Italian language

Sounds

Vowels

Triphthongs always contain at least one semivowel. In miei the first i is a semivocalic 'y' sound, [j]; in tuoi, the u functions as a [w]; and the final i of such words can become semivocalic before a following vowel in the next word. The i is a semivowel also in the first person plural of some verbs: continuiamo, dissanguiamo. Noia and febbraio have the sequence vowel-semivowel-vowel. And in the four-vowel sequence of aiuola ('flowerbed') the "u" is a semivowel, [w] - more often omitted nowadays and spelt aiola.