[attach id=242308 size="medium"]Lino Psaila is making sure no one forgets the Żejtun dialect. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina[/attach]

The first ever book in a Maltese dialect from beginning to end is being written by a man who hopes to capture id-djalett Żejtuni before it is too late.

Lino Psaila, soon to hit 70, said although some still speak in the dialect, he is afraid it is dying because the younger generations speak only in standard Maltese.

“But through this book – which I am also recording in audio-format on a CD – people will never forget what the Żejtun dialect sounded like,” Mr Psaila, also known as Lieli, said.

Lieli ta’ Keterin will not be Mr Psaila’s first book in Maltese.

He is also working on the fourth edition of Il-Baħar Rasu Iebsa – a collection of researched accounts about Maltese fishermen, mostly from Marsaxlokk and Żejtun, who lost their lives at sea.

Il-Baħar Rasu Iebsa – a collection of 14 accounts – was first published in 1978. Mr Psaila added other accounts to those found in the first book and published it again in 1996, and then in 2003.

The first two editions are out of print and he is preparing the fourth edition, which includes the 2008 Simshar tragedy.

Although the books are popular with Maltese readers, he notes that “God willing” there will not be another edition, as that would mean more deaths claimed by the sea.

The research started some 50 years ago, when he married Marija and moved to Marsaxlokk.

Mr Psaila was a public works technical official but also a part-time fisherman.

One day he heard an old man say that some 50 years before, a fellow fisherman had drowned. Curious, he asked what had happened, and the old fisherman recounted the tragedy of four men lost at sea.

Mr Psaila took note of all the details but when he went to the National Library to look up the story, to his dismay he found only a couple of lines about the whole ordeal lost among other articles in the newspaper.

It’s a collection of events, oddities, silliness and whatever I came up against over the years

He knew that those lost lives were someone’s parents and siblings, so he immediately set out to discover more and put their stories in print.

Through the years he has interviewed numerous fishermen, some as old as 90, trying to make sure no tragic story was left untold.

Although the first edition was published in what is referred to as standard Maltese, Mr Psaila felt that the dialogue in the other editions should be written in dialect.

Mr Psaila notes he is not the first to do this. But the “semi-biographical” book he is working on now is entirely in the Żejtuni dialect: from the name of the book – Lieli ta’ Keterin (Manuel of Catherine) – to the very last word.

“It’s a collection of events, oddities, silliness and whatever I came up against in the years I’ve been here – starting from the fight that erupted when my relatives could not decide on a name once I was born,” he said.

Born Leli, he was soon referred to as Lelino, until his mum eventually started calling him Lino when he turned four.

As he grew older, Lino became a character associated with Żejtun and its dialect, which he actively promotes wherever he goes, and people nowadays refer to him as Lino tal-beħer or Lino tal-manuċċi because of his love for the sea and for kites.

Talking about his new book, Mr Psaila spoke in the Żejtun dialect with pride. Every dialect has its distinguishing peculiarities, and when it comes to the Żejtuni one, it weighs down on a short vowel “u” (as in skula) and a long “e” (as in spiritire).

He told of Sicilians who centuries ago found refuge in Malta and settled in what is today known as Żejtun.

This settlement left its mark on the dialect, especially in unique words like steringe (for slingshot – probably from stirare) and manuċċa (for kite – probably from mano and uccello).

Fishermen from Żejtun eventually settled down in Marsaxlokk and that is why the two villages’ dialects are similar, Mr Psaila explained.

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