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Wikipedia says: > A 2016 study shows that, in terms of basic everyday language, speakers of Maltese are able to understand around a third of what is said to th
by taejo 6y ago
Wikipedia says:
> A 2016 study shows that, in terms of basic everyday language, speakers of Maltese are able to understand around a third of what is said to them in Tunisian Arabic, which is a Maghrebi Arabic related to Siculo-Arabic, whereas speakers of Tunisian Arabic are able to understand about 40% of what is said to them in Maltese. This reported level of asymmetric intelligibility is considerably lower than the mutual intelligibility found between other varieties of Arabic.
Arabic-origin words make up a minority of Maltese vocabulary, and I assume Maltese speakers are much more likely to watch English or Italian television than MSA, and most don't have Quranic education.
- cannabis_sam 6y ago> Arabic-origin words make up a minority of Maltese vocabulary. What would the rest of the vocabulary be based on?
- taejo 6y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_language#Vocabulary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_language#Vocabulary : "The historical source of modern Maltese vocabulary is 52% Italian/Sicilian, 32% Siculo-Arabic, and 6% English, with some of the remainder being French" AFAIK the most common words are more likely to be of Arabic origin, though.
- cannabis_sam 6y agoSorry for the late answer, but thanks!