This is a reply within a larger thread: view the whole thread

Re: Italian Pronunciation of Giacomo
Thanks, guys (esp. Christo for the detailed explanation). So does that mean the first syllable is ALWAYS stressed in Italian? Does that make Giovanni (JO-vahn-ee) rather than (jo-VAHN-ee)? I'm a little confused here.
vote up1vote down

Replies

Re: Giovanni: It sounds different in Italian because of the accent, so it isn't as straightforward as one syllable over the other. It comes out like JYO-VAAHN-nee. The first syllable is stressed, the second syllable is dragged out for a longer time, with the 'n' from the second syllable bleeding into the third syllable.
vote up0vote down
Question: So does that mean the first syllable is ALWAYS stressed in Italian?Answer: No, it doesn't. I had in mind the following: the stress in Italian usually preserves its postion in Latin. Actually, there are no rules for the stress position in Italian, but there are such rules for Latin. E.g., the last sylable cannot be stressed (for more precisity, enclitic additions (-quo, -que) are considered to be the last sylables).About Giovanni: It is "jo-VAHN-nee" in Italian since it was "io-HAN-nes" (Iohannes) in Latin.
vote up1vote down
There are a few exceptions, thought, like cittá (city), but then it's stressed.*A meow massages the heart.*
~Stuart McMillan
vote up1vote down
Italian "città" as well as Spanish "ciudad" and French "cité" are descendents from Latin "civitatem" and the stress is preserved on "a". So, it is not an exception.The rule that the last sylable cannot be stressed is valid for Latin, not for Italian.
vote up1vote down
Isn't it città not cittá?:-)
ChrisellAll we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.

vote up1vote down
No, it varies, but it's never the last one.*A meow massages the heart.*
~Stuart McMillan
vote up1vote down