Maltese alphabet

The Maltese alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet with the addition of some letters with diacritic marks and digraphs. It is used to write the Maltese language. It contains 30 letters:

Aa Bb Ċċ Dd Ee Ff Ġġ Gg Għgħ Hh Ħħ Ii Ieie Jj Kk

Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Żż Zz

Samples

Letter (ittra)	IPA	Words (kliem)	First Word (l-ewwel kelma)	Last Word (l-aħħar kelma)
A a	/ɐ/	abjad (white), aċċola (amberjack), aħjar (better), Amerka (America), azzarin (rifle), ankra (anchor)	abbaku (abacus)	azzjonist (shareholder)
B b	/b/	ballun (ball), berquq (apricot), bellus (velvet), burò (bureau), bżar (pepper)	bababa (say for nothing)	bżulija (diligence)
Ċ ċ	/t͡ʃ/	ċaċċiż (frame), ċarezza (clearness),ċikkulata (chocolate), ċitazzjoni (summons), ċoff (bow)[disambiguation needed ], ċurkett (ring)	ċabattin (cobbler)	ċuwingam (chewing gum)
D d	/d/	daħka (laugh), damma (dice), dawl (light), debba (mare), Dumnikan (Dominican), dura (hut)	dan (this)	dwett (duet)
E e	/ɛ/	elf (one thousand), ekkleżjastikament (ecclesiastically), erbgħa (four), Ewropew (European), eżilju (exile)	ebbanist (ebonist)	eżumazzjonijiet (exhumations)
F f	/f/	fallakka (plank), fehma (understanding), Franċiż (French), futbol (football), fwieħa (perfume)	fabbli (affable)	fwieħa (perfume)
Ġ ġ	/d͡ʒ/	ġabra (collection), ġenerazzjoni (generation), ġewnaħ (wing), Ġunju (June), ġwież (walnuts)	ġa (already)	ġwież (pulse)
G g	/ɡ/	gabarrè (tray), gejxa (geisha), grad (degree), Grieg (Greek), gżira (island)	gabardin (gabardine)	gżira (island)
Għ għ	/ˤː/	għada (tomorrow), għajn (eye), għamara (furniture), għemeż (he winked), Għid il-Kbir (Easter), għuda (wood)	għa (hoy!)	għuda (wood)
H h	--	hedded (he threatened), hena (comfort), hi (she), hu (he), huma (they)	haġra (hegira)	hżunija (wickedness)
Ħ ħ	/ħ/	ħabaq (basil), ħabsi (prisoner), ħajja (life), ħu (brother), ħażen (badness)	ħa (take)	ħuttafa (swallow)
I i	/ɪ/	iben (son), idroġenu (hydrogen), induratur (gilder), Ingilterra (England), iżraq (azure)	ibbies (grew hard)	iżżuffjetta (to deride)
Ie ie	/iɛ, iː/	iebes (hard), ieħor (another), ieqaf (stop)	iebes (hard)	ieqaf (stop)
J j	/j/	jaf (knows), jarda (yard), jasar (imprisonment), jew (or), jott (yacht), jum (day)	ja (oh!)	jupp (hah!)
K k	/k/	kabina (cabin), kaligrafija (calligraphy), Kalifornja (California), karru (wagon), kurżità (curiosity)	kaballetta (cabaletta)	Kżar (Czar)
L l	/l/	labirint (maze), lejl (night), lejla (evening), Lhudi (Hebrew), lvant (east)	la (nor)	lwiża (vervain three-leaved)
M m	/m/	Malti (Maltese), maternità (maternity), Mediterran (Mediterranean), mina (tunnel), mżegleg (dislocated)	mama' (mother)	mżużi (nasty)
N n	/n/	nadif (clean), nerv (nerve), niċċa (niche), nuċċali (spectacles), nżul ix-xemx (sunset)	nabba (to foretell)	nżul (descending)
O o	/ɔ/	oċean (ocean), opra (opera), orizzont (horizon), ors (bear), ożonu (ozone)	oasi (oasis)	ożmjum (osmium)
P p	/p/	paċi (peace), paragrafu (paragraph), pazjent (patient), poeta (poet), pultruna (armchair)	paċi (peace)	pużata (cover)
Q q	/ʔ/	qabar (grave), qaddis (saint), qalb (heart), qoxra (shell), qażquż (piglet)	qabad (captive)	qżużijat (nastiness)
R r	/r/	raba' (land), raff (garret), replika (replica), riħa (smell), rvell (rebellion)	ra (he saw)	rżit (lean)
S s	/s/	saba' (finger), safi (clear), saqaf (ceiling), serrieq (saw), suttana (gown)	sa (until)	swiċċ (switch)
T t	/t/	tabakk (tobacco), tarġa (step), terrazzin (belvedere), Turkija (Turkey), twissija (advice), tuffieħa (apple)	ta (gave)	twittijat (levelling)
U u	/ʊ/	udjenza (audience), uffiċċju (office), uman (human), uviera (egg-cup), użin (weight)	ubbidjent (obedient)	użinijiet (weights)
V v	/v/	vaċċin (vaccine), vaska (pond), viċi (vice), vjaġġ (trip), vapur (ship)	vaċċin (vaccine)	vvumtat (vomited)
W w	/w/	warda (rose), werrej (index), wied (valley), wirt (inheritance), wweldjat (welded)	wadab (sling)	wweldjat (welded)
X x	/ʃ, ʒ/	xabla (sword), xandir (broadcasting), xehda (honeycomb), xoffa (lip), xxuttjat (kicked)	xaba' (satiate)	xxuttjat (kicked)
Ż ż	/z/	żagħżugħ (youth), żaqq (stomach), żifna (dance), żunżan (wasps), żżuffjetta (he mocked)	żabar (prune)	żżuffjetta (he mocked)
Z z	/t͡s, d͡z/	zalliera (salt-cellar), zalza (sauce), zalzett (sausage), zokk (trunk), zuntier (church-square)	zakak (white wagtail)	zzuppjat (crippled)

Older versions of the alphabet

Vassali's alphabet (1788)

Before the standardisation of the Maltese alphabet, there were several ways of writing the sounds peculiar to Maltese, namely ċ, ġ, għ, ħ, w, x, and ż.

ċ was formerly written as c (in front of e and i, in Italian fashion). Vella used ç for ċ. ç was used in other books during the 19th century. Rather than using a c with a cedilla (ç), Panzavecchia used a c with ogonek. A Short Grammar of the Maltese Language used ch for ċ, in English fashion. It was not until 1866 that ċ came to be used.

ġ and g were formerly confused. When they were differentiated, g was written as gk, g, gh and (by Vassalli) as a mirrored Г. On the other hand, ġ was more commonly written as g or j in English fashion. Vella used a g with two dots, but in 1843 reduced it to one dot, instituting today’s ġ.

Until the middle of the 19th century, two għ sounds were differentiated in Maltese. These were variously represented as gh, ġh, gh´, gh˙ and with two letters not represented in Unicode (they resembled an upside down U). Panzavecchia used a specially designed font with a curly gh. A Short Grammar of the Maltese Language used a with a superscript Arabic ayn to represent għ. għ itself was first used in Nuova guida alla conversazione italiana, inglese e maltese.

The letter ħ had the most variations before being standardised in 1866. It was variously written as ch, and as a h with various diacritics or curly modifications. Some of these symbols were used for [ħ] and some for [x]. None of these are present in Unicode. ħ was first used in 1900, although the capital Ħ was used earlier (in 1845) where its lower case counterpart was a dotted h.

w was written as w, u or as a modified u (not present in Unicode).

x was traditionally written as sc or x. Vassalli invented a special character similar to Щ and Panzavecchia used a sc ligature to represent x.

ż and z were formerly confused. When they were differentiated, z was written as ts, z, ʒ or even ż. On the other hand, ż was written as ż, ds, ts, ʒ and z.

Prior to 1900, k was written as k, as well as c, ch and q (in words derived from Italian and Latin).

Vassalli’s 1796 work contained several new letters to represent the sounds of the Maltese language. His alphabet is set out in full with modern-day equivalents where known:

A, a = a

B, b = b

T, t = t

D, d = d

E, e = e

F, f = f

Г, г = g

Ч, ч = ċ

H, h = h

[letter not represented in Unicode. The letter looks like an upside down U with a circle on top]

[letter not represented in Unicode. The letter looks like a circle with a vertical line bisecting it]

Y, y = j

[letter not represented in Unicode. The letter looks like a mirror image of Г ] = ġ

З, з

[letter not represented in Unicode. The letter looks like an upside down U ] = ħ

I, i = i

J, j = j

K, k = k

[letter not represented in Unicode. The letter looks like the letter I with a small c superimposed on it]

L, l = l

M, m = m

N, n = n

O, o = o

P, p = p

R, r = r

S, s = s

[letter not represented in Unicode. The letter looks like Щ ] = x

V, v = v

U, u = u

W, w = w

Z, z = z

Ʒ, ʒ = ż

Æ, æ = final e

X, x = ks

References

A Short Grammar of the Maltese Language, Malta, 1845

Nuova guida alla conversazione italiana, inglese e maltese, Presso Paolo Calleja, Malta, 1866

G. N. L., Nuova guida alla conversazione italiana, inglese e maltese, Presso Paolo Calleja, Malta, 1866

Vicenzo Busuttil, Diziunariu mill inglis ghall malti, 2 parts, N. C. Cortis & Sons, Malta, 1900

Fortunato Panzavecchia, Grammatica della lingua maltese, M. Weiss, Malta, 1845

Michael Antonius Vassalli, Ktŷb yl klŷm Mâlti ’mfysser byl-Latǐn u byt-Taljân sive Liber dictionum melitensium, Antonio Fulgoni, Rome, 1796

Michele Antonio Vassalli, Grammatica della lingua maltese, 2 ed., Malta, 1827

Francis Vella, Maltese Grammar for the Use of the English, Glaucus Masi, Leghorn, 1831

Francis Vella, Dizionario portatil della lingue maltese, italiana inglese, Livorno, 1843

See also

• Alphabets derived from the Latin
• MALTESE FONTS