Grammatical Gender in Maltese.

The article reviews *Grammatical Gender in Maltese* by George Farrugia, which provides a descriptive and psycholinguistic analysis of the grammatical gender system in Maltese, a language influenced by Italian, Arabic, and Sicilian. Farrugia examines three main theories of gender comprehension and production, supported by data from dictionaries, grammars, and two questionnaires involving Maltese speakers of different ages and regions. The study highlights how Maltese assigns gender to nouns based on etymology and morphosyntactic cues, noting differences in gender assignment between inanimate and animate nouns, with social gender playing a significant role for the latter. The book offers valuable insights for researchers interested in grammatical gender, especially in lesser-studied languages, while suggesting further exploration of sociopolitical aspects of gender could enhance the analysis.