Maltese people threat to own language
The biggest threat to the Maltese language comes not from foreigners but from the Maltese themselves, according to a student who had just obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree.
“We need to believe in the Maltese language and not think it is related to the lower class of society,” George Farrugia said in a graduation speech yesterday.
Dr Farrugia, who wrote his thesis on the gender assigned to English words absorbed into the Maltese language, was among the first set of students to graduate in a series of ceremonies that will continue for several days.
The Maltese language was flexible and had adapted itself to changes over the centuries even though the island was under different rulers, Dr Farrugia said. The biggest threat now, he warned, was internal – from the Maltese people themselves.
“We should not be ashamed to speak Maltese at home, in the street, in the shops, in the media and in the country’s highest institutions,” he said.
The Maltese language could not be seen as a precious antique only to be admired from a distance or as a unique language studied by foreigners for its “particular mechanisms”. Instead, it should be seen and used as an effective tool to be used in all aspects of life, he said.
“If we truly value our native language as a national heritage, then we need to believe in it.”
In another graduation speech, Dion Buhagiar, of the Department of Building and Civil Engineering, spoke about the importance of research and development, which, he said, should be closely tied with the industry.
“Collaboration, especially between University faculties and other learned institutions, should be actively encouraged in order to provide opportunities for greater cross fertilisation of knowledge,” Prof. Buhagiar said.
The graduates:
Master of Arts in Cultural Heritage Management
Sponsor: Prof. A. Torpiano
Sarah Mary Borg, Daphne Caruana, Tracey Ann Cumbo, Catherine Role’, Susan Ronald, Sandro Sciberras.
Master of Conservation in Applied Conservation Studies
Sponsor: Prof. A. Torpiano
Jeannette Huy-Van Welzen.
Master of Arts in Theology
Sponsor: Rev. Prof. E. Agius
Fabio Borg, Renald James Buhagiar, Joseph Cardona, Maria Caruana, Emanuel Casingena, Jesmond Cutajar, Constantin Debono, Alfred M. Falzon, Christopher Grima, Rachel Hoiles, Mariosa Micallef, Fiorella Mifsud Saydon, Phyllis Sammut Smith, Mariella Spiteri-Gonzi, Mario Zerafa, Michelina Zerafa.
Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies
Sponsor: Rev. Prof. E. Agius
Deo Debono.
Licentiate in Sacred Theology
Sponsor: Rev. Prof. E. Agius
Glen Buhagiar, Nicholas Joseph Doublet, Andrea Zaffarese, Ronnie Zammit.
Master of Philosophy
Sponsor: Rev. Prof. E. Agius
Doris Cannataci.
Master of Arts in European Studies
Sponsor: Prof. R. Pace
Alexandra Attard, Mark Anthony Borg, Karl Engerer, David Magri, Estelle Sant, Stefan Schaa, Nighat John Urpani, Malcolm Luke Vassallo, Alison Zammit, Doreen Zammit, Sarah Zammit.
Master of Arts in Islands and Small States Studies
Sponsor: Prof. R. Pace
Joseph Azzopardi, Hristo Ivanov Hristov, Luciano Pace Parascandalo, Ritianne Stellini, Emren John Vella.
Master of Arts in Diplomatic Studies
Sponsor: Prof. S. Calleya
Francesca Abela, Sammy Bishtawi, Deborah Maria Borg, Elizabeth Bugeja, Claire Bugeja Desain, Daniela Maria Callus, Francine Caruana, Urska Cehner, Alan Cordina, Roseanne Cortis, Amber Marie Darmanin, Charlene Debrincat, Albert Delia, Petra Dolezelova, Kristina Farrugia, Ekaterina Gorbunova, Christabel Grech, Charlene Grima, Claudiu Alexandru Hurban, Daisy Francesca Kirk, Ryan Mercieca, Joseph Pisani, Kevin Pulis, Laura Sammut, Maya Schembri, Chirelle Sciberras, Katya Scicluna Bartoli, Maria Spiteri, Daniela Sultana, Chantelle Tabone, Marilyn Tanti, Johannes Vollertsen.
Master of Diplomacy
Sponsor: Prof. S. Calleya
Sofiko Balanchivadze, Mohamed Boussabat, Mira Dašic, Fabiola Duro, Akram Elaatar, Heba El-Tahan, Celil Erdogan, Taojie Guo, Osama Mohamed Hamdy Ibrahim, Viola Kaloshi, Elibahati Ngoyai Lowassa, Rustam Rustamov, Suad Soboh.
Master of Music
Sponsor: Prof. S. Mercieca
Dominic Galea.
Master in the Science of Performative Creativity
Sponsor: Prof. S. Mercieca
Sean Buhagiar, Chen Cheng.
Master of Arts in Baroque Studies
Sponsor: Prof. D. Delucca
Sonia Bezzina, Fleur Brincat, Kenneth Cauchi.
Doctor of Philosophy
Sponsor: Dr. M. Zammit
George Farrugia.
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Maria-Theresa Murch
Nov 29th 2011, 15:27
kulhadd Malta jitkellem tip ta' lingwa li hu jifhem u hadd iehor jinterpreta mod iehor.Qisna il-torri ta'Babel.
M. Calleja
Nov 21st 2010, 07:42
Wiehed, u nerga' nirrepeti 'wiehed', mill-valuri ta' poplu huwa japprezza minn fejn gie, jifhem fejn jinsab u jaghraf l-ahjar triq li jrid ikompli jimxi. F'dak li ghandu x'jaqsam mal-ilsien Malti, ftit li xejn qeghdin nimxu fuq din il-filosofija. Ma nippretendix li ghandna nibqghu nitkellmu Malti semitiku, jew Malti romantiku, pero lanqas nippretendi li nisma lil min jitkellem Malta mfarrak imhallat bl-imbarazz li tisma fuq Disney Channel. Lanqas ma nippretendi li studenti tal-Universita' johorgu mill-kors jafu jitkellmu l-Ingliz biss sew. Spiccajna b'socjeta' li lanqas taf tesprimi ruhha sew - la b'ilsien u lanqas b'iehor.
Jien naqbel mija fil-mija ma' dak li qal Dr. George Farrugia u nzid nghid li il-kelma "ashamed" nazzarda nuzaha meta nisma' lil certu nies jitkellmu (anke jifthu halqhom biss), imma certament mhux meta nisma' nies jitkellmu bil-Malti.
Il-Malti huwa lsien ghani ghal min jaf juzah, jew ahjar ghal min gie mghallem juzah, u l-identita' ghanja tieghu hija intrinsika: zgur li ma kellux bzonn ikun ilsien tal-Unjoni Ewropeja biex niskopru dan il-fatt.
Lawrence Civelli
Nov 19th 2010, 20:44
I'm happy to see that someone is bringing this up, I left Malta in 1957 after 3 yrs as a yard boy in the Dockyard for the USA. I am always proud to speak Maltese wherever I travel,my children try to speak the language too ,altghou a little bit on the funny side,here in the States everyone is proud of his old country and language,wherever they come from,with exceptions of course.
But what gets to me is when I come to visit in Malta and I hear these people talk in english to their children ,as if speaking maltese is a lower class language.
I know you cant use maltese in any other place on earth but we are blessed to have a language of our own and we should be proud of it. I am and my American family are proud of it too.
victor pulis
Nov 19th 2010, 18:07
Modern technology has wrought havoc with the Maltese language. A quick look at the kind of SMSs being sent will send shivers down one's spine. Gone is the GH and the silent H, gone is the Q at the beginning of certain words such as qieghed qieshom etc. I have also heard individuals leaving out the Q even when they speak. The funny thing is that the Q is then inserted at the beginning of words which normlly do not have it! TV is a killing field for the maltese language where one can find words such as nistaw (nistghu) and eritagg(!) instead of wirt. This is not evolution. It is butchery and murder.
mario aquilina
Nov 19th 2010, 17:00
ex chairman written in Maltese on a Sunday newspaper: eks cerman.
I call that, butchered language.
GiovDeMartino
Nov 19th 2010, 15:55
Araw qattx dhaltu go hanut, ufficcju tal-gvern jew tal-privat, bank kummercjali, ghassa tal-pulizija, supermarket...araw qattx ircevejtu xi karta, cirkolari tkun xi tkun u tkun minn ghand min tkun, araw qattx ircevejtu messagg fuq il-mobajl biex jghidulkom li dak in-numru engaged, ecc ecc, araw tarawx xi avviz wiehed ikun fejn ikun li jkun bil-Malti. Taraw avvizi bil-Malti go Malta daqs kemm taraw avvizi bil-Malti goc-Cina. L-istess kunsilli lokali, dipartimenti tal-gvern Malti, Banek Maltin Universita Maltija kollha jirreklamaw BL-INGLIUZ anki f'gazzetti Maltin. U kulhadd jikkuntattjak bl-Ingliz.
M. Camilleri
Nov 19th 2010, 15:33
I have to disagree with Dr Farrugia on one point he made regarding Maltese people being ashamed to speak Maltese. On the whole I think the Maltese people are proud of their language. From experience, I think that there is a certain hostility towards Maltese people who speak English as a first language.
I do agree that ''The biggest threat now, he warned, was internal – from the Maltese people themselves.'' The problem is with cross switching - English has become so integrated in Malta that people are often lazy and substitute English words for Maltese ones.
This is a shame, as cross switching is very unattractive but I think it is mostly done by younger people who are more used to speaking English.
Dennis Callus
Nov 19th 2010, 15:27
You are mistaken sir. The Maltese language derives from Latin and Aramaic. Do you know enough Aramaic to know the difference? The Maltese language has father languages just like any other language, just as Arabic, and the English languages do. Further it is our language and we Maltese should be proud of it.
John Portelli
Nov 19th 2010, 13:31
How can we call ''our language '' Maltese when in fact it's 90% Vulgar Arabic?? I've studied Arabic and I read it and write fluenty.Maltese is street slang in most Arab countries I've worked in,.
Our original and true European language is LATIN. Not a semitic 3rd world language that we use today.
F. Scerri
Nov 19th 2010, 15:04
History happens and you can't change or reverse it - its called progress. For better or worse Maltese is our language and it has been for many hundreds of years. So by all means study ancient languages and their origins if you want to, but rather than belittling the cultural, social and historical progress of our forefathers, perhaps you ought to work towards improving the language we have right now.
anthony mifsud
Nov 19th 2010, 15:07
John Portelli, we are NOT italians and we are NOT arabic. We are Maltese as Dutch are not Germans.
If you want to speak Latin do it by yourself!
And this hatred towards Arabs in Malta comes from the fact that some maltese people are AFRAID to be considered as Arab!!!!!
lgalea
Nov 19th 2010, 15:19
John Portelli nice way to denigrate your own language. It is OUR language whatever it is made up of. No Portelli, you are wrong that our language is Latin. Whether you like it or not it is mostly semitic so live up with it. People who denigrate their own language in favour of a foreign one suffer from a very strong inferiority complex.
Martin Saliba
Nov 19th 2010, 16:03
First of all you should be aware that there is such a thing as evolution. Please tell us how many languages are still spoken as they were hundreds of years ago apart from those in places like brazil. As far as i'm concerned arabic is one of the most beautiful languages , written and spoken form , in the world.
Jesmond Micallef
Nov 19th 2010, 16:13
So the search and longing for the pure continues then !! What does come to mind here ?
Ramon Casha
Nov 20th 2010, 07:17
Is it? I know of no historical period when Latin was widely spoken by the population, only by the foreign rulers. Even in the Roman empire, Greek was the language spoken by merchants and traders while Latin was mostly for the ruling class.
Paul Sammut
Nov 19th 2010, 13:17
Using żvela instead of "kixef", intiż instead of "maħsub", indimentikabbli instead of "ma jintnesiex", tibbrestfijda instead of "tredda" and similar stupid words invented by idiots to make them seem superior to the rest. Those who repeat them are simply parrots.
o.galea
Nov 19th 2010, 13:00
With all due respect to Dr. Farrugia.... I beg to differ.
I don't know of anybody who is "ashamed" to speak Maltese (irrespective of whether it is their "first" choice or not.
Also I'm curious re his "research"... I find it hard to believe that anybody would answer "yes" (or even openly admit) to the question "Are you ashamed to speak Maltese?"
The great of the Maltese speak Maltese as a first language of choice.
A Muscat
Nov 19th 2010, 11:19
There is no point in over funding a project if it yields very little return, if not being counter-productive.
Evarist Saliba
Nov 19th 2010, 13:55
Funding?
The Maltese language has survived centuries not because of funding. Let's not confuse cost with value.
J xerri
Nov 19th 2010, 11:01
Yes, plus the media with people trying to sell us " boots li jilħaq sa knee", using English numbers when talking Maltese. ecc
And by the way our University itself banning the use of Maltese in certain areas
Ramon Casha
Nov 19th 2010, 09:40
“We should not be ashamed to speak Maltese at home, in the street, in the shops, in the media and in the country’s highest institutions,”
You're only the second person I've heard to suggest such a thing, after Norman Lowell.
Marianne Tabone
Nov 19th 2010, 11:33
Mr. Casha, I hope you are joking when you say that this student is the second person you heard saying that Maltese should be spoken everywhere by all Maltese! Have you never followed this topic anywhere else? I strongly believe that Maltese is a language which we should all be proud of! Such a small country and we have our own language, literature and culture! This morning I was listening to a programme in Maltese on TV and one of the guests - a person who takes part in drama! Probably also drama in Maltese and during an interview he couldn't manage to use Maltese all the time! He had to intersperse it with English words and phrases. He should be pitied! This will go on as long as listeners almost treat these people with reverence! They are not superior because they use English. However good their level of English is, their first preference should be Maltese. Or if they prefer to speak good English they should speak English all the time and not speak a hotch potch of both languages! I am proud that I speak and write good Maltese!
Mark Anthony Sammut
Nov 19th 2010, 12:21
As far as I know, actually Lowell suggests the exact opposite...that Maltese is a foreign-imposed Arabic dialect which should stop to be taught as it holds the Maltese civilization back.
Anne Farrugia
Nov 19th 2010, 12:33
Mr Casha for the record Maltese is taught in quite a few countries around the world and one of thiese is Australia where we also have a Federation of the Maltese Language Schools of Australia. Each Australian state has a school & some states have more than 1. As much as possible we retain the culture, traditions, folklore besides teaching the language. At the schools we not only have those who are 2nd & 3rd generation Maltese who attend, but also other nationalities. Some of our students sit for your equivalent of A Level in the Maltese language. We teach all ages - if they are willing to learn, then we (as professionals) are willing to teach. The Maltese in Australia have clubs, Nursing home, meals on wheels, feasts, radio stations, masses said in Maltese, people from all walks of life... the list is endless...who continuously listen, talk, read & write the Maltese language...and we are proud of it too! So you can add the Maltese of Australia to your list Mr Casha! (There are more maltese people in Australia than there are in Malta - big number Mr Casha lol lol)
Paul Sammut
Nov 19th 2010, 13:17
Ramon Casha do you live in Malta or not?
Ramon Casha
Nov 20th 2010, 07:14
I did not make myself clear. I apologise.
What I meant is that I know of nobody else who suggests that the Maltese language is something to be ashamed of, or that it is "related to the lower class of society". I think that is an outdated notion, and most people are quite proud of having our own language and see it as a crucial part of our national identity.
I assure you that I am very keen on the language myself, and am actively involved in projects related to the Maltese language, including the only online spellchecker for the Maltese language available to date: http://linux.org.mt/spellcheck