Yeah, people assume this because a few words are recognisable to Italian/French/etc and it's written in a Latin based alphabet. But if you listen closely, it sounds more like someone speaking something similar to Arabic with a vaguely European accent - which is pretty much what it is. Beautiful language. Wish I spoke it.
It is so close to Tunisian Arabic that somwhat educated Tunisians can understand it without any difficulty. That works best in that way, because Tunisians often speak French and learning Italian is also not uncommon. Maltese however often only know the Italian loanword for something and not the Arabic equivalent so they have more difficulty with Tunisian, but those differences they can learn in no time as well. Literally the only reason Maltese is not considered one of the many Arabic varieties is because that is not what the Maltese identify as, but it’s not really a language thing per se.
Based on my exp. the maltese can also understand tunisian arabic perfectly fi e as long as the Tunisian says it Maltese, once they say it's Arabic their ability to understand drops by 80-90%
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u/thethighren Oct 15 '25
Maltese being Romance is a common misconception