The Maltese LanguageThe Maltese Language

‘materia semitica in bocca romanza’ - Giovanni Mangion

a ‘hybrid language which […] stands today as a truly unique linguistic mosaic’ – Hubert-Bonnal and Anne Tronche

Since it was first colonised Malta has never been very far from the centre of events and has often played a critical part in the making of history.

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Ggantija

Hal Tarxien

Ggantija

Hal Tarxien

Malta as ‘l’île sacrée de la Mediterranée’

Hal Saflieni

Haġar Qim

Hal Tarxien

History of the Maltese Islands

800 BC The Phoenicians and Carthaginians

218 BC The Romans

870 AD The Arabs

13th century Aragonese/Spanish

1530 The Knights of St John

1798 The French

1800 The British

1964 Maltese independence

1974 Maltese republic

Catacombs of St Paul

St Paul’s Cathedral in Mdina

St Paul’s Bay

The Maltese Alphabet

a, b, ċ, d, e, f, ġ, g, għ, h, ħ, i, ie, j, k, l, m,

n, o, p, q, u, r, s, t, v,

w, x, ż, z

Vowels

a e i

ie o u

Pronunciation

ċ ~ churchġ ~ jar

għ is silent h is silent like

h in heirħ ~ hat

ie ~ peerż ~ buzz

Maltese words of Semitic origin

ilma - ilma - waterwater baħar - baħar - seasea

xita - xita - rainrain ħadid - ħadid - ironiron

deheb - deheb - goldgold fidda - fidda - silversilver

kelb - kelb - dogdog tiġieġa - tiġieġa - henhen

ħawħa - ħawħa - peachpeach inbid - inbid - winewine

ħalib - ħalib - milkmilk ferħ -ferħ - happinesshappiness

uġigħ - uġigħ - painpain

Trilitteralism

Verb StemVerb Stem RootsRoots

kiserkiser k – s – rk – s – r he brokehe broke

libeslibes l – b – sl – b – s he put onhe put on

xorobxorob x – r – bx – r – b he drankhe drank

fetaħfetaħ f – t – ħf – t – ħ he openedhe opened

kitebkiteb k – t – bk – t – b he wrotehe wrote

seraqseraq s – r – qs – r – q he stolehe stole

Present Tense

jien nikteb

int tikteb

huwa jikteb

hija tikteb

aħna niktbu

intom tiktbu

huma jiktbu

I write

you write

he writes

she writes

we write

you write

they write

Past Tense

jien ktibt

int ktibt

huwa kiteb

hija kitbet

aħna ktibna

intom ktibtu

huma kitbu

I wrote

you wrote

he wrote

she wrote

we wrote

you wrote

they wrote

The trilitteral system has the capability of creating new words from the verb which exhibits such a root, e.g. mitjar (airport) from

T – J – R or semmiegha (a listening audience) from S – M – Għ. Many words of non-Arabic origin have also been incorporated into Maltese through the use of this system, e.g. P – T – R from Pittore (Italian for painter) are extracted and used to derive many of the

tenses, verbs, and nouns of this same word, e.g. PiTTeR (he painted), PiTTuR (painter), and tPiTTeR (he is painted). From the

S – R – P of serpe (Italian for snake) are derived SeRP (snake), SRieP (snakes), SeRReP (he snaked), SSeRReP (he is snaked), etc.

Some sentences utilising verbs designed from trilitteralism

Jien naqra l-ktieb. I read the book.

Int tikser it-tazza. You break the glass.

Hu xorob l-ilma. He drank water.

Hi fetħet il-bieb. She opened the door.

Maltese has extended triliterralism in an autonomous fashion and has continued to generate from native roots inherited in Arabic, new words

that do not occur in Classical or vernacular Arabic, e.g. ndaħal (he interfered) and ndħil (interference) from daħal (to enter).

The Maltese Numbers

11 wieħedwieħed 22 tnejntnejn 33 tlietatlieta 44 erbgħaerbgħa 55 ħamsaħamsa

66 sittasitta 77 sebgħasebgħa 88 tmienjatmienja 99 disgħadisgħa 1010 għaxragħaxra

1111 ħdaxħdax 1212 tnaxtnax 1313 tlettaxtlettax 1414 erbataxerbatax 1515 ħmistaħmistaxx

1616 sittaxsittax 1717 sbataxsbatax 1818 tmintaxtmintax 1919 dsataxdsatax 2020 għoxringħoxrin

Unlike French and English, the Maltese numbers after 20, have their tens preceded by the units.

E.g. 21 is wieħed u għoxrin

Also, unlike French, there is one word for each of the following:

70 sebgħin

80 tmenin

90 disgħin

Like French, in Maltese, an adjective follows the noun it qualifies and agrees with it in gender and number.

However, the adjective is placed after the noun.

Jien naqra sitt kotba kbar. I read six large books.

Maria hi mara twila. Maria is a tall lady.

1266-83The Angevins

1283-1410The Aragonese

1412-1530The Castillians

The effects of Semitic linguistic isolation on Maltese

Lexical fusion of discrete Arabic elements

Maltese Literal Translation Meaning

madankollu with all of this nevertheless

għalfejn whereto why

minħabba out of love of because

Semantic shifts

Maltese Arabic

ħafna much ħafna handful

wisq too much wasq (Cairo) cargo

Old Arabic words attested in Classical Arabic

Maltese Old Arabic

mindu since munδu/muδ

qatt never qattu

seta, jista to be able isţa:’, yusţi:’

Italian influence on Maltese

familja family sopran soprano

pinnola pill musiċista musician

pjazza square kwart a fourth

villa villa vjolin violin

sala hall letteratura literature

tornavit screwdriver nota note

kaptan captain sunett sonnet

present tense

PrefixMorphemic

Stem Suffix

I jien nip pretend i

you inti tip pretend i

he huwa jip pretend i

she hija tip pretend i

we aħna nip pretend u

you intom tip pretend u

they huma jip pretend u

past tense

Prefix Morphemic Stem

Suffix

p pretend ejt

p pretend ejt

p pretend a

p pretend iet

p pretend ejna

p pretend ejtu

p pretend ew

Concatenate Morphology

The principle part of a free morpheme is created through a morphemic stem that does not change,

and with which are added prefixes and/or suffixes.

to pretend

present tense

Prefix Morphemic Stem

Suffix

I jien nik konsult a

you inti tik konsult a

he huwa jik konsult a

she hija tik konsult a

we aħna nik konsult aw

you intom tik konsult aw

they huma jik konsult aw

past tense

Prefix Morphemic Stem

Suffix

k konsult ajt

k konsult ajt

k konsult a

k konsult at

k konsult ajna

k konsult ajtu

k konsult aw

to consult

French influence on Maltese

French derivative

Meaning

ċaċċis chassis the chasings of a door or window

sjett assiette a small plate

bonġu bonjour good morning; good afternoon

bonswa bonsoir good evening; good night

surtun surtout a tailcoat

Inter-War MaltaThe Semitic-Romance Polarisation

Examples of different lexicons for the same concept

iżża ħajriżża ħajr rringrazzjarringrazzja (he thanked)(he thanked)

Il-ġellieda qalbiena kisbu rebħa kbira għal Malta.Is-suldati kuraġġjużi akkwistaw vittorja grandjuża lil Malta.(The courageous warriors won a great victory for Malta.)

Malta after 1870The Language Question

Italian as language of social distinctionEnglish as language of the empire

Labour party → preference of English to ItalianNationalist part → the paripassu system

Malta after World War IIEnglish Influence on Maltese

Sportsfootball futbol player plejer

Jobsmechanic mekkanik electrician elektrixin

Technologycomputer kompjuter calculator kalkjulejter

Furnituredeckchair dekċer cupboard kabord

Entertainmentdisco disko party parti

Maltese Verbs derived from English

to test it test ja ittestja testjatura tester testers

to run ir rann ja irranja rannjatura rannjar

to shock ix xokk ja ixxokkja

to weld iw weld ja iwweldja weldjatura welder welders

to type it tajp ja ittajpja

the national language of Malta in 1934↑

Maltese ↓

an official language of the EU in 2004

Bilingualism in MaltaBilingualism in Malta

……and the and the ManglishManglish phenomenonphenomenon