Cynthia Busuttil
New rules on Maltese words aimed at removing variants
An exercise to streamline the Maltese language by eliminating different written variants for the same word was aimed at updating the language and providing effective tools for those using it, the National Council for Maltese Language said yesterday.
The amendments - published in last Friday's Government Gazette - have sought to remove different written versions of the same word, which were all considered correct.
Council president Manwel Mifsud said the exercise sought to reduce uncertainty when writing Maltese.
Orthographic variants were also posing a hindrance to the language, especially when it comes to research on electronic media, making the council believe that there was a need for more discipline in the writing of Maltese, as long as this did not go against its nature. However, the council also sought to remove unnecessary rigidity when it comes to the written language while trying to remain loyal to the language's roots, Prof. Mifsud said.
"This is a tool for the public and not for linguistic experts and it therefore needs to be simple and clear."
The council has already dealt with 300 orthographic variants but will still have to discuss how to write English words that have infiltrated everyday language and 500 phonetic variants.
Asked whether the new changes will bring about the need for a new dictionary, Prof. Mifsud said the council was thinking of compiling an online dictionary, which would incorporate the changes.
He pointed out that, although the changes have already come into effect, people have three years to comply, which also means that students can use different versions in their exams without being penalised. Albert Borg, who headed the committee that dealt with the changes, said deciding which variant to keep was no easy task with the 11-strong committee discussing for long hours.
While linguistic arguments were important, so was the public's preference because orthography not only has to be correct but also a convenient, easy and popular way for everyday writing without the fear of making mistakes.
The changes can be accessed online on the council's website www.kunsilltalmalti.gov.mt.
Some changes in Maltese words
• Tvalja (tablecloth) has been changed to dvalja.
• Lembuba (baton or rolling pin) instead of lenbuba.
• Skont (discount or according) will replace skond.
• Karozza (car) will replace karrozza.
• Awwissu (August) will replace Awissu.
• Iżlam and Iżlamiku (Islam and Islamic) will be used instead of Islam and Iskamiku.
• Peprin (poppy) will replace pepprin.
• Nagħaġ (sheep) will replace ngħaġ.
• Prefixes should be written as part of a word, like kofinanzjat (co-financed) and semiawtomatiku (semi-automatic).
• Prepositions like ġo, ma', sa and ta' should be joined with the article, like sal-Italja and ġol-università.
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Dorothy Bezzina
Sep 26th 2008, 10:17
L-etimoloġija popolari tgħidlek li ‘ilbiraħtlula’ ġejja minn ‘lura’. Dan mhux tassew. Fil-Malti kellna s-superlattiv ‘l-ula’ (‘l-ewwel’) iżda dan ma baqgħax jintuża, għalkemm għadna nsibuh f’din il-kelma. Nistgħu għalhekk nispjegaw ‘ilbiraħtlula’ bħala ‘yesterday the first’ u mhux ‘ilbieraħ u tnejn lura’.
Michael Debono
Aug 1st 2008, 17:20
Why is it "ilbiraħtlula" and not "ilbiraħtlura"? I think it comes from "ilbieraħ u tnejn lura".
Joseph E Briffa
Jul 31st 2008, 18:36
I agree that we all should be allowed to comment. I am not a linguistic expert but I studied one year with Prof Aquilina at our RUM after passing my Matric. Anybody who studied Maltese since WW2 knows that Aquilina and Cremona were the first to standardise Maltese spelling and grammar and they made a very good job of it. They were open-minded and Aquilina was a polyglot fluent in Arabic, English, Latin, Italian, French,Spanish. Maltese is a 'mix' of Arabic dialects and romance -mainly Italian and Sicilian with a sprinkling of French and English. So Aquilina is the authority. I don't know whether today's Kunsill members are equally authoritative, and how many of them are polyglots. But I certainly do know that they are making a lot of fuss about nothing. Words like Awwissu, tvalja, skont (both meanings), etc have always been written that way. Moreover, ex - a Latin word accepted in all European languages - should NOT be written eks, and handouts is not pronounced hendouts, fan is not fen. All this leads me to believe that alot of these people are not even familiar with the right English pronounciations. Aquilina must be turning in his grave.
R. Cassar
Jul 31st 2008, 11:04
@ Franco Farrugia (Part 2)
Sorry but I am not going to blind foldedly obey to the council when these rules make no sense at all, even if they have a PhD. Frankly I am very disappointed with the council. It would be better if they tried to come up with some way to teach the local population how to write Maltese instead of taking shortcuts to accomodate those who are not willing to learn how to write their own language.
R. Cassar
Jul 31st 2008, 11:00
@ Franco Farrugia (Part 1)
So you have an MA? Big deal. Does this make your opinion superior to any of the rest of us? I do not need to brag about my qualifications to discuss this article. Besides the points that I brought up are valid and if you have an MA (or even an o-level in Maltese) you should know that I'm right in the skont/skond debate. The people who commented about tvalja are also right. It is derived from the Italian word tovaglia so why should I use a "d" instead of a "t"?
I'll tell you why. It's because most of the Maltese are so lazy that they do not even bother to learn how to write the Maltese language properly. How many people on the island know how to write Maltese properly? Sadly the answer is probably only a few hundred people. So to make life easier for these people who are not able to distinguish between "skont" and "skond" or who wrongly write words like proset instead of prosit, magna instead of makna, etc the experts decided to butcher the Maltese language and take the easy way out.
Maria Ferstl
Jul 31st 2008, 10:17
Yes, "this is a tool for the public and not for linguistic experts" - i.e. a tool for the public to communicate in written Maltese. Not a tool to show one's social superiority. So why should we keep spellings which presuppose the knowledge of another language, as most correspondents seem to wish?
I'm afraid such is also the role of English in Malta... not really spoken by anyone, but allowing for a more selective system of education and offering a tool to show one's superiority compared to the "illiterate" who prefer some "lingwa tal-kċina". This is also the spirit of the comments often made by readers of this newspaper. While the knowledge of English spelling is believed to be of great importance and mistakes in articles are a sufficient reason to write a letter to the editor, according to some people the mere existence of an official Maltese orthography is "humbug" only some ridiculous pedants would care about in their ivory tower, making life difficult for a "whole nation"...
Scerri S
Jul 31st 2008, 02:30
@M Farrugia Franco - I was merely expressing my opinion since the Maltese language belongs to all who speak it, so I think I have this right. I acknowledge that my comment might have been a little strongworded (and even cynical) but honestly I was a bit shocked by some changes.
I think the point of having the possibility to comment on news items is to generate discussion, and non-expert people have a right to criticize what the experts say - the experts then should support their decisions and convince the rest of us as to the why's and how's. So I think I am allowed to show my disagreement instead of just bow my head and say 'yes sir', and no one should smack my hand as a consequence. This is not a classroom, but more like an adult discussion board. So stop being patronising.
Sinclair Calleja
Jul 31st 2008, 01:51
I don't agree with some of the changes:
tvalja - clearly originating from Italian's "tovaglia". The fact that 't' is pronounced a 'd' should not change it's spelling. This is typical when an unvoiced consonant immediately precedes a voiced one, such as in tbajja (pronounced /dbay:a/).
lembuba - why not lenbuba? then should we change "inbid" to "imbid"? The sound of 'n' changing to an 'm' is typical when followed by 'b', but why change the spelling?
prepositions being joined with the article is also not convincing. When spoken, we tend to speak them separately (focus on the accent while utterring) - "ġo fija", "ġo l-università". If you were to pause, one would say ġo l-università, rather than ġol- università. So the pattern follows.
I agree with the other changes published in this article though (skont is obvious, since it's derived from the Italian "skonto").
While I'm no authority in linguistic, I briefly studied Maltese linguistic as part of my M.Sc. a few years back.
Reference:
Calleja 2004, "Maltese Speech Recognition over Mobile Telephone", M.Sc. Thesis.
N. Grech
Jul 30th 2008, 23:02
'Qari tal-provi' is not the ideal translation for Proof Reading. I would prefer 'Fili tal-kitba'.
Mark Debono
Jul 30th 2008, 22:29
I can not understand the fuss about the word "skont". Have any of you realized that such things as homonyms or homophones exist, and this not only in our language? Wrap your minds around these:
two, to, too
be, bee
pole, Pole (and not a Polish)
die, dye, die (singular of dice)
So on and so forth with a number of words that we have forever taken for granted. I believe the group of 11 charged with making said decisions is in a far more knowledgeable position to do so than any other individual. Dilettante opinions are basically not welcome.
J Abela
Jul 30th 2008, 21:14
Reading all this ..... somehow.... the (in)famous 'igsma tal-pariri' of a few years back comes to mind!
Edward Grech
Jul 30th 2008, 19:38
A proofreader is someone who reads the proof i.e. the “trial” copy.
So as a translation from English to Maltese, not only is “Qarrejja tal-provi” excellent, but it makes even more sense than it does in English.
You need to change your mentality. As such “Qarrejja tal-provi” is not a translation of “Proofreaders”. “Qarrejja tal-provi” and “Proofreaders” are two terms in different languages to describe the same concept.
Do you think that all concepts have originated in the United Kingdom, and therefore they are really and truly defined by their English term, and then all terms used in other languages are merely translations of that truth, but to convey the real meaning you would have to say it in English?
In that case, you have a lot to learn before you can start criticizing others. Or at least, if you want to criticize, supply us with your alternative ideas.
Alfred Grech
Jul 30th 2008, 19:29
We always pronounced Awwissu with double w and I always wrote it Awwissu.
I disagree with skond to become skont. Skond = according - skont = discount and it will be foolish to spell them both the same.
I'm also in favor of writing tal-Argotti u mhux ta' l-Argotti - sal-Italja, mal-lumija. gol-kantina.
We don't say karrozza but we say karozza - one r so before, it was wrongly spelled.
I suggest that "controversially" spelled words should be posted on the newspapers and let the public vote on how they feel they should be written. Amen or is it Ammen?
Maria Ferstl
Jul 30th 2008, 18:53
@Christian Gauchi
1. I cannot understand the way you use the term "variants". Variants supposedly were removed, and not created!
2. How do YOU say "proofreaders" then in Maltese???
@Edward Grech
Proset tal-kumment!
Edward Grech
Jul 30th 2008, 18:48
Joe Tabone-Adami… you said “May I be…”
What are you trying to say? Don’t you know we’re in July?
We all know where it’s coming from, because R. Cassar has already explained it below. That’s not the point of the decision. If it were, it would have been left with the “d”.
christian gauci
Jul 30th 2008, 18:00
The Maltese Language has died with these variants. I cannot understand why we need such stupid variants as 'skont' for 'discount' and 'according'. This is becoming a farce. Get into the website of the Kunsill tal-Malti. Proof readers is translated to qarrejja tal-provi! Language is a tool for the public and not for linguistic experts. What humbug! Our language is our national identity. Please defend it!
joseph mizzi
Jul 30th 2008, 17:30
@ Scerri S & R Cassar
Excuse me, but who are you to speak with the authority of experts, when experts you surely are not? Were you present during the consultation sessions held by the Kunsill when this and other initiatives concerning the Maltese language were being launched? Have you at least read the credentials of these ten gentlemen and lady? Some of them are experts in Maltese linguistics; others have been lecturing and teaching Maltese for many years, and there is also a foreign lady amongst them who knows about the intricacies of our language more than many of us out here. All eleven have published authoritative papers regarding linguistics in general and Maltese in particular. As a student of Maltese, I have absolute faith in their decision. I am quite sure that what has been decided is for the good of our national language. Of course, there might be some decisions about matters which you or I might not agree with, but personally, having experienced the expertise of these people, I'm welcoming all their decisions knowing that each and every one has been studied, discussed and accepted as the way forward for the Maltese language.
Edward Grech
Jul 30th 2008, 17:09
[Part 2 of 2]
So the two rules imply distinct spellings, and two spellings for the same word are a source of confusion… so which one are we going to keep? Although I prefer “skond”, I must admit that it is much wiser to have rules that do not make it necessary for someone to know *another* language! So although etymology is definitely an issue, there are other factors (such as this one) to take into consideration. If it were only about etymology, then we would write “scond”, or maybe “secondo”, or once we’re at it, just speak Italian, or Latin…
However Maltese isn’t just Italian, nor is it just Arabic, or other languages, but it has evolved into a breed of its own. Therefore it deserves to have its own set of spelling rules that strike a healthy balance between respect for etymology and disconnection from other languages. And balances and compromises are by definition subjective. Nothing is absolute.
Edward Grech
Jul 30th 2008, 17:08
[Part 1 of 2]
Scerri S, I say “Awwissu” and write “Awwissu” and I am literate.
R. Cassar, there are various rules one may apply in order to spell words correctly.
In the case of “skond”, some people apply the rule “How do you pronounce it when it is followed by a vowel?”. So e.g. in this case, since most people (me excluded) say “skontok”, then they would figure out that it should be written as “skont”.
Others, such as me (and probably you), apply the rule “How do you say it in Italian?”. “Secondo”. Hence it should be written “skond”.
[Continues in Part 2…]
J Abela
Jul 30th 2008, 17:01
I always thought that the word for tablecloth was written as tvalja as it came from "tavola" (table in italian), not davola!
Franco Farrugia
Jul 30th 2008, 16:56
There we go! Typical of us, Maltese, to react in such a fashion as M Scerri S writes in his comment. I don't like this, I don't like that, so I will do this and I will do that.
No way, man! No way! You will write them as the Council stipulates if you want to be correct.
I happen to be an M.A. and there are things which I may not agree with, in this exercise, but I have to tow the line and accept. Otherwise, we will be creating mayhem!
Typical of us, the Maltese. We just don't want discipline. We don't want to be told what and how.
The Council, rightly or wrongly, I don't care, has been empowered to make these decisions and it is impossible for every Tom, Dick and Harry on these islands to have his/her say!
Joe Tabone-Adami
Jul 30th 2008, 16:40
May I be allowed to take exception to "skont" instead of "skond" for the time being. SKONT denotes a discount on the price of merchandise or services, and is derived from 'sconto' in Italian. SKOND means "according to" or "depending on" and is derived from the Latin 'secundum' through the Italian 'secondo'. Why this has been changed appears baseless.
Charles Camilleri
Jul 30th 2008, 15:20
For me it is like confusing the confused.
Scerri S
Jul 30th 2008, 14:56
@R Cassar
I agree with you completely - that change is ridiculous. I don't really care about this new 'rule', 'Skond' (secon[d]o/according) and 'Skont' (scon[t]o/discoun[t]) are two different words, written differently and so they should remain. And that is how I will keep using them.
I don't like Awwissu either - I had never seen this version before. Was this the way it is being utterred by illiterate people?
Paul Borg
Jul 30th 2008, 14:51
"Bis-sens!" as my children would say! This exercise shows that Maltese is a language of the living. "Proset" to the NCML and may we see more of the same so that people are not afraid to write in the language they speak. What about a NCGD (National Council for the Gozitan Dialect)?
R. Cassar
Jul 30th 2008, 14:25
Some of these changes make no sense at all. Why are we butchering the Maltese language in this way? No wonder people do not know how to write in Maltese if every couple of years perfectly valid rules and words are changed.
For example why should I use "skont" for both discount and according? The two words are derived from two different Italian words which have different meanings. "Skont" comes from "sconto" (discount). "Skond" comes from "secondo" (according). Even when I talk I pronounce the two words differently, one ending with a "t" and one with a "d". Why should I use the same word for two entirely different words? Only because they are written in a similar way? Is this the best the 11-strong committee could come up with? Please! They did not even take into account the origins of those particular words apparently.
Changes like this one make no sense at all and create even more confusion even though they were initially meant to simplify the language. I think 11 people should not be in charge of changing the words used by a whole nation according to their moods.
Maria Ferstl
Jul 30th 2008, 10:21
The part about "some changes in Maltese words " is misleading. As you correctly state, our committee has "dealt with 300 orthographic variants". All this process was about "eliminating different written variants for the same word". No, it is not correct that "karozza (car) will replace karrozza" etc. Out of the variants "karrozza/karozza" one possibility was chosen! This "streamlining", as you call it, should not be confused with real changes, which were also introduced. You correctly mention the case of the prepositions. We now officially write "Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti" instead of "ta' l-Ilsien Malti" etc. N.B. "skont" ("discount") was always being written this way. What has been changed is the orthography of "*skond" (according). Despite the coincidence with "skont" ("discount"), "skont" ("according") was chosen according to how it not only is pronounced , but also being written when a suffix is attached: "skont-ok" etc.