Maltese Typing Speed Test
Free Online Maltese Keyboard – Type ċ, ġ, ħ and ż in Real Unicode
Welcome to the Maltese keyboard online (tastiera Maltija). The four letters that mainstream keyboards leave out — ċ, ġ, ħ and ż — each have a key here, so you can write proper Maltese from any computer, tablet or phone with nothing to install. Click the keys on screen, or type on your physical keyboard.
How this layout is arranged. Three of the extra letters run along the top row straight after P — ċ, ġ, then ħ — in the spare positions a US keyboard gives to brackets and backslash. The fourth, ż, takes the key at the far left of the number row, before the 1. Shift gives the capitals Ċ, Ġ, Ħ and Ż, and the digits are untouched.
Maltese is the only Semitic language written in the Latin alphabet, and the only Semitic official language of the European Union. It descends from Siculo-Arabic, carried to Malta during the island's Arab period, then spent centuries under Sicilian, Italian and British influence. The modern orthography was fixed in 1924 by the Għaqda tal-Kittieba tal-Malti, the society of Maltese writers.
The four extra letters do real work. The ċ carries the sound English spells ch, and ġ the j of 'judge' — plain c is unused and plain g is always hard. The ż is a voiced z as in 'zebra', while unmarked z is the ts of 'pizza'. The ħ is historically a pharyngeal fricative, today usually a strong h; plain h is silent except word-finally.
Then there is għ, counted as a single letter of the alphabet despite being written with two characters. It descends from two Arabic consonants and is usually silent in modern speech, but far from inert: it lengthens or colours the vowel beside it, and turns up in ordinary words. Type it as g followed by ħ — Unicode has no single character for it.
One honest limitation. Maltese also uses grave accents on à, è, ì, ò and ù, chiefly in words of Italian origin. Those are not here; this layout concentrates on the four letters that make Maltese impossible to type otherwise. Switch to the Italian keyboard if you need them.
The grammar and everyday core stay Semitic — broken plurals, root-and-pattern verbs — under a large Sicilian-Italian layer and a newer English one. Around half a million people speak Maltese, and its alphabet has 30 letters. Everything stays in your browser; nothing you type is sent to a server or logged. The Arabic keyboard covers its Semitic relatives.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I type ħ on this keyboard?
Click the ħ key at the right-hand end of the top letter row, just past ċ and ġ, where a US keyboard puts the backslash. Press Shift first, or turn Caps on, for the capital Ħ. The barred h is a full letter of the Maltese alphabet, distinct from plain h, and substituting one for the other changes the word.
How do I type the digraph għ?
As two keystrokes: g, then ħ. Unicode provides no single character for għ, so even native Maltese systems type it this way. It counts as one letter of the alphabet and is alphabetised as such, but on any keyboard, including Maltese ones, it is entered as the two characters that make it up.
Why aren't à, è, ì, ò and ù on this keyboard?
This layout concentrates on ċ, ġ, ħ and ż, the four letters that no ordinary keyboard can produce and without which Maltese cannot be written at all. The grave-accented vowels, which appear mostly in words of Italian origin, are not included. Switch to the Italian keyboard from the Layout dropdown if you need them.
How does this differ from the official Maltese layout?
Malta's physical keyboards are built on the UK layout, and there are two official variants — Maltese 47-key and 48-key — which position the four extra letters differently and shuffle some punctuation. This keyboard puts ċ, ġ and ħ on the top row after P and ż at the left end of the number row, which keeps the punctuation predictable.
Is Maltese just a dialect of Arabic?
It is a separate language descended from Siculo-Arabic, with its own standard orthography, literature and official status. A speaker of Modern Standard Arabic cannot simply read it, though speakers of Tunisian Arabic often catch a good deal of spoken Maltese. Centuries of Sicilian, Italian and English borrowing have made the vocabulary distinctly its own.
Will my Maltese text paste correctly into other apps?
Yes. The letters ċ, ġ, ħ and ż are ordinary Unicode characters, so they paste unchanged into Word, Google Docs, Gmail, Slack, forms, spreadsheets and databases. No special Maltese font is required at the other end. If a system does show boxes, that is a missing font on that machine rather than a problem with your text.
What is the difference between z and ż?
They are different letters with different sounds. The dotted ż is a voiced z, as in English 'zebra'. Undotted z is the ts sound of 'pizza' or German z. Because Maltese uses both regularly, dropping the dot is not a cosmetic slip — it produces a different word, or no word at all.
How many letters does the Maltese alphabet have?
Thirty. Alongside the Latin letters it counts ċ, ġ, ħ and ż, plus two digraphs treated as single letters: għ and ie. Several familiar letters also behave unlike English — c alone is not used, g is always hard, and h is silent except word-finally — which is why Maltese looks familiar but reads quite differently.
Is this Maltese keyboard free, and does it work on mobile?
It is entirely free, with no registration, no download and no limit on use. The layout is responsive and works on iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets as well as on desktop. Advertising keeps it free for everyone, and a typing speed test is available if you want to practise.
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