The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Maltese language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see ((IPA-mt)) and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Maltese phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Maltese.

Consonants
IPA Example English approximation
b ballun boy
d dar duck
dz gazzetta pads
ġelat jail
f fwieħa four
ɡ gallettina game
h ħ ħadem hat or Arabic arām حَرَامْ
j jum yes
k kelb scar
l ɫ libsa look
m mara mole
n nadif no
p paġna spat
ɹ r re real or American atom[1]
s saqaf sow
ʃ xadina shell
t tieqa stake
ts zokk sits
ċavetta chew
v vazun vet
w warda wall
z żaqq zoo
ʔ Luqa Cockney button
Vowels
IPA Example English approximation
a fatt RP cat
ɐː æː rani somewhat likeRP father or somewhat like Australian rate
dehra hey
ɛ belt met
ɝ merħba[2] American nurse
ə intom, Mdina (in between m and d)[3] minimum
għid less focused a sound than in the word dik beet
ɪ wisa bit
ɛː wied, met but longer
sod, għum Scottish no
øː ewwel (may be realised as a Diphthong) RP code or French ceux
ɔ ɒ moħħ awe or off
mur pool
ʊ kuntratt look
iwaħħax somewhat like RP acute or French tu
Diphthongs
æː(ɪ̯) għajn Australian late
eʊ̯ øʊ̯ øː ewwel RP code or French ceux
aʊ̯ ɑʊ̯ għawn how
oɪ̯ bojod boy
Suprasegmentals
IPA Explanation
◌ˤ pharyngealised vowel
◌ː long vowel or geminate consonant[4]
. syllable break
ˈ stress

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The realization of the phoneme /r/ varies; some speakers pronounce it as an approximant [ɻ] virtually identical to that used for real in the western United States, while others pronounce it as a tap [ɾ], similar to the pronunciation of ⟨t⟩ and ⟨d⟩ between vowels in American and Australian English. When geminated, it may be pronounced as a lengthened approximant [ɻː], a tap [ɾ], or a trill [r].
  2. ^ Speakers that realise ⟨r⟩ as [ɹ] realise short ⟨er⟩ as [ɝ] or [ə˞].
  3. ^ Any unstressed vowel for some speakers or occasional filler vowel in between orthographical cluster consonants.
  4. ^ Consonants occur both long and short word-medially and word-finally.

References[edit]