ciao

[Malone]

this only occured to me just now. today

maybe I knew it in the past, but I had forgotten it.
When reading messages or emails I would often come across this word..."ciao"

I thought it was an abbreviation or something...but it's pronounced "chow" and that makes a lot of sense because they usually say it at the end.
I always thought is was spelled "chow", and was english. But it's italian.

This is what I learned today, and now you, too...can learn it

 

[AcrobatMan]

go to italy ...


and u can hear CIAO CIAO all the time..

in italy ciao...means HI or BYE...depending on situation

 

[YBORCITY]

ciao

 

[jenU2child]

Or Chau in Latin America

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

It is not pronounced "chow".

And you can find that word both in Spanish ("chau" as somebody else pointed out before) and Italian ("ciao) and they mean the same.

 

[WildHoneyAlways]

It is not pronounced "chow".

According to my Italian to English / English to Italian dictionary both chow and ciao have the same pronunciation. (chou)

 

[Popmartijn]

Well, I think it depends on how much chewing gum you're chewing when you pronounce it.
And how much you want to have it americanised...

 

[beegee]

i want to americanize it until it's beer-belching the national anthem.

so what exactly IS the correct pronunciation?

 

[WildHoneyAlways]

Well, I think it depends on how much chewing gum you're chewing when you pronounce it.
And how much you want to have it americanised...

So the dictionary i bought in Italy is wrong?

 

[JanuaryStar]

Probably..?

Ciao

 

[U2democrat]

I know the German form "tschau" is pronounced "chow"

 

[U2SavesTheWorld]

ok, but seriously...how IS it pronounced?

apparently my itallian friends have been incorrectly speaking their language

 

[RavenBlue]

I usually says Chow as well. I didn't know there was another pronouciation either.

 

[Where'sTheLove]

ciao

 

[MissMaCo]

 

[beegee]

can you end our suspense, Miss MaCo?

 

[U2SavesTheWorld]

 

[meegannie]

dictionaries

 

[WildHoneyAlways]

Annnnd?

 

[meegannie]

Annnnd, you can clearly see that the native pronuncian of the Italian word "ciao" is different to the pronuncian of the English word "chow," while the Anglicized pronunciation is the same.

 

[Popmartijn]

Annnnd, you can clearly see that the native pronuncian of the Italian word "ciao" is different to the pronuncian of the English word "chow," while the Anglicized pronunciation is the same.

 

[bonosloveslave]

 

[Sicy]

My Italian born mother pronounces it 'chow' but with a slight 'i' sound in it kind of like 'chiow'.

But yeah its pretty much pronounced chow.

 

[WildHoneyAlways]

Annnnd, you can clearly see that the native pronuncian of the Italian word "ciao" is different to the pronuncian of the English word "chow," while the Anglicized pronunciation is the same.

It's been a while since I've had a grammar class. I'm a little rusty identifying what those symbols mean. Care to tell explain the difference phonetically?

 

[beegee]

so how do native italians pronounce it?

i'm not sure that's been established yet.

 

[U2SavesTheWorld]

the native italians i know pronounce it as sicy just stated.

its not EXACTLY "CHOW" but close...like Sicy said "chiow".

 

[Sicy]

Yes, exactly.

 

[beegee]

all this fuss over a tiny little ee sound.

 

[WildHoneyAlways]

the Italians sold me a bunk dictionary.

 

[U2SavesTheWorld]

From Dictionary.com:

ciao ( P ) Pronunciation Key (chou)
interj.
Used to express greeting or farewell.


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[Italian, from dialectal ciau, alteration of Italian (sono vostro) schiavo, (I am your) servant, from Medieval Latin sclavus, slave, servant. See slave.]
Word History: Ciao first appears in English in 1929 in Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, which is set in northeast Italy during World War I. It is likely that this is where Hemingway learned the word, for ciau in Venetian dialect means “servant, slave,” and, as a casual greeting, “I am your servant.” Ciau corresponds to standard Italian schiavo; both words come from Medieval Latin sclavus, “slave.” A similar development took place with servus, the Classical Latin word for “slave,” in southern Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Poland, where servus is used as a casual greeting like ciao. At the opposite end of the world, in Southeast Asia, one even sees words meaning “slave” or “your slave” that have developed into pronouns of the first person, again to indicate respect and humility.