If you’ve just started looking at Maltese text, there’s one letter combination that probably confuses you.

It’s the għ.

You see it in common words like tiegħi (mine), għaliex (why), and of course, the name of the language itself regarding its alphabet: the Għajn.

How do you pronounce it?

The short answer is: You usually don’t.

In modern Standard Maltese, the għajn is a “silent” letter.

However, calling it silent is a bit misleading. While you don’t pronounce the consonant itself, it acts like a ghost - it changes the sound of the vowels sitting next to it.

Understanding the għ is the key to sounding like a native speaker rather than a tourist reading from a book.

What is the Għajn?

The Għajn is the letter għ in the Maltese alphabet. It is considered a single letter, not two.

Historically, Maltese comes from Arabic. In Arabic, this letter (ع) has a very deep, throaty sound. However, over hundreds of years, the Maltese people stopped pronouncing the deep throat sound, but they kept the spelling.

Today, the għ serves as a placeholder in the “root” of a word. Even though you can’t hear it as a consonant, it is still grammatically required because Maltese is a Semitic language built on root letters.

If you remove the għ, the word often loses its meaning or becomes grammatically incorrect.

The vowel lengthening rule

The most important job of the għ is to stretch out the vowels around it. This is known as “vowel lengthening” or distinct vocalization.

Think of the għ as a sign that says: “Make the vowel next to me longer.”

Here is how it affects the different vowels:

1. Għ + a = aa (Long ‘A’)

When għ is followed or preceded by the letter a, it creates a long “Ahhh” sound, similar to the ‘a’ in the English word “Father”.

2. Għ + i = ej (The ‘Ay’ sound)

This is where beginners often get confused. When għ meets the letter i, it doesn’t sound like ‘eeee’. It usually transforms into a diphthong that sounds like “Ay” (as in “Say”) or “Ej”.

(Note: In ‘Għerf’, the sound is slightly different, but the principle of modifying the vowel stands).

3. Għ + u = ow (The ‘Ou’ sound)

When paired with u, the għ often creates a sound similar to “ow” in “cow” or a long, hollow ‘u’.

When Għajn creates a new sound

There is one major exception to the “silent” rule.

When għ is followed by the letter h, it creates a hard ħ (H) sound.

This usually happens when we attach pronouns to the end of words.

For example, the word tagħ means “of/belonging to”. If I want to say “hers”, I add the suffix -ha.

So, tagħ + ha = tagħha.

You do not pronounce this as “ta-aa-a”. You pronounce it taħ-ħa. The għ becomes a hard ‘H’ sound.

(Note: In ‘Istenniegħ’, the final ‘għ’ gives a breathy ending, almost like a soft ‘h’).

Verb conjugation with Għajn

Because għ is part of the root of many verbs, you have to keep writing it even if you don’t hear it.

Let’s look at the verb għamel (to do/make). The root is GĦ-M-L.

Notice how the għ stays in the spelling, but in the present tense, it changes the sound of the starting vowel.

If you simply skipped writing the għ, you would write namel, which is incorrect spelling. The għ is the “ghost” letter keeping the structure of the word together.

Regional variations (The Gozitan Għajn)

I mentioned earlier that the għ is silent in Standard Maltese. However, if you take a ferry over to the sister island of Gozo (Għawdex), the rules change!

In many villages in Gozo, the għ is not silent.

It is pronounced similarly to how it was originally spoken in Arabic (and how it is still spoken in some rural parts of Malta). It sounds like a throat-clearing noise or a very guttural “Ah”.

This is one of the easiest ways to tell if someone is from Gozo.

In some Gozitan dialects, the għ also changes the vowel sound completely. For example, where the Maltese might say tiegħi (te-ej - mine), a Gozitan might pronounce it closer to tiegħ with a hard stop or a different vowel intonation.

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The għajn might look intimidating, but it follows a predictable pattern.

Here is your cheat sheet:

• It is usually silent as a consonant.
• It lengthens vowels (a becomes aa).
• It changes i to ej.
• It changes u to ow.
• If followed by h, it becomes a hard ħ sound.
• You must always write it because it is part of the word’s root.

Don’t let the look of the letter stop you. Once you get used to the “long vowel” rule, reading għ becomes second nature!

Do you have more questions about Maltese pronunciation?