in 1814, malta became part of british empire, under terms of treaty of vienna. prior arrival of british, language of educated maltese elite had been italian, , legal statutes, taxation, education , clerical discourses conducted either in italian or in latin.
however, increasingly downgraded increased use of english. british began scripting , codifying maltese – hitherto unscripted vernacular – language in or around 1868. point on, maltese language gradually gained currency main language on islands, grammars , conventions evolving in mix between italian, arabic , english.
between 1870s , 1930s, malta had 3 official languages, italian, maltese , english, in 1934, english , maltese declared sole official languages. british associated italian benito mussolini regime in italy, had made territorial claims on islands, although use of italian nationalists more out of cultural affinities italy sympathy italian fascism. outbreak of world war ii, maltese lost sense of fraternity italian world, , there decline in italian spoken in malta.
english remains official language in malta, since independence in 1964, country s cultural , commercial links italy have strengthened, owing proximity. italian television received in malta , highly popular.
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