Maltese language

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Maltese (Maltese: Malti, also L-Ilsien Malti or Lingwa Maltija) is a Central Semitic language derived from late medieval Sicilian Arabic. It is the only Semitic language officially written in the Latin script. It is spoken by the Maltese people and is a national language of Malta, and is the only official Semitic and Afroasiatic language of the European Union. The pioneering Maltese linguists Canon Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis and Mikiel Anton Vassalli both mistakenly hypothesised that Maltese originated from the Punic language. Later scholars like John L. Hayes considered it to be descended from a North African dialect of Colloquial Arabic, which was introduced to Malta when the Aghlabids captured it in the 9th century. However, genetic studies and historical evidence have established that Malta was depopulated after that raid, and that the island was subsequently repopulated by settlers from Sicily and Calabria who spoke Siculo-Arabic, which had developed as a Maghrebi...

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