Many Maltese may not know how to translate swallowtail butterfly into their language even if in the southwest of the island alone as many as 13 names exist for it.

These were not simply a matter of "twisting" the word, said University lecturer Albert Borg, insisting that Malta's linguistic varieties were not just different accents but true dialects, with their own grammar and syntax.

Prof. Borg suggested the setting up of a pressure group to create a phonological system for each dialect. However, he admitted that it would require research and a "tremendous investment of energy, effort and money".

The first move was to overcome the inhibition towards dialects and regard them as a worthy vehicle of creative and literary thought, he said.

The "surprising" results of a scientific thesis have shown that, while standard Maltese has 11 vowels, written in six letters, the Marsaxlokk dialect, for example, has 14.

The findings highlighted the difficulty of writing a dialect, which was one means of preserving it, and the importance of which was discussed at a seminar yesterday.

It was organised by the Żejtun local council as part of the celebrations in the run-up to Żejtun Day on Thursday.

Lino Psaila, an expert in the Żejtun dialect, has not been put off by the obstacles and is working on its conservation. This particular dialect has two variations in pronunciation: that of the "lower and the upper village", the distinction between which was emphasised throughout the seminar.

The 65-year-old is in the course of publishing a book in the Żejtun dialect on anecdotes from his life, which should be ready by the first quarter of 2010. He has been working on it for four years but the first step would be to record it, he said, noting that not everyone could read the dialect.

Spelling was a major problem: the idea was to write a word as it sounded but the "u" of standard Maltese, for example, only had two sounds.

The plan was to create a phonetic dictionary, showing how each letter in the Żejtun dialect sounded.

Mr Psaila aimed to prevent the death of the dialect after his own demise. Children were not speaking it anymore, he said. In fact, some disliked it when their parents "twisted" words and wanted them to "speak properly".

The organiser of dialect and għana festivals, Miriam Cassar, said she came across many who were embarrassed to speak their dialect in public.

The way to keep dialects alive was to promote their appreciation and not to write the grammar of each, she maintained, saying it would simply do them a disservice, blaming academics for their destruction.

Żejtun mayor Joe Attard said education meant the killing of a dialect: when children started school they would have to adapt to standard Maltese and teachers did not take into account the fact that some were learning how to write it when they spoke a dialect at home, which proved to be even more difficult.

Dialects were a substratum of the language but, unfortunately, they were not being appreciated, he said.

"We feel our roots need to be recognised, remembered and kept alive in order to ensure our character and identity survive," Mr Attard said, highlighting the council's duty to protect Malta's heritage and the fact that language was a vital aspect of it.

He said the upper class did not know how to speak Maltese, which was a misfortune.

Mr Attard encouraged the recording of anecdotes in dialects, offering local council funding.

The relation between dialects and class also came into play at yesterday's seminar, with standard Maltese being described as "pulit" and dialects as "ugly" and a sort of "distortion" of the language.

The seminar was also add-ressed by Joe Baldacchino, who writes in the Żejtun dialect, and who stressed the importance of not being ashamed of it.

Urging their promotion, it was pointed out that the so-called "polite" form, or standard Maltese, was younger and actually stemmed from "twisting" its dialects.