Bilingual Italian-English Dictionary H

The letter  Ã¢â‚¬Å"H† -- the eighth letter of the Italian language -- is called â€Å"acca† but makes no sound. This silent consonant is used as the initial letter only in four forms of the verb  avere  (to have):  ho  (I have), pronounced â€Å"oh†;  hai  (you have), pronounced â€Å"aye†;  ha  (he or she has), pronounced â€Å"ah†; and hanno  (they have), pronounced â€Å"ahn-no†. In some cases, words with an H are pronounced the same way as a word without an H. For example,  hanno  (they have)  and  anno  (year)  are pronounced exactly the same. Because it is silent, some will argue about the importance of the letter H. But the fact is, the Italian â€Å"H† appears after the consonants â€Å"c† and â€Å"g† before the vowels â€Å"e† and â€Å"i† to harden their sounds. Whether or not there is an H changes not only the pronunciation but the meaning of the word as well. Ci  (with multiple meanings, including here, there and us) is pronounced â€Å"chee,† while  chi  (who) sounds like â€Å"key.† Other uses for H:   le chiese  (the churches), without an  H,  crollano  (collapse).i chioschi  (the kiosks), become so light that they  volano  (fly) through the air scattering  giornali  (newspapers) everywhere.i cherubini  (the cherubim), for whom taking away the  Acca  was like taking away their wings,  cadono  (fall) from the sky.le chiavi  (the keys) cannot  aprire le porte  (open the doors) so people must sleep outdoors.le chitarre  (the guitars) lose  tutte le corde  (all their chords) and cannot make music.il Chianti, without the  Acca, takes on  un sapore disgustoso  (disgusting taste), and  i bicchieri  (the glasses), becoming biccieri, shatter into  mille pezzi  (thousands of pieces).Not a single rooster (gallo)  can  fare chicchirichi  (go cockle-doodle-do) in the morning. Words and Expressions The unpronounced â€Å"H† makes appearances in many everyday expressions, including:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ahi!  -- oh dear!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ahimà ¨! Ohimà ¨! – alas!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Eh!  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ ah! well!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Oh!  -- oh! ah!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ohibà ²!  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ for shame! Italian Words that Start with "H" Many â€Å"H† words have migrated untouched into Italian, including  harem, hamster, happening, hardware, helium,  and  homeland. Others take on Italian embellishments, as in  hollywoodiano, Then theres the Italian  asino  (donkey), who brays â€Å"hi ho!† rather than hee-haw. As mentioned above, other Italian words that start with H: Ha -- He/she has Hanno -- They have Ho -- I have Italian-English Dictionary