Languages of Malta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Languages of Malta[1] | |
|---|---|
| Official language(s) | Maltese (100%) English (88%) |
| Significant unofficial language(s) | Italian (66%) |
| Main foreign language(s) | French (17%) |
The current national language of Malta is Maltese, which along with English, is one of the official languages.
Having been governed by many different countries in the past, the Maltese population carry linguistic imprints from many places. Almost 100% of Maltese people can speak Maltese, 88% of the Maltese people can speak English, 66% speak Italian, and 17% speak French.[2] This shows an increase in the fluency of languages, as in 1995, 98% of the population spoke Maltese, 76% English, 36% Italian, and 10% French. Surprisingly, it also shows an increase in fluency of Italian from the times when the language was actually official there.[3]
In addition to Italian, the third language of the country, French, German, Russian and Spanish, are the main other languages studied at secondary school.[4]
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[edit] Maltese
Maltese is the national language of the Maltese people, and one of the official languages of Malta and the European Union. It is historically a Semitic Southern Italian language, and the grammar of the language reflects this, but the majority of vocabulary comes from Sicilian Italian and Italian. Malta holds the distinction of being the only country in Europe with a historically Semitic language. The Maltese language is written with a modified Latin Alphabet which includes the letters ż (also used in Polish), ċ, ġ, ħ, and għ. 52.46% of Maltese words are of Romance origin, a result of significant influence from Italy (in particular Sicily), and lesserly, France.
Some localities have accents and dialects; however, they are very similar and faithful to standard Maltese, and are mutually intelligible both with other dialects and standard Maltese. Over the years, however, there has been a decline in the number of dialectal speakers, mostly because of exposure to standard Maltese on television and the institutionalisation of education. These developments have led to dialect speakers being regarded as ignorant because they do not speak the standard language.
[edit] English
Before independence in 1964, Malta was a British possession, and a result of this is that English is still an official language, with government business being carried out in both English and Maltese. Most Maltese learn English in school, this being obligatory in most cases. Secondary and tertiary education are given exclusively in English.
[edit] Italian
Before the 1930s, Italian was the official language of Malta. The Fascist Italians and Italian Maltese wanted to promote its use throughout Malta for plans to annex it to Italy. Although only the rich could speak Italian, with Maltese being generally spoken by those less well off, Italian was regarded as the official language.
Today, 66% of the Maltese population can speak Italian, and 2% of the population "prefers" to use it in day to day conversation.[2][4]
Although Italian has since been exchanged for English as the official language, it is still used and is spoken commonly in certain professional workplaces. In fact, today, 37% of the population can speak it fluently, which compares to 1931, when only 14% spoke it.[4]
An interesting fact is that a large number of Maltese learn Italian through Italian television, mainly Mediaset and RAI, as their broadcasts reach the Maltese Islands.[3] In addition to this, many products, services, and business that reach Malta are Italian, with Malta being too small on its own to produce some things, so many people learn Italian like this.
In addition to the Italian language itself being spoken in Malta, 52.46% of Maltese vocabulary is from Sicilian and Italian origin. This means that many words between Italian and Maltese are almost interchangeable, and a Maltese conversation typically is almost filled with Italian vocabulary. In this way, the Italian language influences everyday speech all the time.
[edit] Preferences
In spite of the fact that so many people today can fluently speak in Maltese, English, and Italian, 86% of the population "prefer" to speak in Maltese, 12% English, and 2% Italian.[4]
[edit] Foreign languages
Because of the tourist industry and proximity to other European countries, many Maltese generally have some degree of proficiency in French, and quite a few understand or speak Spanish or German, although Russian and several other languages are studied too.
[edit] See also
- Maltenglish – code switching between Maltese and English
[edit] References
- ^ http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf
- ^ a b eurobarometer; europa; [2006-02]; retrieved on [2007-04-11]
- ^ a b Country profile: Malta BBC News; [2008/01/10]; [2008/02/21]
- ^ a b c d Ignasi Badia i Capdevila; A view of the linguistic situation in Malta; NovesSl; [2004]; retrieved on [2008-02-24]
This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2006 edition) which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.
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