Can People from the Levant Understand Maltese?

What is the degree of mutual intelligibility between Levantine Arabic speakers, and the Maltese language, the only Semitic language in the European Union, which shares a lot in common with Arabic! There are many similarities between them due to the history of the region. Starting in the 9th century, following the Abbasid conquest of Sicily, for over two centuries, the islands of Sicily and Malta were under Muslim rule, known as the Emirate of Sicily. During this period a variety of Arabic, known as Sicilian Arabic (Siculo-Arabic), was formed. A series of battles eventually led to the fall of Muslim rule and the re-establishment of Christian control over Sicily and Malta. However, Sicilian Arabic continued to be spoken under the new state for a few ensuing centuries until it eventually went extinct. The Maltese language today is considered to be its sole surviving descendant. In this video, we'll take a look at how well Syrians, Jordanians, Lebanese, and Palestinians understand Maltese with Sean (Maltese speaker) reading some statements and proverbs.
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language and has official/national status Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, SADR, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania (Zanzibar), Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
The Maltese language (Malti) is the Latinised variety of spoken historical Arabic through its descent from Siculo-Arabic, which developed as a Maghrebi Arabic dialect during the Emirate of Sicily. It is the national language of Malta and distinguished from Arabic and other Semitic languages due to the heavy influence from Romance languages on its morphology. In addition to that, Maltese is the only Semitic language written in the Latin script.

[@FldMrshlWAbouSaad]

As a Lebanese person who's very familiar with the Tunisian dialect. I was able to understand 95% right away and didn't struggle like them. It's basically Tunisian base with an Italic topping. Very stimulating video! Thanks Bahador. 🙏🏻

[@omrimaher2754]

I'm a Tunisian and I confirm

[@fadifarhat-mufu5686]

Exactly, I watched the first example and I was not sure why they all struggled. Even with "mort" (passed by [the sea]), the Syrian gentleman said that it was close to "maraqit" and another one said "marart". "Mort" is, in fact, plain Arabic (yammur) and is even used in other formal Arabic contexts such as Traffic Police (Shurtat al Maroor).

[@FldMrshlWAbouSaad]

@Fadi Farhat - MUFU you know how the average Arabic speaker among the young generation has become quite weak in fos7a knowledge. So, not surprising.

[@Myladyinred999]

So interesting to know, thanks 👍

[@Oz4rmEg]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqaWh2Z_drl4g9k

[@TravelsWithTony]

I am an Irish-German from the Bronx, but my adopted grandfather was Maltese, born in Gozo in 1911. He taught us our Catholic prayers in Maltese way back when .... Fascinating language and culture. All people seem to have christian first names and Arab last names. So he was Anthony Jose-Maria Mejlaq (or Meilak). He came to the US with many other Maltese in the late 1920s. I grew up eating Maltese Rice and loving it.

[@user-nx6ny8pw2u]

Wow! Amazing!

[@ARBERESH]

most Maltese surnames are Sicilian.

[@levaltshuler1315]

@@ARBERESH But some of them are Semitic

[@TravelsWithTony]

@@ARBERESH Interesting. The names in my family all sounded Arabic, like Mejlaq and Fennech

[@leventtrolley9135]

@@ARBERESH Don't forget, Muslims ruled over Sicily for over 200 years... Sicilian Arabic was a dialect of a language disappeared in time.

[@polypolyglottus5698]

I am from Tunisia and when he speak Maltese, it seems to me like someone who talk a Tunisian dialect with an Italian accent. Even the Maltese proverbs in the end of the video, we use them in Tunisia ^_^

[@Oz4rmEg]

Funny... I'm Egyptian and I got his sentences as well. But couldn't read 😮😮😮

[@polypolyglottus5698]

@@Oz4rmEg I can read it easily ^_^

[@amirasalima5490]

It's literally Tunisian dialect, in the past malta was under the Tunisian rule

[@ninamoony8551]

​@@amirasalima5490Honestly I do not recognize the Tunisian accent at all. It is just Arabic mixed with Italian with a specific Maltese accent

[@hamzahammami22]

​@ninamoony8551 it doesn't have a Tunisian accent, it's for the most part the Tunisian dialect with a Italian/Sicilian accent with a lot of italian words

[@user-zh7yr1up8g]

Arabic is my third language and this is so fascinating to witness. Sean is the perfect candidate for this because as a native Maltese speaker he has also learned Arabic fluently and that allows him to better spot the connections. Very lovely video. Great job to all!

[@kaminobatto]

I am a native Arabic speaker and currently learning Biblical Aramaic and Hebrew. I would love to learn Syriac as well, so I would appreciate it if you could recommend a platform or a private tutor. Thanks!

[@isaac1674]

Dakhewat Khoni

[@levaltshuler1315]

@@kaminobatto Where are you from? There are not many sources to learn Syriac, but there is one I know called Beth Mardutho and they are based in the U.S but you can take online classes from anywhere.

[@kaminobatto]

@@levaltshuler1315 thanks a lot🙏 I'll look them up. I'm originally from Lebanon.

[@giorgioashuri6481]

Can I ask you what nationality you are? It's just that your avatar is written in Assyrian-ArAmean.

[@fafta71]

I'm Saudi and could understand most of what was said. I just want to note that "Hashish" literally means grass in certain Saudi dialects; it doesn't mean marijuana.

[@amirasalima5490]

No it's grass of course, but in th context hachich means vegetables. in Tunisia we called leafy vegetables hchich

[@robinhood3926]

In malta haxix can mean all the vegetables and fruits too

[@liliqua1293]

In Egypt, hashish only means marijuana haha for us, grass is negila

[@dandana4647]

as an old tunisian that reminds me the way Italians living in Tunisia used to speak the tunisian dialect

[@sasino4569]

I liked everything about Sean. His vibe and enthusiasm toward languages. His background and how well educated he is. Really looks like an extremely nice guy to be around.

[@try2justbe]

He used to have a program on arabic TV as well in the 2000s.

[@sasino4569]

@@try2justbe what is the name of it?

[@philipmulville8218]

Yes, I fully agree. His enthusiasm is infectious - a very interesting and talented guy.

[@saimraja2119]

@@philipmulville8218 Controll your self you little thing

[@Diego_Borges]

The TV show was called Aisha Marra - يشها مرة

[@FadiHamoud1980]

I wish Sean, would consider making a YT channel, teaching Maltese. Would be a hit.

[@raniabaha2210]

I wish so too, I wanna learn Maltese (the ressources are rare) and his enthusiasm would certainly motivate me even more !

[@Name-yb7hn]

I feel this is really similar to my ear to Tunisian dialect. I’m from KSA and understood almost 95% of all sentences ❤

[@MJ-yz8yh]

the Maltese father and his son (yosef) should do a show on youtube, I dont know what but I want to see more of them ♥♥

[@whatever4929]

Ty

[@leonardell-bon7104]

He is not Maltese, he studies at the University of Malta.

[@Rasheed7]

26:40 Darba from ضربة not from درب 😁 The original meaning of the word شيخ Sheikh in Standard Arabic FusHa is an old man, so Maltese kept the right meaning.

[@philipmulville8218]

Hi Bahador, really beautiful video. I’m Irish, and speak Russian and Arabic. Sean is amazingly talented - his Arabic pronunciation is perfect. I could understand a lot of the Maltese, and, when in Valletta some years ago, kept turning my head when listening to the language as it sounded so like Arabic to me. Thanks so much to all the participants.

[@michael30000]

This is awesome, understood most words from the first sentence. Love from a Lebanese, Australian

[@dnastrand9922]

Wow! As a Lebanese i am so suprised! I understood 90% of every example ☠️ This is my first time ever getting exposed to the Maltese language

[@abdellahaddoud6254]

It's funny to see how levantine people claim that they don't understand Maghreb dialects :) which are closer to the standard arabic than maltese language ! For me Maltese is one of maghreb dialects but which is more influenced by italian loanwords

[@dnastrand9922]

@Abdellah Addoud i dnt know how to explain it to you, but yes, as a lebanese, i literally don't understand Moroccan/Tunisian/Algerian at all. This video sounded more easy to my ears. But i have no explanation.

[@gsxii1292]

@@abdellahaddoud6254 i do understand Moroccans to an extent but the issue is they speak super fast.

[@yuzan3607]

@@abdellahaddoud6254 I'm from the Gulf region, I also find it much easier to understand Maltese in comparison to Moroccan dialect (to me Tunisian is very easy). Moroccan dialect sounds like a different language honestly.

[@curiousmind_]

@@yuzan3607 Moroccan is heavily influenced by the native Amazigh languages that's why

[@anvarsaidinov1488]

Thank you, Bahador, don't let your work be overlooked. I am from Uzbekistan, my nationality is from Tashkent. May our Persian Tajik Arab brothers be healthy. Bahador, you are doing a good job.

[@BahadorAlast]

Thank you so much 🙏

[@umar4655]

This was really wholesome and educational! Thank you Sean, and loved that your son appeared. He's very cute and smart. Thanks to the participants and Bahador for organizing this session.

[@pierreabbat6157]

My favorite Maltese saying (not that I know much Maltese) is "minn żmien żemżem" (from Zamzam time). Zamzam is a well in Mecca which is well over a millennium old.

[@luapfellacim]

👍 sharingfor Thanks

[@HGAHAMFHAH]

4 to 5 millenniums actually

[@leonardell-bon7104]

I am Maltese and I say it without knowing why it really meant, interesting.

[@nashmi-8609]

Zamzam is a well that was found in mecca before thousands of years by Hajar the wife of prophet ibrahim ​@leonardell-bon7104

[@jakewhittaker1145]

Sean's enthusiasm and blatant excitement to share knowledge and interesting aspects of language is so infectious. I hope this is how I come across too when I get really excited to show/share language "stuff" with other people! Thank you Bahador!! 🙏

[@saranasser9642]

Thank u Bahadour been waiting for such content. Forore than a decade

[@Poe_ssessed]

Amazing Video as always ❤

[@ShafiqaIdris]

Thank you for sharing. This was fascinating! After the first couple of sentences I started pausing to try translating before hearing the proper translation and I think I did well. You're explanations of the pronounciation and origins were very helpful!

[@zeyadyahya1180]

So cool bahador ☀️🙏😃 great video as always ❤️

[@jmudikun]

Another very awesome episode, Bahador. I loved this.

[@mwprw]

Super interesting, its like a mixture of Italian, Levantine Arabic and North African Arabic :)

[@belalabusultan5911]

it also has some Spanish I guess, so it's a melting pot for mediterranean languages and accents.

[@Yanzdorloph]

@@belalabusultan5911 up to the 20th century the Languave in wish the french, Moroccan, Ottoman, Spanish and portoguese sailors comunicated in was a blend of all these languages, althou it was more like a pidgin language in practice it was the lingua franca of the mediteranian sea for centuries, it's name was Sabir language

[@belalabusultan5911]

@@Yanzdorloph I didn't know that, but thank you. I couldn't find Sabir vs Maltese comparisson videos, but I assume they would be kinda similar?

[@liliqua1293]

Although the pronunciation is similar to Levantine Arabic, this is coincidental and there is no direct influence from Levantine on Maltese. Maltese is just an eastern Maghrebian variety with certain urban qualities found in many varieties (loss of q, loss of interdentals, loss of emphatics) such as Cairene, and even some old Moroccan varieties.

[@Yanzdorloph]

@@belalabusultan5911 no one speaks Sabir anymore, as it was never a mother thong to any ppl, just a practical language to comunicate between North Africans and southern Eropeans in the Mediteranian sea, but seeing how Maltese is a mix between arabic, Italian, Spanish and english I'd imagine it was smtg similar but idk. Eddit : wikipedia tells me that it's Based mostly on Northern Italy's languages (mainly Venetian and Genoese) and secondarily on Occitano-Romance languages (Catalan and Occitan) in the western Mediterranean area at first, Lingua Franca later came to have more Spanish and Portuguese elements, especially on the Barbary Coast (now referred to as the Maghreb). Lingua Franca also borrowed from Berber, Turkish, French, Greek and Arabic.

[@laurenford9057]

As someone learning Arabic, this is interesting to watch. It feels so great when you can quickly connect the words.

[@mahmoudalhweitat3634]

Thanks for linking bridges between nations through languages. I guess Tunisians could understand Maltese easier than those who speaks other Arabic dialects. Even though, I managed to understand the speech orally rather than scripturally.

[@catloverss1]

Very informative 👍.. love it .. great post .. keep it up 👍

[@mina2hmakar]

I'm from Egypt and been to Malta many times. I find it easy to understand Maltese as an Egyptian especially if you can understand a bit of Italian and can understand when they mix North African Arabic with some Italian. Maltese people feel like Middle eastern Europeans 😁😁😁 Also shout-out to Sean, his Arabic is great 👍👍👍

[@stephencachia5561]

Interessanti ħafna, very interesting, grazzi. Ħadt gost nara dan il-video. I enjoyed watching the video.

[@stephencachia5561]

Interessanti ħafna, very interesting grazzi ħafna. Ħadt gost nara dan il-video, I enjoyed watching this video.

[@rainhawk5264]

It's actually not funny as the Maltese are actually West ASIAN INDO-EUROPEAN PEOPLE NOT AFRO PEOPLE. THEY HAVE BEEN ARABISED/SEMITICISED. Most Maltese people have around 70-80% West Asian Indo-European DNA. Take the DNA result of a Maltese person it will have around 80-90% West Asian Indo-European DNA (20-30% Italian DNA, 20-30% Aegean, and 20-30% Anatolian/Caucasian. And only 5-20% Afro-Semitic from North Africa.

[@mina2hmakar]

Dude, take it easy 😂

[@kaminobatto]

Another great video from Bahadur.

[@Ahmed-pf3lg]

Maltese father speaks Arabic in a khaleeji accent, pretty interesting

[@user-zh7yr1up8g]

He indicated that he was in Saudi Arabia for many years so I think that's why! I love that as a native Maltese speaker he learned Arabic, it makes him very ideal for this since he can quickly see the connections.

[@Ahmed-pf3lg]

@@user-zh7yr1up8g He sounds so much like a native. First time I hear a foreigners speaking Arabic perfectly. Well done for him, but to be fair I guess having Maltese as a first language helps tremendously perhaps.

[@corinna007]

​@@user-zh7yr1up8gYeah, he said in the last video he was in that he had lived in Riyadh for 20 years or something. And since his son is half Arab, it's probably safe to assume that his wife is Saudi.

[@Diego_Borges]

Sean is just amazing. Being able to speak 2 Romance languages and two Semitic languages besides English is awesome. I hope to see him more often in the channel. I always wanted to know Malta but had no idea the Maltese language was that close to Arabic. As an Arabic student know it makes everything even more interesting!

[@Amal-hc2vt]

It’s amazing, thank you for this nice trip to malta 🙏😍 as a morrocan I understood mostly everything, it’s more similar to nord African dialects as far as the words and the pronunciation is concerned and the way of speaking is more Tunesian

[@minnamsl4549]

As an Algerian I understood most of the sentences right away, and I like that man's explanation I would like to be his student 😆😆

[@maxitmcore]

That was very interesting

[@rebmedina2835]

I have enjoyed this

[@hassanalast6670]

Good to know about Arabic speakers and the Maltese language.

[@felf4173]

Last time, when there was tunisian and maltese comparaison. I couldn't understand maltese but this time I practicaly understood everything as a Tunisian. I also went to Malta this summer, at first I couldn't understand anything but it was easy to understand what was written. Maltese is ver close to Arabic, but they have a different accent that it would take some time to get used to

[@mattiamele3015]

Mind you, this guy speaks Maltese with an accent. Native Maltese spakers don't say "jhobb" with a b-sound, they say "jhoPP". When you see a b or a d at the end of a word that's pronounced as a p or a t. The same applies to other voiced consonants. That is, unless the following word begins with a voiced consonant, which causes voicing assimilation. Example: norqod is pronounced as norqot (nor2ot) but if you say norqod billejl (bel layl) that "d" is indeed pronounced as a d, not as a t.

[@felf4173]

@@mattiamele3015 it's obvious that he has a different accent. As I said in my comment above, you have to get used to the Maltese accent to understand it. An Egyptian wouldn't be able to understand Tunisian accent right away, but when he get used to it,he would be able to understand the big picture( I say hat because they wouldn't be able to understand amazigh, Italian, Spanish and french words used regurally in the Tunisian dialect

[@mattiamele3015]

@@felf4173 Yes, what I mean is the man in the video doesn't speak exactly like someone from Malta.

[@KryzysX]

Woah!! Good to learn this

[@confluence2519]

Interesting video! Proverb’s definitely are an important linguistic feature is language similarities, and Arabic is filled with them in a way where there are even dialect specific proverbs! I actually wrote a paper recently on the role of color in proverbs existing in Saudi dialects! Loved the video! I also had a question, have you ever thought about doing a video on Arabic and Coptic? It would be interesting to see the sinmialrities, essentially now with the geographical connection to Arabic!

[@BahadorAlast]

Thank you. Definitely have and would love to organize that for a future video!

[@nadooshnadoosh7968]

As an Arab, I could travel to Malta without any fears about language 😂

[@junaid1040]

But they're not Muslim

[@JupiterMoon7]

​@@junaid1040Toz

[@supra1722]

​@@junaid1040 what does that have to do with what he said about language?

[@timl4257]

Maltese has most similarity with Tunisian arabic, as the latter doesn't have similarities with Moroccan or Algerian arabic. Very interesting video.

[@lukeet331]

Please please can the maltese guy post some videos teaching some Maltese! He's amazing so knowlegable and explains things so well as someone living in Malta trying to learn it would be really appreciated!

[@karimelbouri]

Fascinating, Maltese sounds almost identical to the Libyan dialect of Arabic 🇱🇾 🇱🇾 Thanks for making these great videos !

[@sissotarik8393]

by the way maltese language contain some berber words such as "żebbuġ" wich means olives (in arabic we use the word zeitoun" instead)

[@taherabdelhameed9204]

13:10 In fact, it's the opposite. the meaning remained as it is in Maltese and changed everywhere else. The letteral meaning of "Hasheesh" is "Reapings" so anything you can reap/harvest is OK to be called Hasheesh, not just weed.

[@tesneem7445]

As an algerian maltese sounds like a lost cousin in europe 😂allah ybarek

[@curiousmind_]

Right Allah ybarek we use that a lot

[@lenali5677]

I am Algerian and understood everything, soubhan Allah.

[@stephencachia5561]

Video interessanti ħafna, ħadt gost narah.

[@ELYESSS]

darba is used in Tunisian but pronounced as dharba with aض. It literally means one hit but I think it's used the same way as in Maltese.

[@teknul89]

It is indeed Malta has been influenced by Berber countries so if you are Tunisian you will catch up their words more easily and they will the same with your language

[@Johannes...]

ضربة بمعنى مرة

[@ELYESSS]

@@Johannes... yes

[@nayokaldou6251]

@@teknul89 weird the result was dialect of Arabic not Berber !

[@saimraja2119]

@@nayokaldou6251 no

[@vraimoi]

Good job, very interesting video, thank you very much. and in case no one pointed out where "darba" came from (20:45) I think it goes all the way back to arabic mathematics where Al-Darb (الضرب) mean multiplication. for example in arabic you would say "khamsa darb khamsa" for five "times" five and thats probably why darba means times in maltese.

[@mattiamele3015]

Wow. This is a really interesting input. I just think darba “a time” is a semantic accretion of “one stroke/one hit”. Maltese people also use “daqqa” with the same meaning. Daqqa tirbah, daqqa titlef (sometimes you win, sometimes you lose). Or “xi minn daqqiet” (شي من دقّات) meaning “sometimes”. The thing is, Maltese has lost the use of the verb darab outside of the word midrub (injured), so they don’t associate darba with the concept of “a beat”. As for the verb daqq, it also lost the connotation of beating and it mostly means playing (music) or ringing (bells). But daqqa certainly means a hit/a stroke. For example daqqa ta’ harta (a slap). Daqqa ta’ ponn (a punch - Italian pugno means fist/punch). I think there might be some Romance influence in this, because for example in Catalan cop (hit/stroke) means “time” too. Then there is this expression, in both Italian and French, to say “all of a sudden”: di colpo/tout à coup, with the Maltese version being f’daqqa wahda.

[@Soybeans_1929]

Damn !!! It's like tunisian with some kind of italian accent !!

[@eng.am.a.m.a3646]

I'm Iraqi and I know North African dialects, it was simple to understand

[@user-jk8vh3cw2x]

as an iraqi this is interesting i could understand parts of it

[@FifthCat5]

Another fascinating video! I hadn’t realized Maltese was so close to Levantine colloquial. The first few examples were completely intelligible and the newspaper articles made sense with explanation. It was actually easier to pick up by ear though because the Maltese spelling is so unfamiliar. Thanks to everyone who participated! ❤

[@AbdullahA-ux6wg]

Ix-xih for an old person is not just arabic, its actually quranic so maltes are actually using this word more accurately than modern arabic delicts, which is quite interesting to me as an arabian

[@bandolero5068]

Fascinating. I’ve heard x’hinu with a hard kha sound used by my Maltese relatives too.

[@omaralrub1255]

Thats crazy i understood everything he said. This makes me want to learn Maltese.

[@muneersabr780]

I am from iraq and I could almost understand everything.

[@bassamal-kaaki3253]

I think Arabs can become fluent in 6 months of continuous Maltese 😊 I just love this language. A great mix between English, Arabic (Levant). There is also a lot of similarity between Tunisien, Algerian, Moroccan Arabic.

[@little_petra_jordanian]

Levan are not arabs

[@little_petra_jordanian]

Levant

[@bassamal-kaaki3253]

@@little_petra_jordanian What are they then? They speak Arabic and they use the Arab alphabet!

[@nightthemoon8481]

Tunisians can probably become fluent in 3 hours lmao

[@bassamal-kaaki3253]

@@nightthemoon8481 I agree because the Arabic accent is very similar as they use a very similar Arabic to Tunisiens.

[@hasray9699]

Please do a comparison video between Arabic and Pashto.

[@Ahmed-pf3lg]

It's easy to pick up as an Arab from Saudi Arabia..

[@moutarjem]

It is very easy for a Tunisian and a Levantine to learn Maltese. I bet I can learn it fluently in one month full time studying based also on my knowledge of a few European languages

[@izzaldeenalkurdi8806]

As Jordanian I understand 90% of it 😂

[@farishope6540]

Same thing and from the first few seconds

[@taouesbentaleb9046]

البارح مريت للبحر مع ابني عندو عشر سنين ... نطق جزاىري 😮

[@nahidhkurdi6740]

I am an Iraqi with no contact with the north African dialects. However, I am surprised I understood a lot. For example, I recognised with no effort that hashish in the third or the fourth example stands for vegetables.

[@kennethagiusmosta]

Poset u grazzi. Interessanti hafna.

[@eli_wael]

darb / drab means ' a hit ' in many dialects .. aktar mn draba means more than one hit .. so you can use it multiple times.

[@andrew_be1379]

Knights Hospitaller was based in Malta for over 200 years

[@AndrewF1Gaming]

I'd love a video where Maltese people try to understand an Arab speaker instead :)

[@user-xo6gq7tx9n]

Beautiful

[@rabihsamra3990]

Suddenly, I found out that I am a Maltese speaker

[@mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm435]

Darba could be from the Arab word darb with a ض, because in mathematical terminology it means multiplication = 1 times 2 = wahid (1) darb (X) Ethnain (2)

[@taouesbentaleb9046]

مالطا كانوا ملوكها من الجزائر و تونس التاريخ يشهد كل شي مدون في كتب التاريخ

[@samk0965]

Omg guys you couldn’t understand this??? It’s so easy if you speak leventine Arabic😮

[@assrolesine1522]

I am Algerian and I understand 80% of what you say in Maltese.

[@Mohamed-ch]

As a Tunisian, one day in Malta is enough for me to master Maltese

[@whatever4929]

I seriously doubt that

[@Racing2theGoalpost]

am from Tunisia 🇹🇳, the Maltese language near from Tunisian or northern africa Arabic dialect

[@ibrahimmoss]

Fun. I thought of how this podcast could easily be reworked into a language class that everyone would enjoy. However, for this lesson, the Palestinian woman's eyes and smile were as captivating as the lesson.

[@levaltshuler1315]

30:02 Roberta Metsola is actually among the most religious and socially conservative European politicians.

[@moawiahibrahim3241]

It's surprising how close Maltese is to Arabic.

[@kyks6771]

Interesting, like another Arabic dialect!!

[@theblossombella3756]

I am an Arab Lebanese and understood the sentences quickly in Maltese. It was not this hard and the same thing for my mom. I love how languages tend to be similar in so many ways. All love

[@maikel3888]

So intresitng thatnks. I am lebanese and I realised that malteese just like dareejah are a combo of languages. But I still dont understand how we consider dareejah as an arabic language. It is as different as malteese.

[@mahdighodbane3759]

As an Algerian I could understand everything even the Italian words r similar 2 english

[@ahmedabousaad841]

Maltese is as close as semitic languages like Aramaic or Amharic to Arabic , may be closer , this makes want to study it . If it was written in Arabic alphabet it will make it a lot easier .

[@nayokaldou6251]

No more like a dialect of Arabic "Maltese language, Maltese Malti, Semitic language of the Southern Central group spoken on the island of Malta. Maltese developed from a dialect of Arabic and is closely related to the western Arabic dialects of Algeria and Tunisia. Strongly influenced by the Sicilian language (spoken in Sicily), Maltese is the only form of Arabic to be written in the Latin alphabet." Encyclopedia Britannica

[@fadelabouda3570]

Darba is not درب but it comes from ضربة which is used in Tunisia as well to refer to many times or several sth.

[@MBH_212]

I speak Gulf Arabic, and I knew that Arabic heavily influenced the Maltese language. But it’s shocking that I was able to understand 70% of what was said.

[@IndianaJones664]

I believe the Maltese construction "ġiet eletta" is influence from Italian, which has the same construction of the verb "to come" + the past participle - in this case "venne eletta". This construction is even sometimes used with verbs that have a Semitic passive form, such as "għażel" ("he chose"), which has the passive form "ntgħażel" and the past participle "magħżul". "It was chosen" can be said as either "Intgħażel" or "Ġie magħżul".

[@omrimaher2754]

Giet in Tunisian dialect means literally 'I came'

[@nayokaldou6251]

@@omrimaher2754 جيت/اجيت لعندك in Levantine dialects from جئت in Standard Arabic but without the stress on the Hamza ء

[@omrimaher2754]

@@nayokaldou6251 the basic Arabic جئت is pronounced in Tunisia جيت exactly pronounced like Maltese.

[@omrimaher2754]

@@nayokaldou6251 don't forget that the nearest Arabic coutry to Malta is Tunisia

[@simonfarrugia26]

"Kulhadd tad-demm u l-laham" is used to mean that everyone is vulnerable no matter who they are.

[@nicks0alive]

Yes!!!!!

[@mohammadalhulli]

بالعراق نقول على الحمار باللهجة العامة "زمال" واعتقد هذي جاية من المالطية لان حصان بالمالطي ziemel Iraqi dialect say zmal means donky which comes from maltese ziemel which is horse Fascinating

[@pierreassafable]

Are there any applications to learn Maltese?

[@TravelsWithTony]

ramdan, ramandan, lent - all about 40 days of fasting

[@aousr]

I’m from Yemen and I was able to understand almost everything. The Syrian guy is accurate when he said “we are hearing a new Arabic accent/dialect”

[@zariaalhajmoustafa2573]

‏‪36:28‬‏ the world Sheikh have a lot of meaning under them is a scholar leader of the tribe an old man when pacifically mean old man come from the root of alshaykhukhuhu meaning aging

[@omrimaher2754]

In tunisia 'Barrani' means literally 'foreigner ' we have a well known folkloric song galouli rawah barrani, barrani ena''

[@FldMrshlWAbouSaad]

JenJoon - Barrani

[@omrimaher2754]

@@FldMrshlWAbouSaad i don't know this song sorry

[@mattiamele3015]

What does rawah mean? In Maltese rawh = they saw him. I recommend you the song "Qalu li raw" by Bayzo (they said that they saw).

[@omrimaher2754]

@@mattiamele3015 rawah in Tunisian dialect means go home (روَّح)

[@omrimaher2754]

@@mattiamele3015 yes also in Tunisian rawah means they saw him (raw = they saw) راوَه

[@amalek.92]

Precious kid.

[@wanisshalaby2149]

Their knowledge of Arabic dialects stands quite a bit of improvement. As a native Arabic speaker, I had no problem understanding him.

[@abhi739]

Interesting. I guess malta is close to tunisia by sea. I wonder if that's the reason or old berber dialect shelha forms the commonality

[@mohavlog1655]

I feel like he's speaking Tunisian dialecte 🥰🥰