Maltese language

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Native to Malta
Native speakers (400,000 cited 1975)
Language family
Writing system Latin (Maltese alphabet)
Maltese Braille
Official status
Official language in  Malta
 European Union
Regulated by National Council for the Maltese Language
Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti
Language codes
ISO 639-1 mt
ISO 639-2 mlt
ISO 639-3 mlt
Linguasphere 12-AAC-c

Maltese is the language of Malta, and a language of the European Union. Maltese sounds very similar to the type of Punic, an ancient Mediterranean and middle-eastern spread language. It is written in the Latin alphabet like English. The language has borrowed many words from Sicilian, Italian, and English.

History[change | change source]

The oldest known document in Maltese is "Il Cantilena," a poem from the 15th century written by Pietro Caxaro. For centuries, Maltese was mainly a spoken language.

Maltese became an official language of Malta in 1936, alongside English. Before that year, the only official language of Malta was Italian. Italian, however, is still used a lot in the media.

Number of Speakers[change | change source]

Today, there are around 371,900 people who speak Maltese. Most live in Malta.

Today[change | change source]

Italian and English words are taken in by the language, and this is happening more and more. This sometimes causes words to form that are not found in Maltese, Italian, or English, but instead are a mix of the three. At schools, English is taught as a second language. Maltese is usually used in the standardized jobs, and when people talk to each other. Most of the television, radio, and literature in Malta is also in Maltese.