4 ms·

Merħba? What's that? Arabic loanword

• ryanmaynard 10y ago
  I thought there was a gnat on my monitor. What is that thing on the "h"?
  • azernik 10y ago
    It's how Maltese represents the Arabic ح in the Latin alphabet.
  • grzm 10y ago
    H with stroke: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_with_stroke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_with_stroke
• azernik 10y ago
  On the contrary. Maltese is an Arabic language; the only one written in the Latin alphabet. Similar to the relationship between English and the old Germanic languages, most of its vocabulary (about 80%) has been replaced by loanwords (in Maltese, mostly from Italian and English), but the most commonly used words are disproportionately Arabic. There are a few differences between the Maltese-Arabic and English-Germanic relationships. First, while the Germanic substrate of English is itself a blend of Anglo-Saxon and Nordic languages, the Arabic substrate of Maltese is a pretty well-defined Arabic language/dialect - the now extinct Sicilian Arabic, itself a close relative of Tunisian Arabic. Second, while in English the use of Latinate roots is considered high-status and eloquent, in Maltese a higher proportion of Classical/Quranic Arabic words is considered high-status.