For the first time, T-Rex and his dinosaur family have an actual name in Maltese. Tirannosawru reks, veloċirattur and spinosawru have just been added to the Maltese vocabulary, after a local publisher worked with expert translators who undertook research to come up with the correct terminology.

Translator Jeantide Naudi told Times of Malta that having Maltese equivalents for dinosaurs – or dinosawri – and other animal species, as well as thematic terminology popular with children, was very important as it not only enriched the language but also allowed them to play, imagine and dream in their native language without having to continuously switch from Maltese to English.

In what is a first for Maltese books, Merlin Publishers this summer launched a book about dinosaurs for children aged six and over.

Called Id-Dinosawri, the book is a translation by Rachel Portelli of the original work penned by Emmanuelle Ousset.

Ms Naudi, who came up with the terminology, noted that the dinosaur names in this book were mainly referring to the genus, a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of organisms. Most languages would have their equivalent of the genus. The English term is very often derived from Greek and Latin – for example microraptor is composed of the prefix ‘micro’ from Greek and ‘raptor’ from Latin.

The Maltese term is primarily based on the Italian term

“In our day-to-day work at the European Commission, while translating European Union legislative acts and documents, we come across highly technical texts which include scientific and taxonomic terms, medical and pharmaceutical terminology, as well as various chemical substances.

“In all of these instances a Maltese equivalent needs to be provided and the Maltese term is primarily based on the Italian term, as historically this has always been the case for terms used in the mentioned domains,” she said.

The other Romance languages are also useful when determining a Maltese equivalent and this was the principle applied for the dinosaur terms in Maltese.

Therefore, taking spinosaurus as an example, and looking at the Italian equivalent spinosauro, the proposed Maltese term was spinosawru, just as dinosaur, in Italian dinosauro, would be dinosawru in Maltese, with the suffix ‘sawru’ having been long established and accepted in Maltese terminology.

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