The Maltese Alphabet

Posted by Daniel Stout on Fri 27 Jan 2006 at 1:01 PM

1. The Maltese Alphabet consists of 24 Consonants and 5 Vowels. The vowels are: a, e, i, o, u.
2. The following is the alphabet:
   • A, a is pronounced ah as in English far (il bogħod) or uh as in dust (trab); example: dar (house).
   • B, b is pronounced beh as in English bed (sodda); example: bejt (roof).
   • Ċ, ċ is pronounced chec as in English church (knisja); example: ċajt (jokes).
   • D, d is pronounced deh as in English destiny (destin, din); example: dwejra (a small house).
   • E, e is pronounced eh as in English end (tarf); example: sena (year).
   • F, f is prounced effeh as in English fat (oħxon) or gh in laugh (daħka); example: felu (colt).
   • Ġ, ġ is pronounced jeh as in English jest (ħlieqa); example: ġew (they came).
   • G, g is pronounced ger as in English game (logħba); example: gamblu (shrimp).
   • Għ, għ is silent when preceding or following any one of the vowels a, e, o; before the vowel i it takes the sound of the English igh in night; example: għada (tomorrow).
   • H, h is silent as in English heir (werriet); example: fiha (in her).
   • Ħ, ħ is pronounced ehheh as in English his (tiegħu); example: ħelwa (sweet).
   • I, i is pronounced ee as in English bee (naħla); example: ġir (lime).
   • J, j has the consonantal value of the English y in yes (iva); example: jersaq (he moves).
   • K, k is pronounced like the English k in kerchief (maktur); example: kesħa (cold).
   • L, l is pronounced like l in English lent (misluf); example: ilma (water).
   • M, m is pronounced like m in English much (ħafna); example: mar (he went).
   • N, n is pronounced like n in English net (xibka); example: nej (raw).
   • O, o is pronounced like o in English bothered (imdejjaq); example: toqba (hole).
   • P, p is pronounced like p in English pair (par); example: ipejjep (he smokes).
   • Q, q has no corresponding guttural sound in English; it is similar to a hard k or to the cawing of a crow; example: qal (he said).
   • R, r is pronounced like r in English rest (serħan); example: ra (he saw).
   • S, s is pronounced like s in English sent (mibgħut); example: spiċċat (finished).
   • T, t is pronounced like t in English ten (għaxra); example: telaq (he left).
   • U, u is pronounced as the English oo in moon (qamar); example: ħuta (fish).
   • V, v is pronounced like v in English very (ħafna); example: venven (it soughed).
   • W, w has the same value as in English; example: wegħda (vow).
   • X, x is pronounced as the English sh in shame (mistħija); example: xemx (sun).
   • Z, z is pronounced as the English ds in had served (kien qeda) or ts in bits (bċejjeċ); example: zokk (trunk).
   • Ż, ż is pronounced as the English z in zone (żona) and s in deserves (jistħoqq); example: żelaq (he slipped).
3. The letters ie are regarded as a single letter, as in ġieb (he brought) instead of ġab (he brought), bieb (door) instead of bab (door). They are pronounced like ie in the English word fierce (kiefer).

Exercises for Practice

1. Endeavour to pronounce the following words, carefully studying the Alphabet when in doubt:—
   aħna (we), sħana (heat), marda (illness, sickness), baqqun (pickaxe), bews (kisses), ċirċ (drizzling rain), ċavetta (key), dejqa (narrow, feminine), xena (scene), ferħ (joy, jubliation), xellugi (left-handed), gost (pleasure), buqar (jug), tagħna (our, of us), ħamsa (five), dehen (discernment), melħ (salt), wirja (show, demonstration), ħniena (pity), kittieb (writer, novelist), lanqas (neither, nor), nirien (fires), qomos (shirts), perżut (ham), qam (he rose), reqq (he became thin), suf (wool, hair, fleece), iswed (black), xandar (he divulged, he proclaimed, he made public), zokk (trunk), żamm (he kept), siefer (he travelled or Travel!).
2. Count the number of Consonants and Vowels in each of the above words.

The above text comes from Maltese in Easy Stages (8th ed.) by Albert M. Cassola.

Please see the following entry on Writing Maltese on the Web.

Tags: alphabet · international · malta · maltese · malti · unicode

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