Technical language (2)

Joe Borg's letter (Limits On Linguistics, December 17) is the latest in a series of silly meanderings on the Maltese language. It is not only borne out of ignorance of the subject, but also a general shallowness. And I remain surprised at The Times' editorial policy which still deems this type of letter fit for publication.

For the record, byte cannot be translated (notwithstanding Mr Borg's lame attempt at hilarity when ironically suggesting "gdim"). It is a unit of measurement such as ohm, volt, amp, and thus stays as is. A quick search on the various linguistic versions of Wikipedia on the subject prove this point. The only "translations" are optionally done so as to accommodate particular linguistic characteristics, such as case declensions or ortography (as with the transcription in different languages of the currency unit euro).

With regards to download, the natural linguistic mechanisms of the Maltese native speaker have already coined suitable and current equivalents. On the one hand, the verb "iddawnlowdja" is a so-called loan verb taken straight from English and currently also used in Maltese-language operating systems.

The other one, frequently heard in conversation but also in writing, including EU documents, and a very simple yet apt metaphor, is nizzel (Illum nizzilt film minn fuq l-internet). The latter is a natural solution which developed out of a language that's alive and kicking, and is at a par with counterparts such as scaricare and telecharger.