The Mediterranean mystery of a Semitic language written in Latin script
The Maltese people inhabit a unique cultural crossroads. While their language is Semitic, descended from an extinct Arabic dialect, their identity is deeply shaped by Latin Catholicism and centuries of Mediterranean conquest, leaving scientists and historians to debate their true ancestral origins.
The identity of the Maltese is a complex tapestry of migration and repopulation. Following a period of depopulation after the Aghlabid conquest in AD 870, the islands were likely repopulated in the early second millennium by settlers from Sicily and Calabria. These settlers spoke Siculo-Arabic, a dialect that eventually evolved into the modern Maltese language. This linguistic foundation is unique; while Maltese is Semitic, it utilizes the Latin alphabet and features a substantial Romance superstratum of Italian and Sicilian vocabulary, along with some English and French influences.
Geneticists and historians remain divided on the extent of ancient influences. Some studies, such as those by Spencer Wells and Pierre Zalloua in 2008, suggested that over 50% of Y-chromosomes in Maltese men could have Phoenician origins. However, other researchers contest this, arguing that Levantine Phoenicians contributed little genetically to the central Mediterranean. A 2005 study by Capelli et al. points toward a primary descent from Southern Italy, noting that the contemporary male population most likely originated from that region, with only a minuscule input from the Eastern Mediterranean.
The demographic makeup was further shaped by waves of diverse arrivals. Between 1283 and 1425, thousands of Aragonese soldiers arrived, and later, in 1530, Greek Rhodian sailors and slaves joined the islands under the Knights of St. John. The British presence was also significant, with approximately 22,000 servicemen stationed in Malta between 1807 and 1979. Today, the population is characterized by high levels of multilingualism, with nearly 100% of the people able to speak Maltese, 88% English, and 66% Italian.
Source: Maltese people
