Languages of Malta - Italian and Sicilian

Italian and Sicilian

Before the 1930s, Italian was the official language of Malta. Italian irredentists and Italian Maltese wanted to promote its use throughout Malta for plans to re-unify it to Italy (Malta was part of the Kingdom of Sicily up to 16th century). 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. Although Italian has since been exchanged for English as the official language, it is still used and is spoken commonly in certain professional workplaces. The percentage of speakers today, 66%, is in fact much greater than when the language was actually official, in 1931, when only 14% spoke it.

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. In addition to this, many products, services, and businesses that reach Malta are Italian, with Malta being too small on its own to produce some things, therefore many people learn Italian that way.

In addition to the Italian language itself being spoken in Malta, 30% of Maltese vocabulary is of Sicilian and Italian origin. This means that several words in Italian and Maltese are almost interchangeable, and a Maltese conversation typically includes much Italian vocabulary. Consequently, Italian influences everyday speech.