↑If the consonants are doubled between vowels, they are geminated. This can also happen between sonorants (genuinely, all consonants can be geminated except for [z]). In IPA, gemination can be represented either by doubling the consonant: fatto[ˈfatto], mezzo[ˈmɛddzo]; or with the length marker ‹ ː ›. Notice as well, syntactic gemination can occur in Italian (e.g. va via[vavˈvi.a]).
↑ 3.03.1The nasals always assimilate their place of articulation to that of the following consonant. Thus, the n in /nɡ/,/nk/ is a velar [ŋ], the realization before /v/ or /f/ is a labiodental [ɱ] (though this is transcribed here as [m]), and only [m] is ever found before /p/ or /b/.
↑Italian contrasts seven stressed monophthongs. In unstressed syllables, mid vowels occur in complementary distribution; with open-mid vowels [ɛɔ] appearing before sonorants (e.g. copertura[kopɛrˈtura]), and close-mid vowels [eo] found elsewhere (e.g. posso[ˈpɔsso]). Open and close vowels [aiu] stay unchanged in unstressed syllables, though utterance-final unstress [i] may become an approximant [j] before vowels in a process known as synalepha (syllable merging), e.g. pari età[ˌparjeˈta].
