Did you know?
Stand at a bus stop in Valletta and listen for a minute. You’ll hear something that sounds almost like Arabic. Then, halfway through a sentence, an Italian word pops up. A moment later, an English one. And none of the speakers think anything of it.
That’s Maltese, or Malti, and it’s one of the most unusual languages in the world. It’s the only Semitic language, part of the same family as Arabic and Hebrew, that’s written in the Latin alphabet. It’s also an official language of the European Union, spoken as a mother tongue by only around half a million people.
Here’s how a tiny island ended up with a language like no other.
A Semitic language in a European alphabet
Maltese grew out of the Arabic spoken in Sicily and Malta during the medieval period, when the islands were under Arab rule. That’s why its backbone, the grammar and many of the most basic, everyday words, is Semitic.
But after the Arab period ended, Malta’s history turned firmly towards Europe. Normans, Sicilians, the Knights of St John and later the British all left their mark. Over the centuries, Maltese absorbed huge numbers of Italian, Sicilian and later English words. And unlike Arabic, it ended up being written in Latin letters, the same alphabet you’re reading now.
The result is a language with Semitic roots and a very European vocabulary. Linguists love it, because there’s simply nothing else quite like it.
The alphabet: what are those strange letters?
If you’ve been to Malta, you’ve probably seen place names like Ħaġar Qim, Għajn Tuffieħa or Xagħra and wondered how on earth to say them. The Maltese alphabet has 30 letters, including a few you won’t find in English:
- Ċ ċ sounds like the “ch” in church. Ċirkewwa is “chir-KEH-wa”.
- Ġ ġ sounds like the “j” in jam. Ġgantija is “j-gan-TEE-ya”.
- Ħ ħ is a strong, breathy “h”. Ħamrun starts with it.
- Għ għ is usually silent, but it lengthens the vowel next to it. Għajn sounds roughly like “ine”.
- Ż ż sounds like the “z” in zoo, while a plain Z sounds like “ts”.
- X x sounds like “sh”. Marsaxlokk is “mar-sa-SHLOKK”.
- Q q is a glottal stop, a little catch in the throat, like the pause in “uh-oh”.
- IE ie is a single letter, pronounced a bit like the “ea” in “ear”.
Once you know these few rules, Maltese place names suddenly start to make sense. Mostly.
Arabic roots you’ll hear every day
Many of the most basic words in Maltese come from Arabic:
- Numbers: wieħed, tnejn, tlieta, one, two, three.
- Days of the week: il-Ħadd is Sunday and it-Tnejn is Monday, literally “the first” and “the second”.
- Family: omm is mother and missier is father.
- Saying goodbye: saħħa, which literally means “health”.
Here’s a detail that surprises many visitors. In Maltese churches, God is called Alla, from the same root as the Arabic word. Malta is a deeply Catholic country, and Maltese Christians have used this word for God for centuries.
Italian and English all mixed in
Now the fun part. Alongside those Arabic roots, Maltese has borrowed a huge amount from Italian and Sicilian, especially words for more “European” things like government, religion, the arts and food.
- Bonġu means good morning, from the Italian buongiorno.
- Grazzi means thank you, from grazie.
- Skużi means excuse me, from scusi.
- Ċaw means bye, from ciao.
Then there’s English, which has been flowing into Maltese since the British period and still is today. Maltese happily takes English words and gives them Maltese grammar. Nipparkja l-karozza means “I park the car”. Same idea, Maltese clothes.
And in real life, many people switch between Maltese and English mid-sentence without even noticing. Locals sometimes jokingly call this mix “Maltenglish”.
A few phrases worth learning
- Bonġu (BON-joo): Good morning
- Bonswa (bon-SWAH): Good evening
- Kif inti? (kif IN-tee): How are you?
- Grazzi (GRAHT-see): Thank you
- Iva (EE-va): Yes
- Le (leh): No
- Saħħa (SAH-ha): Goodbye, literally “health”
- Mela (MEH-la): So, well then, the word you’ll hear in almost every conversation
Try a “grazzi” when someone hands you your pastizzi. Locals genuinely appreciate it.
From spoken language to national language
For most of its history, Maltese was the language people spoke at home, while the official business of the islands happened in Latin, Italian and later English. One of the oldest known pieces of written Maltese is a short poem from the 15th century, known as Il-Kantilena, written by Pietru Caxaro.
It took a long time for Maltese to be standardised and recognised. In 1934, Maltese became an official language of Malta alongside English. When Malta joined the European Union in 2004, Maltese became an official EU language too, which means EU laws and documents are translated into it.
Do you need to speak Maltese to visit Malta?
Not at all. English is also an official language, and almost everyone in Malta speaks it well. Road signs, menus and tourist information are all in English too. But learning a word or two of Maltese is a lovely way to connect with the island, and it makes those tricky place names a lot less scary.
Why it’s one of Malta’s best secrets
Malta’s history is often told through its buildings: the temples, the forts, the palaces. But the Maltese language tells the same story in a different way. Every Arabic root, every Italian borrowing and every English word is a layer left by someone who passed through these islands.
You can’t visit it with a ticket. You just have to listen.
Curious about more of Malta’s quirks? Find out why Maltese churches have two clocks, or discover the mysterious cart ruts nobody can fully explain.