If you were to walk blindfolded through the limestone streets of Valletta, Malta, listening to the chatter of the locals, your ears would face a confusing puzzle. You might hear the sharp, guttural sounds of the Maghreb, reminiscent of a Tunisian souk. Suddenly, you would catch a melodic Italian phrase that sounds like it belongs in Sicily. Just as your brain tries to categorize it, a word like “bridge” or “computer” is dropped with perfect British inflection.

You are listening to Maltese (Malti), a linguistic anomaly and a historical survivor. It is the only Semitic language in the European Union, the only Semitic language officially written in the Latin script, and the sole living descendant of a long-extinct dialect known as Siculo-Arabic.

While empires rose and fell, and languages across the Mediterranean were swept away by Latinization, this island vernacular clung to life. Today, we explore the fascinating evolutionary journey of Maltese—a language that started as Arabic, grew up with Italian, and eventually adopted English.

The Rise and Fall of Siculo-Arabic

To understand Maltese, we must look north to the island of Sicily. Following the Islamic conquest of Sicily in the 9th century, a specific dialect emerged: Siculo-Arabic. It was a Maghrebi Arabic dialect heavily influenced by the local romance languages of the time. For nearly 250 years, this was the dominant tongue of Sicily and its smaller neighbor, Malta.

However, the linguistic destiny of these two islands diverged following the Norman conquest starting in 1091. The Normans, seeking to re-Christianize the region, brought with them Latin and early Romance dialects.

• In Sicily: The Arab population was gradually marginalized, converted, or expelled (culminating in the mass expulsions by Frederick II in the 13th century). Siculo-Arabic was slowly crushed under the weight of prestigious Latin and vernacular Italian. By the 14th century, the dialect was extinct in Sicily.
• In Malta: The situation was different. Malta was smaller, more isolated, and the population continuity remained largely intact despite the change in rulers. While the administrative language became Latin or Sicilian, the peasantry continued to speak their Siculo-Arabic dialect.

Cut off from the Arabic-speaking world and the parent dialect in Sicily, the vernacular in Malta began to evolve in a vacuum. It was no longer just a dialect of Arabic; it was becoming Maltese.

The Semitic Skeleton: The Heart of the Language

Despite centuries of isolation from the Arab world, the grammatical bone structure of Maltese remains undeniably Semitic. If you strip away modern technology and high culture, the core of the language is Arabic.

Approximately 30% to 40% of the Maltese vocabulary is of Semitic origin, but these words account for the vast majority of daily speech. Words for basic concepts, family, numbers, and nature clearly illustrate this heritage:

• Raġel (Man) — compare to Arabic rajul
• Dar (House) — compare to Arabic dar
• Treq (Road) — compare to Arabic tariq
• Wieħed, Tnejn, Tlieta (One, Two, Three) — compare to Arabic wahid, ithnan, thalatha

Furthermore, Maltese retains the triliteral root system found in Hebrew and Arabic. This is a morphological system where a three-consonant root carries a core meaning, and vowels are inserted to change the context. For example, the root K-T-B relates to writing:

• Kiteb (he wrote)
• Ktieb (book)
• Kittieb (writer)

The Romance Layer: The Superstratum

For centuries, the Knights of St. John (who ruled Malta from 1530 to 1798) and the nearby Kingdom of Sicily exerted immense influence. Consequently, Maltese functioned as the “kitchen language” (spoken by the people), while Italian and Latin were the languages of the courts, the church, and the schools.

Maltese survived by absorbing its conquerors. It swallowed Italian vocabulary whole. Today, roughly 50% of the Maltese dictionary is derived from Sicilian or standard Italian. These words generally cover government, religion, education, and art.

What is fascinating to linguists is how Maltese treats these Italian loanwords. It doesn’t just borrow them; it forces them to obey Semitic rules. This is especially distinct in the formation of plurals.

In Semitic languages, plurals are often formed by “breaking” the word internally (changing the vowels) rather than adding a suffix (like the English “s”). Maltese applies this logic to Romance words. For example, the word for “school” is skola (from Italian scuola). The plural is not skoli, but skejjel—a pattern derived entirely from Arabic morphology applied to an Italian root.

The English Influence and Modernization

The linguistic evolution didn’t stop with Italian. In 1800, Malta became a British protectorate and remained part of the British Empire until 1964. During this era, English became a co-official language.

This introduced a third layer to the Maltese lexicon (estimated at about 6% to 20% of the vocabulary, depending on the speaker). Words like strajk (strike), futbol (football), and mowbajl (mobile phone) entered the vernacular.

This results in sentences that are a linguist’s dream (or nightmare). A Maltese speaker might say:

“Iċ-ċekk li bzajt posta wasal.”
(The check that I mailed has arrived.)

Here, “ċekk” comes from English (check), “bzajt” is a Semitic structure, and “posta” is Italian. All three languages function seamlessly in a single grammatical sentence.

The Written Word: Arabic in Latin Script

Perhaps the most distinct feature of Maltese is its alphabet. It is the only example in history of an Arabic dialect evolving into a standardized national language written in the Latin alphabet.

Because the Latin alphabet lacks the sounds necessary for Semitic pronunciation, Maltese linguists had to innovate. They added diacritics and unique letters to bridge the gap. When you read Maltese, you will encounter:

• Ċ: Pronounced like ‘ch’ in cherry.
• Ġ: Pronounced like ‘j’ in jar.
• Ħ: A voiceless pharyngeal fricative—a sharp ‘h’ sound distinctive to Arabic, similar to blowing on glasses to clean them.
• Għ: The għajn. Historically a guttural sound, in modern Maltese, it is mostly silent but lengthens the associated vowel.
• Ż: Pronounced like ‘z’ in zebra (while the un-dotted ‘Z’ is pronounced like ‘ts’ in pizza).

Conclusion: A National Symbol of Resilience

For a long time, Maltese was looked down upon by the island’s elite. It was considered the language of the uneducated, while the aristocracy spoke Italian and the occupiers spoke English. It wasn’t until the mid-20th century that Maltese gained official status (1934), replacing Italian.

Today, Maltese is a source of immense national pride. It survived the Norman conquest, the expulsion of Muslims, the Knights of St. John, and the British Empire. While its parent, Siculo-Arabic, vanished from the hills of Sicily seven centuries ago, its child lives on in Valletta, recognized as an official language of the European Union.

For language learners and linguists, Maltese offers a unique case study in hybridization. It proves that languages are not static fortresses, but living, breathing things that adapt, absorb, and endure.