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Un peu de lecture académique sur le sujet, pour changer un peu de la "culture bistrot" qu'affectionnent souvent les fainéant et/ou les polémistes :
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The island of Malta presents an intriguing linguistic situation. Although nearer to Sicily and culturally European, its inhabitants still speak a language that is basically a variety of Arabic, albeit a “highly deviant offshoot of vernacular Arabic”. The deviation derives from two parallel processes: while the original Arabic dialect lost contact with written and spoken Arabic in the 13th century, the urbanization of the harbor area in the 16th century introduced a koine which was heavily romanized by daily contacts with Sicilian and Italian. This variety was standardized in the 19th century and became modern Maltese. The disproportion between Malta’s size (246 km2) and its population (400,000 inhabitants), as well as the large number of Sicilian, Italian, and English surnames, shows the importance of immigration in Malta’s linguistic development.
The Punic myth :
The language spoken in prehistory might have been a Mediterranean language, according to the traditional theory, but since Renfrew linked the diffusion of the Indo-European linguistic family with the spread of agriculture, it seems likely that the temple builders, who came over from Sicily, spoke an Indo-European language. The first inscriptions found in Malta date back to the 6th century BC and are in Punic. The Romans introduced Latin in 218 BC, but for two centuries three languages were in formal use, Punic, Greek, and Latin. However, St. Luke’s definition of the islanders as “barbarians” (Acts 28:1–11) does not specify whether in 60 CE they spoke Punic or a local variety of vulgar Latin or Greek. The 600 years of Roman rule could have changed the language of a small community (under 10,000) and so would have the succeeding Byzantine period, 350 years long. Although isolation might have maintained Punic as the spoken language up to 870, the Punic origin of Maltese was a myth introduced by Jean Quintin (1536) and repeated by J.H. Majus (1718) before Punic script was deciphered by Barthélemy in 1758. The confusion in the early classificatory attempts is illustrated by Megiser’s (1606) definition of Maltese [...]. Yet, the Punic theory was fondly defended by Maltese scholars (De Soldanis 1750, Vassalli 1791, Magri 1907) up to the early 20th century because the connection with a glorious extinct civilization satisfied national pride and was exploited for political reasons by the imperialists (Strickland 1920). Nonetheless, Gian Francesco Abela (1647) was already aware of the Arabic origins of Maltese and knew that Arabic was widely spoken in Sicily under the Normans and in Pantelleria in his times. Although J.J. Bellermann opted for the Punic theory in 1809, W. Gesenius refuted it scientifically in 1810 (see Kontzi 1994).
Arabic origins :
The roots of the arabic Maltese language date back to around 870, or perhaps to 1048. Arab geographers and historians gave little attention to Malta, and this is taken as proof of the island’s insignificance during that period. An exception is al-Himyarì’s description, based on sources almost contemporary with the events, which was unknown to Maltese historians until 1990. The Rawd al-M'itàr describes a ferocious raid in 870 that destroyed the Byzantine social structure and says that the island was subsequently only visited for wood, honey, and fishing until a new community settled there in 1048–1049. This explains the lack of a pre-Arabic substratum in present-day Maltese : the descendants of the survivors of the 870 raid were too few to influence the new settlers’ language. Distinguishing between ‘Muslims’ and their more numerous ‘slaves’, al-Himyarì suggests a religiously mixed but homogeneously Arabophone community. This may have come from Sicily, where Norman raids had already begun, but deeper comparative studies are needed to provide conclusive evidence. Another intriguing point is that the conquerors of 870 might have introduced Berber, unlike the 1048 settlers who apparently spoke the variety of Arabic that had been forged in Sicily, untouched by the second wave of Arabicization brought by the Banù Hilàl into North-Africa. According to Vanhove, this accounts for the main differences between Maltese and the Maghreb dialects.
The Norman conquest of 1091 introduced contacts with Romance languages and dialects, but the use of Classical Arabic is witnessed by 12th-century tombstones, verses written at the court of Roger II by poets called al-Màliti, and by the Arabic version of the first known document in Latin addressed to the rulers of Malta, signed by Queen Constance in 1198. Although Christians were present on the island in 1091 and certainly comprised locals in 1150, the change in culture, religion, and population was gradual because in 1175 Bishop Burchardt described Malta as inhabited by Saracens, and in 1241 Giliberto Abbate reported the presence of 836 Muslim families. Thus, Malta was no different than Sicily, where Arabic was still widely spoken around Palermo and Agrigento, and Christian rites were still held in Arabic in 1330. After the Muslims’ expulsion in 1224 and 1249, the linguistic history of the two islands diverged because in Malta total Christianization was not accompanied by full Latinization. Romance speakers increased under the Angevins, the Aragonese, and the Castillians, and many settled permanently, were slowly absorbed, and adopted Maltese speech. All documents were drawn up in Latin and Sicilian, while Arabic writing was only used by the Jewish community until 1492.
From Arabic dialect to Maltese language :
When the Maltese variety lost contact with Quranic and Classical Arabic, it went through a process of phonological readjustment, morphological simplification, and constant lexical growth by Sicilian and Italian accretions. Its speakers’ perception was strikingly different from that of foreigners. While the latter tended to fit the local tongue into a genealogical or areal classification, calling it parlata africana (1536), parlar saracino (1558), lingua degli Africani (1567), or un langage Arabe corrompu (1694), the Maltese saw it from an autonomous point of view: in lingua maltensi (1436), in lingua nostra maltensi (1525), in lingua melitea (1540), or in melivetana et vernacula lingua (1554). Significantly, the first documented words since 1241, and the earliest known full text in Maltese, a Cantilena written about 1470 by Pietro Caxaro are in the Latin alphabet. The locals never wrote in Arabic script, although some scholars did propose the use of some Arabic letters in the 17th and 18th centuries when the first grammars and word lists were drawn up. The Knights introduced Italian as the language of administration and culture, but, being supranational, they never imposed a linguistic policy for the people, and thus Maltese survived. Moreover, the development of a dynamic urban society around Grand Harbour created the right conditions for the koine which became standard Maltese. [...] In 1622, the Roman Congregazione de Propaganda Fide decided to establish the study of Arabic in Malta to prepare missionaries for spreading Christianity in Arab countries, and lessons started in 1632. One of the most important Maltese Arabists was Michele Antonio Vassalli, who furthered his studies in Rome and became a lecturer in Oriental languages at La Sapienza University. Vassalli considered Arabic useful for a deeper knowledge of Maltese and wrote a scientific grammar (1791) and dictionary (1796) of Maltese. He also drew up plans for teaching Maltese, Italian, and Arabic in the schools and abandoned the Punic myth in later works (1827).
[...]
Encyclopaedia of Arabic language and Linguistics (Vol. Il)
Brill Editions
_____________________________________
The island of Malta presents an intriguing linguistic situation. Although nearer to Sicily and culturally European, its inhabitants still speak a language that is basically a variety of Arabic, albeit a “highly deviant offshoot of vernacular Arabic”. The deviation derives from two parallel processes: while the original Arabic dialect lost contact with written and spoken Arabic in the 13th century, the urbanization of the harbor area in the 16th century introduced a koine which was heavily romanized by daily contacts with Sicilian and Italian. This variety was standardized in the 19th century and became modern Maltese. The disproportion between Malta’s size (246 km2) and its population (400,000 inhabitants), as well as the large number of Sicilian, Italian, and English surnames, shows the importance of immigration in Malta’s linguistic development.
The Punic myth :
The language spoken in prehistory might have been a Mediterranean language, according to the traditional theory, but since Renfrew linked the diffusion of the Indo-European linguistic family with the spread of agriculture, it seems likely that the temple builders, who came over from Sicily, spoke an Indo-European language. The first inscriptions found in Malta date back to the 6th century BC and are in Punic. The Romans introduced Latin in 218 BC, but for two centuries three languages were in formal use, Punic, Greek, and Latin. However, St. Luke’s definition of the islanders as “barbarians” (Acts 28:1–11) does not specify whether in 60 CE they spoke Punic or a local variety of vulgar Latin or Greek. The 600 years of Roman rule could have changed the language of a small community (under 10,000) and so would have the succeeding Byzantine period, 350 years long. Although isolation might have maintained Punic as the spoken language up to 870, the Punic origin of Maltese was a myth introduced by Jean Quintin (1536) and repeated by J.H. Majus (1718) before Punic script was deciphered by Barthélemy in 1758. The confusion in the early classificatory attempts is illustrated by Megiser’s (1606) definition of Maltese [...]. Yet, the Punic theory was fondly defended by Maltese scholars (De Soldanis 1750, Vassalli 1791, Magri 1907) up to the early 20th century because the connection with a glorious extinct civilization satisfied national pride and was exploited for political reasons by the imperialists (Strickland 1920). Nonetheless, Gian Francesco Abela (1647) was already aware of the Arabic origins of Maltese and knew that Arabic was widely spoken in Sicily under the Normans and in Pantelleria in his times. Although J.J. Bellermann opted for the Punic theory in 1809, W. Gesenius refuted it scientifically in 1810 (see Kontzi 1994).
Arabic origins :
The roots of the arabic Maltese language date back to around 870, or perhaps to 1048. Arab geographers and historians gave little attention to Malta, and this is taken as proof of the island’s insignificance during that period. An exception is al-Himyarì’s description, based on sources almost contemporary with the events, which was unknown to Maltese historians until 1990. The Rawd al-M'itàr describes a ferocious raid in 870 that destroyed the Byzantine social structure and says that the island was subsequently only visited for wood, honey, and fishing until a new community settled there in 1048–1049. This explains the lack of a pre-Arabic substratum in present-day Maltese : the descendants of the survivors of the 870 raid were too few to influence the new settlers’ language. Distinguishing between ‘Muslims’ and their more numerous ‘slaves’, al-Himyarì suggests a religiously mixed but homogeneously Arabophone community. This may have come from Sicily, where Norman raids had already begun, but deeper comparative studies are needed to provide conclusive evidence. Another intriguing point is that the conquerors of 870 might have introduced Berber, unlike the 1048 settlers who apparently spoke the variety of Arabic that had been forged in Sicily, untouched by the second wave of Arabicization brought by the Banù Hilàl into North-Africa. According to Vanhove, this accounts for the main differences between Maltese and the Maghreb dialects.
The Norman conquest of 1091 introduced contacts with Romance languages and dialects, but the use of Classical Arabic is witnessed by 12th-century tombstones, verses written at the court of Roger II by poets called al-Màliti, and by the Arabic version of the first known document in Latin addressed to the rulers of Malta, signed by Queen Constance in 1198. Although Christians were present on the island in 1091 and certainly comprised locals in 1150, the change in culture, religion, and population was gradual because in 1175 Bishop Burchardt described Malta as inhabited by Saracens, and in 1241 Giliberto Abbate reported the presence of 836 Muslim families. Thus, Malta was no different than Sicily, where Arabic was still widely spoken around Palermo and Agrigento, and Christian rites were still held in Arabic in 1330. After the Muslims’ expulsion in 1224 and 1249, the linguistic history of the two islands diverged because in Malta total Christianization was not accompanied by full Latinization. Romance speakers increased under the Angevins, the Aragonese, and the Castillians, and many settled permanently, were slowly absorbed, and adopted Maltese speech. All documents were drawn up in Latin and Sicilian, while Arabic writing was only used by the Jewish community until 1492.
From Arabic dialect to Maltese language :
When the Maltese variety lost contact with Quranic and Classical Arabic, it went through a process of phonological readjustment, morphological simplification, and constant lexical growth by Sicilian and Italian accretions. Its speakers’ perception was strikingly different from that of foreigners. While the latter tended to fit the local tongue into a genealogical or areal classification, calling it parlata africana (1536), parlar saracino (1558), lingua degli Africani (1567), or un langage Arabe corrompu (1694), the Maltese saw it from an autonomous point of view: in lingua maltensi (1436), in lingua nostra maltensi (1525), in lingua melitea (1540), or in melivetana et vernacula lingua (1554). Significantly, the first documented words since 1241, and the earliest known full text in Maltese, a Cantilena written about 1470 by Pietro Caxaro are in the Latin alphabet. The locals never wrote in Arabic script, although some scholars did propose the use of some Arabic letters in the 17th and 18th centuries when the first grammars and word lists were drawn up. The Knights introduced Italian as the language of administration and culture, but, being supranational, they never imposed a linguistic policy for the people, and thus Maltese survived. Moreover, the development of a dynamic urban society around Grand Harbour created the right conditions for the koine which became standard Maltese. [...] In 1622, the Roman Congregazione de Propaganda Fide decided to establish the study of Arabic in Malta to prepare missionaries for spreading Christianity in Arab countries, and lessons started in 1632. One of the most important Maltese Arabists was Michele Antonio Vassalli, who furthered his studies in Rome and became a lecturer in Oriental languages at La Sapienza University. Vassalli considered Arabic useful for a deeper knowledge of Maltese and wrote a scientific grammar (1791) and dictionary (1796) of Maltese. He also drew up plans for teaching Maltese, Italian, and Arabic in the schools and abandoned the Punic myth in later works (1827).
[...]
Encyclopaedia of Arabic language and Linguistics (Vol. Il)
Brill Editions
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