Sul Tagliere — Italian Tongue Twister

Sul tagliere taglierò le tagliatelle

Sul tagliere taglierò le tagliatelle

On the chopping board I will cut the tagliatelle

Why Is It Hard?

The word tagliere (chopping board), taglierò (I will cut), and tagliatelle all share the same root tagli. In Italian this produces the soft gl sound, which is unlike any English sound. Repeating this four times at speed while shifting word endings causes the tongue to tangle badly.

History

This tongue twister celebrates Italian pasta culture. Tagliatelle, the famous ribbon pasta from Bologna, takes its name from the verb tagliare (to cut), making this a linguistically coherent sentence that is also a perfect phonetic trap. It is used in Italian language schools as an advanced pronunciation drill.

Tips for Saying It

• Master the Italian gl sound first: tongue touches the roof of the mouth softly.
• Separate the words: sul-tagliere / taglierò / le-tagliatelle.
• Repeat just the tagli syllable 10 times before tackling the full sentence.

More Italian Tongue Twisters

• Italian Tongue Twisters — full collection
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