# Italian pronunciation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation/512736 "2009-10-05T22:11:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation/512736/21 "2009-10-07T05:01:25Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > These are examples of changes in spelling; Does the fact that -x- in Latin became -ss- in Italian tell us that 'x’s that are actually there _in Italian_ are pronounced as /s/ instead of /ks/? I don’t think that necessarily follows. No, they are examples of changes in pronunciation. /ks/-\>/s/ is standard phonological shorthand for “x” turns into “s”. Obviously there have been spelling changes too, but I wasn’t referring to those. ---
**Author:** ![Xotan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/278dde/32.png) [@Xotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xotan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation/512736/22 "2009-10-08T22:56:08Z")
X in Italian is pronounced much the same as in English: Xeno = kseno (Xenon - English makes a ‘z’ out of an initial ‘x’. Italian does not!) Xeres = kseres (Sherry - the wine) Xerocopia = kserocopia (a Xerox copy.) There are very few other words that I am aware of. All of these are introduced words. Words from Mother Latin with X, as has been pointed out, reduce the ks to ss. (In at least one case it has been suppressed altogether: Latin ‘Rex’ is ‘Re’ in Italian.) ---
**Author:** ![Lars\_Aruns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Lars\_Aruns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lars_Aruns)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation/512736/23 "2009-10-08T22:59:28Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Che cazzo fanno, italiani? Si fanno i cazzi loro. Tsk! This is so gratuitous that it’s not funny. ---
**Author:** ![ragerdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d07c76/32.png) [@ragerdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ragerdude)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation/512736/24 "2009-10-08T23:07:28Z")
The process /ks/ -\> /s/ – is that called assimilation? Or what is the linguistic term for that process? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation/512736/25 "2009-10-08T23:27:17Z")
It’s interesting that sherry (Sp. xerez) comes from the Jerez de la Frontiera area – the town name changed but the wine did not. **Quercus** and **Nava** , I note that when Bartolome de las Casas and the other friars turned the Mayan/Quiché languages into Spanish transliterations, they used X for the very common /sh/ sound – is there a possible Catalan influence there? ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation/512736/26 "2009-10-09T00:08:52Z")
> [@Xotan](#): > > X in Italian is pronounced much the same as in English: > > Xeno = kseno (Xenon - English makes a ‘z’ out of an initial ‘x’. Italian does not!) > Xeres = kseres (Sherry - the wine) > Xerocopia = kserocopia (a Xerox copy.) great post-poster combo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-pronunciation/512736.md?page=1)