You're absolutely right about "sposalizio" (note the correct spelling), though I would say that even when Italians pronounce it as a four-syllable word, those elided vowels at the end, "i" and "o," tend to make it sound like two quick syllables, at least to American/English ears.
To your other point, I expect that Pavarotti would have had no problem learning how to sing, for example, "she was-a send-a me her photograph" even if he wouldn't actually pronounce that phrase that way in his authentic Italian accent. For that matter, if some of Pav's pronunciations might not have been EXACTLY what Loesser wrote, I'm guessing (though I can't be sure) that he probably wouldn't have minded very much, as long as it sounded natural.
:-) |
