Maltese Translation & Interpretation Services
Maltese language
Providing Professional Translation, Interpretation, and Localization services in Maltese and more than 300 other languages and dialects.
Autonym(s)
Malti, L-Ilsien Malti, Lingwa Maltija
Number of Speakers
Native Speakers: 570,000
Geographic Distribution
Malta
Official or Recognized Status
Malta
Classification
Afro-Asiatic, Central Semitic, Maghrebi
Features
A Semitic language with strong Romance and English influences, reflecting Malta’s complex linguistic history. Evolved from Siculo-Arabic, it retains many core Semitic features such as root-and-pattern morphology, where meaning is built around triconsonantal roots, and use of gender and number agreement in verbs and nouns. However, centuries of contact with Italian and Sicilian introduced extensive vocabulary and phrase structures from Romance languages, while British colonial influence added modern English loanwords. Maltese is written in the Latin alphabet, making it the only Semitic language in Europe to use this script. It displays a distinctive blend of Arabic-derived phonology and Romance-style syntax, creating a unique linguistic bridge between North Africa and Southern Europe.
Dialects
Maltese has relatively limited dialectal variation compared to many other languages, largely due to Malta’s small geographic size and a long history of centralized education and media. However, subtle regional differences persist between urban and rural speech, especially between the capital region of Valletta and Sliema and more rural areas like Gozo and the southern villages of Malta. These variations primarily manifest in pronunciation, intonation, and vocabulary, with rural dialects generally preserving more Arabic-derived words and older phonetic forms, while urban speech exhibits a greater influence from Italian and English. Despite these distinctions, all dialects of Maltese are mutually intelligible, and the standardized form taught in schools and used in media maintains strong national unity in language use.
Writing System
Latin script
U.S. Distribution
In the U.S., the Maltese-speaking community is relatively small and concentrated in specific urban areas. Around 40,000 people identify Maltese as their primary language, though this includes varying levels of fluency. The broader Maltese-American population is estimated at roughly 42,000. Many Maltese speakers and their descendants reside in metropolitan areas such as Detroit, New York City (especially Queens), Chicago, and San Francisco, reflecting earlier waves of Maltese immigration tied to the manufacturing and service industries. Because the community is small and dispersed, maintaining Maltese language use across generations in the U.S. presents challenges such as reduced daily domains for Maltese and competition from English and other heritage languages.
At Latitude Prime, we offer Maltese translation, Maltese interpretation, and Maltese localization services in numerous specialized subject areas and multiple dialects. Whether you need to translate a real estate contract from Maltese to English, need a Maltese interpreter for a business meeting in Valleta, Malta, or want to localize your website into Maltese to market your products or services in Malta, Latitude Prime has the customized language solution to meet all your Maltese language needs.
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