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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

    v

    ii

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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

    viii

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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

    xiii

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    xiv

    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

    xv

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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

    xvi

    i

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    xviii

    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

    xix

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    xx

    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

    3

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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

    5

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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

    7

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    8

    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

    9

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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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      4

    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

    Qawsalla a rainbow

    3

    Miegliu with him

    4

    Kewkba a

    star

    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 

    5

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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

    7

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    18

    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

    19

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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

    2

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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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      4

    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?

    5

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      6

    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.

    7

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      8

    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

    31

    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

    il-problema th

    problem

    il-wicc th face

    6.

    I-ilma

    th

    water

    7.

    is-sema

    the sky

    8.

    I-avukat

    the lawyer

    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

    33

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    34

    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 .

    nixtri nafna laring.

    jnobb is-sigar kbar.

    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) .

    Intom (sajjar).

    6

    Jiena (xtara).

    Huma (Iagnab).

    Marija

    u Mario (ta) .

    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 .

    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) .

    Intom (a66etta

     .

    6

    Inti. (gnen) :

    Hija (qam) .

    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.

    You (sing) and the boy will have to go near the church .

    The children will have to work a lot next summer.

    Maria will answer Joe s letter

    in

    the afternoon.

    7.

    Pierre will buy the car next week.

    I shall have to give the food to the small

    ch

    ildren.

    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-