Have a nice one

E Aquilina

Aug 29th 2008, 17:24

What's the problem with a bit of language corruption?? Actually the worse I've seen this week was 'cerman' (chairman), what i am expecting to see next is 'cerpersin' ....purist aren't we!

joe Morana

Aug 29th 2008, 16:53

There are subtle differences between the choices of greetings under discussion here. 'L-Ghodwa it-tajba' means "Good Morning". 'Bongu', derived from the French "Bon Jour", means "Good Day", and 'il-gurnata it-tajba' adopts the Italian word "giornata" which also means 'day'.

'Bonju' has been around for years, and seems to have become part of the Maltese language. Therefore, if anyone wishes to greet anyone with a "Good Morning" in Maltese, he/she should say 'L-Ghodwa it-tajba!' Sorry can't put a dot on 'g' or cross my 'h' in the 'ghajn'.

Joseph Micallef

Aug 29th 2008, 16:50

@Antoine Cassar

You could not have said it better! Excellent reply.

Joe Scerri

Aug 29th 2008, 16:39

What a pathetic country we live in.....

Bongu, bonswa u sahha :)

Joseph Micallef

Aug 29th 2008, 14:53

What's wrong about that Ms.Coliero is saying is that she expects to be enlightening us when in fact she is the one who needs enlightening. Same as when someone tried to tell us how to write "serju u urgenti"! The thing is that actually "bongu" is the real Maltese word while what she says is just a overstretched attempt to use "pure maltese" - not realising that "gurnata" is Italian (giornata) - maybe she thinks its corrupt as well now - while the other words derive from arabic.

Louise Borg

Aug 29th 2008, 14:05

@ Ms. Coleiro Sapiano,

Come on!!!!! What's wrong with bongu!!! I always appreciate the fact that people still use the word in itself! True that Bongu derived from the french bonjour is good day...they even use it at 11pm, but we tend to use it during the morning instead of the good morning, so for us it has 'a different meaning'. For your information the Maltese Language is a corruption of several languages and at least the word bongu is in the maltese dictionery. By the way il-gurnata t-tajba & il-jum it-tajjeb mean good day.
If you want to write to the Letters to the Editor pls. try & find something more interesting to comment about!!

david calleja

Aug 29th 2008, 13:46

Oh dear, oh dear - i'm worse - i say G'morning!!! - horror of horrors!!!... I shall now spend the weekend thinking up a suitable punishment for myself. I really envy some people, they must have tons of time on their hands to waste precious time on such nonsense!!!

Mario Gauci

Aug 29th 2008, 13:20

Most languages have had words bastardised. I dont have a problem with that. Incidentally on an early morning country walk on a visit to Gozo not too long ago I encountered what to me looked like a local farmer, as we crossed paths, he gently said, L-ghodwa. I felt bewitched, hadn't heard the word for ages.

s.bugeja

Aug 29th 2008, 12:45

Il-gurnata t-tajba is a corruption of the Italian word giornata. a more apt phrase would be l-ghodwa t-tajba.

Kenneth Zammit Tabona

Aug 29th 2008, 12:43

Life is too short to peel mushrooms Mrs Coleiro-Sapiano but with a six syllable surname and a three syllable name I suppose you are used to being rather like the Ents in Lord or the Rings. Nine syllables as opposed to my modest seven!

Nobody, but nobody in my 51 years living on this rock has ever wished me il-jum or il-gurnata t-tajba! Never heard of them. However I have on occasion been wished

L-GHODWA T-TAJBA

Same to all

Andrew Harding

Aug 29th 2008, 12:05

I have been studying best I can Maltese for a few years now, and I have often thought it odd to use Bongu instead of the more traditional Maltese greetings, I am aware of it's Franco / Italian origins but still think it odd that a word used by two countries who at separate times in history most certainly did not have Malta's best interests at heart if you get my meaning ?.

D,Vella

Aug 29th 2008, 11:27

@David Butiggieg

it doesn't mean you are right

peter sammut

Aug 29th 2008, 11:25

Actually the Maltese salutation should be: Sliema ghaliek. (From the arabic: es salam w aleikhom.

Michaela Mangion

Aug 29th 2008, 11:16

l'ghodwa it -tajba. I wont swear on my spelling!

Antoine Cassar

Aug 29th 2008, 11:08

I am tired of reading uninformed, closed-minded letters on language in the letters pages of the Times of Malta.

A quick look at Aquilina MT-EN will tell you that the word "bonġu" is not a corruption of the corresponding Italian or French words, but is a shortened form of the Sicilian "bongiornu".

The question as to whether a Maltese word stems from the Semitic, Romance or Germanic branches of the universal tree of language cannot be used to quantify the "Malteseness" or "authenticity" of that word. "Bonġu" is as Maltese as the words "mejda, merqtux, żdingat, futbol, kompjuter" and each one of the thousands of words used in common parlance.

A word of advice to those who send in letters on language in the future: check your facts, open the window, and ask yourself: is my argument based on logic and scientific knowledge, or am I letting my prejudices guide my thoughts?

D. Galea

Aug 29th 2008, 10:13

If you want to use six syllables, you're free to do so. Frankly, I prefer to convey the same message in two.

A. Martinelli

Aug 29th 2008, 10:09

Enlightening. I'm sure hardly anyone knew the origins of the word bongu.

Now that I think of it, 'CAW' is a corruption of the Italian word 'CIAO'. The Maltese counterpart would be 'Insellimlek' or 'Sahha' or whatever is relevant in the context..

Why some people have problems with other people's choice of words is inconceivable. I am Maltese. I never say 'Insellimlek'.


PS: Since when do conversational preferences make the 'Letters' section of The Times?

Maria Roberta Buttigieg

Aug 29th 2008, 10:02

After having read your letter, in my opinion i do not care if the maltese use corrupted or the correct word/s for BONGIU as long as they mean it and not talk behind your back as soon as you leave their company. By the way, in my opinion Il- giurnata is also a bastardised word from Italian. Another expression the maltese use and do not mean is ' Ejjew oqghodu'.

I am Maltese and I mean what I say.
I wish you l-jum it-tajjeb.

Maria Roberta Buttigieg

David Buttigieg

Aug 29th 2008, 09:57

Oh for heaven's sake,

Bongu has been a Maltese word for over a hundred years, closer to two hundred actually. I am Maltese and always use bongu and always will!