A

The first letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


f

The sixth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


o

The nineteenth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


i

long phoneme before the letters għ, ħ, h, q; merges with ie

after għ; variation is regional and idiolectal

The twelfth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


e

The fifth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


b

The second letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


d

The fourth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


g

The eighth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


h

Continues Arabic ه (h). In pre-modern Maltese, h still produces the sound [h] as recorded by Agius de Soldanis (1750) and Mikel Anton Vassalli (1796). The early contemporary variant was first found in the dialect of lsien tal-bliet (“tongues of the cities”, referring to the cities around the Grand Harbour according to Vassalli) which eventually superseded the increasingly archaic [h] sound in the neighboring areas.

The tenth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis


k

The fifteenth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


l

The sixteenth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


m

The seventeenth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


n

The eighteenth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


p

The twentieth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


q

dialectal, now especially among the elderly

The twenty-first letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


r

The twenty-second letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


s

The twenty-third letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


t

The twenty-fourth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


u

The twenty-fifth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


v

The twenty-sixth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


w

The twenty-seventh letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


z

The thirtieth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


ie

The thirteenth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


a

The first letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


B

The second letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


x

The twenty-eighth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


ġ

The dot indicates the “softer” of two pronunciations, in this case the affricate /d͡ʒ/ instead of the plosive /ɡ/. Compare ċ and ż.

The seventh letter of the Maltese alphabet, after f.


Ċ

The third letter of the Maltese alphabet, following B and preceding D, representing the phoneme /tʃ/.


ħ

The letter mainly continues Arabic ح (ḥ) and Arabic خ (ḵ). These two phonemes were merged into /ħ/ around Valetta since at least the 18th century, but continued to be distinguished as /ħ/ and /x~χ/ elsewhere. By the later 19th century, however, this merger had established itself throughout the language (thus significantly earlier than that of għ, which see).
Additionally it may continue Arabic ه /h/. This letter was mostly vowelised (see h), but as first or last radical of a root it sporadically underwent fortition instead.
The symbol <ħ> was apparently first used by Maltese canon Giusseppe Martin Cannolo in 1822 in the first Maltese written Gospel, though it was not popularised until the latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, being officially adopted in 1924.

coinage

The eleventh letter of the Maltese alphabet, called ħe and written in the Latin script.


ċ

The dot indicates the “softer” of two pronunciations, in this case the affricate /t͡ʃ/ instead of the plosive /k/ (the two possible realisations of c in Italian). Compare ġ and ż.

The third letter of the Maltese alphabet, after b.


Ġ

The seventh letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


għ

Continues Arabic ع (ʕ) and غ (ḡ). The two phonemes were merged into /ʕ/ around Valetta since at least the 18th century, but continued to be distinguished as /ʕ/ and /ɣ~ʁ/ elsewhere (in some rural dialects until the later 20th century). Both in merging and non-merging dialects, /ʕ/ was weakly articulated and eventually vowelised, though word-finally after stressed vowels it underwent devoicing to [ħ] instead.
The symbol was apparently first used in 1859 by the newspaper Il Habib tal Maltin (as an adaptation of earlier ), though it was not popularised until the first half of the 20th century.

The ninth letter of the Maltese alphabet, called ajn and written in the Latin script.


Għ

The ninth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


Ħ

The eleventh letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.


ż

The dot indicates the “softer” of two pronunciations, in this case the fricative /z/ instead of the affricates /t͡s/, /d͡z/. Compare ċ and ġ.

The twenty-ninth letter of the Maltese alphabet, called że and written in the Latin script.


Ż

The 29th (and penultimate) letter of the Maltese alphabet, after X and before Z.