The Maltese Language

Hey! Some backstory behind this video—I had already wanted to talk about Maltese for a little while, and then I get hit with an assignment for my linguistics that literally asked me to make a video talking about any language spoken in Europe. Go figure!

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NOTES

• The Darija sentence near the end of the video used to illustrate the pronunciation differences between it and Maltese uses words like ṭ-ṭfal that aren't as common as their non-cognate counterparts (d-drari in this case). Such words were used anyway since the goal was to illustrate the difference in pronunciation between the two languages which is most clearly shown through cognates :)
• I normally don't describe languages as sounding "harsh" or "softer (than)" or whatever, twas simply one of the requirements for the assignment lol

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CORRECTIONS

• In the sound changes section at around 5:35, I describe "uvular fricatives" when they are actually uvular trills

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REFERENCES

• [Maltese spoken] —
• [Can North Africans Understand Maltese?] —

[kusalaom]

The influence of Italian languages is beautiful on Maltese. First time I was hearing Italian-accented Arabic

[jakeplaysminecraft]

As a Maltese person, your pronunciation of Maltese words is pretty good, especially the 'q' (glottal stop).

[DanielMemeSmith]

As a Maltese myself I am surprised to see a new video in my recommendations about my native language! Thanks for taking interest in this unique language.

[idbnicv]

As a learner of Arabic I love reading Maltese. It’s like a puzzle!

[teehee]

3:24 Wow, as an Algerian, this sounds like perfect Darja with an Italian accent!

[asmodewa]

such a beautiful language, it completely took me off guard how nice it sounded to me

[riinkun]

As a Hebrew speaker with limited Arabic vocabulary it's really cool how structurally similar Maltese is to the two of them, and how much of it is legible to me over that! Would love to learn the two further in depth someday!

[robkabar]

This video was such an insightful and well-researched dive into the Maltese language! It’s amazing how you’ve managed to balance both the academic side of things while making the content really engaging and easy to understand. The way you explained the pronunciation differences between Maltese and Darija was super clear, and I loved how you used cognates to highlight those distinctions. Even though you mentioned that you don’t normally describe languages as harsh or soft, I think you handled that part of the assignment really well—it didn’t feel forced at all!

It’s also cool to see a linguistics project that goes beyond the basics and really digs into the uniqueness of Maltese, especially since it’s such a fascinating blend of influences from Arabic, Italian, and English. Your passion for the topic really shines through, and it’s clear that you put a lot of effort into making the content both informative and interesting. Thanks for sharing this with us—it definitely gave me a deeper appreciation for Maltese, and I learned so much! Looking forward to more videos like this!

[somedude]

Wow they applied Arabic word forming to loanwords? The madlads lol.

Actually thinking about it we sometimes do too but it's usually when you're improvising a word. For example years ago my cousin asked me:

مالك مَفَسْبِك كدا؟
Roughly:
Why are you Facebooking so much?

[crazyspider]

i really want to learn maltese one day. i love the Semitic languages and maltese looks really cool to me.

[Ash_tommo]

As a Yemeni who speaks fluent Tunisian/Algerian/Moroccan Arabic, i could understand a lot of Maltese language. 🇾🇪 🇲🇹

[Uluc-cgtm]

Malta island was an interesting and wonderful melting pot for romance languages and arabic.. as a person who have the knowledge of both Arabic and romance languages, it is really wonderful when i see an arabic word followed by a spanish word, then it being followed by an italian word..♥️

[eutukhiosdrakon]

was just reading about maltese the other day, what a lovely and unique language, and great vid

[letsmapdialects]

You may be interested in these links:

Recitation of Il-Kantilena of Pietru Kaxaru.

My favourite folk song, Il-Fatt tas-Simshar sung by Kelinu s-Superstar.

[etiennebonanno]

To be fair, the lovely lady we hear speak at 5:07 has quite a marked regional accent, and as a native Maltese speaker myself, I actually had to concentrate slightly to understand her well as initially my brain did not immediately recognize her way of speaking as Maltese proper. I'm not 100% sure as I'm not an expert in Maltese dialects (and yes, Maltese does have several dialects or regional variations, even though it is spoken by so few people) but I believe her accent is from the island of Gozo (Gozo is the smaller island in the Maltese archipelago and they have a distinct set of dialects different from standard Maltese).
@Sandrobrocc your Maltese pronunciation is quite good with some small issues. The 'h' in "ghandha" is not voiced (so you say "aanda" with a lengthened initial vowel sound due to the "gh". Also you stress some words incorrectly, for example in "solidarieta" the stress should be quite strongly on the final syllable while I believe you stress the third. But on the whole your Maltese pronunciation is very good.

[deadbushinc.]

3:38 Apologies for any potential ignorance but wouldn't "reġinijiet" being produced by native speakers automatically make it part of Maltese grammar? You make it sound as if these speakers are making a mistake even though it's their language

[Rmmn]

Great video! I hope you get a good grade for this assignment!

[zkingsalsa]

maltese is one of my favorite languages!

[Ptaku]

nice video! I was just thinking of Maltese when it popped up in my feed, and recorded just a couple days ago - what a strange coincidence!

[MaxBorgMilton]

As a Maltese person I think its also really interesting that we have alot of differing dialects across our rock, everyone will understand what you're saying but the way we pronounce things varies alot.