Language

Abstract

Of all the social and cultural institutions created by the inhabitants of the Maltese Islands on their long and eventful path to nationhood, their language, Maltese, is without doubt one of the most striking and original. It is, in fact, not easy for the historical linguist to account for the remarkable survival of this island -vernacular in the face of the numerous socio-political upheavals that have characterized the history of this small archipelago, which 'since it was first colonised ... has never been very far from the centre of events and has often played a critical part in the making of history' (Blouet 1981: 11). Throughout most of their medieval and modern history, these strategically located islands have been administered and culturally dominated by a succession of foreign regimes associated with linguistic power symbols of incomparably greater prestige and utility than the indigenous rural vernacular of Malta, which achieved the status of a literary medium as late as the 19th century.