Editing Maltese language (section)

===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}}