The Akkademja tal-Malti and the Maltese department of the University of Malta are in the phase of naming persons who will be members of the National Council for the Maltese Language.
A national council to safeguard linguistic heritage and promote a linguistic strategy for Maltese should be set up as soon as the bill on the Maltese language is enacted.
Speaking to The Times, Charles Briffa, president of the Akkademja tal-Malti, said that as provided for by the law, the council would have an executive commission and a technical commission made up of smaller technical committees which would set linguistic standards in the different areas involving the use of Maltese: linguistic translation, the media, orthography, literature and information technology.
"The aim of having a national council for the Maltese language is to set standards on the use of written and spoken Maltese today. The idea is not to have a set of archaic rules which nobody respects, but to control the development of the Maltese language by keeping in mind that language is not static but dynamic," Dr Briffa said.
According to most contemporary linguists, language is ever changing because it is constantly being used and therefore cannot remain fixed in time.
"A controlled development of language should take account of new concepts, words and elements that are gradually incorporated into Maltese. For example, it is now accepted that the suffix "-s", used in English to derive the plural, can be used to derive the plural for those Maltese words which we have inherited from the English language," Dr Briffa said, insisting that such changes have to be controlled and vetted by experts.
Dr Briffa said this was precisely what the Akkademja tal-Malti had been doing for years. He said that the national council for the language would have greater clout because it would be backed by the law.
Another aim of the council would be to motivate the use of Maltese, something which lovers of Maltese, be it the Akkademja tal-Malti, the Ghaqda tal-Kittieba tal-Malti or any other Maltese writers' association will be doing.
"This is an important duty that the council should fulfil," said Dr Briffa, "since Maltese is a living language used by just under 400,000 people. That is what makes it an essential part of national identity, which is why there is such a great need to set standards."
Apart from providing resources and audiovisual material, the council will have a duty to consult associations and professionals who use language in legal circles, in industry, in broadcasting and in all other aspects where Maltese is used.
Dr Briffa said that in the past two weeks, a group of lawyers translating EU documents and translators in the pharmaceutical industry had consulted the Akkademja tal-Malti asking for help in translating European legal jargon.
"Under the new law, this function will be taken up by the national council which will have executive powers and, unlike the Akkademja, will work on a full-time basis," he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Briffa said, the Akkademja tal-Malti would start focusing more on literature, assisting and promoting upcoming Maltese writers and even translating the native classics in order to take Maltese literature beyond Maltese shores.