The Maltese Language and Its Uniqueness

Although some scholars believe that it is of Punicthe rules of orthography and syntax.
origin, the Maltese Language is in fact largely derivedIn order to raise the necessary funds for the printing
from Arabic and related very closely to dialects usedof the Grammar, the society organized a concert at
in North African countries, especially Tunisian Arabic.the Manoel Theater in Valletta. It was during that
The Maltese language is the only Semitic languagevery same evening on the 3rd of February 1923, that
which uses the Latin alphabet in its standard form.the Maltese National Anthem was sung in public for
The Maltese language was always considered asthe first time. The lyrics of the anthem were written
inferior when compared to other languages. Theby Dun Karm Psaila and it was composed by
reason was that besides lacking a body of literature,Professor Robert Sammut.
the language had no scientific grounding. TheseA year later, the society published the first manual
factors amongst many others were the mainwhich established Maltese orthography. This book,
objectives of 'The Literary Philological Society' inwhich was divided into two sections, included the
Malta. The name was later changed to 'The Societyrules of orthography as well as a guide to how these
of Maltese Writers'. On the 18th of December 1921,rules should be used by the writer. It was
the society gave birth to the first phonetic alphabetencouraged that the book should be used as a
of the Maltese language, which consisted of 29reference and be introduced into schools.
letters. The society then widened its scope to include:In 1934, the Maltese language was finally
the protection of the rights of the Maltese languageacknowledged as the official language in Court, as
in the Maltese way of life, the development ofwell as the language used for teaching in schools.
writing and books based on this same alphabet, and