Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with Steven on this one.
Time for a refresher course for me.
Ray Dobbins Miami FL USA
The Maaslands <TheMaaslands@comcast.net> wrote: Ray attempted valiantly to explain the proper pronunciation of Battaglin when he wrote:
"The closest correct pronunciation is "battayeen" but with a hard "y" - which I know makes no sense. Try to think of it as a very soft "j", almost as soft as a "sh" sound. Somewhere beween "jean" and "sheen." It's that funky "gl" sound you'll learn about when you start your Italian classes. I took a semester of Italian in college and I certainly don't regret it."
For most English speakers the easiest way to describe the pronunciation would be:
Bat-ta-lyeen with three syllabels.
In Italian the letter G has different pronunciation in accordance with which vowel it is followed by. When followed by a or o or u it is a 'g' similar to the most common use in English. When followed immediately by e or i, it could be described as almost a 'dj' sound (close to how you would pronounce a 'j' in English words). You can however modify the pronunciation by adding an 'h' between g and e or i if you want to make it into a hard sound. Hence spaghetti; or by adding an 'n' or 'l', always between the g and the e and i which results in a 'ny' or 'ly' sound.
Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ
USA