Maltese language
Maltese | |
---|---|
Malti | |
Pronunciation | [ˈmɐːltɪ] |
Native to | Malta |
Ethnicity | Maltese |
Native speakers | 570,000 (2012)[1] |
Early form | |
Dialects | |
Latin (Maltese alphabet) Maltese Braille | |
Official status | |
Official language in | Malta European Union |
Regulated by | National Council for the Maltese Language Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | mt |
ISO 639-2 | mlt |
ISO 639-3 | mlt |
Glottolog | malt1254 |
Linguasphere | 12-AAC-c |
Maltese (Maltese: Malti, also L-Ilsien Malti or Il-Lingwa Maltija) is a
The original Arabic base comprises around one-third of the Maltese vocabulary, especially words that denote basic ideas and the
Maltese has always been written in the Latin script, the earliest surviving example dating from the late Middle Ages.[15] It is the only standardized Semitic language written exclusively in the Latin script.[16]
History
The origins of the Maltese language are attributed to the arrival, early in the 11th century, of settlers from neighboring Sicily, where Siculo-Arabic was spoken, reversing the
The Norman conquest in 1091, followed by the expulsion of the Muslims, complete by 1249, permanently isolated the vernacular from its Arabic source, creating the conditions for its evolution into a distinct language.[17] In contrast to Sicily, where Siculo-Arabic became extinct and was replaced by Sicilian, the vernacular in Malta continued to develop alongside Italian, eventually replacing it as official language in 1934 , alongside English.[17] The first written reference to the Maltese language is in a will of 1436, where it is called lingua maltensi. The oldest known document in Maltese, Il-Kantilena (Xidew il-Qada) by Pietru Caxaro, dates from the 15th century.[20]
The earliest known Maltese dictionary was a 16th-century manuscript entitled "Maltese-Italiano"; it was included in the Biblioteca Maltese of Mifsud in 1764, but is now lost.[21] A list of Maltese words was included in both the Thesaurus Polyglottus (1603) and Propugnaculum Europae (1606) of Hieronymus Megiser, who had visited Malta in 1588–1589; Domenico Magri gave the etymologies of some Maltese words in his Hierolexicon, sive sacrum dictionarium (1677).[20]
An early manuscript dictionary, Dizionario Italiano e Maltese, was discovered in the Biblioteca Vallicelliana in Rome in the 1980s, together with a grammar, the Regole per la Lingua Maltese, attributed to a French Knight named Thezan.[21][22] The first systematic lexicon is that of Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis, who also wrote the first systematic grammar of the language and proposed a standard orthography.[21]
Demographics
This section appears to contradict another section of this article.(February 2024) |
Ethnologue reports a total of 530,000 Maltese speakers: 450,000 in Malta and 79,000 in the diaspora. Most speakers also use English.[1]
The largest diaspora community of Maltese speakers is in Australia, with 36,000 speakers reported in 2006 (down from 45,000 in 1996, and expected to decline further).[23]
The Maltese linguistic community in Tunisia originated in the 18th century. Numbering several thousand in the 19th century, it was reported to be only 100 to 200 people as of 2017.[24]
Classification
Maltese is descended from Siculo-Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family,[25] that in the course of its history has been influenced by Sicilian and Italian, to a lesser extent French, and more recently English. Today, the core vocabulary (including both the most commonly used vocabulary and function words) is Semitic, with large numbers of loanwords.[9] Because of the Sicilian influence on Siculo-Arabic, Maltese has many language contact features and is most commonly described as a language with a large number of loanwords.[26]
The Maltese language has historically been classified in various ways, with some claiming that the ancient
Dialects
Urban varieties of Maltese are closer to Standard Maltese than rural varieties,[30] which have some characteristics that distinguish them from Standard Maltese.
They tend to show some archaic features[30] such as the realisation of ⟨kh⟩ and ⟨gh⟩ and the imāla of Arabic ā into ē (or ī especially in Gozo), considered archaic because they are reminiscent of 15th-century transcriptions of this sound.[30] Another archaic feature is the realisation of Standard Maltese ā as ō in rural dialects.[30] There is also a tendency to diphthongise simple vowels, e.g., ū becomes eo or eu.[30] Rural dialects also tend to employ more Semitic roots and
Phonology
Consonants
Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal
|
m | n
|
||||||||||
Plosive
|
p | b | t |
d
|
k | ɡ | ʔ | |||||
Affricate
|
t͡s | d͡z | t͡ʃ | d͡ʒ | ||||||||
Fricative
|
f | v | s | z | ʃ | ʒ | ħ | |||||
Trill | r
|
|||||||||||
Approximant
|
l
|
j | w |
Voiceless stops are only lightly aspirated and voiced stops are fully voiced. Voicing is carried over from the last segment in obstruent clusters; thus, two- and three-obstruent clusters are either voiceless or voiced throughout, e.g. /niktbu/ is realised [ˈniɡdbu] "we write" (similar assimilation phenomena occur in languages like French or Czech). Maltese has final-obstruent devoicing of voiced obstruents and word-final voiceless stops have no audible release, making voiceless–voiced pairs phonetically indistinguishable in word-final position.[33]
Gemination is distinctive word-medially and word-finally in Maltese. The distinction is most rigid intervocalically after a stressed vowel. Stressed, word-final closed syllables with short vowels end in a long consonant, and those with a long vowel in a single consonant; the only exception is where historic *ʕ and *ɣ meant the compensatory lengthening of the succeeding vowel. Some speakers have lost length distinction in clusters.[34]
The two nasals /m/ and /n/ assimilate for place of articulation in clusters.[35] /t/ and /d/ are usually dental, whereas /t͡s d͡z s z n r l/ are all alveolar. /t͡s d͡z/ are found mostly in words of Italian origin, retaining length (if not word-initial).[36] /d͡z/ and /ʒ/ are only found in loanwords, e.g. /ɡad͡zd͡zɛtta/ "newspaper" and /tɛlɛˈviʒin/ "television".[37] The pharyngeal fricative /ħ/ is velar ([x]), uvular ([χ]), or glottal ([h]) for some speakers.[38]
Vowels
Maltese has five short vowels, /ɐ ɛ ɪ ɔ ʊ/, written a e i o u; six long vowels, /ɐː ɛː ɪː iː ɔː ʊː/, written a, e, ie, i, o, u, all of which (with the exception of ie /ɪː/) can be known to represent long vowels in writing only if they are followed by an orthographic għ or h (otherwise, one needs to know the pronunciation; e.g. nar (fire) is pronounced /naːr/); and seven diphthongs, /ɐɪ ɐʊ ɛɪ ɛʊ ɪʊ ɔɪ ɔʊ/, written aj or għi, aw or għu, ej or għi, ew, iw, oj, and ow or għu.[4]
Historical phonology
The original Arabic consonant system has undergone partial collapse under European influence, with many Classical Arabic consonants having undergone mergers and modifications in Maltese:[39]
Classical Arabic | ت /t/ | ط /tˤ/ | ث /θ/ | د /d/ | ض /dˤ/ | ذ /ð/ | ظ /ðˤ/ | س /s/ | ص /sˤ/ | ح /ħ/ | خ /x~χ/ | ع /ʕ/ | غ /ɣ~ʁ/ | ق /q/ | ه /h/ | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maltese | /t/ | /d/ | /s/ | /ħ/ | /ʕ/ | /ʔ/ | /k/ | /∅/ |
Orthography
Alphabet
This section needs editing to comply with Wikipedia's Manual of Style. In particular, it has problems with punctuation and text styling in the table. (October 2022) |
The modern system of Maltese orthography was introduced in 1924.[40] Below is the Maltese alphabet, with IPA symbols and approximate English pronunciation:
Letter | Name | IPA (Alphabet Name(s)) | Maltese example | IPA (orthographically representing) | Approximate English pronunciation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
A a | a | aː | anġlu (angel) | ɐ, aː, æː | similar to 'u' in nut in RP; [aː] similar to father in Irish English; [æː] similar to cat in American English, in some dialects it may be [ɒː] in some locations as in what in some American English Dialects |
B b | be | beː | ballun (ball) | b | bar, but at the end of a word it is devoiced to [p]. |
Ċ ċ | ċe | t͡ʃeː | ċavetta (key) | t͡ʃ | church (note: undotted 'c' has been replaced by 'k', so when 'c' does appear, it is to be spoken the same way as 'ċ') |
D d | de | deː | dar (home) | d | day, but at the end of a word it is devoiced to [t]. |
E e | e | eː | envelopp (envelope) | eː, ɛ, øː, ə | [e:] somewhat like face in Northern England English [ɛ] end when short, it is often changed to [øː, œ] when following and more often when followed by a w, when at the end in an unstressed syllable it is pronounced as schwa [ə, Vᵊ] comma |
F f | effe | ɛf(ː)ᵊ | fjura (flower) | f | far |
Ġ ġ | ġe | d͡ʒøː | ġelat (ice cream) | d͡ʒ | gem, but at the end of a word it is devoiced to [tʃ]. |
G g | ge | geː | gallettina (biscuit) | ɡ | game, but at the end of a word it is devoiced to [k]. |
GĦ għ | ajn | ajn, æːn | għasfur (bird) | (ˤ)ː, ħː | has the effect of lengthening and pharyngealising associated vowels (għi and għu are [i̞(ˤ)j] (may be transcribed as [ə(ˤ)j]) and [oˤ]). When found at the end of a word or immediately before 'h' it has the sound of a double 'ħ' (see below).
|
H h | akka | ak(ː)ɐ | hu (he) | not pronounced unless it is at the end of a word, in which case it has the sound of 'ħ'. | |
Ħ ħ | ħe | ħeː, heː, xe: | ħanut (shop) | ħ | no English equivalent; sounds similar to /h/ but is articulated with a lowered larynx. |
I i | i | iː | ikel (food) | i̞ː, iː, ɪ | [i̞ː] bite (the way commonly realized in Irish English or [iː] in other words as beet but more forward) and when short as [ɪ] bit, occasionally 'i' is used to display il-vokali tal-leħen(the vowel of the voice) as in words like l-iskola or l-iMdina ,in this case it takes the schwa sound. |
IE ie | ie | iːᵊ, ɛː | ieqaf (stop) | ɛː, iːᵊ | sounds similar to yield or RP near, or opened up slightly towards bed or RP square |
J j | je | jə, jæ, jɛ | jum (day) | j | yard |
K k | ke | kə, kæ, kɛ | kelb (dog) | k | kettle |
L l | elle | ɛl(ː)ᵊ | libsa (dress) | l | line |
M m | emme | ɛm(ː)ᵊ | mara (woman) | m | march |
N n | enne | ɛn(ː)ᵊ | nanna (granny) | n | next |
O o | o | oː | ors (bear) | o, ɔ, ɒ | [o] as in somewhere between similar to Scottish English o in no [ɔ] like 'aw' in RP law, but short or [ɒ] as in water in some American dialects. |
P p | pe | peː, pə | paġna (page, sheet) | p | part |
Q q | qe | ʔø, ʔ(ʷ)ɛ, ʔ(ʷ)æ, ʔ(ʷ)ə | qattus (cat) | ʔ | glottal stop, found in the Cockney English pronunciation of "bottle" or the phrase "uh-oh" /ʔʌʔoʊ/. |
R r | erre | ɛɹ(ː)ᵊ, æɹ(:)ᵊ, ɚ(ː)ᵊ or ɛr(ː)ᵊ, ær(:)ᵊ, ər(ː)ᵊ | re (king) | r, ɹ | [r] as in General American English butter, or ɹ road (r realization changes depending on dialect or location in the word.) |
S s | esse | ɛs(ː)ᵊ | sliem (peace) |
s | sand |
T t | te | teː | tieqa (window) | t | tired |
U u | u | uː, ʉ | uviera (egg cup) | u, ʉ, ʊ | [u] as in General American English boot or in some dialects it may be realized as [ʉ] as in some American English realizations of student, short u is [ʊ] put |
V v | ve | vøː, veː, və | vjola (violet) | v | vast, but at the end of a word it is devoiced to [f] may be said as [w] in the word Iva(yes) sometimes this is just written as Iwa. |
W w | ve doppja /u doppja/we | vedɒp(ː)jɐ, uːdɒp(ː)jɐ, wøː | widna (ear) | w | west |
X x | xe | ʃə, ʃøː | xadina (monkey) | ʃ / ʒ | shade, sometimes as measure; when doubled the sound is elongated, as in "Cash shin" vs. "Cash in". |
Ż ż | że/żeta | zə, zø:, ze:t(ɐ) | żarbun (shoe) | z | maze, but at the end of a word it is devoiced to [s]. |
Z z | ze | t͡sə, t͡søː, t͡seːt(ɐ) | zalza (sauce) | t͡s / d͡z | pizza |
Final vowels with grave accents (à, è, ì, ò, ù) are also found in some Maltese words of Italian origin, such as libertà ("freedom"), sigurtà (old Italian: sicurtà, "security"), or soċjetà (Italian: società, "society").
The official rules governing the structure of the Maltese language are recorded in the official guidebook Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija (English: Knowledge on Writing in Maltese) issued by the Akkademja tal-Malti (Academy of the Maltese language). The first edition of this book was printed in 1924 by the Maltese government's printing press. The rules were further expanded in the 1984 book, iż-Żieda mat-Tagħrif, which focused mainly on the increasing influence of Romance and English words. In 1992 the academy issued the Aġġornament tat-Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija, which updated the previous works.[41]
The National Council for the Maltese Language (KNM) is the main regulator of the Maltese language (see Maltese Language Act, below). However, the academy's orthography rules are still valid and official.
Written Maltese
Since Maltese evolved after the Italo-Normans ended Arab rule of the islands, a written form of the language was not developed for a long time after the Arabs' expulsion in the middle of the thirteenth century. Under the rule of the Knights Hospitaller, both French and Italian were used for official documents and correspondence. During the British colonial period, the use of English was encouraged through education, with Italian being regarded as the next-most important language.
In the late 18th century and throughout the 19th century, philologists and academics such as Mikiel Anton Vassalli made a concerted effort to standardise written Maltese. Many examples of written Maltese exist from before this period, always in the Latin alphabet, Il-Kantilena from the 15th century being the earliest example of written Maltese. In 1934, Maltese was recognised as an official language.
Samples
The Maltese language has a tendency to have both Semitic vocabulary and also vocabulary derived from Romance languages, primarily Italian. Words such as tweġiba (Arab origin) and risposta (Italian origin) have the same meaning (answer) but can be and are both used in Maltese. Below are two versions of the same translations, one in vocabulary derived mostly from Semitic root words while the other uses Romance loanwords (from the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, see p. 17):
English | Maltese (Semitic vocabulary) | Maltese (Romance vocabulary) |
---|---|---|
The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail. |
L-Għaqda hija mibnija fuq is-siwi ta' għadir għall-ġieħ il-bniedem, ta' ħelsien, ta' għażil il-ġemgħa, ta' ndaqs bejn il-ġnus, tas-saltna tad-dritt[a] u tal-għadir għall-ħaqq tal-bniedem, wkoll il-ħaqq ta' wħud li huma f'minoranzi.[b] Dan is-siwi huwa mqassam bejn il-Pajjiżi[c] Msieħba, f'nies li tħaddan il-kotrija, li ma tgħejjibx, li ddann, li tgħaqqad u li tiżen indaqs in-nisa u l-irġiel. |
L-Unjoni hija bbażata fuq il-valuri tar-rispett għad-dinjità tal-bniedem, il-libertà, id-demokrazija, l-ugwaljanza, l-istat tad-dritt u r-rispett għad-drittijiet tal-bniedem, inklużi d-drittijiet ta' persuni li jagħmlu parti minn minoranzi. Dawn il-valuri huma komuni għall-Istati Membri f'soċjetà fejn jipprevalu l-pluraliżmu, in-non-diskriminazzjoni, it-tolleranza, il-ġustizzja, is-solidarjetà u l-ugwaljanza bejn in-nisa u l-irġiel. |
Below is the Lord's Prayer in Maltese compared to other Semitic languages (Arabic and Syriac) which cognates highlighted:
English | Maltese[42] | Arabic (Romanised)[43] | Syriac (Romanised)[44] |
---|---|---|---|
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen |
Missierna, li inti fis-smewwiet, jitqaddes ismek, tiġi saltnatek, ikun li trid int, kif fis-sema, hekkda fl-art.
Ħobżna ta' kuljum agħtina llum. Aħfrilna dnubietna, bħalma naħfru lil min hu ħati għalina. U la ddaħħalniex fit-tiġrib, iżda eħlisna mid-deni. Ammen |
Abana, alladhi fis-samawat, li yataqaddas ismuka, li ya’ati malakutuka, litakun mashi'atuka, kama fis-sama’ kadhlika 'ala al ard. khubzana kafafana 'atiina alyawm, wa agfhir lana dhunubana, kama naghfiru nahnu aidan lil mudnibin ilayna. Wa la tudkhilna fi tajariba, lakin najjina min ashiriir. Amin |
Abun, d-bashmayo, nithqadash shmokh, tithe malkuthokh, nehwe sebyonokh aykano d-bashmayo oph bar`o.
hab lan lahmo d-sunqonan yowmono washbuq lan hawbayn wahtohayn aykano doph hnan shbaqan l-hayobayn lo ta`lan l-nesyuno elo paso lan men bisho Amin |
Vocabulary
Although the original vocabulary of the language was
The historical source of modern Maltese vocabulary is 52% Italian/Sicilian, 32% Siculo-Arabic, and 6% English, with some of the remainder being French.
Romance
An analysis of the etymology of the 41,000 words in Aquilina's Maltese-English Dictionary shows that words of Romance origin make up 52% of the Maltese vocabulary,[9] although other sources claim from as low as 40%,[10] to as high as 55%. This vocabulary tends to deal with more complex concepts. They are mostly derived from Sicilian and thus exhibit Sicilian phonetic characteristics, such as /u/ in place of /o/, and /i/ in place of /e/ (e.g. tiatru not teatro and fidi not fede). Also, as with Old Sicilian, /ʃ/ (English 'sh') is written 'x' and this produces spellings such as: ambaxxata /ambaʃːaːta/ ('embassy'), xena /ʃeːna/ ('scene' cf. Italian ambasciata, scena).
Maltese | Sicilian | Italian | English |
---|---|---|---|
skola | scola | scuola | school |
gvern | cuvernu | governo | government |
repubblika | ripùbblica | repubblica | republic |
re | re | re | king (Germanic) |
natura | natura | natura | nature |
pulizija | pulizzìa | polizia | police |
ċentru | centru | centro | centre |
teatru | tiatru | teatro | theatre |
A tendency in modern Maltese is to adopt further influences from English and Italian. Complex Latinate English words adopted into Maltese are often given Italianate or Sicilianate forms,[9] even if the resulting words do not appear in either of those languages. For instance, the words "evaluation", "industrial action", and "chemical armaments" become "evalwazzjoni", "azzjoni industrjali", and "armamenti kimiċi" in Maltese, while the Italian terms are valutazione, vertenza sindacale, and armi chimiche respectively. (The origin of the terms may be narrowed even further to British English; the phrase "industrial action" is meaningless in the United States.) This is also comparable to the situation with English borrowings into the Italo-Australian dialect. English words of Germanic origin are generally preserved relatively unchanged.
Some influences of African Romance on Arabic and Berber spoken in the Maghreb are theorised, which may then have passed into Maltese.[47] For example, in calendar month names, the word furar "February" is only found in the Maghreb and in Maltese – proving the word's ancient origins. The region also has a form of another Latin named month in awi/ussu < augustus.[47] This word does not appear to be a loan word through Arabic, and may have been taken over directly from Late Latin or African Romance.[47] Scholars theorise that a Latin-based system provided forms such as awi/ussu and furar in African Romance, with the system then mediating Latin/Romance names through Arabic for some month names during the Islamic period.[48] The same situation exists for Maltese which mediated words from Italian, and retains both non-Italian forms such as awissu/awwissu and frar, and Italian forms such as april.[48]
Siculo-Arabic
Siculo-Arabic is the
of the language's vocabulary.Maltese | Siculo-Arabic (in Sicilian) |
Arabic text | English |
---|---|---|---|
bebbuxu | babbaluciu | ببوش (babbūš) |
snail |
ġiebja | gebbia | جب (jabb) | cistern |
ġunġlien | giuggiulena | جنجلان (junjulān) | sesame seed |
sieqja | saia | ساقية (sāqiyah) | canal |
kenur | tannura | تنور (tannūr) | oven |
żagħfran | zaffarana | زعفران (zaʿfarān) | saffron |
żahra (less common than fjura, borrowed from Medieval Sicilian) | zagara | زهرة (zahrah) | blossom |
żbib | zibbibbu | زبيب (zabīb) | raisins |
zokk (may be borrowed from Sicilian) | zuccu | ساق (sāq) | tree trunk |
tebut | tabbutu | تابوت (tābūt) | coffin |
Żammit (2000) found that 40% of a sample of 1,821 Quranic Arabic roots were found in Maltese, a lower percentage than found in Moroccan (58%) and Lebanese Arabic (72%).[49] An analysis of the etymology of the 41,000 words in Aquilina's Maltese-English Dictionary shows that 32% of the Maltese vocabulary is of Arabic origin,[9] although another source claims 40%.[10][50] Usually, words expressing basic concepts and ideas, such as raġel (man), mara (woman), tifel (boy), dar (house), xemx (sun), sajf (summer), are of Arabic origin. Moreover, belles-lettres in Maltese tend to aim mainly at diction belonging to this group.[30]
The Maltese language has merged many of the original Arabic consonants, in particular the
Since the attested vocabulary of Siculo-Arabic is limited, the following table compares cognates in Maltese and some other varieties of Arabic (all forms are written phonetically, as in the source):[51]
Maltese | Cairene | Damascene | Iraqi |
Negev (bedouin) |
Yemenite (Sanaani) |
Moroccan | Modern Standard Arabic | English |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
qalb | 'alb | 'aleb | qalb | galb | galb | qalb | قلب (qalb) | heart |
waqt | wa't | wa'et | waket | wagt | wagt | waqt | وقت (waqt) | time |
qamar | 'amar | 'amar | qamaɣ | gumar | gamar | qmar | قمر (qamar) | moon |
kelb | kalb | kaleb | kalb | čalb | kalb | kalb | كلب (kalb) | dog |
Berber
Like all Maghrebi Arabic dialects, Maltese has a significant vocabulary derived from Berber languages. Whether these words entered Maltese by being inherited from Siculo-Arabic or directly loaned Berber languages is not yet known. These include:[52]
Maltese | Berber languages | English |
---|---|---|
gremxula | azrem ašal, lit. 'land worm', (Kabyle) | lizard |
fekruna | tifakrunin (Jerbi), ifekran (Tashelhiyt), ifkran (Kabyle) | turtle |
geddum | aqadum, lit. 'face, frown' (Kabyle) | chin |
gendus | gandūz, lit. 'young calf' (Jerbi) | ox, bull |
gerżuma | ageržum (Mozabite, Tashelhiyt) | throat |
tfief | tilfaf (Ouargli), tifāf, tilfāf, tiffāf (Tarifit) | sow thistle (Sonchus oleraceus) |
tengħud | talaɣūda (Tunisian Arabic), telɣūda (Algerian Arabic) | spurge (Euphorbia) |
kosksu | kuskesu, kuskus (Kabyle) | couscous, small round pasta |
fartas | aferḍas (Ouargli, Kabyle) | bald |
għaffeġ | ‘affež (Algerian Arabic), effeẓ (Ouargli, Mozabite) | to crush, to squash |
żrinġ | tažrant (Jerbi) | frog |
żrar | zrar (Mozabite, Ouargli), azrar (Kabyle, Nafusi) | gravel |
werżieq | wárẓag (Mrazig) | cicada, lit. screamer, shrieker |
buqexrem | buqišrem (Kabyle) | vervain (Verbena officinalis) |
fidloqqom | fudalɣem (Kabyle) | borage (Borago officinalis) |
żorr | uzur (Kabyle), uzzur (Tarifit) | rude, arrogant |
lellex | lelleš (Mozabite) | to shine, to glitter |
pespes | bbesbes (Ouargli) | to whisper |
teptep | ṭṭebṭeb (Ouargli) | to blink, to twinkle |
webbel | webben (Mozabite) | to induce, to tempt |
English
It is estimated that English loanwords, which are becoming more commonplace, make up 20% of the Maltese vocabulary,[10] although other sources claim amounts as low as 6%.[9] This percentage discrepancy is due to the fact that a number of new English loanwords are sometimes not officially considered part of the Maltese vocabulary; hence, they are not included in certain dictionaries.[9] Also, English loanwards of Latinate origin are very often Italianised, as discussed above. English loanwords are generally transliterated, although standard English pronunciation is virtually always retained. Below are a few examples:
Maltese | English |
---|---|
futbol | football |
baskitbol | basketball |
klabb | club |
friġġ | fridge |
"Fridge" is a common shortening of "refrigerator". "Refrigerator" is a Latinate word which could be imported into Maltese as rifriġeratori, whereas the Italian word is frigorifero or refrigeratore.
Calendar
The days of the week (Maltese: jiem il-ġimgħa) in Maltese are referred to by number, as is typical of other Semitic languages, especially Arabic. Days of the week are commonly preceded by the word nhar meaning 'day'.
English | Maltese | Literal |
---|---|---|
Sunday | Il-Ħadd | first [day] |
Monday | It-Tnejn | second [day] |
Tuesday | It-Tlieta | third [day] |
Wednesday | L-Erbgħa | fourth [day] |
Thursday | Il-Ħamis | fifth [day] |
Friday | Il-Ġimgħa | gathering [day] |
Saturday | Is-Sibt | Sabbath [day] |
The months of the year (Maltese: xhur is-sena) in Maltese are mostly derived from Sicilian, but Frar and Awwissu are possibly derived from African Romance through Siculo-Arabic.
English | Maltese |
---|---|
January | Jannar |
February | Frar |
March | Marzu |
April | April |
May | Mejju |
June | Ġunju |
July | Lulju |
August | Awwissu |
September | Settembru |
October | Ottubru |
November | Novembru |
December | Diċembru |
Time
English | Maltese |
---|---|
today | illum |
yesterday | ilbieraħ |
tomorrow | għada |
second | sekonda |
minute | minuta (archaic: dqiqa) |
hour | siegħa |
day | jum or ġurnata |
week | ġimgħa |
month | xahar |
year | sena |
Question words
English | Maltese | Example | Translation |
---|---|---|---|
What (standalone) | Xiex | Xiex? | What? |
What (preceding) | X' | X' għamilt? | What did you do? |
Who | Min | Min hu dak? | Who is he? |
How | Kif | Kif inti llum? | How are you today? |
Where | Fejn | Fejn sejjer? | Where are you going? |
Where (from) | Mnejn | Mnejn ġie? | Where did he come from? |
Why | Għala, Għaliex, Għalxiex, Ilgħala | Għala telaq? | Why did he leave? |
Which | Liem, Liema | Liem wieħed hu tajjeb? | Which one is good? |
When | Meta | Meta ħa titlaq? | When will you leave? |
How Much | Kemm | Kemm jiswa dan? | How much does this cost? |
Grammar
Maltese grammar is fundamentally derived from Siculo-Arabic, although Romance and English noun pluralisation patterns are also used on borrowed words.
Adjectives and adverbs
Adjectives follow nouns. There are no separately formed native adverbs, and word order is fairly flexible. Both nouns and adjectives of Semitic origin take the definite article (for example, It-tifel il-kbir, lit. "The boy the elder"="The elder boy"). This rule does not apply to adjectives of Romance origin.
Nouns
Nouns are pluralised and also have a
Words of Romance origin are usually pluralised in two manners: addition of -i or -jiet. For example, lingwa, lingwi "languages", from Sicilian lingua, lingui.
Words of English origin are pluralised by adding either an "-s" or "-jiet", for example, friġġ, friġis from the word fridge. Some words can be pluralised with either of the suffixes to denote the plural. A few words borrowed from English can amalgamate both suffixes, like brikksa from the English brick, which can adopt either collective form brikks or the plural form brikksiet.
Derivation
As in
- CaCiC – xadin (monkey), sadid (rust)
- CCiC – żbib (raisin)
- CaCCa – baqra (cow), basla (onion)
- CeCCa – werqa (leaf), xewqa (wish)
- CoCCa – borka (wild duck), forka (gallows)
- CaCC – qalb (heart), sajd (fishing)
- CeCC – kelb (dog), xemx (sun)
- CCuCija – tfulija (childhood), xbubija (maidenhood)
- CCuCa – rtuba (softness), bjuda (whiteness)
- CaCCaC – tallab (beggar), bajjad (whitewasher)
The so-called mimated nouns use the
, etc. These are some of the patterns used for mimated nouns:- ma-CCeC – marden (spindle)
- mi-CCeC – minkeb (elbow), miżwed (pod)
- mu-CCaC – musmar (nail), munqar (beak)
Article
The
The Maltese article becomes l- before or after a vowel.
- l-omm (the mother)
- rajna l-Papa (we saw the Pope)
- il-missier (the father)
The Maltese article
- Ċ iċ-ċikkulata (the chocolate)
- D id-dar (the house)
- N in-nar (the fire)
- R ir-razzett (the farm)
- S is-serrieq (the saw)
- T it-tifel (the child)
- X ix-xemx (the sun)
- Ż iż-żarbuna (the shoe)
- Z iz-zalzett (the sausage)
Verbs
Verbs show a
An example would be the Semitic root X-M-X, which has something related to the sun, example: xemx (sun), xmux (suns), xemxi (sunny), xemxata (sunstroke), nixxemmex (I sunbathe), ma xxemmixtx (I didn't sunbathe), tixmix (the act of sunbathing). Maltese also features the stringing of verb suffixes indicating direction of action, for example; agħmilhomli "make them for me"← agħmel "make" in the imperative + hom from huma "them" + li suffix indicating first person singular; ħasletielu "she washed it for him"←ħaslet "she washed" from the verb ħasel "to wash" + ie the object + lu suffix indicating third person masculine singular.
Media
With Malta being a multilingual country, the usage of Maltese in the mass media is shared with other European languages, namely English and Italian. The majority of television stations broadcast from Malta in English or Maltese, although broadcasts from Italy in Italian are also received on the islands. Similarly, there are more Maltese-language radio programs than English ones broadcast from Malta, but again, as with television, Italian broadcasts are also picked up. Maltese generally receives equal usage in newspaper periodicals to English.
By the early 2000s, the use of the Maltese language on the Internet is uncommon, and the number of websites written in Maltese are few. In a survey of Maltese cultural websites conducted in 2004 on behalf of the Maltese Government, 12 of 13 were in English only, while the remaining one was multilingual but did not include Maltese.[54] In 2011, only 6.5 percent of Maltese internet users reported employing Maltese online, which may be a consequence of the lack of online support for the language.[55]
Code-switching
The Maltese population, being fluent in both Maltese and English, displays code-switching (referred to as Maltenglish) in certain localities and between certain social groups.[9]
See also
Footnotes
Notes
- ^ a b Maltese at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
- ^ "Constitution of Malta". Leġiżlazzjoni Malta. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
- ^ So who are the 'real' Maltese. Times of Malta. September 13, 2014. Archived from the original on 2016-03-12.
The kind of Arabic used in the Maltese language is most likely derived from the language spoken by those that repopulated the island from Sicily in the early second millennium; it is known as Siculo-Arab. The Maltese are mostly descendants of these people.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-02243-9.
In fact, Maltese displays some areal traits typical of Maghrebine Arabic, although over the past 800 years of independent evolution it has drifted apart from Tunisian and Libyan Arabic
- ^ Brincat (2005): "Originally Maltese was an Arabic dialect but it was immediately exposed to Latinisation because the Normans conquered the islands in 1090, while Christianisation, which was complete by 1250, cut off the dialect from contact with Classical Arabic. Consequently Maltese developed on its own, slowly but steadily absorbing new words from Sicilian and Italian according to the needs of the developing community."
- ISBN 9781575061092. Archivedfrom the original on 2017-09-30.
Maltese is the chief exception: Classical or Standard Arabic is irrelevant in the Maltese linguistic community and there is no diglossia.
- ISBN 9781575061092. Archivedfrom the original on 2017-09-30.
yet it is in its morphology that Maltese also shows the most elaborate and deeply embedded influence from the Romance languages, Sicilian and Italian, with which it has long been in intimate contact.... As a result Maltese is unique and different from Arabic and other Semitic languages.
- ^ Brincat (2005): "An analysis of the etymology of the 41,000 words in Aquilina's Maltese-English Dictionary shows that 32.41% are of Arabic origin, 52.46% are from Sicilian and Italian, and 6.12% are from English. Although nowadays we know that all languages are mixed to varying degrees, this is quite an unusual formula. However, the words derived from Arabic are more frequent because they denote the basic ideas and include the function words."
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Brincat (2005).
- ^ a b c d e "Languages across Europe – Maltese, Malti". BBC. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ "Mutual Intelligibility of Spoken Maltese, Libyan Arabic and Tunisian Arabic Functionally Tested: A Pilot Study". p. 1. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
To summarise our findings, we might observe that when it comes to the most basic everyday language, as reflected in our data sets, speakers of Maltese are able to understand less than a third of what is being said to them in either Tunisian or Benghazi Libyan Arabic.
- ISBN 0-415-02243-6.
- ^ "Mutual Intelligibility of Spoken Maltese, Libyan Arabic and Tunisian Arabic Functionally Tested: A Pilot Study". p. 1. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
Speakers of Tunisian and Libyan Arabic are able to understand about 40% of what is said to them in Maltese.
- ^ "Mutual Intelligibility of Spoken Maltese, Libyan Arabic and Tunisian Arabic Functionally Tested: A Pilot Study". p. 1. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
In comparison, speakers of Libyan Arabic and speakers of Tunisian Arabic understand about two-thirds of what is being said to them.
- ^ The Cantilena. 2013-10-19. Archived from the original on 2015-12-08.
- ^ Il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti. Archived from the original on 2014-01-06.
Fundamentally, Maltese is a Semitic tongue, the same as Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician, Carthaginian and Ethiopian. However, unlike other Semitic languages, Maltese is written in the Latin alphabet, but with the addition of special characters to accommodate certain Semitic sounds. Nowadays, however, there is much in the Maltese language today that is not Semitic, due to the immeasurable Romantic influence from our succession of (Southern) European rulers through the ages.
- ^ a b c Brincat (2005)
- ^ Felice, A. E. (5 August 2007). "Genetic origin of contemporary Maltese". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
- S2CID 25536759.
- ^ a b c d L-Akkademja tal-Malti. "The Maltese Language Academy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23.
- ^ JSTOR 194709.
- ISSN 2005-0836.
- ^ "As at the 2006 Australian Census, the number of Australians speaking Maltese at home was 36,514, compared to 41,250 in 2001 and 45,243 in 1996. The 2006 figures represent a drop of 19.29% when compared with the 1996 figures. Given that many of those who speak Maltese at home are over the age of 60, the number of Maltese speakers will invariably go for a nosedive by 2016." Joseph Carmel Chetcuti, Why It's time to bury the Maltese language in Australia, Malta Independent, 2 March 2010.
- ^ Nigel Mifsud, Malta's Ambassador meets Maltese who have lived their whole life in Tunisia, TVM, 13 November 2017.
- ^ Merritt Ruhlen. 1991. A Guide to the World's Languages, Volume 1: Classification. Stanford.
David Dalby. 2000. The Linguasphere Register of the World's Languages and Speech Communities. Linguasphere Observatory.
Gordon, Raymond G., Jr., ed. 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 15th ed. Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Alan S. Kaye & Judith Rosenhouse. 1997. "Arabic Dialects and Maltese", The Semitic Languages. Ed. Robert Hetzron. Routledge. Pages 263–311. - ^ Borg (1997).
- ^ Vella (2004), p. 263.
- ^ "Punic language". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2013. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
- ISBN 9780761409939. Retrieved 12 January 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ ISBN 965-264-014-X
- ^ Hume (1996), p. 165.
- ^ Borg (1997), p. 248.
- ^ Borg (1997), pp. 249–250.
- ^ Borg (1997), pp. 251–252.
- ^ Borg (1997), p. 255.
- ^ Borg (1997), p. 254.
- ^ Borg (1997), p. 247.
- ^ Borg (1997), p. 260.
- ISBN 978-3-96110-070-5.
- ISBN 978-3-11-011103-3.
- ISBN 978-90-04-10091-6.
- ^ "Missierna : Malta". www.wordproject.org. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "Arabic Prayer-The Lord's Prayer". www.lords-prayer-words.com. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "The Lord's Prayer". syriacorthodoxresources.org. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ Friggieri (1994), p. 59.
- ^ About Malta[permanent dead link]; GTS; retrieved on 2008-02-24
- ^ a b c Kossmann 2013, p. 75.
- ^ a b Kossmann 2013, p. 76.
- ^ Żammit (2000), pp. 241–245.
- ^ Compare with approx. 25–33% of Old English or Germanic words in Modern English.
- ^ Kaye, Alan S.; Rosenhouse, Judith (1997). "Arabic Dialects and Maltese". In Hetzron, Robert (ed.). The Semitic Languages. Routledge. pp. 263–311.
- ^ Hull, Geoffrey (2019). "Exploring the Berber element in Maltese".
- ^ "Teach Yourself Maltese Joseph Aquilina".
- ^ "Country report for MINERVA Plus in 2005". Multilingual issues in Malta. Archived from the original on 2008-02-27. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
- ^ Camilleri, Ivan (May 16, 2011). "Maltese language hardly used on the internet". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
References
- Aquilina, Joseph (1965). Teach Yourself Maltese. English University Press.
- Azzopardi, C. (2007). Gwida għall-Ortografija. Malta: Klabb Kotba Maltin.
- Borg, Alexander (1997). "Maltese Phonology". In Kaye, Alan S. (ed.). Phonologies of Asia and Africa. Vol. 1. Eisenbrauns. pp. 245–285. ISBN 9781575060194.
- Borg, Albert J.; Azzopardi-Alexander, Marie (1997). Maltese. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-02243-9.
- Brincat, Joseph M. (2005). "Maltese – an unusual formula". MED Magazine (27). Archived from the original on 5 September 2005. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
- Bugeja, Kaptan Pawlu, Kelmet il-Malti (Maltese—English, English—Maltese Dictionary). Associated News Group, Floriana. 1999.
- Friggieri, Oliver (1994). "Main Trends in the History of Maltese Literature". S2CID 144795860.
- Hume, Elizabeth (1996). "Coronal Consonant, Front Vowel Parallels in Maltese". S2CID 170703136.
- Kossmann, Maarten (2013). The Arabic Influence on Northern Berber. Brill. )
- Mifsud, M.; A. J. Borg (1997). Fuq l-għatba tal-Malti. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
- Vassalli, Michelantonio (1827). Grammatica della lingua Maltese. Stampata per l'autore.
- Vella, Alexandra (2004). "Language contact and Maltese intonation: Some parallels with other language varieties". In Kurt Braunmüller and Gisella Ferraresi (ed.). Aspects of Multilingualism in European Language History. Hamburg Studies on Multiculturalism. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 263. ISBN 978-90-272-1922-0.
- Żammit, Martin (2000). "Arabic and Maltese Cognate Roots". In Mifsud, Manwel (ed.). Proceedings of the Third International Conference of Aida. Malta: Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe. pp. 241–245. ISBN 978-99932-0-044-4.
Further reading
- (it) Giovan Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis, Della lingua punica presentemente usata da maltesi, per Generoso Salomoni alla Piazza di S. Ignazio. Si vendono in Malta, 1750
- (it) Antonio Emanuele Caruana, Sull'origine della Lingua Maltese, Malta, Tipografia C. Busuttil, 1896
- (it) Giovanni Battista Falzon, Dizionario Maltese-Italiano-Inglese, G. Muscat, 1845 (1 ed.), 1882 (2 ed.)
- (it) Giuseppe Nicola Letard, Nuova guida alla conversazione italiana, inglese e maltese ad uso delle scuole, Malta, 1866–75
- (it) Fortunato Panzavecchia, Grammatica della Lingua Maltese, M. Weiss, Malta, 1845
- (it) Michele Antonio Vassalli, Grammatica della lingua Maltese, 2 ed., Malta, 1827
- (it) Michele Antonio Vassalli, Lexicon Melitense-Latino-Italum, Roma, Fulgonius, 1796
- (it) Francesco Vella, Osservazioni sull'alfabeto maltese, 1840
- (it) Francesca Morando, Il-lingwa Maltija. Origine, storia, comparazione linguistica e aspetti morfologici, Prefazione di Joseph M. Brincat, Palermo, Edizioni La Zisa, 2017, ISBN 978-88-9911-339-1
- (en) S. Mamo, English-Maltese Dictionary, Malta, A. Aquilina, 1885
- (en) A Short Grammar of the Maltese Language, Malta, 1845
- (en) C. F. Schlienz, Views on the Improvement of the Maltese Language, Malta, 1838
- (en) Francesco Vella, Maltese Grammar for the Use of the English, Glaucus Masi, Leghorn, 1831
- (en) Francesco Vella, Dizionario portatile delle lingue Maltese Italiana, Inglese. pt. 1, Livorno, 1843
- (en) Joseph Aquilina, Teach Yourself Maltese, English University Press, 1965
- (en) Geoffrey Hull, The Malta Language Question: A Case Study in Cultural Imperialism, Said International, Valletta, 1993
- (mt) Vicenzo Busuttil, Diziunariu mill Inglis ghall Malti, 2 parts, N. C. Cortis & Sons, Malta, 1900
External links
- Maltese travel guide from Wikivoyage
- Maltese languages and literatures collection of L-Università ta' Malta