Charles Briffa criticised Henry Frendo (June 29) for not specifying who creates language. Unfortunately, in the process, the good professor did not attempt to remove any doubts we mightbe harbouring.

Briffa admits that the issue is complex but found it easy to draw inferences from the article.

Could one other of his inferences be that it is the translators who create language? I say this because I seem to recall vaguely that, soon after Malta joined the European Union or thereabouts, Maltese translators apparently created a new language. In fact, it might have been two: one in Brussels and one in Strasbourg.

I am still confused. Perhaps Briffa, who is professor of translation and Maltese at the University of Malta, will enlighten us, once and for all.

Having said that, I agree with Briffa that “synonymy is important in a language but perfect synonymy is almost impossible because although two words may have similar meanings they may differ in implications and associations ….”

I also agree with Briffa when he states that “written Maltese can be enriched by using all the resources available in our language”. But he does not show us how or whether we should encourage the vernacular rather than the loaned word.

Even at the expense of being uneconomic in language, a three- or four-worded expression or idiom often sounds so much nicer than just one word, whether written or spoken.