Maltese - Italian: a bridge between the past and the future

A Comenius Lingua project entitled "Maltese - Italian: A Bridge between the past and the future", is giving the opportunity to Form 4 students from St Aloysius' College, together with students from the Istituto Paritario L. Pirandello of Nocera Inferiore (Italy), to study the Italian influence on Malta and its language.

The Maltese language is influenced considerably by Italian language and culture, especially in its lexicon. Such influence may be attributed to various factors. The destinies of medieval Malta, Sicily and Southern Italy are intricately tied together.

The dialect of Florence (from which the Italian language derives) was the official language of the Order of St John, and Italian remained an official language even under British rule until 1934. Moreover, there have always been direct commercial links between the two countries.

As part of the project, a group of 20 students and three teachers from St Aloysius' College visited the Istituto Pirandello in April. A series of workshops, with mixed Maltese-Italian groups, focused on formulating a mini-dictionary of Maltese and Italian words. Each group worked on a specific theme, working out a word list and noting the different etymology. The Neapolitan dialect was also considered.

Both groups learnt that there are various words in the two vocabularies that are similar, although some words changed meaning in the Maltese language.

During the 15-day visit, our group stayed in the town of Salerno, and became acquainted with the culture and history of the villages and towns around Salerno and Nocera Inferiore, including Amalfi and its famous Costiera, and the city of Naples. Students had a chance to walk up the Vesuvius, and explore the Roman remains of Pompeii.

The visit was an opportunity for students to learn about the culture of the two countries. The visit helped our students practise the Italian language, which is one of their academic subjects, and gave a chance to the Italians to learn some Maltese words. Obviously, the exchange gave the opportunity for the students to make new friends.

As part of their school curriculum, St Aloysius' College students prepared presentations illustrating similarities and differences of various aspects of the Maltese culture such as food, traditional industry, the fireworks industry, religion, traditional games, and music. Italian students are studying the influence of the Knights of the Order on Malta.

The month, the students' Italian counterparts will visit Malta and St Aloysius' College. The programme of activities includes the comparison of the proverbs of the two languages, with site visits around the Maltese Islands, particularly those related to the Knights.