22-12-1921, Valletta (Malta)
Specimen of Maltese Alphabet by the Union of Writers in Maltese
Location of Original: The National Archives of Malta
About the Document
This specimen of the Maltese Alphabet was proposed by Union of Writers in Maltese on December 22, 1921.
Maltese is basically a Semitic language, regarded as a standardised and Latinised variety of Arabic, which is spoken by the Maltese people in Malta. The background of this source is that the Maltese language, the only language from Semitic roots written with Latin characters, lacked an accepted alphabet and standard orthography up to the early 20th century.
L-Għaqda tal-Kittieba tal-Malti (Union of Writers in Maltese) was set up on November 14, 1920. One of its aims was to develop the Maltese alphabet on a scientific basis. Four days later, a commission was set up to prepare a draft alphabet to be used when writing Maltese. The draft was discussed and approved during a general meeting held on December 18, 1921 after which the Secretary sent the approved alphabet to the Head of the Ministry, requesting its adoption by the authorities.
Following the approval of a Latin alphabet, the Għaqda tal-Kittieba tal-Malti started working on rules for the orthography of the new alphabet. The accepted system of Maltese orthography was introduced in 1924.
However, it was only in 1934 that Maltese was recognised as an official language of Malta, along with English. Up to that point, English and Italian were the official languages.