Help:IPA/Maltese
The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Maltese language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.
See Maltese phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Maltese.
| IPA | Example | English approximation |
|---|---|---|
| b | ballun | boy |
| d | dar | duck |
| dz | gazzetta | pads |
| dʒ | ġelat | jail |
| f | fwieħa | four |
| ɡ | gallettina | game |
| h,ħ | ħadem | hat or Arabic ḥāʾ (ح) |
| j | jum | yes |
| k | kelb | scar |
| l,ɫ | libsa | look |
| m | mara | mole |
| n | nadif | no |
| p | paġna | spat |
| ɹ,r | re | real, better (American English)[1] |
| s | saqaf | sow |
| ʃ | xadina | shell |
| t | tieqa | stake |
| ts | zokk | sits |
| tʃ | ċavetta | chew |
| v | vazun | vet |
| w | warda | wall |
| z | żaqq | zoo |
| ʔ | Luqa | Cockney button; Hebrew aleph (א) |
| IPA | Example | Examples in other Languages |
|---|---|---|
| a | fatt | cat |
| ɐː | rani | rate(in some speakers of English)sats(Danish) |
| ɛ | belt | met |
| eː,ɨː | dehra | like ende(Danish) ,similar to ''we'' in English |
| iː | dik | like bight in some speakers of English(common in some Scottish English accents) |
| ɪ | wisa | bit |
| ɨː | wied | need |
| ɔ | moħħ | off |
| oː | sod | no in some speakers of English(common in some Scottish English accents) |
| uː | mur | pool |
| ʊ | kuntratt | look |
| ɜ˞ | merħba * | nurse |
- Speakers that realise r as /ɹ/ realise short e followed by r as /ɜ˞/ or /ə˞/
| IPA | Example | English approximation |
|---|---|---|
| æɪ̯ | għajn | similar to late in some speakers of English |
| iː | għid | similar to hight in some speakers of English |
| oʊ̯/oː | għum | code |
| eʊ̯/øʊ̯/øː | ewwel | similar to code(RP English),similar to ceux in french |
| aʊ̯/ɑʊ̯ | għawn | how |
| oɪ̯ | bojod | boy |
| IPA | Example | English approximation |
|---|---|---|
| ə | intom (any unstressed vowel) | minimum |
| IPA | Explanation |
|---|---|
| ◌ˤ | pharyngealised vowel |
| ◌ː | long vowel or geminate consonant; consonants occur both long and short word-medially and word-finally |
| . | syllable break |
| ˈ | stress |
Notes
- ^ 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].
References
- Hume, Elizabeth (1996). "Coronal consonant, front vowel parallels in Maltese". Natural Language & Linguistic Theory. 14 (1): 163–203.
