Islamic Culture of Malta

It must be admitted that for deep religious and cultural reasons many Maltese people find it difficult to accept their Arab and Muslim past. Yet the very language that is spoken in Malta is basically a Semitic language with main words, including numbers and names of basic foods. Maltese grammar has strong Arab roots while most village names are Arabic, as are most surnames, e.g. Borg, Cassar, Chetcuti, Farrugia, Fenech, Micallef, Mifsud and Zammit.