# Italian-Americans leaving off the vowel at the end: "Mozzarell," "Antipast," etc **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 22, 2008, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-americans-leaving-off-the-vowel-at-the-end-mozzarell-antipast-etc/460906 "2008-08-22T05:36:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-americans-leaving-off-the-vowel-at-the-end-mozzarell-antipast-etc/460906/21 "2008-08-22T20:36:32Z")
[QUOTE=doreen] It’s not exactly pronounced “pasta fazool”. It’s between “pasta fazool” and “pasta fajool”. It can be difficult to hear, especially if you’re not used to it, but there is just a hint of a “z” before the “j” sound [/QUOTE] Like the French /j/ - pas’ta fazhol’ ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-americans-leaving-off-the-vowel-at-the-end-mozzarell-antipast-etc/460906/22 "2008-08-22T23:14:03Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] Like the French /j/ - pas’ta fazhol’ [/QUOTE] Ah. Well that makes a bit more sense, then. However, I’m used to hearing [Dean Martin’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS6-b7CONDI) pronunciation, which sounds like a plain “z” to me. Now that I look at it, it’s really “past e faz(h)ool,” isn’t it (that is, the “e” isn’t skipped over, but the final syllable of “pasta” is.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-americans-leaving-off-the-vowel-at-the-end-mozzarell-antipast-etc/460906.md?page=1)