Charles Coleiro, Valletta
Harming the language
During the live broadcasts of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest the Maltese name for “stage” was conspicuous by its absence. Why do we have to listen to a foreign word when the simple expression palk is still alive in the vernacular and daily use of our language? Besides, the word stejġ (as pronounced in Maltese) has through the years gathered a different interpretation by the man-in-the-street, replacing the proper meaning of “bus stop”.
Without really trying to count the number of Anglicised words and phrases subsituting their Maltese counterparts like “support” for appoġġ and “baby” for tarbija the latest umbrage inflicted adds more weight when presenters, singers and other public figures pronounce these expressions “on air”, watched by thousands of televiewers.
The above unfortunate quotes cannot be listed as archaic let alone, as critics may argue, that the Maltese language has a limited vocabulary. The sin of omission comes from those who like to mix foreign words and phrases in their conversation, a common occurence practised for good measure during social functions, mostly in high society to rise above the Joneses!
It will be a sad day if this trend of illegitimate birth of phrases continues to spoil and harm Malta’s own language and national identity.
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Marlene Hills
Feb 8th, 12:26
Marlene Hills
Of course we are all going to use foreign words when speaking Maltese especially words introduced during the last spell under the British on top of all the other foreign words, in French,in Italian,in Spanish and in German...but these words need the maturity of time so to speak to become "Maltese" for example "garigor" how many, not interested in linguistics,and that is the majority plus one, are going to bother whether garigor comes from a Spanish word and that it is not authentically Maltese?? It is OK by me if, in speech, we say ...baby,pushchair,nappy instead of what we could say,in Maltese, even if a word for it exists in the native language. The problem is with the way these "foreign" words are spelt in the written form that is the problem. These words,in English mainly,should not be mangled to make them sound Maltese but left as they are written in English until the time ,say in a hundred years or so ,these words ,like "garigor" written differently from Spanish but has become "Maltese" become themselves part and parcel of the Maltese language
Wally Vella-Zarb
Feb 8th, 18:56
Leaving words of English origin "as they are written in English" is a non-starter because our language, unlike English, is phonetic. We do not have the problems of learned pronunciation that you have in English with, for example, rOUGH, bOUGH, dOUGH and so on. Nor do we have similar sounds for different letters, e,g,, Cat and Kick, or different sounds for the same letter, as in aGainst and General. The written form aims to reproduce the sound of a word; in doing so, one needs to follow the established rules of orthography in that particular language. The 'oo' in 'foot' has the sound of a 'U' while the 'a' in 'ball' has the sound of an 'O' and this is how they should be written in Maltese; the sound of 'football' in Maltese would be correctly spelled 'futbol'.
Victor Pulis
Feb 8th, 12:10
Xelta vasta ta' arredamenti! How stupid! In a maltese series on TV about our heritage they used the word eritagg instead of wirt! And how about karrotta for zunnarija? The list is endless and it keeps on growing.
Joseph Mifsud
Feb 8th, 19:06
Mr. Pulis I agree with you I don't like foreign words being introduced carelessly, but one has to keep in mind that languages had been borrowing words since time immemorial. you mentioned two words Karrotta and Zunnarija. Karrotta is Italian but Zunnarija is not Arabic either, it's Gazar. Zunnarija comes from old Greek, it entered Syriac the old language of Syria decendant of Aramaic and came to Malta with Syrian Christian refugees after the Christians lost the Crusades. It also entered Spanish, Zanohoria with Syrian farmers that emigrated to Spain when the Umayyads were expelled from Syria by the Abbasids.
In order to understand Malta's dialects search Arabic dialects on the internet and you find the reason why we have dialects in Malta. Your dialect of Cottonera is Classical Arabic while the dialect of Zejtun with the imala, E instead of A at the end of feminine words is levantine or Syrian. In Syriac there is only one GH, in Arabic there are two, ghajn and rghajn, for example the difference between Gholi, high and Ghali, expensive, certain dialects in Malta can't make the difference while others make it.
Migrations influence languages, the bad thing is that today some think that if they use foreign words they are more intelligent than others.
Victor Pulis
Feb 8th, 08:04
I have seen words such as nistghu (We can) written as nistaw! and this on TV. I personally find no difficulty placing the gh in words such as tieghu, tieghi, mieghu or mieghi because of my Senglean dialect where we say tiu or miu. So dialects which may sound strange and perhaps funny to some, help the language in this case.
Victor Pulis
Feb 7th, 17:57
And what about the recent custom of dropping the q from the beginning of words such as qed and instead writing ed(!) Mobile SMSs have continued to play havoc with our language obliterating the gh snd the h for speedy convenience. Some may argue that this is done to speed up the message but very often this trend is repeated even when writing.
Karl Consiglio
Feb 7th, 13:13
Mela suppost "Ewrovixion" we say
Wally Vella-Zarb
Feb 7th, 19:37
"Mela suppost "Ewrovixion" we say"
Which language is that? It is neither English nor is it Maltese. What you have written amounts to a massacre of two languages!
VINCENT WILLIAMS
Feb 7th, 12:14
Mr Charles Coleiro you are absolutely right 100 per cent.
The concern Authorities, especially the Minister of Education, the socities of the Maltese language and the managements and editors of all the media should do their utmost to stop harming the National Language.
Ms margaret frendo
Feb 7th, 11:39
Who is presumptuous enough to tell the rest of us how the Maltese language started to be spoken over seven thousand years ago.
A spoken language is in a continuous process of evolution, only a dead language is fossilized . those trying to stop the enrichment of a language are doing it more harm.
I pity our school children who keep being told that the language they speak at home is incorrect.
If I choose to say bonju no one is going to make me say il-jum it tajjeb, which sounds foreign to me.
Margaret Frendo
Wally Vella-Zarb
Feb 7th, 18:45
I wonder how you pronounce your “bonju”. Is it meant to sound anything like the Maltese “BONĠU”? If you are speaking Maltese it would sound more like our equivalent for the English word ‘bath’… ;-)
Stephen Parnis
Feb 7th, 11:12
Palk is also a 'foreign' word (palco), just an older one.
Karl Consiglio
Feb 7th, 13:12
Yes exactly language evolves. They don't want to accept that. And the point of language ought to be communication, not national pride.
Mr Peter Barbara
Feb 7th, 11:06
I agree perfectly with you Mr.Coleiro; It is most unfortunate that the worst offenders in this case is the media -both television and radio. I am not referring to the above-mentioned Eurovision programme as I do not watch it, but the way many people appearing on TV or radio programmes are butchering the Maltese language is indeed embarrasing.
I have a sneaking suspicion that these kind of people have no mastery of either language in fact -that is why they speak half and half.
As regards Ms Bayes' justified complaint, I do not think it has anything to do with Mr.Coleiro's argument at all.
Oreste Calleja
Feb 7th, 10:16
A case of two people both being right - even when they don't both speak exactly the same language. C. Coliero's comments are without a doubt the correct attitude to the current problem with the use, or lack thereof, of legitimate Maltese vernacular. On the other hand, J Bayes, without perhaps the need to put the blame on Mr Coleiro (!) or making a claim for "equality, - is correct in saying that considering the ever more populous presence of visitors in our midst, it is a shame, and surely a touristic gaffe, not to provide the service she feels is lacking. A news bullettin in English - delivered by a "professional speaker", mind you - would surely be appreciated by many.
Wally Vella-Zarb
Feb 7th, 09:49
It is not that the Maltese language has a limited vocabulary. It is the people who put themselves forward, into the public eye, who have a limited vocabulary. While they convince themselves that they have 'mastered' a foreign language they discard their own, convincing themselves that the failing is due to the language and not to their abysmal deficiency in what ought to be their Mother Tongue. Shame on them...but also shame on those who permit such people to broadcast themselves on our media, thereby contaminating the rest of the population. The end result includes their delusion that 'popularity' equates with 'quality'.
J. Borg
Feb 7th, 09:45
What about the many words being used end in "ja":
Niggajdja, nipplatja,nizkwizja,etc,etc,etc
M Mifsud
Feb 7th, 11:26
Last week I heard a new one on a private maltese channel. The presenter was talking about a greengrocer "li jihhelpjana hafna". I don't know about others, but when writing, I always use the Maltese equivalent when there is one, or else write the word in its original format but in inverted commas. This is what I was taught at school and in my opinion, it's still the system that makes most sense. I have one question. What would happen if "the old" way is used by a student in examinations? I just don't have the heart to teach my five year old son the "new" system.
Victor Rodenas
Feb 7th, 09:45
Quite true.Many shop owners are saying that they have a xelta kbira ta hwejjeg.The Maltese word is ghazla,xelta is a foreign word.
Mr Lawrence Mifsud
Feb 7th, 12:20
May I add one more foreign word to your 'xelta'? It is 'vasta' instead of 'kbira' .
Janet Bayes
Feb 7th, 09:18
Do you know it is because of people like you that English speaking people can not see a news broadcast in their mother tongue? The constitution states that the Maltese language will be protected.
We can see news from China, France, Germany, Russia, The USA and the UK, all in English. There is no way we can watch news broadcasts of LOCAL MALTESE news. Hows that for equality??
Mr J Xerri
Feb 7th, 10:09
MS Bayes could you please explain how Mr Coleiro's letter, complaining about the lack of use of proper Maltese words by broadcasters, is preventing English speaking people from watching local Maltese News in English.
Mr Tony Gatt
Feb 7th, 16:36
@ Janet Bayes
Some of the news-readers reading English I've heard were better to stick to Maltese, their pronounciation was so dire.
Janet Bayes
Feb 7th, 16:42
It seems that the two things are linked.
The constitution allows for the local language to be maintained (albeit in an abused by some form), whilst not allowing for English speakers to have even a news broadcast. Is that clear and simply put enough??
Maybe if the use of English for newsreaders was allowed, locals might lean to use it more easily, and not abuse our language too.