239353215 beginning maltese
TRANSCRIPT
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eginning
Maltese
Lydia
Sciriha
M
LT
UNIVERSITY PUBLISHERS Ltd
2
n
Edition 2004
scanne or uz-trans at ons,
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CONTENTS
ABBREVIATIONS ix
NAME LIST xi
PREFACE
xi
ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
xvi
INTRODUCTION
Aims of the Course; Structure of the Course
xvi
i
LESSON ONE
The Maltese Sound System Part I: The Consonants 1
LESSON TWO
The Maltese Sound System Part : The Vowels 9
LESSON THREE
The Maltese Sound System Part Ill : The Diphthongs 13
LESSON FOUR
The Definite Art icle and Prepostions
17
LESSON FIVE
The Verbs
To
Be
and
To
Have
23
LESSON SIX
Gender of Nouns and Adjectives 29
LESSON SEVEN
The Plural 37
LESSON EIGHT
The Present Tense 45
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LESSON NINE
The Negative 53
LESSON TEN
The Future Tense
57
LESSON ELEVEN
The Pronominal Suffixes 61
LESSON TWELVE
Numbers and How to
Tell
the Time
71
PPENDICES
1 Key
to
Exercises
81
2 Verb List 103
3 Vocabularies 107
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PREF CE
Language is undeniably one of the most powerful indicators
of a person s identity and origins. Even though the
population of the small island of Malta stands at a mere
400,000, the Maltese people are proud to speak Maltese ,
the indigenous language of Malta. Though Maltese had
been spoken by the natives of Malta for centuries , for a long
time it was considered to
be
the language of the kitchen
by the educated Maltese who mainly spoke Italian or
English.
Mikiel Anton Vassalli was the first Maltese scholar who
openly declared the importance of the Maltese language as
a crucial vehicle in the pursuit of the islanders nationalism.
In 1796,
he
recognized the fact that Malta was in need of
a lingua nazionale that could not
be
Italian , the language
that was then spoken and written by educated Maltese , but
the indigenous language Maltese, then spoken by the
majority of the islanders. Vassalli regarded these native
speakers of the island s indigenous language as veri
nazionali (true nationals) even though according to him , the
Maltese language was a hybrid language with several loan
words from other languages. Vassalli s avant-garde attitude
towards Maltese many years later, was praised by un
Karm Psaila, Malta s national poet who wrote the poem
Lil
Mikiel Anton Vassalli (to Mikiel Anton Vassalli) , and
subsequently dubbed Vassalli Missier I-ilsien Malti (the
father of the Maltese language) . Thus , Vassalli gave birth
to a Maltese national conscience and many years later ,
Maltese acted as the surrogate for national identity and the
fight for self-determination .
Although during Vassalli s time Maltese was spoken by the
majority of the islanders, this indigenous language was
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regarded as a non-standard language and was thus
perceived to be of an inferior status to the other languages,
especially Italian that was then spoken
in
Malta. Until the
1920s the Maltese alphabet was not yet standardised and
only
in
1934 did Maltese supplant Italian to become the
language of the administration together with English.
In 1964, Malta became an Independent state within the
Commonwealth and the Maltese Constitution decreed
English and Maltese to be the official languages with
Maltese also being the national language and the language
of the courts. Section 75 of the Constitution deClares that
every law will be enacted
in
Maltese and English and
in
the eventuality of conflict the Maltese and Engl ish texts, the
Maltese text shall prevail
.
In
May 2004, Malta became a member of the European
Union and Maltese was also accorded official language
status within the European Union .
In view of the fact that Maltese is not merely the official
language of Malta, but
is
also one of the official languages
within the European Union, now more than ever before , some
Europeans might wish to add Maltese to their linguistic
repertoire and thus this course would enable them to do
so.
This course
is
also intended for the thousands of second
generation of Maltese migrants in North America, Australia
and England, for whom Maltese is their parents native tongue.
Maltese language retention is high only among the first
generation of migrants. Unfortunately, the percentages drop
dramatically by the second and third generation, as evidenced
by
the quantitative sociolinguistic studies carri
ed
out among
the Maltese communities in Australia and Canada. Sadly
so
,
most second and third generations of Maltese migrants do not
even have an incipient knowledge of Maltese.
This Maltese audio course for beginners is primarily
intended either for individuals who wish to add
an
official
EU language in their linguistiq repertoire , or for second and
third generations of Maltese migrants who, for different
reasons, have been denied or have not taken up the
opportunity
to
learn the language of their parents and
grandparents and who would still like to learn Malte.se, at
their own pace , at home.
It is
also meant for those foreigners
who are living and working or studying in Malta and for
whom
it
is important , at least to understand the language .
Although most Maltese are fluent in English, yet they
do
tend to lapse into Maltes-e quite often when
in
the company
of other natives, even
in
the presence of foreigners. Though
this is often done quite unwittingly, unfortunately the
foreigner often feels uncomfortable and left out. It
is
mostly
for this reason that some foreigners want to learn Maltese
as this will enable them to integrate with the Maltese
community.
Hopefully, the student who completes this beginners course
will not only be able to communicate at the basic level
in
this language, but also find the course to serve
as an
impetus for him to continue with the study of the Maltese
language and culture.
University of Malta
Lydia Sciriha
May 2 4
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xvi
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For several years, this course was piloted with the help of
a number of foreign students at the University of Malta , as
well as some foreigners working
in
Malta and who felt the
need to learn Maltese. The diversity of their native
languages is noteworthy. In fact , students whose first
languages are English, French, German , Italian, Greek,
Spanish, Danish, Swedish, Japanese, Chinese, Sinhalese
and Arabic have a. I successfully completed this course and
have also provided
me
with important feedback
on
the
course content. I wish to thank all these students especially
Nimal Parawahera, Kuniko Fujiwara, Haneen Radie ,
Stephanie Anzinger, Helen Dekkers, Anne and Vincent
Fean.
I would also like to thank Professor Edward Fenech , my
brother Mario Sciriha and Ms Romina Sah Frendo for
helping me to edit the original text.
I am also indebted to Professor Mario Vassallo for his
~ n c o u r g e m e n t
and technical support, especially
in
the
final stages of this work.
Finally, I gratefullyacknowleged the support
c
Professor
Robert Ghirlando, Ms Tita Bonnici , Mr Reginald Bartolo and
Mr Kenneth Mizzi.
INTRODUCTION
Languages, like human beings , belong to families by
virtue of their genetic relationships . Maltese belongs to
the Semitic language family. Other languages such as
English and German belong to the Germanic group , whi le
Latin , French, Italian , Portuguese and Spanish are
members of the Romance language family . As members
of their particular families , languages display similarities
with other languages in the ir own language group. Thus ,
as a member of the Sem itic language family, Maltese
displays greater similarities with those languages in the
same group, such as Arabic, ra ther than with Germanic
and Romance languages. But unlike Arabic , Maltese is
written in Roman script.
In fact , Maltese , which is basically Arabic in structure,
word formation and vocabulary, is undoubtedly the most
striking living heritage of one of Malta s numerous
colonisers, the Arabs
870-1090). Subsequent rulers in
Malta s chequered history, namely, the Normans 1090-
1266 ;
the Angevins
1266-1283)
;
the Aragonese
1283-
1410 ;
the Castilians 1412-1530)
;
the Order of St John
1530-1798) ; the French 1798-1800) and the British
1800-1964) , mainly spoke Italian , Spanish , Portuguese,
French and English . Inevitably so, an indelible mark was
left on the Maltese lexicon which is replete with loan-
words derived from the diverse linguistic backgrounds of
these rulers .
ims o the Course
This course is intended for foreigners as well as second
and third generations of Maltese migrants living in
countries such as the United Kingdom , Australia, Canada
and the United States of America .
It
does not presuppose
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any knowledge whatsoever of the language, but it does
expect the student to have the determination and grit to
learn the language.
The basic theoretical framework for this'course has been
derived from studies of first language acquisition ,
whereby the child, who
is
exposed to the language
through his parents or his caregivers, is first able to
understand the language, before
he is in
a position to
utter meaningful words
.
omprehension always
precedes production in language acquisition and
it is
thus to be expected that understanding a language,
presupposes a lower level of competence than speaking
the language. Moreover when the child does start to
speak his mother language shortly after his first birthday ,
he
does not do so by uttering five or six word sentences
Rather, the child first starts with one word sentences
which are predominantly made
up
of nouns and then
gradually builds
up
the sentences into larger components
by means of adjectives, pronouns, verbs and adverbs.
Thus , the sentences gradually become significantly more
complex grammatically and structurally than the one or
two word sentences.
Thus, just as the child first comprehends his native
language, the primary goal of this course is for the
s t ~ e ~ t to first comprehend Maltese , and by doing so ,
thiS will give him enough confidence to eventually speak
the language. However, the following caveat
is in
order.
Though the course will give the student enough expertise
to enable him to understand and to read Maltese, as well
as to construct and speak Simple sentences
in
this target
language, the student should not expect to become a
verbal geyser
in
Maltese by merely following these basic
lessons in this beginners' course . .
Structure of the ourse
The course
is
structured in such a way that the student
is
not overburdened with too many grammatical rules, though,
needless to say, some general rules regarding word
formation, verb conjugation , and the structure of the
sentence are given. Particular attention has been paid to
explain grammatical rules
in
a simple manner
so
that the
student will not give
up
after a couple of lessons . Maltese,
like other languages
in
the world ,
is
neither a difficult nor
is it an
easy language.
In
view of
th
is fact, it
is
therefore
important that the student embarks on each lesson with a
positive attitude and dedicates sufficient time for study.
The compact discs which accompany this course book are
provided fo r the student to enable him to listen to Maltese
as
it is spoken by native speakers of the language, and also
to give him the opportunity to practise the language. The
vocabulary, which
is
an integral part of each lesson ,
is
also
to be found
on
the accompanying compact discs.
s
this
course stresses the interactive approach, for each word or
expression given
on
the compact discs, the student will first
hear the English word , followed by the Maltese translation .
To obtain the full benefit from the compact discs, following
each Maltese word or expression, there
is
a pause which
will give
him
sufficient time to repeat the same word or
expression . This
is
followed by a confirmation
so
that the
student will
be
able to check his pronunciati
on
right away.
In this regard,
it is
fitting to emphasise that memory plays
an
important part
in
language learning and
it is
strongly
recommended that
he
goes over the given vocabulary
in
each lesson
as
often
as
possible . The student should devise
different strategies to grab each available opportunity to
listen to the vocabulary on the compact discs, even if
he
is
solely listening and repeating the vocabulary for just a few
minutes, such
as
while driving the car, jogging, or doing
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some manual tasks which do not require a lot of
concentration. Language research has consistently shown
that immersing oneself in the language by listening as often
as possible to the audio material , is one of the best ways
to remember the vocabulary.
It is important to note that since the course relies heavily
on the vocabulary which supplements each lesson, there
are a number of exercises at the end of each lesson to help
the student revise the lesson and to jog his memory of the
vocabulary in the previous lessons. As the vocabulary
of
the
preceding lesson builds on the next one , it is thus advisable
for the student to first learn the vocabulary in the preceding
lesson before embarking on to the next, and thus avoid
ending up frustrated and demoralised when attempting the
end of lesson exercises . A key to the exercises is found in
one of the appendices of this course book.
THE
MALTESE
CON SO
NANTS
The
sound system of Maltese
is
made up of consonants,
vowels and diphthongs. Most of these sounds are natural,
which means that these sounds are found in the sound
inventories of many
of
the world s languages. Like most
languages, the Maltese sound system also incorporates
sounds which are not considered to
be as
natural
as
others.
Thus, for example, the sound [m as in mum is more natural
than the sound
[h as
in the underlined part
of
the English word
hair.
THE
INTERNAT IONAL
PHO
NETIC
LPH
ABET
In
Maltese, there is
at
times a discrepancy in the way a sound
is
written (orthography) and the way it
is
actually pronounced
because the Maltese alphabet is not
an
entirely phonetiC one .
On account of this fact,
and
in order to overcome the problem
of mispronuncing written words
in
the text, the International
Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) which symbolises the sounds
in
languages is used. In the IPA, the phonetic spelling is a way
of writing a word so that
one
symbol always represents
one
sound.
Of
note is the fact, that most of the symbols in the
phonetic alphabet
are
represented in the same way
as
the
orthographic letters in the word. Thus, for example , the first
sound
of
the first letter
of
the Maltese
word
belt
tow is
identically represented as [b in IPA . It should be noted that
all
IPA symbols are placed within square brackets. However, there
are other symbols which are differently represented.
The following orthographic letters of Maltese are represented
in the same way
as
those of
IPA
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Orthographic
Letter IP
b
[b] Qag
d
[d] Qog
f
[f]
flower
9
[g] girl
j
] yellow
k
[k]
I
[ ] lamb
m [m] man
n
[n]
no
p
[p]
Qlane
r
[r]
ring
s
[s]
Qun
t
[t]
ten
v
[v]
~ i n
w
[w] . t{ater
The following orthographic letters in Maltese differ from IPA
c
9
11
h
gli
q
x
z
Z
[t ) (church)
[dz) (justice)
[h) (hair)
[ (unpronounced as in heir)
[ ]
(unpronounced as
in
dough)
[?) (as in bollie as found in Cockney dialect)
[ ) (shoe)
[ts] (bits)
[z) (?;ebra)
SECTION
Word List
Maltese consonants in initial position of the word.
B [b
baliar
a sea
bieb
a door
C t
]
cavetta a key
cikkulata
a chocolate
D
[d
dar
a
house
dan this
F [f]
fjura a flower
familja a family
G
[g
grazzi thank you
gzira an island
G [dz]
gurdien a mouse
gnien a garden
GH
[ ] unpronounced
gliada tomorrow
gliasfur a bird
H [ ] unpronounced
hekk thus so
huwa he
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[h]
T
[t]
nobza
a
loaf o bread
tifla
a girl
nalib
milk
tifel
a boy
J [j]
V
[v]
jum
a
day
vazun
a
vase
jiena
vapur
a ship
K [k]
W [w]
kelb
a
dog
widna
an ear
kamra
a
room
wicc
a
face
[ ]
X [ ]
l
no
xemx
sun
libsa a
dress
xita
rain
M m]
Z
[t ]
mara a woman
zija
an aunt
mejda
a
table
ziju
an uncle
N [n]
[z]
nannu
a
grandfather
zarbun
a pair
o
shoes
nanna
a
grandmother
zunzana
a
wasp
P [p]
pastizz
a cheesecake
periklu
danger
a
[ ]
qattus
a
cat
qalb a heart
R
[r]
ragel a man
ras
a
head
S [ ]
sodda
a
bed
siggu a chair
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The following exercises test your identification of the Maltese
consonants. Exercise One tests your identification of gig; h/fl;
z/z;
c and gfl .
xercise One
Match the underlined
altese
consonantal sound by
underlining its equivalent
in
the English example as
in
the
following:
Gurdien a
mouse
garden; gem)
Qikkulata a chocolate cave; chair)
Now try these yourself:
1.
u n ~ a n a a wasp zebra; hits)
2. Qavetta
a key
cake; cheese)
3. Zija
an aunt
zero; bits)
4.
.G.nien
a garden justice; golf)
5.
. 1obza a loaf of bread horse; heir)
6.
Gflasfur a bird dough; ghost)
7.
Grazzi
thank you
job; good)
8. tiuw
he hair; heir)
9
. 1alib milk
ham; honest)
10.
Ziju an uncle zodiac; kits)
11
. Qzira an island juice; gold)
12. Zarbun a
pair
of
shoes
zodiac; kits)
xercise Two
1.
Which two consonants are not sounded
in
Maltese?
2.
Give four Maltese consonants which differ from IPA?
3. Give eight Maltese consonants which are identical with IPA?
pultruna
curkett
dak
fenek
gallettina
gurnata
gflaref
hanut
jew
karrotta
laringa
missier
nies
patata
qamar
r
ih
sena
tieqa
warda
xitla
zokkor
zba
ll
SECTION
Word List
an armchair
hija
she
a ring cena supper dinner
that dejjem always
a rabbit
vaganza
a holiday
a
biscuit gallarija
a
balcony
a day gakketta a jacket
a wise man
gflax
because
a shop hu a brother
or
Jannar January
a carrot karrozza a car
an orange langasa a pear
a father dad
malajr
soon
peop
l
nar a fire
a potato basla an onion
a moon qawl a proverb
wind ritratt a photo
a year sikkina a knife
a window
tabib
a doctor
a rose
wied
a valley
a plant
xaghar
hair
sugar zalza tomato sauce
a mistake zejt oil
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Try these exercises:
xercise Three
Match the underlined Maltese consonantal sound
y
underlining
its sound equivalent n the English example:
1. Zokkor sugar (bits; zenith)
2. Qurkett a
ring
(cane; child)
3 Zejt oil (zebra; hits)
4.
Gallarija
a
balcony (girl ; just)
5.
t .anut a shop (hour; house)
6. Gnax because (ghost; though)
7. Xagnar
hair
(shoe; xenophobia)
8.
Gurnata a day (goal ; job)
9. t .u
a
brother
(heir; hair)
10 Jew or (judge; yellow)
xercise
Four
Express n Maltese:
A
bird;
I;
a dog; a woman; a girl ;
an
aunt; a cheesecake; a car;
a pear; an orange ; a grandfather; danger; an armchair; a chair;
a door; now; supper; a rabbit ; a feast; tomorrow; because ; a
dress; no; a table; quickly; a grandmother;
an
uncle ; a heart;
a bed; a head; a year; a ship; a holiday.
Lesson
Two
The altese Sound System Part
:
The Vowels
TH
MALTESE VOWELS
Maltese has six orthographic symbols a, e, i, 0 u, and ie for
the vowels . The first five symbols can be either long or short ,
whereas the digraph ie is long. Usually vowels which are
followed by one consonant are long , while those vowels
which precede more than one consonant are short. The
Maltese vowels are represented in a simplified way by means
of IPA symbols as shown
in
the following examples with the
vowels in question.
SECTION
Word List
a]
anmar
red
arja air
E
le]
ezempju an example
hen a
happiness
I [ i]
ilma water
id a hand
ienor
iebes
ont
omm
ukoll
but
lE [i]
another
hard
[ ]
a
sister
a mother mummy
U
[u]
also
a Docket
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1
Now try this exercise :
Exercise One
Match the underlined Maltese vowel with its sound equivalent
n the English example
as
n the following:
e.g. Zunzgna a wasp hat; grch)
1. Aflmar red father; pat)
2. Qmm mother/mum
on
; work)
3
i d hand ship; sheep)
4. Ukoll
also
butcher; cut)
5
Elf one thousand
sell ; neat)
6
Bieb a door sheet; hit)
7. ilma water bill ; heat)
SECTION B
Word
List
barmil bucket pranzu lunch
medicina medicine presepju
Christmas crib
kif
how
iva
yes
kiesafl cold posta mail
roza
pink
gobon
cheese
sema sky dundjan turkey
pupa
doll
luminata
lemonade
isfar yellow uniformi uniform
Now try these exercises:
Exercise Two
Match the underlined Maltese vowel with its sound equivalent
n the English example
1
LMminata
a lemonade put; boot)
2
Kif how lick;
leak
3. Gnien a garden it; seat)
4.
RQza pink
over; cot)
5. ~ d i c i n a medicine let; seat)
6. Arja
air
car; black)
Exercise Three
Express n English:
isfar; sema; kiesafl; iva; kif; pranzu; barmil ; pupa; luminata; but;
arja; posta; ilma; presepju ; dundjan ; hena.
Exercise Four
Express n Maltese:
a key; a door; this; a house; a flower; a ring ; a chocolate; a day;
a bird; because; a brother; I; milk; an island ; thank you; a car;
a father; a cat; a man/husband;
an
uncle ; a boy.
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TH MALTESE DIPHTHONGS
A diphthong is represented as either:
a) a sequence of two vowels ; or
b) a combination
of
a vowel followed by one of the semi-
vowels
j
or
w.
Maltese has seven diphthongs: [aj ; [ej]; [aw];
[ew)
; [owl ; [ij];
[iw)
with the last diphthong hardly ever found in Maltese words.
Of particular note is the fact that
in writing
the digraph
g i
may
be followed by
all
the vowels except by the digraph ie.
As
has
already been noted in the first lesson, the digraph g i has no
particular sound. However, when the g i is followed by either the
vowels i, or u, the resulting pronunciations are the diphthongs
raj] or
[ej] and [awl
or
[owl respectively
as
shown
in
the following
examples:
e.
g.
tiegill
min
e.g miegflu
with him
The underlined part of tiegill
min
is pronounced as either the
diphthong
raj]
or the diphthong [ej] ; while that of miegflu is
pronounced as either of the two diphthongs
[awl
or [ow]
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SECTION A
Word List
[ J] [aj]
bajda
an egg
tieglii mine
[EJ] [ei]
tieglii mine
bejt
a
roof
[ W] [awl
qawsalla a rainbow
miegliu with him
[OWl [owl
miegliu with him
gliuda wood
[EW] [ew]
lewza an almond
kewkba
mija
lumija
liwja
[IJ] [ij]
a star
one hundred
a
lemon
[IW] [iw]
a bend
Now try this exercise:
Exercise
One
Match
th
underlined Maltese diphthongs with their English
sound equivalents as in the following example:
eil roof paid; tide)
1
Tieglli
mine
2
Qawsalla a rainbow
3
Miegliu with him
4
Kewkba a
star
5
ieglli mine
dgliajsa
a boat
fejn
where
hawn
here
sewda
black
Exercise
Two
Express
in
English:
nice; bit)
now; show)
know; dice)
sew; eye)
day; low)
SECTION B
Word List
dija a light, brightness
liamrija
soil
lilewwa sweetness
tiegliu his
Gnien; hu/huwa; Jannar; kamra; kelb ; gliasfur ; gurdien ; fjura;
dan ; 6ikkulata; liu ; gliax; jiena; zejt; xemx; wied; zarbun ; siggu ;
mejda; sodda; tifla ; xagliar; sikkina; widna; xita; nannu; qalb ;
zokkor; zunzana
Exercise Three
Express
in
Maltese:
Yes; happiness; a supper; a medicine; how ; yellow; example;
red; a lemonade; an egg; mine; his ; where ; a boat; wood; a
hundred; brightness ; a star; a rainbow
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Lesson Four
he Definite Article and Prepositions
FINITENESS
In Maltese, definiteness is shown by placing the definite article
_ or
iI-
if the word which follows the article starts wi
th
a
consonant)
in
front of both nouns and adjectives
as in
the .
following examples:
I-arja
I-afldar
il-baliar
the air
the green object)
the sea
il-mejda
il-laringa
il-marid
the table
the orange
the sick man)
Moreover, when preceded by wo rds which begin with c d
,
n
,
r
,
s t
x z and Z, the definite article is assimilated with these
sounds
as
in the following examples:
ic-cavetta
the key
id-dar the house
in-nanna the grandmother
ir-ragel the man
is-sikkina
the knife
it-tifel
the boy
ix-xemx
the sun
iz-ziju
the uncle
iz-zarbun the pair o shoes
INDEFINITENESS
Indefiniteness in Maltese is unmarked, since the absence of the
definite article implies the indefiniteness of the noun or
adjective as in the following examples :
I-arja
the air
arja
il-Iumija
the
lemon lumija
il-kelb the dog kelb
id-dar
the house
dar
I-ikrah the ugly person) ikrah
is-sabili
the beautiful
sabili
air
a lemon
a
dog
a house
ugly
beautiful
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PREPOSITIONS AND THE DEFINITE ARTICLE
The
most commonly used prepositions in Maltese are:
quddiem in
front o
wara behind
Iidejn near
lejn
towards
fuq on
tant
under
fejn where
bejn between
mi
nn
from
lil to
bnal
like
gnal for
ta
o
ma with
fi
in
bi with
CONTRACTIONS OF PREPOSITIONS
When the prepositions
1iI
bnal, gnal, ta , ma , fi and bi (but not
the other prepositions) immediately precede the definite article,
they are linked to the definite article, thus forming one word
as
in
the following examples:
lil + iI-kelb = lill -kelb
bnal
+
iI-banar
=
bnall-banar
gnal
+
il-kelb
=
gnall-kelb
ta
+
iI-qattus
=
al-qattus
ma
+
iI-mara
=
mal-mara
fi +
iI-gnien
=
il-gnien
bi + iI-fjura
=
bil-fjura
to
the dog
like the sea
for the dog
o the cat (the eat s
with the woman/wife
in
the garden
with the flower
Also, the preposition which is joined to the definite article ,
assimilates with the following word which starts with C d
r
n
S
t
x z and z
as
in the following examples:
, , ,
IiI +
it-tifla
=
it-tifla
ta + ic-Cikkulata
=
at-Cikkulata
ta +
id-dar
=
ad -dar
gnal + ir-ragel
=
gnar-ragel
bflal
+
in-nanna
=
bnan-nanna
bi + is-sikkina
=
bis-sikkina
ma
+
it-tifel
=
mat-tifel
fi + ix-xita = fix-xita
bi + iz-zokkor
=
biz-zokkor
fi
+
iz-zejt
=
iz-zejt
to
the girl
o
the chocolate/
made o
chocolate
of the house; the house s
for the man
like the grandmother
with the knife
with the boy
in
the rain
with sugar
in
the oil
The definite article
is
not linked with the other prepositions,
namely quddiem, wara, fuq, tant,
Mejn
fejn and bejn. Thus :
quddiem iI-mara
wara I-bieb
tant
it-tu
ke tt
Iidejn il-banar
lejn
id
-dar
bejn in-ni
es
bi
ma
ta
bejn
Iidejn
quddiem
SECTION A
Word List
with
with
o
between
near
in front
in
front o the woman
behind the door
under the ring
near the sea
towards the house
between the people
fi
in
gnal
for
bnal
like
tant
under
lejn
towards
wara
behind
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2
Now try these exercises :
Exercise One
First insert the definite article, then translate into English.
e.g. bejt il-bejt
the roof)
Vazun; mejda; siggu; gnien; zunzana; baliar; cavetta; dgliajsa;
fjura; isfar; alimar; gnasfur; nanut; nar; ragel ; xemx ; zokkor ;
zejt; widna; tifla; sodda.
Exercise Two
Answer the following questions
1. Which prepositions can be linked to the definite article to
form one word?
2. Which prepositions cannot be linked to the definite article?
3. What happens to those prepositions which are linked to the
definite article when the following words start with C d, n
r
s
t
x
Z and z?
SECTION
Word List
u
and
izda
but
filwaqt
gnaldaqstant
marid
while
consequently
sick
II-Granet tal-gimgna
it-Tnejn
it-Tlieta
I-Erbgna
il-t=lamis
il-Gimglia
is-Sibt
il-t=ladd
In-Numri Kardinali
1 wiened
2 tnejn
3 tlieta
4 erbglia
In-Numri Ordinali
I-ewwel first
it-tieni
second
it-tielet third
ir-raba fourth
il-names fifth
is-sitt sixth
he
days
o
the week
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Cardinal Numbers
5 namsa
6 sitta
7 sebglia
8 tmienja
9 disglia
10 gliaxra
11 Iidax
12 tnax
Ordinal Numbers
is-se ba
seventh
it-tmien
eighth
id-disa
ninth
I-gnaxar
tenth
il-Iidax eleventh
it-tnax
twelfth
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Exercise Three
Express in Maltese
For a holiday; on the lemon; under the key; between the people ;
with the aunt; on the chair; of the boy; like a rainbow;
in
the car;
for the husband; behind the vase; in front of the uncle; between
the bed and the chair; of a girl ; the dog and the cat; the boy s
pocket; Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Exercise Four
Express in English
Ftdejn is-siggu ta Marija; tant il-mejda; fil-karrozza tal-mara ; ma
Joe; lejn il-bieb; bejn il-qattus u I-kelb; fiI-familja ta Carmen;
gnal tifel ; fiI-but tal-missier; I-ewwel qattus; namsa u gnaxra ; it
tielet ragel; I-gnaxar mara.
Exercise Five
Write these in Maltese
e.g. 1 + 1
=
2
(i) 3
+
4
=
7;
(ii) +
2
+
6
=
9;
(iii) 5
+
7
=
12;
(iv) 8 + 3 = 11 ;
v) 10 + 2 = 12.
wiened u wiened
=
nejn
Lesson ive
he Verbs To
e
and To
Have
PRONOUNS AND V R S
The personal pronouns in Maltese are:
jiena
inti (sing)
huwa
hija
anna
intom (pi)
huma
I
you
(sing)
he
she
we
you
(pi)
they
The conjugated form of the verb
To
e is as follows :
To
e
jiena
inti
s
ing )
huwa
hija
anna
intom (pi)
huma
I am
you are
he is
she is
we
are
you are
they are
The above paradigm of the conjugated verb to be shows that
the personal pronouns
in
Maltese also have a verbal function
when followed by a noun or an adjective as in the following
examples:
hija mara sabina she
i s
a beautiful woman
huwa marid he i s sick
The verb To Have, an irregular functional verb , is conjugated
in the following way:
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To
Have
jiena gfiandi
inti gfiandek (sing)
huwa gfiandu
hija gfiandha
afina gfiandna
intom gfiandkom (pi)
huma gfiandhom
I have
you have
he has
she has
we
have
you have
they have
Of particular note is the fact that , unlike English, the subject
pronouns
in
Maltese may be omitted since the verbal forms are
recognised by their endings. This notwithstanding, the pro
nouns are inserted when :
i) two subjects are in contrast in a sentence:
e.g. (a) Huma gfiandhom gnien filwaqt
li
hija gfiandha karozza.
They have garden while she has car
instead of:
e.g. (b)* Gfiandhom gnien filwaqt
Ii
gfiandha karozza.
They) have garden while she) has car
(* hypothetical sentence)
(ii) for emphasis:
e.g. (a) Hija gfiandha qattus.
She has cat
instead of:
e.g. (b) Gfiandha qattus.
She) has cat
(iii) when the second subject
in
a sentence is preceded by the
word anki or ukoll also/even:
e.g. (a) Marija gfiandha qattus u anki jiena gfiandi wiefied .
Maria has cat and even I have one cat).
instead of:
e.g.
* Marija gfiandha qattus u ankilukoll gfiandi wiefied.
Maria has cat and even I have one cat).
(*hypothetical sentence)
ASKING QUESTIONS
In
Maltese the following words are used
to
ask questions:
kem
m
?
min?
gfialfejn?
fejn?
how much/how many?
who?
why?
where?
kif?
how?
xi?
what?
minn fejn?
from where?
As
has been noted earlier, it
is
common for Maltese speakers
to omit the personal pronouns as in the following examples:
Kemm gfiandek zokkor?
Min huma?
Gfialfejn hija hawn?
Fejn intom?
Kif int?
X gfiandu r-ragel?
How much sugar do you have?
Who
are they?
Why is she here?
Where are you?
(pi)
How are you? (sing)
What does the husband have?
Of note is the fact that the Maltese particle in prefixes the
pronouns hu (inhu), hija (inhija) and huma (inhuma) when
these follow either kif
how
or xi
what
as below:
X i nhu? What is he?
Kif inhija?
How is she?
Kif inhuma? How are they?
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SECTION A
Word
List
kemm?
min?
minn
glialfejn?
xi?
kamra tas-sodda
kamra tal-pranzu
sal ott
k6ina
kugin
xejn
ilium
ftit
bank
flus
razzett
kampanja
papra
kaxxa
pipa
tajjeb
xercise
One
Express
in
English
how much/how many?
who?
from
why?
what?
a bedroom
a dining room
a sitting room
a kitchen
a cousin
nothing
today
a little
a bank
money
a farm
countryside
a duck
a box
a pipe
good/ well
1
Marija gliandha dar
fil
-kampanja.
2
Mario gliandu qattus, kelb u papra fil-gnien tiegliu .
3
L-omm u I-missier huma fuq il-bejt tan-nanna.
4. It-tifla ta Carmen gliandha kaxxa kbira talit is-sodda.
5. II-pipa tan-nannu hija fuq
il
-mejda fil-kCina.
6. Ir-ragel ta Marija gliandu ragun .
7. Kif int ilium? Tajjeb, grazzi.
8. Min huwa dak it-tifel? II-kugin ta Francesco.
9. Fejn huwa Mark? Huwa fis -salott
ma
Mario.
SECTION B
Word List
Ix-xhur tas-sena
Jannar
Frar
Marzu
April
Mejju
Gunju
Lulju
Awissu
Settembru
Ottubru
Novembru
Di6emb
ru
Espressjonijiet ta Kuljum
I-gliodwa t-tajba
il-wara nofs in-nhar it-tajjeb
il-Iejl it-tajjeb
x hemm?
kif int?
tajjeb
hekk u hekk
sanna
narak
is-sliem
jekk jogligbok
he
months o the year
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Everyday Expressions
good morning
good afternoon
good night
hello how are things?)
how are you?
fine/well
so-so
good bye
see you
peace be with you
please
Common Expressions with the Verb
To Have
Gnandi I-guli . I am hungry.
Gliandi I-gliatx.
I am thirsty.
Gliandi ragun. I am right.
Gliandi tort. I am wrong.
Gliandha sena.
She is one year old.
Gliandi x naglimel. I am busy.
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Exercise Two
Express
in
Maltese
1. The boy
is
behind the chair.
2.
The dog
is on
the roof.
3. Carmen and Francesco have a dog and a cat
in
the farm .
4. What
is
the matter with Sean (What does Sean have
)?
Nothing.
5. I am hungry and they are thirsty.
6. We are wrong and you (singular) are right.
7. Where is Maria? She
is
in
the dining room.
8. Who
is
Francis?
He is
the son of George and Simone and
the cousin
of
Francesco.
9. What does the mother have
on
the chair? She has an
orange and a lemon .
10. How much money do you have
in
the bank? A little.
11 . The months of the year are January, February, March, April ,
May,
JU+le,
July, August, September, October, November
and December.
12 . The days of the week are seven: Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
13
Mario
Hello, good morning Mark, how are you?
Mark Fine thanks, and you?
Mario
Well thanks.
Mark
Goodbye Mario.
Mario
Peace
be
with you Mark.
Mark
See you
esson Six
Gender of Nouns and djectives
In
Maltese, both nouns and adjectives are marked for gender.
It
is
thus important to know the gender of the nouns so that the
adjectives will agree
in
gender with the nouns they describe .
Now let us first look at the gender formation of nouns.
GENDER OF NOUNS
In
Maltese, nouns are either masculine or feminine . Nouns
which refer
to
males are masculine and those which refer to
females are feminine as
in
the following examples :
Masculine
Fem inine
il-missier
the father
I-omm
the mother
iz-ziju
the uncle
iz-zija
the aunt
For animate objects, most feminine nouns are usually derived
from masculine nouns by adding the suffix a. Thus:
Masculine
it-tabib
il-kelb
the doctor
the dog
Feminine
it-tabiba
il-kelba
the doctor
the bitch
In
case of inanimate objects, most feminine nouns usually
end
In
the vowel a, whereas masculine nouns usually end
in
a
consonant
or
in
the vowel u.
Masculine
ii iarbun the shoe
is-siggu
the chair
Feminine
is-sigra
il-libsa
the tree
the dress
However, there are exceptions to the above rules such as when :
a)
some masculine nouns end
in
the vowel a
and
b)
some feminine nouns end
in
a
consonant
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30
Masculine
Alia
ilma
is-sema
God
the water
the sky
Feminine
id-dar
il-qalb
I-omm
the house
the heart
the mother
GENDER OF ADJECTIVES
Describing words which are known as adjectives, tell you what
a thing is like small, heavy, large).
In
Maltese, adjectives can
be either masculine or feminine depending on the gender of the
noun. Thus, an adjective is assigned a masculine gender if it
describes a masculine noun, whereas it is given the feminine
form if it qualifies a feminine noun, as
is
shown
in
the examples
below:
tifel zgnir
tifla zgnira
it-tifel iz-zgnir
it-tifla z-zgnira
small/young boy
small/young girl
the boy the small/young the small/young boy)
the girl the small/young the small/young girl)
From the above examples one notes that:
i)
the position of the adjective in Maltese is one which follows
the noun; e.g. tifel zgnir a boy small/young
a
small/young
boy)
ii) Definiteness
is
shown by affixing the definite article to both
the noun and the adjective ; e.g. It-tifel iz-zgnir the boy the
young the young boy). Occasionally, the definite article
is
affixed only to the noun; e.g. il-Kotba Mqaddsa
he
Sacred
Scripture.
As regards the gender of nouns, at the outset of this lesson it
was noted that as a rule , masculine nouns end in a consonant
or
in
the vowel u, whereas those which are feminine end
in
the
vowel
a.
Adjectives follow a similar pattern. Those adjectives
which describe masculine nouns usually end in a consonant or
in
the vowel i. Just like feminine nouns, feminine adjectives are
derived from masculine adjectives in the following ways:
i) by adding the vowel a to the masculine adjective which
ends in a consonant; e.g. zgnir masculine), zgnira
feminin
e)
small;
ii) by addi
ng j to
the masculine adjective which ends
in
the
vowel i; e
.g.
mistni m) , mistnija
f)
shy.
The following are examples of masculine adjectives which end
in a consonant or in the vowel i, together with the feminine
adjectives
wh
ich are derived from the masculine adjectives by
adding the suffixes
j
or the vowel a to the masculine adjective:
Masculine
Feminine
nadif
clean nadifa
qasir
short qasira
qawwi
fat/sturdy qawwija
raM .
villager ranlija
SECTION A
Word List
From this lesson onwards the word list shows the
gender o the noun and adjective.
Alia m)
nabib m)
najjat m)
gnalliem m)
dentist m)
avukat m)
nutar m)
bennej m)
perit m)
spizjar
m)
kittieb m)
flixkun m)
ranal m)
ilsien m)
God
friend
tailor
teacher
dentist
lawyer
notary
stone mason
an architect
pharmacist
writer
bottle
village
language/ tongue
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Exercise Two
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3
platt m)
problema
f)
belt
f)
gflarus m)
lampa
f)
librerija f)
tazza
f)
kikkra
f)
kuccarina
f)
imgflarfa
f)
kamra tal-banju
f)
sanna
f)
pjazza
f)
Exercise
One
a
plate
a
problem
a
town
a
gro
om
a
lamp
a
library
a
glass
a
cup
a
teaspoon
a
spoon
a
bathroom
health/ strength
a
village) square
Mark the nouns which are masculine as M and those which are
feminine as F stating
th
reason for your choice.
The following example will show you how to go about working
the exercise :
II-Iampa
the lamp
F/ends in the vowel a
1.
il-mara
th
woman
2. il-kelba
the bitch
3. is-siggu
the chair
4
il-problema th
problem
5
il-wicc th face
6.
I-ilma
th
water
7.
is-sema
the sky
8.
I-avukat
the lawyer
9
il-flajjat
the tailor
10. Alia
God
11.
il-qawsalla th
rainbow
12. I-isptar th
hospital
13.
il-tabiba the doctor
Express in Maltese and say whether the noun
is
either
masculine
r
feminine:
e.g. the ear il-widna
f)
the sun; the oil ; the glass; the square; the lemon; the church ;
the house; the fire; the town ; the dress; the lamp; the post ; the
milk; the bookcase/library; the spoon; the plate.
Exercise Three
Express
in
Maltese and then derive
th
feminine from the
following masculine nouns:
e.g. the friend m) il-flabib, il-flabiba
The dentist; the ·dog; the doctor; the tailor; the teacher; the
notary; the tom-cat; the architect; the writer; the pharmacist.
SE TION
B
Word list
ferflan m)
imdejjaq m)
i:gflir m)
kbir m)
twil m)
qasir m)
sabifl m)
ikrah m)
rqiq m)
sinjur m)
fqir m)
kwiet m)
imqareb m)
bjond m)
ismar m)
happy
sad
small/young
big
tall
short
beautiful/handsome
ugly
thin
rich/ wealthy
poor
quiet
naughty/ mischievous
fair
dark
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gliazzien
m)
biezel
m)
nadif (m)
malimug m)
qadim m)
xiii m)
gdid
m)
barrani m)
glioli m)
baxx (m)
dliuli m)
liazin m)
ktieb m)
Nazzjonalitajiet
Malti m)
Gliawdxi m)
Ingliz m)
Amerikan m)
Awstraljan m)
Kanadiz (m)
Spanjol m)
Taljan m)
Grieg m)
Franciz m)
Tork
m)
Ciprijott m)
Gappuniz m)
Germaniz
m)
Gliarbi m)
Exercise
Four
Express
in
Maltese
lazy
active industrious
clean
dirty
old (inanimate object)
old (person)
new
foreigner
high
low
affable
bad
book
Nationalities
Maltese
Gozitan
English
American
Australian
Canadian
Spanish
Italian
Greek
French
Turk
Cypriot
Japanese
German
Arab
A short man; a quiet boy; a beautiful sky; a fat woman ; a big
house; a sick bitch; a poor woman ; a small car; a short boy; an
industrious woman; a dark girl; a dirty kitchen; a clean bathroom;
a lazy cousin.
exercise
Five
Express
in
Maltese:
The small g
irl
; the shy man; the quiet girl ; the handsome man;
the dirty dog; the good book; the rich family.
Exercise Six
Put
in
the
f
minine and then translate into English:
Taljan ;
m s ~ l
tifel ; Tork; ~ l t FranCiz ; Kanadiz; Gliawdx i;
Awstaljan; Ciprijott; Grieg ; Germaniz; Gliarb
i.
Exercise
Seven
Express
in
English:
1. Ir-ragel ta Marija hu olixon u twi
l.
2.
Min huma Marija u Francis? It-tfal ta Joe.
3.
Sean huwa t-tifel iz-zgliir tal-familja Fenech.
4.
Mario
hu
twil u sabili bliaz-ziju ta Marija.
5. Mark u Mario gliandhom il-guli u I-gliatx.
6.
Ir-ragel ix-xiii u I-mara x-xilia gliandhom ragun.
7. Carmen Marija gliandha sena biss u hija olit Francesco.
8. Id-dar is-sabilia gliandha kamra tal-pranzu kb ira , kamra
tas-sodda,
kCina
zgliira, kamra tal-banju u gnien kbir.
9.
It-tifla
I-M
altija u t-tifel il-Gappuniz huma fid-dar iz-zgliira
tar-ragel il-fqir.
10. Kem m gliandhom flus ir-ragel u I-mara tar-razzett il-qadim?
Ftit.
Exercise Eight
Express in Maltese:
1. The Greek f
),
the Italian
m ),
the German f) and the
Maltese m) are in the sitting room with other people.
2. In
the village there is a big square and a small tree .
3.
The language of the American boy
is
(the) English.
4.
Joe is a wealthy man but
is
generous with the poor boy.
5
5.
The beautiful woman has a lazy husband and
an
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industrious daughter.
6.
The tall Canadian is blond, affable and happy.
7. Maria s problem (the problem of Maria) is new.
8 In the library there is an old lamp and a dirty cup.
9.
The
old
hospital is small but clean.
10
The bride and the groom are here.
36
In
Maltese, both nouns and adjectives are assigned the plural
form
for which
no
gender distinction occurs. There are two kinds
of plural:
a)
the Sound or External Plural
is
formed
by
the addition of
suffixes such as -i, -ijiet, -iet, -ien, to the masculine and
feminine form of the nouns and / or adjectives .
NOUNS
Most nouns are assigned the plural by affixing the suffixes: -i,
-ien, -ijiet, and -iet.
platt platti
bieb bibien
missier
sptar
omm
*siggu
*nannu/a
*Uajla
missirijiet
sptarijiet
ommijiet
siggijiet
nanniet
tfajliet
pl tes
doors
f thers
hospit ls
mothers
ch irs
gr ndp rents
young dolescent fem les
*Nouns ending
in
a vowel drop this vowel when affixing the
plural suffix.
The plural of nouns which indicate parts of the body which go
in
pairs such
as
hands, arms, ears, and legs, is formed by
affixing the suffix -ejn to the end of the singular noun.
id
idejn h nds
gliajn gliajnejn
eyes
rigel riglejn legs
widna widnejn
e rs
spalla spallejn shoulders
7
The suffix -ajn
is
affixed to the singular form instead of -ejn
in
bejt
bjut
roofs
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38
the case of nouns which end
in
gfl or fl:
gewnan gwinnajn wings
driegn dirgnajn arms
ADJE
CTIV S
Of particular note is the fact that adjectives generally take
th
e
suffixes -in, -n,
-i,
and not the other suffixes. Adjectives ending
in
a consonant are assigned plurality by affixing the suffix -in:
fernan fernanin happy
imdejjaq imdejqin unhappy
manmug manmugin
dirty
tajjeb
tajbin
good
rieqed reqdin sleepy
gflazzien gnazzenin lazy
kiesan kesnin silly
Adjectives ending
in
the vowel i form their plural by adding the
suffix -n :
Malti Maltin Maltese
Gnawdxi Gliawdxin Gozitans
Sqalli Sqallin Sicilians
dliuli dliulin affable
barrani barranin foreigners
Adjectives ending in a consonant form their plural by adding the
suffix -i :
Franciz
Ingliz
Taljan
Spanjol
Francizi
Inglizi
Taljani
Spanjoli
French
English
Italian
Spanish
b
the Broken or Internal Plural is formed by changing the
internal structure of the word itself. It should
be
noted that
the change
in
the structure of the word occurs only with
regard to the vowels of the particular word. The sequence
of the consonants of the noun or adjective is never changed.
The following examples show the formation of broken or
internal plurals:
furketta
frieket
forks
rag
el
rgiel
men/husbands
kitla
ktieli
kettles
fenek
fniek
rabbits
qalb
qlub
hearts
zejt
zjut
oils
Unfortunately, as is evident from the above examples, there are
no quick
an
d easy rules which govern the formation of the
broken plurals of nouns and adjectives. It is thus advisable to
memorise the plural forms of the nouns and adjectives
in
question together with their singular forms.
SECTION A
Word List
From this lesson onwards the Word List gives
the plural fo
r
o the nouns and adjectives
tifel
tfal
boys
tifla
tfal girls
mara nisa women
ragel rgiel men
tfajla
tfajliet
young adolescent females
missier
missirijiet
fathers
omm
ommijiet
mothers
genitur
genituri parents
ziju
zijiet
uncles
zija
zijiet
aunts
kugin
kugini
male cousins
kugina
kugini female cousins
flu
aliwa brothers
oflt
aliwa
sisters
barrani
barranin
foreigners
furketta
frieket forks
mgflarfa
mgliaref spoons
sikkina
skieken knives
kuccarina
kuccarini teaspoons
sieq
saqajn feet
39
exercise
One
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rigel
riglejn
legs
gliajn
gliajnejn
eyes
First put into the plural and then translate into English as
n
the
spalla
spallejn
shoulders
following example:
widna
widnejn
ears
e.g. omm ferliana
ommijiet ferlianin happy mothers
gewnali gwinliajn
wings
rkobba
rkobbtejn
knees
Tifel malimug; mara nadifa; nannu xiii ; ragel twil ; tifla gliaqlija;
i
idejn
hands
furketta qadima; kuccarina nadifa; spalla kbira; widna zgliira;
saba
swaba
fingers
tifla gnazziena; Malti gliaqli ; missier kwiet; ragel tajjeb.
dliuli
dliulin
affable
gliaqli
gliaqlin
wise/prudent
Exercise
Two
nadif ndaf
clean
twil
twal
tall
Put these sentences into the plural nd then translate into
kwiet
kwieti
quiet
English:
kbir
kbar
big
kburi
kburin
proud
1.
Iz-ziju
hu
fil-gnfen iz-zgliir mat-tifla I-kwieta.
liazin
liziena
bad
2.
In-nanna u n-nannu huma fid-dar taz-ziju.
sliun
slian
hot
3.
Iz-ziemel u I-limar huma fir-razzett il-kbir tan-nannu.
sinjur
sinjuri
rich
4.
II-qattus u I-kelb huma fuq il-bjut tar-ralilin .
qadim
qodma
old inanimate objects)
5.
II-bandiera tal-pajjiz gliandha
ft
it kuluri.
xiii
xjuli
old persons)
sabili
sbieli
beautiful/handsome
malimug
malimugin
dirty
SECTION B
tajjeb
tajbin
good
ferlian ferlianin
happy
Word List
qasir
qosra
short
gliazzien
gliazzenin
lazy
sptar sptarijiet hospitals
giddieb
giddibin
liars
siggu siggijiet
chairs
zgflir
zgflar
small
mejda
mwejjed
tables
gnien
gonna
gardens
kamra
kmamar
rooms
ziemel
zwiemel
horses
kcina
kcejjen
kitchens
limar
limir
donkeys knisja
knejjes
churches
dar
djar
houses
ralial
rliula
vii/ages
qattus
qtates
cats
i jt
zjut
oils
kelb
klieb
dogs
libsa
Ibiesi
dresses
razzett
rziezet
farms
qalziet
qliezet
trousers
bandiera bnadar
flags
dublett dbielet
skirts
flokk
flokkijiet
sweaters
glekk
glekkijiet
jackets
klassi
klassijiet
classes
poeta
poeti
poets
----
4
4
6
n
the farm there are horses donkeys big cats and small
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4
professur
avukat
perit
gflalliem
nutar
spizjar
tabib
student
problema
Taljan
FranCiz
Malti
Gflawdxi
Giprijott
Grieg
Tork
Germaniz
Gappuniz
Kanadiz
Amerikan
studjuz
flobza
ilsien
bejt
qalb
ras
kitla
xe
r
cise Th
r
ee
Express
n
Maltese:
professuri
avukati
periti
gflalliema
nutara
spizjara
tobba
studenti
problemi
Taljani
Fran6izi
Maltin
Gflawdxin
Giprijotti
Griegi
Torok
Germanizi
Gappunizi
Kanadizi
Amerikani
studjuzi
flobziet
ilsna
bjut
qlub
irjus
ktieli
professors
lawyers
architects
teachers
notaries
pharmacists
doctors
students
problems
Italians
French
Maltese
Gozitans
Cypriots
Greeks
Turks
Germans
Japanese
Canadians
Americans
scholars
loaves o bread
languages tongues
roofs
hearts
heads
kettles
1. The grandfather is with an old woman
in
the big house.
2. The boy and the girl are
on
the chai
r
3. The wise uncle is
on
the small bed .
4. Carnival and Easter are big feasts.
5. The horses and the donkeys are
in
the big garden with
children.
7
8
9
dogs.
On
the tables there are forks knives and spoons.
The villagers have rabbits and dogs
in
the square.
The churches
in
Malta are old but beautiful.
43
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REGULAR VERBS
Maltese verbs are made up of stems such as XTARA - to buy
or GHAMEL - to do.
In
order to conjugate the verbs
in
the
present tense, one must first derive the imperative from each
stem.
The imperative has two persons: the second person singular
(ixtri -
buy ) ;
and the second person plural (ixtru -
buy ) .
It
is
best to memorise the two persons of the imperative of the verb
stems to
be
able to conjugate the
verbs
in
the present tense.
CONJUGATION OF V R S
Maltese verbs are conjugated by means of adding the prefixes
n
1
st person singular
),
t (2nd person singular) , j (3rd person
singular masculine), t (3rd person singular feminine ) to the
singular form of the imperative. The plural prefixes n
1
st person
plural), t (2nd person plural) , j (3rd person plural) are added to
the plural form of the imperative
as
shown
in
the following
conjugated verbs :
XT R to buy
ixtril (2nd person singular) buy
ixtru (2nd person plural)
buy
jiena nixtri I
uy
inti tixtri you s ing)
uy
huwa jixtri he buys
hija tixtri she buys
anna
intom
huma
nixtru
tixtru
jixtru
we
uy
you pI) buy
they buy
5
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xtara
ixtri (sing); ixtru (pi)
to
buy
buy
Exercise Three
put the correct form o the verb
n
the present tense s
n
the
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48
lagnab
ilgnab (sing) ; ilagnbu (pi)
ta
agnti (sing) ; agntu (pi)
fehem
ifhem (sing) ; ifhmu (pi)
Exercise One
to
play
play
to give
give
to
understand
understand
Translate into Maltese and conjugate the following verbs
n
the
present tense:
to wash ; to love; to work; to do/to make; to give; to understand ;
to sweep; to buy .
Exercise Two
Insert the correct pronoun and then translate into English.
1. . .... taqra nafna kotba.
2. .. .. ..
niifnu fiI-pjazza.
3
jagnmlu nafna storbju .
4
nixtri nafna laring.
5
jnobb is-sigar kbar.
6
tpoggi s-siggijiet fil-kamra tal-banju.
7.
..
..
..
nafldmu kuljum.
8. . .. .. nsajjar kull nhar ta' Sibt.
9.
.. .... jisraq nafna flus.
10
nagntu nafna laring u langas.
11
. . .
..
. jnobbu I-klieb u I-qtates.
12. .. .... nifhmu I-Iezzjoni tal-Malti.
following example:
e.g. Anna (fehem) nifhmu .
1. Huwa (nadem). 2. Hija (nabb). 3. Inti (seraq) . 4. Anna (Iibes) .
5
Intom (sajjar).
6
Jiena (xtara).
7
Huma (Iagnab).
8
Marija
u Mario (ta) .
9
It-tfal (fehem).
10
Inti (kiteb) . 11
II-kelb (gera) .
12. In-nisa (pogga) . 13. Intom (gnamel).
SECTION
B
Word List
kiesan (m), kiesna (f) , kesnin (pi)
flaxix
frotta (f), frott (pi)
flelwa (f), nelu (pi)
stagun (m) , staguni (pi)
xahar (m), xhur (pi)
numru (m), numri (pi)
flafna
dan (m), din (f) , dawn (pi)
dak (m), dik (f), dawk (pi)
gardinar (m), gardinara (pi)
ei mi
(m), ei mijiet (pi)
lezzjoni (m) , lezzjonijiet (pi)
futbol
difficli m & f, Sing & pi)
flimkien
hemmhekk
storbju
Milied
Ghid
laringa (f), laring (pi)
ittra (f) , ittri (pi)
karrotta (f) , karrotti (pi)
langasa (f) , langas (pi)
cold
vegetables
fruits
sweets
seasons
months
numbers
much; a lot of; many
this/these
that/those
gardeners
examinations
lessons
football
difficult
together
there
noise
Christmas
Easter
oranges
letters
carrots ·
pears
9
1
II-kuluri
the colours
Exercise Five
Express
n
Maltese
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5
anmar (m), namra (f), nomor (pi)
alldar (m), nadra f) , nodor (pi)
iswed (m), sewda
f)
, suwed (pi)
abjad
m)
, bajda f) , bojod (pi)
isfar
m)
, safra (f), sofor (pi)
iknal
m)
, kanla (f), konol (pi)
griz m) , griza (f), grizi (pi)
kannella
m
f, sing pi)
roza m f, sing pi)
L-istaguni
ir-rebbiegna f)
is-sajf
m)
il-narifa f)
ix-xitwa f)
Exercise
Four
Express
n
English
red
green
black
white
yellow
blue
gray
brown
pink
the seasons
spring
summer
autumn
winter
1.
L-istaguni tas-sena huma erbgna: ir-rebbiegna, is-sajf,
il-liarifa u x-xitwa.
2. II-kuluri li nnobb huma tmienja: I-iswed, I-alldar, il-kannella,
ir-roza, I-iknal, I-abjad, il-griz u I-isfar.
3.
II-bandiera Taljana hija liadra, bajda u namra.
4. II-libsa I-namra hija manmuga.
5. I -tife in-nadif hu qawwi.
6. Mara Griega hija mara sabina.
7. Ix-xin I-gnaref huwa lidejn il-mara I-mistnija.
8. Is-sigra I-kbira hija sabina nafna.
9.
Simone tnobb gnien kbir bil-fjuri.
10
. Filwaqt
li
Mario
hu
t-tifel il-kbir tal-familja Borg, Maria hija
t-tifla z-zgliira tal-familja Fenech.
1.
Eve
ry
week the boy reads a book.
.
2.
Mary cooks dinner for the boys.
3. Simone's husband is very sturdy and tall.
4.
Every day the children eat a lot of sweets.
5.
The pretty girl wears the red dress.
6. I love Christmas and Easter.
7. I have a brown dog and a black tom-cat.
8.
The four seasons are: spring, summer, autumn and winter.
9.
Every evening Maria and Joe dance together.
10. They have a large house and a beautiful garden .
11.
Every Monday , Mark buys oranges, carrots and pears.
12 . Eve
ry
month Carmen washes the old chair
in
the kitchen.
Exercise Six
Express n Maltese
1. The Maltese flag is white and
red
.
2. Francesco Pio and Carmen are
in
the grandfather's garden
in
the garden of the grandfather) .
3.
Wh ile December is a cold month, July is very warm.
4. Sean
is
a quiet boy and
is
also shy.
5.
A Canadian student is studious and wise.
6.
Francis has a big car while I have a small dog and a big
tabby cat.
7. The mother and the father are hungry and thirsty.
8.
The boy and the girl are right.
5
Lesson Nine
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The egative
Not
is
translated by the word rna (rn only before a vowel , silent
h or gli). This is followed by the conjugated verb to which is
affixed x to the end of the verb . a always occupies the same
pJace
in the sentence as the English word
not
and it always
grecedes the verb . Thus :
e.g. Jien nonfoq I spend; jien
rna
nonfoqx I do not spend
e.
g.
Alina nixtru we buy; alina ma nixtrux We do not buy
NEGATIVE FORMS
The following are the negative forms of the verbs To
Be
and
To
Have
Of note is the fact that a verb ending in the vowel a,
has this vowel changed to
ie
when the negative suffix x is
attached to it.
Verb To Be
jiena l m rn iniex I am not
inti
you are rn intix you (sing) are not
huwa
he
is
m huwiex he
is
not
hija
she
is
m hijiex she
is
not
alina
we are rn aliniex we are not
intom
you are
m intomx
you pI) are not
huma
they are m humiex they are not
Verb To
Have
jiena
gliandi I have m gliandix I do not have
inti
gliandek you have
m gliandekx
you
sing) do
not have
huwa
gliandu
he has m gliandux
he
does not
have
hija
gliandha
she has m gliandhiex
she does
not
have
alina
gliandna we have m gliandniex
we
do
not
have
intom gliandkom
you
have m gliandkomx
you pI) do not have
huma gliandhom
they have m gliandhomx
they do
not
have
5
SE TION
4. Huwa gliandu dar sabilia
bi
gnien kbir.
5.
Hija
sp
izjara anzjana u gliarfa.
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54
storja
f)
, stejjer (pi)
filgliaxija
wara nofs in-nhar
mar
Word list
mur (sing); morru (pi)
wiegeb
wiegeb (sing) ; wiegbu (pi)
gidem
igdem (sing); igdmu (pi)
acceUa
acceUa (sing); acceUaw (pi)
fetali
iftali (sing); iftliu (pi)
Now try these exercises:
Exercise One
stories
in
th evening
in th
afternoon
to go
go
to
answer
answer
to bite
bite
to
accept
accept
to
open
open
Put th right part o th verb
in
those sentences for which th
verb stem is given in brackets and put into the negative.
Afterwards translate into English:
e.g. II-Milied u I-Gliid (gliamel)
lil
liafna nies ferlianin
II-Milied u I-Gliid
ma
jaglimlux lil liafna nies ferlianin .
Christmas and Easter
do
not make a lot
of
peop
le
happy.
1. Hija gliandha tifla u tifel.
2 . Alina (gera) lejn il-baliar.
3. Jiena mara bjonda u twila.
6.
Hu
ma
nisa tajbin.
7. Inti gliandek liafna guli u gliatx.
8.
It-tfal (fehem) I-Iezzjoni tal-Malti.
9. Marija u Mario huma fil-kamra tal-pranzu mat-tfal.
10.
Pierre (xtara) liafna
froU
u lielu gliat-tifel ta ' Marija.
. It-tfal (gliamel) liafna storbju meta huma (Iagliab) I-futbol
fi
t-triq .
Exercise
Two
Put in the correct form o the verb and then translate into
English:
e.g. Alina (kiteb)
iUra
lill-mara
ta
' Mario.
Alina niktbu
iUra
lill -mara ta' Mario.
We write letter to Mario's wife.
1. Inti (zifen) tajjeb liafna.
2. Huma (liabb) lill-qtates u I-klieb.
3. Marija (xtara) libsa twila.
4. It-tfal (gera) fir-razzeU tan-nanniet.
5. Jiena (kiteb) ktieb dwar I-istorja ta' Malta.
6.
II
-missier (liadem) fl-glialqa tan-nannu .
7.
In
-nisa (sajjar) kuljum gliall-familji.
8. C
arm en
(nefaq) liafna flus fil-kotba ta' I-iskola.
9.
Huwa (liasel) lit-tifel il-malimug.
10
. Mark (kines) I-art tad-dar il-kbira fil-kampanja.
Exercise Three
Express in Maltese:
1. The Maltese flag
is
not yellow and green , but white and
red.
2.
Francesco
Pio
u Carmen are not here but at their friends '
farmhouse.
3. Wh
ile July
is
not a cold month, January
is
not hot but very
cold.
4. Franc
is is
a friendly and studious boy.
5. A
German student
is
not always studious.
6. Francis does not have a big car like Sean.
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56
7. The son and the daughter are not hungry and thirsty .
S
The small children are not right.
9. The lesson is difficult and Maria does not understand the
teacher.
10. The old men
in
the square love the cheesecakes and the
sweets.
Exercise Four
Express
in
Maltese:
1.
The man does not steal watches.
2. Maltese people do not spend a lot of money.
3.
Joe sweeps his bedroom
in
the afternoon.
4. Maria and Carmen do not play football , but they play tennis.
5. The gardener does not give water to the trees
in
the garden.
6. The two boys do not understand the lesson.
7.
In
Malta we do not have a long winter.
S.
The Maltese language
is
not difficult.
In
Maltese, futurity
is
conveyed by means
of
the particle sejjer
m),
sejra
f)
, sejrin pi) . This particle carries the meaning of
shall
and precedes the conjugated form of the present tense
of verbs as shown
in
the following examples:
Carmen sejra tixtri I-Iiaxix gliada.
Carmen will buy the vegetables tomorrow.
Francis u Sean sejrin jalislu I-platti wara I-pranzu .
Francis and Sean will wash the plates after lunch.
To BE
ND
To HAVE
The future of the verbs To
Be
and To Have
is as
follows:
To Be
To Have
jiena
nkun
I shall
be jiena jkolli I
shall have
inti
tkun you sing) will
be
inti jkollok
you
sing) will have
huwa jkun
he
will
be huwa jkollu he
will have
hija tkun
she
will e
hija
jkollha she will have
alina
nkunu
we shall
be alinajkollna
we
shall have
intom
tkunu
you
pi)
will be
intom
ikollkom you pi) will have
huma jkunu
they will
be huma jkollhom
they will have
The future forms of the verbs to be and to have may also be
followed by the present tense of the conjugated verb as
in
following examples:
Gliada huma jkollhom jixtru Iiafna frott gliat-tifla I-marida.
Tomorrow they will have
to
buy
a
lot
o
fruit for the sick girl.
II-gimglia d-dielila jiena ser inkun nizfen fil-kamra tal-pranzu
ma ark
.
Next week I shall be dancing in the dining room with Mark.
57
SECTION
xercise
Two
Express
in
Maltese
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58
Word List
Common Expressions denoting the Future
is sena d dielila
sena olira
il gimglia d dielila
fil gimgliat
li
gejjin
ix xahar id dieliel
fix xhur
li
gejjin
fi
ftit sigliat olira
fil granet
li
gejjin
fis snin Ii gejjin
fi
ftit minuti olira
fi ftit sekondi olira
it Tnejn
li
gej
dalwaqt
Now try these exercises :
xercise
One
Express
in
Maltese
next year
next year
next week
in
the weeks
to
come
next month
in th
months
to
come
in th next few hours
in th
next few days
in
the years
to
come
in
the next few minutes
in
the next few seconds
next Monday
soon
1. In the next few days Mark will give a lesson at the
University .
2. She will write a letter to the boy
in
the next few hours .
3
Soon I shall give the book and the dress to a girl.
4 They will buy vegetables and fruit from the farmhouse.
5.
We
shall wash the dirty clothes next week.
6. I shall read the important book next month.
7 Mario shall work a lot next year .
8
Joe and Mario will have to cook the dinner for the family.
9 The children will
be
dancing in the garden in the afternoon.
10. The boys will have
to
understand the Maltese lessor;l soon.
1. Maria will not put the forks on the table.
2. John will not work
in
the months to come.
3 The small girl will not steal the doll.
4.
Th
e children will not play with the dog.
5. I shall read the book
in
the next few days.
6. The mother and father will cook the meal in the evening.
Exercise Three
Put the right part
o
the verb with these persons and then put
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60
into the future :
e.g. Anna (gnen)
Anna sejrin ngninu .
1. Huwa (wiegeb
.
2. Jiena (mar
.
3.
In
-nisa (zifen
.
4. Anna
(gnazel) .
5
Intom (a66etta
.
6
Inti. (gnen) :
7
Hija (qam) .
8
Intom
(wasal
. 9
Hija (gnazel). 10. It-tlfla (pogga).
Exercise Four
Express in Maltese:
1. -Mary will not wash the dirty clothes next week .
2. We will not accept the beautiful watch .
3.
Joe does not help Maria in the evening.
4
You (sing) and the boy will have to go near the church .
5
The children will have to work a lot next summer.
6
Maria will answer Joe s letter
in
the afternoon.
7.
Pierre will buy the car next week.
8
I shall have to give the food to the small
ch
ildren.
9
The dog will bite the little boy s hand soon.
10. The husband will have to wake up the boy.
11
. Maria and Mario will work
on an
important project next year.
12 . We shall be at home in the next few minutes.
pronouns are words used in place of nouns. Maltese has
pronominal suffixes which can
be
attached
to
nouns , verbs and
some of the prepositions:
-i
-ja
-ek/ok
-k
-u
-h
-ha
-na
-korn
-horn
1st pers. sing
1st pers. sing
(when joined to a vowel ending)
2nd pers. sing
(when joined to a vowel ending)
3rd pers. sing masc.
(when joined to a vowel ending)
3rd pers. sing fem
1st pers.
pi
2nd pers
pi
3
rd
pers.
pi
PRONOMIN
AL
SUFFIXES
WITH
PREPOS
ITIO
NS
-ni
-ek/ok
-k
-u
-h
-ha
-na
-kom
-horn
Some prepositions
in
Maltese
can
either stand alone or
can
have a pronominal suffix attached
to
them as shown
in
the
following examples:
Lejn
to
wards
It-tifel jig
ri
lejn I-omm.
It-tifel jigri lejha.
Fuq
on
/ upon
Marija sejra tmur fuq il-bejt
gnada.
arija
sejra tmur fu
qu
gnada
.
he boy runs towards
the mother
he
boy runs towards her
Maria will go on the roof
tomorrow
Maria will go on it
tomorrow
6
t fdejn near/by the side of
Pierre jgliix M ejn it-tabib Abela. Pierre lives near Or Abel
a.
Pierre jgliix i ejh. Pierre lives near him.
prepositions and their pronominal suffixes as these are very
often used in Maltese.
Ma'
With
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6
Fost among
Joe huwa I-kbir fost Iiafna tfal.
Joe huwa I-kbir fosthom.
hallike
II-fjura hija sabilia bhat-tifla.
II-fjura hija sabilia bhalha.
Minghajr without
Marija hija minghajr ir-ragel.
Marija hija minghajru.
Taht under/beneath
II-kelb huwa taht is-sodda.
II-kelb huwa tahtha.
Joe
is
the oldest among
many siblings.
Joe is the oldest among
them.
The
flower
is
as beautifulas
the girl.
The
flower
is
as beautifulas
her (the girl).
Maria is without
the
husband
.
Maria
is
without him.
The dog is under the bed.
The
dog
is
under it (the
bed).
i with (this preposition can also be linked with the definite
article
1-
BiI-flus taglimel triq fil-banar.
Bihom taglimel triq fil-banar.
Ghand
at
the place of/
to
With money one can make
(construct) a road
in
the sea
(one can do anything
if
one
has money).
With them (money) one can
make (construct) a road
in
the sea.
Huma jagnmlu I-pastizzi ghand il-nbieb.
They make cheesecakes at their friends (houses).
Huma jaglimlu I-pastizzi ghandhom.
They make cheesecakes
at
their friends (houses).
The prepositions ma' with and ta' of are given below with the
affixation of the pronominal suffixes.
It
is best to learn these
Mieglii
Miegnek
Miegliu
Magnha
Maglina
Maglikom
Magnhom
with me
with you (sing)
with him
with her
with
us
with you (pI)
with them
Mario jmur I-iskola ma' Joe.
Mario jmur I-iskola miegliu.
Ta' Of
Tieglii
mine
Tiegnek
yours (sing)
Tiegnu
his
Tagliha
hers
Taglina
ours
Tagnkom
yours
pI)
Tagnhom
theirs
Mario goes
to
school with Joe.
Mario goes
to
school with him.
Fil-gnien ta' Marija hemm nafna fjuri sbieli .
In
Ma
ria
s garden there are a lot of beautiful flowers.
FiI-gn ien tagnha hemm nafna fjuri sbien.
In her garden there are a lot
of
beautiful flowers.
PRONOMINAL SUFFIX
ES
WITH NOUNS
In
Maltese there are some nouns to which may be added the
pronominal suffixes. These nouns usually refer
to
parts of the
bOdy (head, ear, mouth) and to relationships such as close
relatives. However, there are also a few other nouns which may
have the suffix attached to them.
6
Nouns denoting Parts of the Body
Rasu hija kbira nafna.
Gnajnek gnandha infezzjoni.
His head is very big.
Your sing) eye has an
infection.
punent m)
gnalqa (f), gnelieqi (pi)
west
fields
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6
Idi hija zgnira.
Nouns denoting Relatives
My hand
is
small.
Missieri jnobb I-Gnid u I-