# Italian pronunciation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 8, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation/212083 "2003-11-08T15:55:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation/212083/41 "2003-11-11T13:04:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Vision4BG \* > AwSnappity: Pfft, by tone, I meant tone of voice, which is what everton was referring to. Is that right? Thanks for letting me know ;). > [@](#): > > If he chooses to read something into what I wrote instead of taking it in the lighthearted manner I meant, that’s his problem. Why be so uptight? If he didn’t like what I said, he should say so, not “warn” me about how other people won’t like it. No offence taken, but you should realise that I was trying to give you some friendly advice. The SDMB is a good place and people don’t mind a bit of harmless barracking, but it may not have been as obvious as you think that you were being lighthearted. Sometimes new posters get into trouble because of misunderstandings, so it’s a good idea to take things easy until you get the hang of things. Also, don’t be afraid of using the smileys when you’re not being serious, especially when telling the yanks what’s wrong with them. ---
**Author:** ![Vision4BG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Vision4BG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision4BG)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation/212083/42 "2003-11-11T13:43:00Z")
Ah, the yanks need to be reminded they aren’t the be all and end all of the universe. 😃 ← makes it all better. 😉 I have been reading the SDMB for a while now, and have been reading TSD online since 97, so no need to baby me in. If you’d seen my site I’m sure you’d have understood my bitterness… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation/212083/43 "2003-11-11T14:13:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Antonius Block \* > **Parmesan an _incorrect_ spelling, jjimm? I would say it’s the _English_ (and also the French) word for “parmigiano”. But it’s no more _incorrect_ than are “Rome”, “Florence”, “Venice”, and “Italy”.** Fair point. Maybe I feel that it’s “wrong” because most other Italian foodstuffs are spelled in their original way here (we even spell “lasagne” correctly). ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation/212083/44 "2003-11-11T15:21:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by missbunny \* > \*\* > If people aren’t pronouncing it when you hear it in CA I’d guess it’s more because they don’t know how to speak Italian than anything else. It’s like the 95% of people who pronounced “bruschetta” as “broo-shetta” - drives me insane. > \*\* Ok, as someone that lived in Sicily from 93 - 96, I have to say that every place I heard it or ordered it from while I lived there, pronounced it “broo-shetta” without fail. It wasn’t until I returned here to the US, that I started seeing it served in resturaunts, and being pronounced “bru-sketta”. Which to me is wrong. I do know that sicilian is a very very different dialect from “proper” italian, so that may account for it. Still, I think it goes to show that Italian, probably more than any other language, is very regional. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation/212083/45 "2003-11-11T17:21:28Z")
You’re right about Sicilian being very different from Italian. I can barely, if at all, understand a word of Sicilian. It’s like comparing French to Haitian Creole. In regular Italian, CH has the K sound. C by itself in front of E or I has the CH (like in “change”); C by itself in front of other letters has the K sound. I don’t know how it works in Sicilian but I wouldn’t be surprised if all the rules are different. I’d bet money though that the Americans pronouncing it “broo-sketta” are not doing so because they think it’s correct in Sicilian. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation/212083.md?page=2)