The Maltese language

In his letter about the use of the Maltese language (May 8), Joe Busuttil gives a very valid reason why we should stand up and move a step forward to protect and promote our language.

It is true that, as he says, English is also our official language. But we have only one national language that distinguishes us from all other people in the world, and that is Maltese.

If for no other reason we have to protect Maltese as part of our national heritage, of which every Maltese worth his name should be proud. English is an official working language for us, inherited through our colonial history. It could have been Italian, Spanish or French or any other used by colonisers. But what identifies us as Maltese is the Maltese language.

Just as we are in the right direction rehabilitating and restoring old buildings and other historical heritage, we should also initiate a rehabilitation and restoration project for the Maltese language. That is what they are doing when they write "Triq it-Torri" and not "Tower Road".

It is an educational process to try to hold on to what we have before it is lost forever, like we are losing the use of Maltese numerals to the English. It is a campaign to clean our minds from the colonial brainwashing that has made us believe the Maltese language is not functional, not cultural, not good in acoustics, and therefore, as you notice when you go to the Manoel Theatre and quite a few other places, not adapted to those who consider themselves the elite society of Malta.

The very reason why we should promote the use of Maltese, even against the trend, is that as Mr Busuttil says, it is spoken by such a tiny fraction of the world's population. That is what makes it so fragile and at the same time so unique and precious. That is what cultural richness in diversity means.

The small and the fragile need to be protected and promoted, not absorbed in the bigger realities if we want to save the rich cultural diversity in the world. And that is why Maltese has been accepted as an official language, alongside the bigger ones, by the European Union. The EU countries have already crossed the bridge. They want to hear the Maltese and other people speak their national language even though it would be much easier for everybody to communicate in English. And they encourage and promote the use of minority languages.

Every word we lose to any other language is a national tragedy. Let us raise our consciousness to what we have. The least our fragile language needs are Maltese people like Mr Busuttil, who do not seem to appreciate the continuous uphill struggle of those who want to bring back to glory and conserve our true national identity through the correct use of Maltese, our national language.