{| class="wikitable" width="400em"
!
!colspan="2"| {{IPA|/sk/}}
!colspan="2"| {{IPA|/ʃ/}}
|-
!Before {{angbr|i e}}
|sch||{{Wikt-lang|it|scherno}} {{IPA|/ˈskɛrno/}}
|sc||{{Wikt-lang|it|scerno}} {{IPA|/ˈʃɛrno/}}
|-
!Elsewhere
|sc||{{Wikt-lang|it|scalo}} {{IPA|/ˈskalo/}}
|sci||{{Wikt-lang|it|scialo}} {{IPA|/ˈʃalo/}}
|}

[[Intervocalic consonant|Intervocalic]] {{IPA|/ʎ/}}, {{IPA|/ɲ/}}, and {{IPA|/ʃ/}} are always [[gemination|geminated]] and no orthographic distinction is made to indicate this.{{Sfn|Maiden|Robustelli|2014|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=RszKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 10]}}

Some words are spelled with {{angbr|cie}}, {{angbr|gie}}, and {{angbr|scie}}. Historically, the letters {{angbr|ie}} in these combinations represented a diphthong, but in modern pronunciation these combinations are indistinguishable from {{angbr|ce}}, {{angbr|ge}}, and {{angbr|sce}}. Notable examples: {{lang|it|cieco}} {{IPA|/ˈtʃɛko/}} "blind" (homophonous with {{lang|it|ceco}}, "Czech"), {{lang|it|cielo}} {{IPA|/ˈtʃɛlo/}} "sky" (homophonous with {{lang|it|celo}}, "I conceal"), {{lang|it|scienza}} {{IPA|/ˈʃɛntsa/}} "science".

The plurals of words ending in -{{vr|cia}}, -{{vr|gia}} are written with -{{vr|cie}}, -{{vr|gie}} if preceded by a vowel ({{lang|it|camicia}}, "skirt" → {{lang|it|camicie}}, "skirts", {{lang|it|valigia}}, "suitcase" → {{lang|it|valigie}}, "suitcases") or with -{{vr|ce}}, -{{vr|ge}} if preceded by a consonant ({{lang|it|provincia}}, "province" → {{lang|it|province}}, "provinces"). This rule has been established since the 1950s; prior to that, etymological spellings such as {{lang|it|valige}} and {{lang|it|provincie}} were in use.

The letter combination {{angbr|gnia}} is pronounced the same as {{angbr|gna}} and occurs when the ending {{lang|it|-iamo}} (1st person plural present indicative and 1st person plural present subjunctive) or {{lang|it|-iate}} (2nd person plural present subjunctive) is attached to a stem ending in {{angbr|gn}}: {{lang|it|sognare}}, "to dream" → {{lang|it|sogniamo}}, "we dream".