1.2
THE NOUN GROUP
•
in -ci and -gi, with the soft c, g sound, if the stress – indicated here by an accent for the purpose of clarity – falls on the third last syllable: mèdico aspàrago mònaco biòlogo
mèdici aspàragi mònaci biòlogi
doctor asparagus monk biologist
and also in amìco amìci ‘friend’, nemìco nemìci ‘enemy’, greco greci ‘Greek’, porco porci ‘pig’.
Nouns ending in -ca, -ga Feminine nouns ending in -ca, -ga form their plural in -che, -ghe, with the hard c, g sound: amica lega
amiche leghe
friend league
Nouns ending in -ca, -ga, which refer to either men or women, normally form their plural in -chi, -ghi for male and -che, -ghe for female (and see 1.2.4 below): collega
colleague
colleghi (m.)
colleghe (f.)
Belgian
belgi (m.)
belghe (f.)
But note: belga
Nouns ending in -cia, -gia Feminine nouns ending in -cia, -gia form their plural as follows: •
in -cie, -gie when the stress falls on the i (as indicated in the examples below), and when the last syllable is preceded by a vowel: farmacìa bugìa camìcia ciliègia acàcia valìgia
•
farmacìe bugìe camìcie ciliègie acàcie valìgie
pharmacy lie shirt cherry acacia suitcase
in -ce, -ge when the ending is preceded by a consonant: arància spiàggia provìncia frangia faccia pioggia
arànce spiàgge provìnce frange facce piogge
orange beach province fringe face rain
Notice that the pronunciation of -cia is similar to the ‘ch’ in English ‘charm’, that of -gia is like the ‘j’ in ‘jacket’, -cie like the ‘che’ in ‘chest’, -gie like the ‘je’ in ‘jet’. There is no difference in pronunciation between the -cie of camicie and the -ce of arance. The i is pronounced and given its full value as a syllable only when stressed as in farmacìe and bugìe. Note: In the plural, nouns ending in -io sometimes double the final i, sometimes not, according to whether the ‘i’ is stressed or unstressed: studio zio
6
study uncle
studi zii