ABSTRACT
Mar~ais (1938, 7) and Pirenne (1956, 27). Some linguistic remnants of Punic seem to exist in Maltese, as argued by AqUilina and Isserlin (Aquilina 1987-1990, I, xxxii; 1958a, 61; 1958b, 65-8; AqUilina and Isserlin et al. 1981, 33-47; Grech 1961, 130-8; Agius 1980b, 14-5); such a substratum in North African Arabic and Maltese is possible but the lack of early documentation presents several linguistic hurdles. More early documentation is desirable to verify the distinction that has been made between the Arabic of the pre-Bana Hila} (second/ eighth century) and post-Bana Hila} (seventh/thirteenth century) periods of North Africa. It is assumed that the pre-Hilalian tribal Arabic is the speech
which the Jewish communities inherited (Cohen 1970, 136; Brunot 1950, 13-5).
