When you first look at written Maltese, it might look a bit like a computer glitch.

You see normal English letters, but then suddenly there are dots hovering over C’s and G’s, lines slashing through H’s, and a Z that seems to have a twin.

Weird.

Maltese is the only Semitic language (coming from the same family as Arabic) that is written in the Latin alphabet (A, B, C…).

Because the standard alphabet didn’t have enough sounds for the Arabic roots of the language, we added a few extra symbols.

Once you know what these symbols stand for, reading Maltese becomes much easier because it is a very phonetic language.

This means you read it exactly how it’s spelled.

If you’re just starting your Maltese learning journey, mastering these five specific letters is the biggest step toward sounding like a local.

The dotted letters: Ċ, Ġ and Ż

The little dot you see over these letters is called a punti. It changes the sound of the letter completely from its non-dotted cousin.

Let’s look at them one by one.

The letter Ċ (C with a dot)

In English, the letter ‘C’ can be soft (like city) or hard (like cat).

In Maltese, the plain C rarely exists on its own (except in foreign words). We mostly use K for the hard sound.

But Ċ (C with a dot) always makes a “Ch” sound.

Think of the English words Cherry, Church, or Chocolate.

The letter Ġ (G with a dot)

Just like in English, a plain G in Maltese is hard, like in Game or Go.

However, when you add the dot to make Ġ, it becomes soft. It sounds like the “J” in Job, Jelly, or Giraffe.

The letter Ż (Z with a dot)

This is the one that confuses English speakers the most.

In Maltese, we have two Zs:

1. Z (no dot): Sounds like “ts” (like in Pizza or Cats).
2. Ż (with a dot): Sounds like the English “Z” (like Zebra or Buzz).

So, the letter with the dot is actually the sound you are used to in English!

Here is a comparison:

The slashed H: Ħ

The letter H in Maltese is totally silent. If you see a word like huwa (he), you don’t pronounce the H.

But the Ħ (H with a bar across it) is very different.

This letter makes a sound similar to a very sharp, breathy “H”. Imagine you are trying to fog up a pair of glasses to clean them, but you push the air out harder from your throat.

It is similar to the “H” in the English word Hot, but much stronger.

The silent ghost: Għ

This letter is technically called l-Għajn. It is a combination of G and H, but it is treated as a single letter in the Maltese alphabet.

For a beginner, the rule is simple: It is usually silent.

However, even though you don’t pronounce it, it has a job to do. It usually lengthens the vowel that comes after it or before it.

For example, the word for “tomorrow” is għada. You ignore the għ and just say “aada” (with a long ‘a’).

There is one exception:

When għ appears at the very end of a word, it often sounds like a soft “h”.

• Dmugħ (Tears) -> Pronounced “Dmooh”
• Għ (High/Tall) -> Pronounced “Ah” (Silent)

Regional variations

Maltese is spoken on two main islands, Malta and Gozo, and there are many different dialects.

While the rules above apply to “Standard Maltese” (what you hear on TV or read in books), you might hear things differently if you visit smaller villages or the island of Gozo.

The Għ sound in dialect:

Remember how I told you għ is silent? Well, in some rural areas and especially in Gozo, people actually pronounce this letter!

It comes from the throat and sounds a bit like a growl or the Arabic letter ‘Ayn’. If you hear a local speaking and it sounds much more guttural, they are likely pronouncing the għ.

The Q sound:

Although not in our list of special letters, the letter Q is usually a “glottal stop” (like the stop in the middle of “uh-oh”). But in some dialects, the Q is pronounced as a hard “K”.

Don’t worry about mimicking these variations yet. Stick to the standard pronunciation I listed above, and everyone will understand you perfectly.

---

Learning these five letters is the key to unlocking Maltese reading.

Here is a quick cheat sheet to remember them:

• Ċ = Cherry
• Ġ = Giraffe
• Ż = Zebra (Soft buzz)
• Ħ = Hot (Strong breath)
• Għ = Silent (Lengthens the vowel)

Keep practicing reading them aloud, and soon they won’t look like computer glitches anymore - they’ll look like language.