Maltese

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A language of Malta

ISO 639-3
mlt
Autonym
Malti
User Population

454,000 in Malta (European Commission 2012). Total users in all countries: 533,280.

Location

Widespread.

Language Status

1 (National). Statutory national language (1964, Constitution, Article 5(2)).

Classification
Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic
Dialects

Standard Maltese, Port Maltese, Rural West Maltese, Rural East Maltese, Rural Central Maltese, Zurrieq, Gozo.

Typology

SVO; prepositions; noun head initial; gender (masculine/feminine); definite article; verb affixes mark person, number; 23 consonants, 10 vowels, 8 diphthongs; non-tonal.

Language Use

Vigorous. No diglossia with Standard Arabic [arb]. Most also use English [eng] (European Commission 2006).

Language Development

Grammar. Bible: 1932–1984.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Maltese
Writing

Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab], no longer in use, attempts at using Arabic script have failed. Braille script [Brai]. Latin script [Latn], primary usage.

Other Comments

Descended from Tunisian Spoken Arabic [aeb] with heavy borrowings from Italian [ita]; separately developed with different syntax and phonology. Influence from Romance began in the late eleventh century when the Normans ousted the Arabs from the islands and the language was isolated from its Arabic source, continuing to develop alongside Italian [ita] (Fabri 2010).

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