Editing Maltese language (section)

==Phonology==

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+ Consonant phonemes{{sfnp|Hume|1996|p=165}}{{sfnp|Borg|1997|p=248}}
!
! colspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan="2" | [[Dental consonant|Dental]]/<br/>[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! colspan="2" | [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! colspan="2" | [[Pharyngeal consonant|Pharyngeal]]
! colspan="2" | [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! [[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" | {{IPA link|m}}
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" | {{IPA link|n}}
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" |
|-
! [[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]
| style="border-right: none;" | {{IPA link|p}}    || style="border-left: none;" | {{IPA link|b}}
| style="border-right: none;" | {{IPA link|t̪|t}} || style="border-left: none;" | {{IPA link|d̪|d}}
| style="border-right: none;" |                   || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" | {{IPA link|k}}    || style="border-left: none;" | {{IPA link|ɡ}}
| style="border-right: none;" |                   || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" | {{IPA link|ʔ}}    || style="border-left: none;" |
|-
! [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
| style="border-right: none;" |                  || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" | {{IPA link|t͡s}} || style="border-left: none;" | {{IPA link|d͡z}}
| style="border-right: none;" | {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} || style="border-left: none;" | {{IPA link|d͡ʒ}}
| style="border-right: none;" |                  || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" |                  || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" |                  || style="border-left: none;" |
|-
! [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| style="border-right: none;" | {{IPA link|f}} || style="border-left: none;" | {{IPA link|v}}
| style="border-right: none;" | {{IPA link|s}} || style="border-left: none;" | {{IPA link|z}}
| style="border-right: none;" | {{IPA link|ʃ}} || style="border-left: none;" | {{IPA link|ʒ}}
| style="border-right: none;" |                || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" | {{IPA link|ħ}} || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" |                || style="border-left: none;" |
|-
! [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" | {{IPA link|r}}
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" |
|-
! [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" | {{IPA link|l}}
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" | {{IPA link|j}}
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" | {{IPA link|w}}
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" |
| style="border-right: none;" |      || style="border-left: none;" |
|}

[[File:Silta minn Vassalli.jpg|thumb|[[Mikiel Anton Vassalli|Vassalli]]'s ''Storja tas-Sultân Ċiru'' (1831), is an example of Maltese orthography in the 19th century, before the later standardisation introduced in 1924. Note the similarities with the various varieties of romanised Arabic.]]
Voiceless stops are only lightly aspirated and voiced stops are fully voiced. Voicing is carried over from the last segment in [[obstruent]] [[consonant cluster|clusters]]; thus, two- and three-obstruent clusters are either voiceless or voiced throughout, e.g. {{IPA|/niktbu/}} is realised {{IPA|[ˈniɡdbu]}} "we write" (similar assimilation phenomena occur in languages like French or Czech). Maltese has [[final-obstruent devoicing]] of voiced obstruents and word-final voiceless stops have [[no audible release]], making voiceless–voiced pairs phonetically indistinguishable in word-final position.{{sfnp|Borg|1997|pp=249–250}}

[[Gemination]] is distinctive word-medially and word-finally in Maltese. The distinction is most rigid [[intervocalic consonant|intervocalically]] after a stressed vowel. Stressed, word-final [[Syllable#open syllable|closed syllables]] with short vowels end in a long consonant, and those with a long vowel in a single consonant; the only exception is where historic {{IPA|*ʕ}} and {{IPA|*ɣ}} meant the [[compensatory lengthening]] of the succeeding vowel. Some speakers have lost length distinction in clusters.{{sfnp|Borg|1997|pp=251–252}}

The two nasals {{IPA|/m/}} and {{IPA|/n/}} assimilate for [[place of articulation]] in clusters.{{sfnp|Borg|1997|p=255}} {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} are usually [[dental stop|dental]], whereas {{IPA|/t͡s d͡z s z n r l/}} are all alveolar. {{IPA|/t͡s d͡z/}} are found mostly in words of Italian origin, retaining length (if not word-initial).{{sfnp|Borg|1997|p=254}} {{IPA|/d͡z/}} and {{IPA|/ʒ/}} are only found in loanwords, e.g. {{IPA|/ɡad͡zd͡zɛtta/}} "newspaper" and {{IPA|/tɛlɛˈviʒin/}} "television".{{sfnp|Borg|1997|p=247}} The pharyngeal fricative {{IPA|/ħ/}} is velar ({{IPAblink|x}}), uvular ({{IPAblink|χ}}), or glottal ({{IPAblink|h}}) for some speakers.{{sfnp|Borg|1997|p=260}}

===Vowels===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Vowel phonemes
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" |[[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan="2" |[[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan="2" |[[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
!{{small|short}}
!{{small|long}}
!{{small|short}}
!{{small|long}}
!{{small|short}}
!{{small|long}}
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|
|{{IPA link|iː}}
|
|
|
|
|-
![[Near-close vowel|Near-close]]
|{{IPA link|ɪ}}
|{{IPA link|ɪː}}
|
|
|{{IPA link|ʊ}}
|{{IPA link|ʊː}}
|-
![[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
|{{IPA link|ɛ}}
|{{IPA link|ɛː}}
|
|
|{{IPA link|ɔ}}
|{{IPA link|ɔː}}
|-
![[Near-open vowel|Near-open]]
|
|
|{{IPA link|ɐ}}
|{{IPA link|ɐː}}
|
|
|-
![[Diphthong|Diphthongs]]
| colspan="6" |{{IPA|/ɐɪ/ /ɐʊ/ /ɛɪ/ /ɛʊ/ /ɪʊ/ /ɔɪ/ /ɔʊ/}}
|}
Maltese has five short vowels, {{IPA|/ɐ ɛ ɪ ɔ ʊ/}}, written ''a e i o u;'' six long vowels, {{IPA|/ɐː ɛː ɪː iː ɔː ʊː/}}, written ''a, e, ie, i, o, u,'' all of which (with the exception of ''ie'' {{IPA|/ɪː/}}) can be known to represent long vowels in writing only if they are followed by an orthographic ''għ'' or ''h'' (otherwise, one needs to know the pronunciation; e.g. ''nar'' (fire) is pronounced {{IPA|/nɐːr/}}); and seven [[diphthong]]s, {{IPA|/ɐɪ ɐʊ ɛɪ ɛʊ ɪʊ ɔɪ ɔʊ/}}, written ''aj'' or ''għi, aw'' or ''għu, ej'' or ''għi, ew, iw, oj,'' and ''ow'' or ''għu.''<ref name="Borg" />

===Historical phonology===
The Maltese consonant system has undergone several changes when compared to Classical Arabic:<ref>{{cite book| last=Puech |first=Gilbert |date=2017 |title= The Languages of Malta Chapter 2: Loss of emphatic and guttural consonants: From medieval to contemporary Maltese |url=https://www.academia.edu/82196652 |publisher=Language Science Press |isbn=978-3-96110-070-5}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! rowspan="3" | Classical Arabic
!Letter
| {{lang|ar|ت|rtl=yes}} || {{lang|ar|ط|rtl=yes}} || {{lang|ar|ث|rtl=yes}}
| {{lang|ar|د|rtl=yes}} || {{lang|ar|ض|rtl=yes}} || {{lang|ar|ذ|rtl=yes}} || {{lang|ar|ظ|rtl=yes}}
| {{lang|ar|س|rtl=yes}} || {{lang|ar|ص|rtl=yes}}||{{lang|ar|ح|rtl=yes}} || {{lang|ar|خ|rtl=yes}}
| {{lang|ar|ع|rtl=yes}} || {{lang|ar|غ|rtl=yes}}
| {{lang|ar|ء‎|rtl=yes}}
|{{lang|ar|ق|rtl=yes}}
|{{lang|ar|ه|rtl=yes}}
|-
!Romanization
|t
|ṭ
|t̮
|d
|ḍ
|d̮
|ẓ
|s
|ṣ
|ḥ
|ḫ
|ʻ
|ğ
|ʼ
|q
|h
|-
!Pronunciation
|{{IPA|/t/}}
|{{IPA|/tˤ/}}
|{{IPA|/θ/}}
|{{IPA|/d/}}
|{{IPA|/dˤ/}}
|{{IPA|/ð/}}
|{{IPA|/ðˤ/}}
|{{IPA|/s/}}
|{{IPA|/sˤ/}}
|{{IPA|/ħ/}}
|{{IPA|/x~χ/}}
|{{IPA|/ʕ/}}
|{{IPA|/ɣ~ʁ/}}
|{{IPA|/ʔ/}}
|{{IPA|/q/}}
|{{IPA|/h/}}
|-
! rowspan="2" |Maltese
!Letter
| colspan="3" |T t
| colspan="4" |D d
| colspan="2" |S s
| colspan="2" |Ħ ħ
| colspan="2" |GĦ għ
| rowspan="2" style="background-color: #ccc;" |
|Q q
|H h
|-
!Pronunciation
| colspan="3" | {{IPA|/t/}}
| colspan="4" | {{IPA|/d/}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|/s/}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|/ħ/}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|/ʕ/}}
|{{IPA|/ʔ/}}
| style="background-color: #ccc;" |
|}
While many of these changes (chiefly the merger of [[Emphatic consonant|emphatic consonants]] with their non-[[Pharyngealization|pharyngealized]] counterparts) are the result of European influence, others (such as the merger of {{lang|ar|ق|rtl=yes}} {{IPA|/q/}} into {{IPA|/ʔ/}}) are found in other [[varieties of Arabic]], and may be either independent developments or features of the [[Sicilian Arabic]] dialect which Maltese descends from.