# Italian Pronunciation - "letteraturizzazione"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation-letteraturizzazione/926080>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 20, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation-letteraturizzazione/926080 "2020-11-20T23:29:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Little\_Room](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_room/32/5069_2.png) [@Little\_Room](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Room)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation-letteraturizzazione/926080/1 "2020-11-20T23:29:56Z")

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In George Kennedy’s Classical Rhetoric and Its Christian and Secular Tradition, he uses the Italian term “letteraturizzazione” as a guiding concept. How would this be pronounced? Apparently, it’s not a common enough word to be on the “how do you pronounce this?” type sites.

Looks like a mouthful, however you say it…

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation-letteraturizzazione/926080/2 "2020-11-20T23:39:25Z")

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You say it like it’s spelled. That’s not a joke.

let-ter-a-tur-izz-az-i-o-ne

[let:er a tur it͡s at͡s i o ne]

think of the Enlish equivalent, “literaturization”

li-ter-a-tur-iz-a-tion

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation-letteraturizzazione/926080/3 "2020-11-21T20:43:49Z")

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You say it like it’s spelled, if you already know Italian pronunciation. Here is a guide for close approximation:

e is pronounced like we say the “a” in mate  
a is pronounced like like the “a” in father  
u is pronounced like “oo” in food  
i is pronounced like the “ee” in teeth  
z is pronounced like the “ts” in fatso  
o is like the “o” in tote  
double letters are the same pronounciation but you emphasize it, as though you were saying it on the way in and holding it for the way out.

In Italian the penultimate syllable gets the stress unless there is an accent mark, with some exceptions. In this case my intuition says that the “tu” syllable gets a secondary stress.

So:

**[layt-air-ah-too-reet-tsat-tsee-OH-nay](https://www.dropbox.com/s/pw2kgltskucrqeb/letteraturizzazione.mp3?dl=0)** (link to MP3)

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**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2020, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation-letteraturizzazione/926080/4 "2020-11-22T07:19:28Z")

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I concur with both of those posts. Well done, both of you.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Room](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_room/32/5069_2.png) [@Little\_Room](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Room)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation-letteraturizzazione/926080/5 "2020-11-28T00:28:47Z")

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Thanks, everyone! That basically would have been my approach to BSing my way through the pronunciation, but I didn’t want to sound like a rube if I could possibly avoid it. Very helpful!

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**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation-letteraturizzazione/926080/6 "2020-11-28T01:01:19Z")

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[This is the one](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sfogliatella) that always [gives me issues](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqXauy9T24Y). Love the damn things, but they’re a tongue twister for me. I usually just revert to “I’ll have a couple of those.”