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According to the Constitution of Malta, the National language of Malta is the Maltese language, which is also the language of the Law Courts. The Constitution also establishes the Maltese and English languages as the two official languages of Malta. Fundamentally, the Maltese language is a Semitic language, the same as Arabic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Ethiopian. However, unlike these languages, Maltese is written using the Latin alphabet with added special characters to make up for some Semitic sounds not present in this alphabet. The language has moreover acquired a significant Romantic influence from the languages of the countries that ruled Malta throughout the ages, most particularly Italian. The arrival in Malta of the Order of the Knights of St. John, which used 8 languages, or Langues, further increased the diversity of the Maltese language. In the Maltese spoken today one can also find Anglo-Saxon words, and words from Modern English. A limited number of words also derive from French and Spanish. |
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The British rule which lasted 165 years was to have a great effect on the language as Maltese was, during this time, considered to be a second class language and was not used by those who believed themselves to be upper-class citizens. Although some Maltese patriots tried to give the language its deserved importance, it was only after Independence in 1964 that Maltese started being used in written form as a means of communication to the general public. Unfortunately, in certain parts of Malta there still prevails an erroneous mentality that the Maltese language is an inferior language, with the unfortunate consequence that a sizeable portion of the Maltese nation prefer to speak a local version of English instead of Maltese. It is therefore of vital importance that when seeking Maltese translation services, one insists on Maltese-speaking nationals since the mere fact of Maltese nationality does not necessarily guarantee a satisfactory level of grammatically sound written Maltese. |
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The Maltese language is quite difficult to learn. This difficulty is further increased because the pronunciation involves sounds not present in the Indo-European languages. Of particular interest is the glottal sound of the letter "q" which sounds more like a silent cough than the "k" in Romantic languages. There are 29 letters in the Maltese Alphabet (Maltese Fonts required to view special characters):
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