English - Doi-archived.gov.mt

Our Language
Maltese were the first words coming from your lips and Maltese you spoke oh smiling boy. And
that primary language grew with you and became one with your life...(translated from the poem
Ghaliex - Why Dun Karm Psaila.)
The Acts of the Apostles give a first inkling as to what the Maltese
used as a language. The Maltese who welcomed St. Paul on the
Islands were described as barbarians, which in those days meant
people who did not speak Greek or Latin. Most likely they spoke
Punic – that is to say Phoenician and Carthaginian. Hundreds of years
later (AD 832) under Arabic rule, the language imbued the Arabic
dialect. This was retained even after the expulsion of the Moslems
(but not the Arabs) back in 1249. From that year onwards however
one cannot refer to the Arabic articulated in Malta (like the Arabic
conversed in Tunisia or Egypt) but to the Maltese language itself. This
is the point in time where the Maltese language cut off its nexus and
began to reckon with southern Europe particularly Sicily and Italy.
Thus a language, in essence Arabic (having ties with Aramaic used in
Lebanon and Syria), became the parlance of a Catholic and European
community. Maltese continued to be influenced by Romance
elements and this infusion continued throughout the hundreds of
years to come.
The Language Dispute gave rise to a
contention whether Maltese should be
written in Roman letters or go it alone
and use different alphabetical letters.
A definitive resolution was given in 1924
by l-Għaqda tal-Kittieba Maltin (Maltese
Writers Association) in its publication
It-Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija (Facts on
Maltese Writing) based on rules worked
out by Mikiel Anton Vassalli in 1791.
Scholars felt the need to study and analyse the Maltese language. The
first study of its kind was published in 1750, Della Lingua Punica by
Ġan Franġisk Agius de Soldanis. The Mylsen, the first major grammar
on the language was published by Mikiel Anton Vassalli in 1791, who
also published the first ever Maltese dictionary, Ktieb il-Kliem Malti,
back in 1796.
In the mid-1900s, the first language groups came into being with the
best authors at that time giving their due to create the first literary
movement. Ludovik Mifsud Tommasi and Ġan Anton Vassallo were
among the first to delve into religious and patriotic poetry and gained
huge popularity.
The Language Dispute established Maltese and English as the official
languages in 1934. Maltese is now also one of the official languages of
the European Union.
Recently, mainly because of the interaction with the British
and as a result of modern day developments, English
words acceded into the Maltese language.
The Maltese Language Act (Chapter 470), enacted
unanimously by the House of Representatives in 2005,
set up the National Council of the Maltese Language with
the function and duty to update and promote the Maltese
language.