Maltese alphabet

Template:Short description Template:More footnotes needed 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, which evolved from the otherwise extinct Siculo-Arabic dialect, as a result of 800 years of independent development. It contains 30 letters: 24 consonants and 6 vowels (a, e, i, o, u, ie).

Uppercase	A	B	Ċ	D	E	F	Ġ	G	Għ	H	Ħ	I	Ie	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	W	X	Ż	Z
Lowercase	a	b	ċ	d	e	f	ġ	g	għ	h	ħ	i	Template:Not a typo	j	k	l	m	n	o	p	q	r	s	t	u	v	w	x	ż	z

There are two types of Maltese consonants:

• (sun consonants): ċ d n r s t x ż z
• (moon consonants): b f ġ g għ h ħ j k l m p q v w

Samples

Letter	IPA	Words	First Word	Last Word
A a	Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink	(white), (Angel), (amberjack), (better), (America), (rifle), (anchor)	(abacus)	(shareholder)
B b	Template:IPAslink	(ball), (apricot), (velvet), (bureau), (pepper)	(say for nothing)	(diligence)
Ċ ċ	Template:IPAslink	(frame), (clearness), (chocolate), (ticket), (bow), (ring)	(cobbler)	(chewing gum)
D d	Template:IPAslink	(laugh), (dice), (light), (mare), (Dominican), (hut)	(he melted)	(duet)
E e	Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink	(one thousand), (ecclesiastically), ([[4| (4), (fourth), (European), (exile)	(ebonist)	(exhumations)
F f	Template:IPAslink	(plank), (understanding), (French), (football), (perfume)	(affable)	(perfume)
Ġ ġ	Template:IPAslink	(collection), (generation), (wing), (June), (walnuts)	(already)	(pulse)
G g	Template:IPAslink	(tray), (geisha), (degree), (Greek), (island)	(gabardine)	(island)
Għ għ	Template:IPAslink	(tomorrow), (eye), (furniture), (he winked), (feast), (wood)	(hoy!)	(wood)
H h	-- (silent)	(he threatened), (happiness), (she), (he), (they)
Ħ ħ	Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink	(basil), (prisoner), (life), (brother), (badness)	(take)	(swallow)
I i	Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink	(son), (hydrogen), (gilder), (England), (azure)	(grew hard)	(to deride)
Ie ie	Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink	(hard), (another), (stop)	(hard)	(stop)
J j	Template:IPAslink	(knows), (yard), (imprisonment), Template:Not a typo (or), (yacht), (day)	(oh!)	(hah!)
K k	Template:IPAslink	(cabin), (calligraphy), (California), (wagon), (curiosity)	(cabaletta)	(Czar)
L l	Template:IPAslink	(maze), (night), (evening), (Hebrew), (east)	(nor)	(vervain three-leaved)
M m	Template:IPAslink	(Maltese), (maternity), (Mediterranean), (tunnel), (smudged)	(mother)	(nasty)
N n	Template:IPAslink	(clean), (nerve), (niche), (spectacles), nżul ix-xemx (sunset)	(to foretell)	(descending)
O o	Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink	(ocean), (opera), (horizon), (bear), (ozone)	(oasis)	(osmium)
P p	Template:IPAslink	(peace), (paragraph), (patient), (poet), (armchair)	(peace)	(cover)
Q q	Template:IPAslink	(grave), (saint), (heart), (shell), (piglet)	(caught)	(nastiness)
R r	Template:IPAslink	(land), (garret), (replica), (smell), (rebellion)	(he saw)	(lean)
S s	Template:IPAslink	(finger), (clear), (ceiling), (saw), (gown)	(until)	(switch)
T t	Template:IPAslink	(tobacco), (step), (belvedere), (Turkey), (warning), (apple)	(gave)	(levelling)
U u	Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink	(audience), (office), (human), (egg-cup), (weight)	(obedient)	(weights)
V v	Template:IPAslink	(vaccine), (pond), (vice), (trip), (ship)	(vaccine)	(vomited)
W w	Template:IPAslink	(rose), (index), (valley), (inheritance), (welded)	(sling)	(welded)
X x	Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink	(sword), (broadcasting), (honeycomb), (lip), (kicked)	(he had enough of)	(kicked)
Ż ż	Template:IPAslink	(teenager), (youth), (stomach), (dance), (wasps), (he mocked)	(prune)	(he mocked)
Z z	Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink	(salt-cellar), (sauce), (sausage), (trunk), (church-square)	(white wagtail)	(crippled)

Older versions of the alphabet

File:Ayala. Give us today our daily bread. Spanish and Arabic.jpg

Perez de Ayala's version of the Lord's Prayer in Spanish and Andalusian Arabic (1556), compare to Maltese:
ħobżna ta' kuljum agħtihulna llum.

File:Alphabet 1 - Vassalli.jpg

Vassalli's alphabet (1788)

File:Panzavecchia Maltese alphabet, 1845.png

Panzavecchia’s alphabet (1845)

Before the standardisation of the Maltese alphabet, there were several ways of writing the sounds peculiar to Maltese, namely Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, and Template:Angbr.

was formerly written as Template:Angbr (in front of Template:Angbr and Template:Angbr, in Italian fashion). Vella used Template:Angbr for . Template:Angbr was used in other books during the 19th century. Rather than using a c with a cedilla, Template:Angbr, Panzavecchia used a c with ogonek Template:Angbr. A Short Grammar of the Maltese Language used Template:Angbr for , in English fashion. However, the first appearance of the letter Template:Angbr for its current sound was in 1822 in the first ever Maltese written gospel by Martin Cannolo instituting the modern Template:Angbr.

and , now written with Template:Angbr and Template:Angbr respectively, were formerly confused. When they were differentiated, was written as Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr and (by Vassalli) as a mirrored Arabic/Syriac gimel resembling a sideways V. On the other hand, was more commonly written as Template:Angbr or Template:Angbr in English fashion. Vella used a Template:Angbr with diaeresis, Template:Angbr, but in 1843 reduced it to one dot. The first appearance for this letter was once again in the first Maltese Gospel by Martin Cannolo instituting yet again the modern Template:Angbr.

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

The letter Template:Angbr had the most variations before being standardised in 1866. It was variously written as Template:Angbr, and as a Template:Angbr with various diacritics or curly modifications. Some of these symbols were used for Template:IPAblink and some for Template:IPAblink. None of these are present in Unicode. The letter Template:Angbr was first used by Martin Cannolo in the same aforementioned script, although the capital Template:Angbr was used later on (in 1845), where its lower case counterpart was a dotted h.

was written as Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr or as a modified u (not present in Unicode).

The sounds , (now represented with Template:Angbr) were traditionally written as Template:Angbr or Template:Angbr. Vassalli invented a special character similar to Template:Angbr, just wider, and Panzavecchia used an Template:Angbr ligature to represent and , in the Italian fashion. Interestingly, the first ever use of Template:Angbr for was in the first ever Maltese document (that we know of) Il-Kantilena by Pietru Caxaro, which makes sense as he was of Spanish descent (hence the surname) and the Spanish language also used to use the same letter for that sound at the time.

and (now represented with Template:Angbr) were formerly confused with, (now represented with Template:Angbr). When they were differentiated, and were written as Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr or even Template:Angbr. On the other hand, was written as Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr and Template:Angbr.

Prior to 1900, was written as Template:Angbr, as well as Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr and Template:Angbr (in words derived from Italian and Latin).

Vassalli's 1796 work contained several new letters to represent the sounds of the Maltese language, which included the invention of several ad-hoc letters as well as the importation of Cyrillic ge, che, sha, and ze. 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

[V, or a Syriac/Arabic gimel open to the right] = g

[Ч], ɥ = ċ

H, h = h

ȣ

Ө, ө

Y, y = j

Г = ġ

З, з

U = ħ

I, i = i

J, j = j

K, k = k

[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

Ɯ, ɯ = x

V, v = v

U, u = u

W, w = w

Z, z = z

Ʒ, ʒ = ż

Æ, æ = final e

Five grave accented vowels are also used to indicate which syllable should be stressed: Àà, Èè, Ìì, Òò, and Ùù.

References

• (it) Giovan Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis, Della lingua punica presentemente usata da maltesi, per Generoso Salomoni alla Piazza di S. Ignazio. Si vendono in Malta, 1750
• (it) Antonio Emanuele Caruana, Sull'origine della Lingua Maltese, Malta, Tipografia C. Busuttil, 1896
• (it) Giovanni Battista Falzon, Dizionario Maltese-Italiano-Inglese, G. Muscat, 1845 (1 ed.), (2 ed.)
• (it) Giuseppe Nicola Letard, Nuova guida alla conversazione italiana, inglese e maltese ad uso delle scuole, Malta, 1866-75
• (it) Fortunato Panzavecchia, Grammatica della Lingua Maltese, M. Weiss, Malta, 1845
• (it) Michele Antonio Vassalli, Grammatica della lingua Maltese, 2 ed., Malta, 1827
• (it) Michele Antonio Vassalli, Lexicon Melitense-Latino-Italum, Roma, Fulgonius, 1796
• (it) Francesco Vella, Osservazioni sull'alfabeto maltese, 1840
• (it) Francesca Morando, Il-lingwa Maltija. Origine, storia, comparazione linguistica e aspetti morfologici, Prefazione di Joseph M. Brincat, Palermo, Edizioni La Zisa, 2017, ISBN 978-88-9911-339-1
• (en) S. Mamo, English-Maltese Dictionary, Malta, A. Aquilina, 1885
• (en) A Short Grammar of the Maltese Language, Malta, 1845
• (en) C. F. Schlienz, Views on the Improvement of the Maltese Language, Malta, 1838
• (en) Francesco Vella, Maltese Grammar for the Use of the English, Glaucus Masi, Leghorn, 1831
• (en) Francesco Vella, Dizionario portatile delle lingue Maltese Italiana, Inglese. pt. 1, Livorno, 1843
• (en) Joseph Aquilina, Teach Yourself Maltese, English University Press, 1965
• (en) Geoffrey Hull, The Malta Language Question: A Case Study in Cultural Imperialism, Said International, Valletta, 1993
• (mt) Vicenzo Busuttil, Diziunariu mill Inglis ghall Malti, 2 parts, N. C. Cortis & Sons, Malta, 1900
• (mt) Mons. L. Cachia, L-Ilsien Malti l-Bieraħ u l-Lum. 1994.
• (mt) Pietru Caxaro, Il-Kantilena . 1400s
• (mt) Giusseppe Martin Cannolo, Il Vangelo Di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo, Secondo San Giovanni. 1822.

External links

• L-Użu tal-Malti fil-Kompjuter (manwal)