The Maltese language

 One of the first things we noticed when we arrived in Malta was how different the language is from any others we had come across. 

You saw it in signs and destinations on buses. The picture at the top is the name of the street we stayed at on our first night.

And here is a menu board:

It has unmistakable phonetic similarities with Arabic and other Semitic languages, and in fact has the distinction of being the only Semitic language that is an official language of the EU, and also of being the only Arabic/Semitic language which is only written in the 'Romance' alphabet.

So how did this situation come about? Well it is clear that Malta is about as close to North Africa as any country in the EU can be, but the language in fact came from the North. The great 11th-13th century kingdom of Sicily was a practically unique fusion of Arab and Romance cultures. When the Normans invaded and became kings, they were extremely enlightened for the time and did not suppress any of the existing religions and cultures. And their language followed suit (even though that language is now extinct). But Sicily invaded Malta, or at least extracted fealty, in the late 11th century, and the language of Sicily merged with the existing Maltese tongue to leave the car interesting fusion you hear today.

Some things are clearly Romance language: goodday is 'Bonju' and Thank you is 'grazzi' but most of the elements sound far more Semitic. Here is the Lord's Prayer in Maltese for you to enjoy:

Lord's Prayer in Maltese