/ˈaɪ.pə/

Maltese

Family: Afro-Asiatic · Eurasia · ISO mlt · Glottolog
45
Consonants
10
Vowels

The phoneme inventory below shows every sound that functions as a meaningful unit in Maltese — a Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Eurasia . With 55 phonemes, it has a relatively large inventory compared to the world's languages. Sounds marked with a dashed border (*) are marginal: they appear only in loanwords or highly specialized contexts and are not part of the core phonological system.

Consonants

affricate

ts ~ dz ~ dzː ~ tsː ~ t̠ʃː ~ t̠ʃ ~ d̠ʒ ~ d̠ʒː ~

approximant

wː ~ w ~ jː ~ j ~

fricative

v ~ fː ~ f ~ ħ ~ ħː ~

lateral fricative

lː ~ l ~

nasal

nː ~ n ~ mː ~ m ~

sibilant fricative

z ~ s ~ sː ~ zː ~ ʃː ~ ʃ ~

stop

dː ~ tː ~ t ~ d ~ b ~ bː ~ p ~ pː ~ ʔ ~ ʔː ~ k ~ ɡ ~ kː ~ ɡː ~

trill

rː ~ r ~

Vowels

u ~ uː ~ o̞ ~ o̞ː ~ i ~ iː ~ a ~ aː ~ e̞ː ~ e̞ ~

* Marginal phoneme — occurs only in loanwords or rare contexts.

How large is this inventory?

Smaller (11) Average (36) Larger (141)
55
phonemes

Maltese has 55 phonemes, placing it in the 88th percentile of languages by inventory size — a notably large inventory.

Compared to English

For English speakers learning Maltese, these are the sounds that will require the most focused practice.

In Maltese, not in English (37)

These sounds don't exist in English — English speakers will need to learn them from scratch.

dz dzː tsː t̠ʃː d̠ʒː wː jː fː ħ ħː lː nː mː sː zː ʃː dː tː t bː p pː ʔ ʔː k kː ɡː rː r u uː o̞ o̞ː a aː e̞ː e̞

In English, not in Maltese (27)

English speakers learning Maltese won't use these sounds — they'll need to suppress them.

h pʰ ŋ e oː ʊ ʒ ɛ ɒ ɐ ð θ ɘ ɹ kx ɐː ʉː iə eə oe æe ɑe ɵː æo ɐʉ ɒɯ ʉə
Full phoneme comparison: English vs Maltese →

Most phonologically similar languages

Ranked by Jaccard similarity — the proportion of phonemes shared relative to the combined inventory of both languages.

Hungarian 58%
Compare →
Tigre 49%
Compare →
Tigrinya 49%
Compare →
Amharic 45%
Compare →
Egyptian Arabic 45%
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Compare Maltese with another language

See which sounds are shared and which are unique.

vs Hakka Chinese vs SEDANG vs Kharia vs Bhumij vs Kota vs Burushaski vs Kabardian vs Lak vs Ket vs Yao