Table 3 Monophthongs in Maltese: Examples from minimal pairs (Galea, 2016: 14).

From: Conformity to the obligatory contour principle and the strict layer hypothesis: the avoidance of initial gemination in Maltese

/ɪ/-/iː/-/ɪː/

[mɪt:] mitt ‘hundred’

[miːt] mit ‘myth’

[mɪːt] miet ‘he died’

/ɛ/-/ɛː/

[tɛm:] temm ‘he ended’

[tɛːm] teɡħem ‘he tasted’

 

/ɐ/-/ɐː/

[rɐt:] rɐdd ‘he gave back’

[rɐːt] rat ‘she saw’

 

/ɔ/-/ɔː/

[bɔt:] bott ‘bottle’

[bɔːt] boɡħod ‘far away’

 

/ʊ/-/uː/

[kʊl:] kull ‘every’

[kuːl] kul ‘eat’

 
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