People who speak Maltese must make an effort to use words that have deeper Maltese roots than other words influenced by Italian and English, President George Vella said on Monday.
He said learning other languages and using English wherever necessary remained important, but Maltese speakers had a duty to guard their language, making sure the original, semitic Maltese words live on for generations to come.
"I'm not saying we should find a Maltese word for everything. Some words, like 'kompjuter' (computer) should stay. We don't need to go as far as to create a Maltese word for it, as some other languages do," Vella said.
"But don't say 'informazzjoni' (information) when you can say 'tagħrif'. Don't say 'vettura' (vehicle) when you can say 'karozza' (car). Don't say 'assistenza' (assistance), because we have a Maltese word for it - 'għajnuna'. And say 'itemmu' (end), not 'jitterminaw' (terminate).
"If we have Maltese words that everyone already understands, why do we need to change them, just for the sake of it," he asked.
The President was speaking at the launch of 'L-Ilsien Malti għal Qalbi' (I cherish the Maltese language) - a campaign by the Office of the President in collaboration with seven Maltese language organisations - aimed at raising awareness about the beauty of the Maltese language and the importance of preserving it as part of the nation's identity.
The campaign will touch on several aspects of the Maltese language and will start by celebrating non-Maltese people who fell in love with the language, learned it, and can now speak it fluently.
Two of them - Swedish Jessica Shulz and French Arnaud Bouvier - featured in the campaign launch, speaking fluent Maltese and ordering cappuccino and pastizzi in a cafeteria like they were born and bred in Malta.
"If we have Maltese words that everyone already understands, why do we need to change them, just for the sake of it?" the President asked. PHOTO: Office of the President."This campaign is not an effort to exclude other languages or to say that they are less important, because I suspect there will be people who will criticise us for this," the President insisted.
"This is about valuing the beauty of our language and using it properly wherever we can. Our language will keep evolving and changing, yes, but we have a duty to keep the [semitic] basis alive."
'Speak Maltese during official events'
He also said people should speak in Maltese in public more often, even during official events and ceremonies, and that while the Maltese written word in newspapers and online portals has improved, the spoken word in broadcast media needs refining, because some words are jarring.
He said the modern Maltese language has changed so much, that when he was still foreign affairs minister and the ministry sent Maltese news clips to Australia, Canada and the US, Maltese emigrants would find it hard to understand the content.
Kit Azzopardi said the campaign aims at breaking the perception that the Maltese language is just for Maltese people. PHOTO: Office of the President.Kit Azzopardi - one of the brains behind the campaign - said the campaign aims at breaking the perception that the Maltese language is just for Maltese people.
"It is for all those who come across it, wherever they come from," he said, adding that the German city of Bremen houses a centre that teaches Maltese and there is another similar course on the Maltese language and literature in France.
"In this first part of the campaign we are celebrating people who learned or studied Maltese but who were not born in Malta. Like this, language becomes an agent of social cohesion."