The consonants are generally pronounced as in Italian. Double consonants are not pronounced doubly and exist to indicate historically open e ([ɛ]) or o ([ɔ]), thus terra, not tera.

Like French, Savoyard has liaison, that is, final consonants are generally not pronounced at the end of words unless the following word (in the same phrase) begins with a vowel. In contrast to French, liaison does not operate quite as extensively as in Savoyard because most final consonants are always pronounced finally. So, -r is silent. And -t after a consonant is also silent. Two sounds change with a following vowel: -s has a z-sound, and an -l is pronounced u by most speakers if followed by a consonant. If it is followed by a vowel is retains the l-sound. Final -n is sometimes nasalized by some speakers. It is not nasalized if a vowel follows.

Savoyard words have stress on the last syllable if they end in a consonant and on the next to last if the word ends in a single vowel or -ia, -ie, or -ii . If the word is not stressed according to these rules, the stressed vowel is indicated with a grave accent. The diphthongs ei and ou always carry the stress.

After World War II, a spelling reform was attempted by the government. An attempt at spelling reform again occurred in the 1980s (largely the same changes). Unfortunately, these were only partially successful.

There were five main changes:

1. Double consonants were reduced to one: terra>tera 'earth, ground'. This change was generally not successful except when the consonant occurred in final position: bell 'beautiful' (masc. sing.) > bel. However, it is rare to see a single s at the end of past subjunctive forms of the verb: amass 'I may have loved'.
2. In the 1940s reform, the letter î was introduced to indicate a final -i that is not silent. This is now never seen except in (some) books of that era. It is spelled -ii now.
3. Use of the letter y was never common but was sometimes used by some writers to mark a y-sound intervocalically. This usually marked what is gl in Italian or ll in Spanish or French, that is, a palatal l. It is now replaced by i, though may be found here and there as making written material look old fashioned. Example: foya>foia 'leaf'.

Masculine Singular: el, before a vowel or h-: l'
Feminine Singular: la, before a vowel or h-: l'
Masc. Plural:ii. Before a vowel or h-, i' is used.
Fem. Plural: le. Before a vowel le generally remains le though some writers use l'.
The definite article combines with certain prepositions. Unfortunately, Savoyard writers do not agree on the spelling of some of these forms.
With de 'of': del, d'la or dela, dii, d'le or dele; with l': dl'
With a 'to, at': al, ala or a la, ai, ale or a le or al'; with l': al'
With en 'in': nel, nela, nei, nele; with l' it is nel'.

masc. sing.: un
fem. sing.: una, before a vowel: un'
masc. plur.: uni, i.e. 'some'
fem. plur.: une

Nouns have only masculine or feminine gender. Masculine nouns generally end in a consonant and feminines end in -a. Some nouns end in -e; the gender of these nouns must be learned.

Masculines

Generally, to form the plural of a masculine noun, add -i.

Nouns in -c:

• Most form their plurals in -qui, thus preserving the /k/-sound with an orthographic change: foc 'fire' becomes foqui.
• A few nouns in -c, only add --i, and so there is a change in pronunciation: amic /amik/ 'friend' > amici /amis/.
• Some nouns change the -c to g. In Savoyard, unvoiced consonants tend to be voiced between vowels. Example: lac 'lake' > lagui (There is an orthographic change here, too.)
• No noun has a c to -gi change.
• Nouns in -ç, form their plurals in -ci: braç 'arm' braci.

Nouns in -g: These always form their plurals in -gui: dialog 'dialog' > dialogui.

For a feminine noun, change the -a to -e. If a noun ends in -e, change the -e to -i.
Some masculine (mostly) monosyllabic nouns change internal -a- to -e-: can 'dog' > queni.
Feminines in -cioun add -i to form the plural: accioun 'action' > acciouni