The correct division of Italian words into their relevant syllables is necessary when they have to be split by the right end of a line of text. In fact, a word cannot be freely split, having this to be done specifically between two syllables:
divisione (division) divi- sione [correct] divis- ione [wrong] divisi- one [wrong] divisio- ne [correct]
Phonetically speaking, the syllable is the smallest fraction of a word, pronounced as a single sound. There are general rules according to which syllables are defined: the following table should be used as a reference or, even better, learned.
According to their sound, consonants are divided into the following categories:
consonants English sound category sound emission
c · g · q k · g · q guttural by applying the base of the tongue to the throat
GROUP c · g (before e or i ) ch, j palatal by touching the palate with the tongue
A t · d t · d dental by applying the tip of the tongue to
the front teeth p · b · f · v p · b · f · v labial by using the lips
s · z s · tz · dz sibilant whose sound is similar to a hiss
GROUP m · n m · n nasal by letting air pass through the nasal cavities
B l · r l · r (rolled) liquid whose sound is somewhat fluid
The table shows them divided into two groups, A and B, since in forming syllables they often behave in different ways (see samples below).
matita (pencil) ma - ti - ta ruvido (rough) ru - vi - do pagavo (I payed) pa - ga - vo potare (to prune) po - ta - re sapone (soap) sa - po - ne
However, any of the following situations overrides this rule.
• Any two consonants followed by a vowel belong to the same syllable: treno (train) tre - no
scivolare (to slide, to slip) sci - vo - la - re sovrano (sovereign) so - vra - no
ladro (thief) la - dro
chimica (chemistry) chi - mi - ca segnare (to sign, to mark) se - gna - re
In these cases, the first consonant is always from group A (guttural, palatal, dental, labial), sometimes forming with the second consonant a special cluster, i.e. -chi-, -che-, -gli-, -gni-, etc., see paragraph 1.2.
• Seldom, three consonants may occur before a vowel in one same syllable, provided that the first one is an s:
schivo (shy, bashful) schi - vo scrivere (to write) scri - ve - re strano (strange) stra - no
spremere (to squeeze) spre - me - re fischi (whistles) fi - schi
stirare (to iron, to flatten) sti - ra - re
• Any double consonant must be split into two subsequent syllables: gatto (cat) gat - to
mappa (map) map - pa cappotto (coat) cap - pot - to possessore (owner) pos - ses - so - re grattare (to scratch) grat - ta - re
carrozza (carriage, wagon) car - roz - za
By the effects of this rule, syllables may end with any consonant.
• When a nasal or liquid consonant (l, r, m, n) is followed by any other consonant, they have to be split, i.e. as if they were double:
tenda (curtain, tent) ten - da perla (pearl) per - la
rimbalzo (rebound) rim - bal - zo cantante (singer) can - tan - te trenta (thirty) tren - ta
polmone (lung) pol - mo - ne
Also in this case a syllable may end with a consonant (l, r, m, n).
Instead the reverse order may coexist in the same syllable; due to the sound, this mainly occurs with liquid consonants r and, seldom, l:
decreto (decree, bill) de - cre - to padre (father) pa - dre
tigre (tiger) ti - gre
riflesso (reflex) ri - fles - so
vetrina (shop-window) ve - tri - na ladro (thief) la - dro
• A vowel alone may form a syllable at the beginning of a word if followed by a consonant: isola (island) i - so - la
animale (animal) a - ni - ma - le odore (smell) o - do - re
umido (damp, humid) u - mi - do aratro (plough) a - ra - tro
However, when the following consonant is either nasal or liquid and any further consonant comes after it, i.e. vowel + nasal or liquid consonant + any consonant (such as alt..., enc..., imp..., ond..., urg..., and so on), the first syllable binds to the vowel, to accomplish the previous rule:
intero (whole) in - te - ro andare (to go) an - da - re ultimo (last) ul - ti - mo
imparare (to learn) im - pa - ra - re urgente (urgent) ur - gen - te onda (wave) on - da
Also in the case of an opening vowel followed by any double consonant, the latter has to bind to the vowel; this is consistent with the aforesaid rule according to which all double consonants must be split:
anno (year) an - no
errore (mistake) er - ro - re
accludere (to enclose) ac - clu - de - re eccesso (excess) ec - ces - so
appendere (to hang) ap - pen - de -re
osservato (observed, looked at) os - ser - va - to illuminare (to give light) il - lu - mi - na - re
• Two subsequent vowels behave in different ways according to whether they form a diphthong, i.e. a single sound which contains two vowels.
Diphthongues are formed by the combination of different kinds of vowels:
o i and u are called "semivowels", because they have a weaker (shorter, less sharp) sound; o a, e and o are called "strong vowels".
a diphthongue is formed by a semivowel and strong vowel, or vice-versa, or by two semivowels: -ia- -ie- -io- -ua- -ue- -uo-
-ai- -ei- -oi- -au- -eu- -ou- -iu- -ui-
Two strong vowels (-ae- -ao- -ea- -eo- -oa- -oe-) and all double vowels do not form a diphthong. Diphthongues are never split, and belong to the same syllable:
buono (good) buo - no viale (avenue) via - le chiodo (nail) chio - do Claudio (Claude) Clau - dio
quadro (picture, painting) qua - dro schiavo (slave) schia - vo
Other combinations have to be split; also in this case vowels alone may form an individual syllable, in any part of the word, to accomplish this rule:
idea (idea) i - de - a reato (offence) re - a - to paese (country) pa - e - se
Colosseo (Colosseum) Co - los - se - o
cooperativo (cooperative) co - o - pe - ra - ti - vo linee (lines) li - ne - e
When a word begins with a diphthongue, its first syllable contains both vowels. ieri (yesterday) ie - ri
uovo (egg) uo - vo
aumento (increase) au - men - to Europa (Europe) Eu - ro - pa Ionio (Ionian) [sea] Io - nio
Words with three or more syllables in a row are very scarce; these are two among the most common ones with such a feature:
aiuola (flower bed) has four vowels in a row, and its syllables are: a - iuo - la; guaio (mishap) has four vowels in a row, and its syllables are: gua - io.
Also in these cases the aforesaid rules are applied, although they appear less evident.
In the first case, the break occurs between two strong vowels, while the remaining three, two weak ones and one strong, may stay together (a - iuo). The latter three form a triptongue, i.e. three vowels bound together,
quite a unique cluster in Italian words.
In the second case the break occurs between two diphthongues (ua - io).
To summarize the main rules for dividing a word into its syllables, remember that:
• all syllables must contain at least one vowel, which is their strong sound, while they do not necessarily need a consonant: syllables without vowels do not exist, while syllables without consonants do exist;
• all doubles, i.e. identical letters (either consonants or vowels), must be split;
• also nasal or liquid consonants (group B) may not be followed by one from group A (guttural, palatal, dental, labial), while the opposite may occur: A+B is possible, but not B+A;
• most syllables end with a vowel, but they may also end with a consonant (no more than one) by effect of the previous rules;
• two subsequent and different vowels do not split only if they form a diphthong, elseways they do; • syllables may range in length from a minimum of one letter (a vowel) to a maximum of five letters
(i.e. three consonants followed by a diphthongue).
There are many monosyllabic words, which cannot be split since they are made of only one syllable. The most common ones are:
• definite articles (il, lo, la, i, gli, le);
• simple prepositions (di, a, da, in, con, su, per, tra, fra); • several conjunctions (e, o, ma, sì, no, etc.);
• most personal pronouns (io, tu, te, ti, lui, lei, gli, le, noi, ci, voi, vi, si etc.); • many indicative pronouns (quel, qui, qua, lì, là);
• two numbers (tre, sei);
• some short words of daily use (blu, più, già, giù, etc.).
Also some short words whose origin is not Italian are monosyllabic: the last consonant (or consonants) they end with cannot be left without a final vowel, thus they cannot be separated from the rest of the word: tram (tramway)
bar (bar, cafe) sport (sport)
golf (golf, or pullover) gong (gong)
smog (smog)
sprint (sprint, stamina)