Italian · Food & drink

How to pronounce piccante in Italian

piccante

Spicy

peek-KAHN-teh/pikˈkan.te/

Standard Italian · Choose 1.00× to hear the original pace.

piccante is pronounced /pikˈkan.te/ in Italian. In piccante: Follow the length shown in the IPA and the recording. A doubled consonant needs a longer closure or hold before the next vowel. Listen to the word on its own, then compare it with the example sentence.

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Find the sounds in piccante

Read piccante in these IPA segments: pik · ˈkan · te. Dots and stress marks identify the boundaries shown in the reference; these symbols are not English spelling. The mark /ˈ/ comes immediately before the main stressed syllable. Give that syllable a little more prominence without swallowing the others.

  1. 1.Consonant and vowel timing

    In piccante: Follow the length shown in the IPA and the recording. A doubled consonant needs a longer closure or hold before the next vowel.

    Watch out: Do not insert an extra vowel to make a long consonant easier. A colon /ː/ lengthens the sound immediately before it.

  2. 2.A steady /e/ vowel

    In piccante: Keep the tongue toward the front and sustain a single /e/ vowel. Listen for its exact height in the recording.

    Watch out: English “ay” often ends with a glide; do not automatically carry that glide into this vowel.

  3. 3.Front-vowel position

    In piccante: Listen for the distinction between the closer /i/ and the more relaxed /ɪ/ when shown. Keep your tongue toward the front.

    Watch out: Do not decide vowel quality from English spelling alone.

Hear it in context

Questa pizza è piccante: c'è peperoncino.

This pizza is spicy: there's chili.

Listen once, say it aloud, then replay at 1.00×. Keep the word connected to the surrounding sentence rather than giving every syllable equal weight.

Pronunciation and variety

piccante is presented using Standard Italian. Regional accents and connected speech can change details. The isolated word and the example let you compare the dictionary form with a short spoken context.

The English-style respelling is approximate. Use the IPA and recording together for vowel quality and consonants that do not have an exact English equivalent.

Meaning and everyday use

Questions about piccante

How do you pronounce piccante?

piccante is pronounced /pikˈkan.te/ in Italian. In piccante: Follow the length shown in the IPA and the recording. A doubled consonant needs a longer closure or hold before the next vowel. Listen to the word on its own, then compare it with the example sentence.

What should I listen for first?

In piccante: Follow the length shown in the IPA and the recording. A doubled consonant needs a longer closure or hold before the next vowel. Start at 0.75×, then return to 1.00× to hear the natural rhythm.

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