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Abstract
The aim of this paper is showing how many Classical Arabic and dialectal Arabic prepositions have survived in Maltese and how many have disappeared. Moreover, the etymology of the Maltese prepositions of Arabic origin is determined. The data shows that the number of prepositions in Maltese has been reduced in comparison to e.g. the Tunisian or Syrian dialects of Arabic. Some prepositions have become multifunctional to a much higher degree than their equivalents in other dialects. The analysis shows that Maltese dialectal prepositions can be derived from simple or complex forms of Arabic prepositions or nouns used as prepositions.
