'Distinguishing factor'

The Guardian yesterday published an article about Malta and the language question written by journalist Duncan Campbell . When Duncan and I met in Valletta, I learnt that he had first discovered me via this blog. From the Guardian:

..Last week, a survey by the Eurobarometer agency showed that last year's enlargement had boosted the position of English and German at the expense of French. English is now spoken by 47% of EU citizens, while German has overtaken French as the second most widely spoken language...But while English may have increased its power through enlargement, the smallest languages in the EU have also come into their own...

In Malta, Dr Briffa believes that the EU offers a chance for the creation of a translation industry, although initially there has been a shortage of willing interpreters..The language, which is 1,000 years old, also faced problems with some of its own citizens, he said. "There is lots of prejudice against the Maltese language,"..The language, which has been written for only the last 200 years, has survived countless invasions. In the 19th century, Italian was the official language on the island and enjoyed favoured status until the second world war when, as Dr Briffa put it, "Mussolini joined the wrong side" and bombed Malta. English duly took over as the second language after the war..

"Language has always been crucial for Malta," said Robert Micallef, Malta editor for Eurobarometer and a member of the EU delegation to Malta during EU-Malta accession negotiations. "It is the one distinguishing factor that has enabled Malta to become a separate nation state unlike other - bigger and more resourceful - Mediterranean islands such as Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Crete, Rhodes, Majorca and Corfu. With the Maltese language being directly derived from Arabic and enhanced and changed over time by European influence - Latin, Sicilian, Spanish, Italian, French, English and Portuguese - it is symbolic of a cultural relationship that Malta can help promote between Europe and the Middle East and Africa."...