The Maltese language is a foreign language in Malta.
Maltese -LRB- links = no -RRB- is the national language of Malta and a co-official language of the country alongside English , while also serving as an official language of the European Union , the only Semitic language so distinguished .. Malta. Malta. Semitic. Semitic languages. national language. national language. language of the country. Languages of Malta. English. English language. official language of the. Languages of the European Union. European Union. European Union. Semitic language. Semitic languages. Maltese is descended from Siculo-Arabic , the variety of Arabic that developed in Sicily and was later introduced to Malta , between the end of the ninth century and the end of the twelfth century .. Malta. Malta. Arabic. Arabic languages. Siculo-Arabic. Siculo-Arabic. variety of Arabic. Varieties of Arabic. Sicily. Sicily. Maltese is a unique branch of Arabic because it has evolved independently of Literary Arabic into a standardized language over the past 800 years in a gradual process of Latinisation .. Arabic. Arabic languages. Literary Arabic. Modern Standard Arabic. The original Semitic base -LRB- Siculo-Arabic -RRB- comprises around one-third of the Maltese vocabulary , especially words that denote basic ideas and the function words , but about half of the vocabulary is derived from standard Italian and Sicilian ; and English words make up between 6 % and 20 % of the vocabulary .. Semitic. Semitic languages. Arabic. Arabic languages. Siculo-Arabic. Siculo-Arabic. English. English language. Italian. Italian language. Sicilian. Sicilian language. Maltese has always been written in the Latin script , the earliest surviving example dating from the late Middle Ages .. Latin. Latin script