Maltese is a Central Semitic language spoken by about 570,000 people on the Mediterranean islands of Malta, Gozo (Għawdex) and Comino (Kemmuna). The Maltese language developed from the Siculo-Arabic or Sicilian Arabic, a form of Arabic that developed in Sicily and Malta between the 9th and 14th centuries. Siculo-Arabic was extinct in Sicily by about 1300, but continued to be spoken in Malta and evolved into Maltese. The first reference to Malta having a distinct language dates from 1364, and the language is first referred to as lingua maltensi in the will of a certain Pawlu Peregrino from 1436.
As well as the Arabs who began taking over Malta in 870 AD, Malta was occupied by Normans from 1090, and between 1530 and 1798, by the Knights Hospitaller of St John who spoke French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Latin and German. In 1800 Malta became a British colony and the British tried to replace Italian with English as the local language. As a result, about half of the vocabulary of Maltese comes from Sicilian and Italian, and a fifth comes from English. Maltese also contains quite a bit of vocabulary from Norman and French.
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Maltese was recognised as an official language of Malta in 1934. 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.
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The first known literary text in Maltese, II Cantilena, appeared during the 15th century, the first Maltese dicitonary was published in 1649. There were various ways to write the language with the Latin alphabet. In the 18th and during the 19th centuries, efforts were made by academics to standardise written Maltese.
The current orthography was introduced in 1924, when the Academy of the Maltese language (Akkademja tal-Malti) published guidelines for writing Maltese in Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija (Knowledge on Writing in Maltese). The guidelines were expanded in 1984, and an updated version, Aġġornament tat-Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija (Update of Knowledge on Maltese Writing), was published in 1992.
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A recording of the Maltese alphabet
Download a Maltese alphabet chart (Excel)
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Il-bnedmin kollha jitwieldu ħielsa u ugwali fid-dinjità u d-drittijiet. Huma mogħnija bir-raġuni u bil-kuxjenza u għandhom inġibu ruħhom ma' xulxin bi spirtu ta' aħwa.
A recording of this text by Sami Kleit
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)
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Information about Maltese | Phrases | Numbers | Family words | Tower of Babel | Learning materials
Information about the Maltese language and alphabet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_alphabet
http://www.kunsilltalmalti.gov.mt/eng
Online Maltese lessons
http://www.digitaldialects.com/Maltese.htm
http://polymath.org/maltese.php
https://ilanguages.org/maltese.php
https://mylanguages.org/learn_maltese.php
http://learn101.org/maltese.php
Onine Maltese phrases
https://www.digitaldialects.com/phrases/Maltese.htm
http://learn101.org/maltese_phrases.php
https://ilanguages.org/maltese_phrases.php
Online Maltese dictionaries
https://mlrs.research.um.edu.mt/resources/gabra/
https://en.glosbe.com/en/mt
https://www.linguee.com/english-maltese/
https://www.lexilogos.com/english/maltese_dictionary.htm
Online Maltese radio
http://www.rtk.org.mt
L-orrizont - Maltese language newspaper
http://www.allmalta.com/orizzont/
Information about Malta
http://www.visitmalta.com
http://www.malta-car.com/malta-holidays.asp
Akkadian, Amharic, Arabic (Algerian), Arabic (Bedawi), Arabic (Chadian), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Gulf), Arabic (Hassaniya), Arabic (Hejazi), Arabic (Lebanese), Arabic (Modern Standard), Arabic (Moroccan), Arabic (Najdi), Arabic (Syrian), Aramaic, Argobba, Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian, Canaanite, Chaha, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, Ge'ez, Hadhramautic, Harari, Hebrew, Himyaritic, Jewish Neo-Aramaic, Maltese, Mandaic, Nabataean, Neo-Mandaic, Phoenician, Punic, Qatabanic, Sabaean, Sabaic, Silt'e, Syriac, Tigre, Tigrinya, Turoyo, Ugaritic, Western Neo-Aramaic
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page last modified: 05.06.24
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