The first part of this essay considers the 'standard' pronunciation of Italian, a question which is more elusive and problematic than is normally expected, and one that was of great interest in the history of the language and its codification. It examines the history of the pronunciation of voiceless and voiced affricates and fricatives in the 14th century (in words such as 'aceto', 'dodici'; 'bacio', 'camicia'; 'pregio', 'religione'). The second part of the essay discusses the Introduction by the great Roman poet Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1791-1863) to his Sonetti, written in Romanesco, for which Belli elaborated a strikingly precise transcription. The Introduction is written in literary Italian, and the pronunciation is what we would call 'standard', and Belli variously designates as 'regolar' or 'retta', or 'buona favella', or 'dir polito'. It is interesting that the Florentine pronunciation of 'pace', 'pece' with a fricative is characterised as 'un difetto municipale'.