Italian And English Loanwords In Everyday Maltese Vocabulary
Author
I have some good news for you.
You probably already know thousands of Maltese words.
When people hear Maltese for the first time, they often get confused.
It sounds a bit like Arabic, but then suddenly, they hear a word that sounds perfectly English or Italian.
That’s because Maltese is a unique “mixed” language.
While the grammar and the core words (like numbers and basic verbs) come from a Semitic (Arabic) origin, a huge chunk of our vocabulary comes from Sicily, Italy, and England.
It’s estimated that today, about 20% to 30% of Maltese vocabulary is of English origin, and a very large portion is Italian (Romance).
This makes learning vocabulary much easier for English speakers.
However, there’s a trick.
We don’t just take the words; we “Maltesize” them. We change the spelling to match our phonetics, and we conjugate them like Maltese verbs.
Table of Contents:
The Italian connection
For many centuries, the Knights of St. John ruled Malta, and Italian was the official language of administration and education. Because we are so close to Sicily, we adopted thousands of words for everyday objects, government, religion, and especially food.
If you speak Italian, or even if you just love Italian food, you will recognize these words immediately.
Common Italian loanwords
Here are some words that are almost identical to Italian, but spelled the Maltese way:
| Maltese Word | Italian Origin | English Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Skola | Scuola | School |
| Kċina | Cucina | Kitchen |
| Pjazza | Piazza | Square |
| Gazzetta | Gazzetta | Newspaper |
| Familja | Famiglia | Family |
| Ziju / Zija | Zio / Zia | Uncle / Aunt |
| Sptar | Ospedale | Hospital |
You will notice this heavily in specific environments. For example, if you go to a mechanic, almost all the parts of the car (except the tires, which are English) use Italian names. If you go to church, the religious terms are mostly Italian/Latin.
Here is an example of Italian loanwords used in a sentence.
Irrid nistudja għall-eżami.
Note: “Irrid” (I want/have to) is Semitic, but “nistudja” (study) and “eżami” (exam) are clearly Romance.
The English influence
Malta was a British colony for 164 years (until 1964). Because of this, our education system, laws, and modern technology are heavily influenced by English.
Almost all modern words in Maltese come directly from English. If a word didn’t exist in the 1800s (like “computer” or “fridge”), we almost certainly use the English version.
Common English loanwords
The pronunciation is usually exactly the same as in English, but look closely at the spelling!
| Maltese Word | English Origin | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Futbol | Football | Phonetic spelling |
| Kompjuter | Computer | ’C’ becomes ‘K’ |
| Televixin | Television | ’Sion’ becomes ‘Xin’ |
| Mowbajl | Mobile (phone) | - |
| Kowċ | Coach | - |
| Flett | Flat (Apartment) | - |
| Xokk | Shock | Also used for electric shock |
We also turn English words into verbs. This is a very common feature in Maltese grammar. We usually add an “i” at the beginning to make it easier to pronounce.
- To kick/shoot (ball) -> Ixxuttja (from Shoot)
- To park -> Ipparkja (from Park)
- To check -> Iċċekja (from Check)
Ipparkjajt il-karozza ħdejn il-grawnd tal-futbol.
Maltenglish: how we mix them in sentences
In Malta, especially in central areas like Sliema and St. Julian’s, you will hear a lot of code-switching. This is often called “Maltenglish.”
This isn’t just borrowing words; it is switching between languages in the middle of a sentence.
While you should try to learn proper Maltese, it is helpful to understand that locals do this all the time.
Regional Variation:
In villages (ir-raħal) like Żurrieq or Żejtun, you will hear more Semitic and old Italian words. In harbor areas like Sliema, you might hear entire sentences in English with just one or two Maltese words thrown in (like mela or ta).
Here is what a typical “mixed” conversation sounds like:
Ġej għall-party illejla? Jew int busy?
Pruvajt inċempillek imma l-line kienet dead.
Note: “Inċempillek” is interesting. It comes from the Italian “Squilla” (ring), turned into a Maltese verb.
How to spell loanwords (The phonetic rule)
This is the most important rule for writing loanwords in Maltese: Write it exactly how you say it.
Maltese is a strictly phonetic language. We do not have silent letters like English does (like the ‘k’ in ‘knee’ or the ‘e’ at the end of ‘cake’).
If you borrow a word from English, you must change the spelling to match the Maltese alphabet.
Here are the main changes to watch out for:
- Hard C -> K: Cake becomes Kejk. Camera becomes Kamera.
- Soft C -> Ċ: Chocolate becomes Ċikkulata.
- SH -> X: Shorts becomes Xorts. Show becomes Xow.
- J / G -> Ġ: Manager becomes Maniġer.
- TI / SI -> X: Station becomes Stazzjon (from Italian) or sometimes keeps the English sound like Action -> Azzjoni.
It takes a little while to get used to reading words like wajer (wire) or tajer (tyre), but once you read them out loud, they make perfect sense!
Don’t be afraid of Maltese vocabulary. You have a huge head start because of the English and Italian words you already know.
To recap:
- Look for Italian roots in food, school, and government words.
- Look for English roots in technology and modern life.
- Remember that we spell things phonetically (Sound it out!).
- Don’t be surprised if you hear locals mixing English and Maltese together - it’s part of our culture.
