Maltese (Malti)

Maltese is a Semitic language spoken by about 350,000 people on the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Gozo.

The Maltese language developed from the Arabic spoken by the Arabs who invaded and occupied Malta in 870 AD. Malta was occupied by French-speaking Normans in 1090. Between 1530 and 1798 Malta served as the base for the Knights Hospitaller of St John, who spoke Italian and Latin. Malta became a British colony in 1800 and the British tried to replace Italian with English as the local language.

After Malta become independent in 1964 both English and Maltese were given official status and Maltese became the national language of Malta. Today Maltese is used in most sectors of public life, including parliament, the church, the press and other media, and in general conversation. English is generally the preferred medium of instruction in schools, especially at the higher levels of the educational system.

The first known literary text in Maltese, II Cantilena, appeared during the 15th century. The first Maltese language was a catechism by F. Wizzino, and was published in 1752.

Maltese alphabet
A a	B b	Ċ ċ	D d	E e	F f	Ġ ġ	G g	Għ għ	H h
a	be	ċe	de	e	ef	ġe	ge	ajn	akka
Ħ ħ	I i	Ie ie	J j	K k	L l	M m	N n	O o	P p
ħe	i	ie	je	ke	elle	emme	enne	o	pe
Q q	R r	S s	T t	U u	V v	W w	X x	Ż ż	Z z
qe	erre	esse	te	u	ve	we	exxe	że	ze

Maltese pronunciation

Notes

għ is silent but pharyngealizes and lengthens vowels
h has a simliar function to għ
għ and h at the end of a word are both pronounced as ħ
għh = ħħ
Final consonants are devoiced: b = [p], d = [t], ġ = [ʧ], g = [k], v = [f], ż = [s]
i before għ, h, ħ or q = [iː]
m followed by a consonant at the beginning of a word is pronounced im, e.g. mnejn = [imnejn]

Sample text

Il-bnedmin kollha jitwieldu ħielsa u ugwali fid-dinjità u d-drittijiet. Huma mogħnija bir-raġuni u bil-kuxjenza u għandhom igibu ruħhom ma' xulxin bi spirtu ta' aħwa.

Listen to a recording of this text by Sami Kleit

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Longer sample text (Tower of Babel)

Useful phrases in Maltese

Maltese language learning materials

Links

Information about the Maltese language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_language
http://www.my-malta.com/interesting/MalteseLanguage.html
http://www.aboutmalta.com/grazio/study2.html

Online Maltese lessons
http://www.aboutmalta.com/grazio/malti.html
http://www.digitaldialects.com/Maltese.htm

Basic Maltese grammar
http://aboutmalta.com/grazio/maltesegrammar.html

Online Maltese dictionaries
http://aboutmalta.com/language/engmal.htm
http://aboutmalta.com/language/phrasebook.htm
http://malta.atspace.com/english-maltese-dictionary.htm

Maltese poetry
http://aboutmalta.com/language/poetry.html

Online Maltese radio
http://www.rtk.org.mt

L-orrizont - Maltese language newspaper
http://www.allmalta.com/orizzont/

Information about Malta
http://www.aboutmalta.com
http://www.visitmalta.com
http://www.malta-car.com/malta-holidays.asp

Other languages written with the Latin alphabet

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