IL-LINGWA MALTIJA

The Maltese Language

IL-BIDU TAL-LINGWA MALTIJATHE BEGINNINGS OF MALTESE Il-bażi soda u wiesgħa tal-lingwa tagħna

hija dik Semitika, jiġifieri ġejja minn djalett tal-Għarbi.

Our language is mainly based on the Semitic language, meaning that it is a dialect of Arabic.

IL-BIDU TAL-LINGWA MALTIJATHE BEGINNINGS OF MALTESE L-Għarab ħakmu lil Malta fis-sena 870

QK u sa dak iż-żmien ma kellna ebda kitba li turi x’lingwa kellhom il-Maltin.

The Arabs ruled Malta in 870BC and till that time we had no writing showing that the Maltese had any kind of writing.

L-ELEMENT SEMITIKUTHE SEMITIC ELEMENT L-Għarab daħħlu fil-Malti li nafu llum il-

bażi grammatikali, ħafna nomi u verbi komuni, in-numri u l-kuluri bażiċi.

The Arabs introduced into today’s Maltese the basics of grammar, many nouns and verbs are common, the numbers and the basic colours.

L-Għarbi jimxi bis-sistema tal-għerq u din għadha magħna sal-lum.

Arabic works with the root system (l-għerq) and we still use this system today.

L-ELEMENT SEMITIKUTHE SEMITIC ELEMENT Għadna nużaw ittri Għarab, għalkemm

tilfu l-ħoss u anki l-mod kif jinkitbu, bħall-GĦ u l-H.

We still use Arabic letters, although they lost their sound and even the way they are written, like the Għ or H.

L-ELEMENT RUMANZTHE ROMANCE ELEMENT It-tieni element qawwi li ħalla impatt fuq

il-lingwa Maltija kien l-element Rumanz li fih hemm imħallta l-Isqalli u t-Taljan.

The second strongest element which had a great impact on the Maltese language was the romance element in which we find the Sicilian and the Italian mixed together.

L-ELEMENT RUMANZTHE ROMANCE ELEMENT Malta kellha influwenza qawwija min-

naħa tal-Italja kemm minħabba l-kuntatt mill-qrib ma’ Sqallija, kif ukoll minħabba l-Kavallieri ta’ San Ġwann li damu jaħkmu lil Malta għal ħafna snin.

Malta was highly influenced by Italy because of the closeness to Sicily and also because the Knights of St. John ruled Malta for many years.

INFLUENZA FIL-LINGWA MINN SQALLIJATHE LANGUAGE INFLUENCE FROM SICILY

Malta b'kuntatt dirett ma' Sqallija wara l-miġja tal-Konti Ruġġieru fl-1090.

Malta was in direct contact to Sicily since after the arrival of Count Roger in 1090.

Malta ssir parti mir-renju ta' Sqallija, u għalhekk bosta professjonisti Maltin imorru jistudjaw fl-universitajiet ta' bliet Sqallin bħal Palermo.

Malta became part of the reign of Sicily, so many Maltese professionals go to study in the universities of Sicilian cities like Palermo.

Ħafna nies tas-sengħa bħal fl-injam u l-ġebel jiġu Malta minn Sqallija.

Many tradesman for woodwork or stonework came from Sicily.

INFLUENZA FIL-LINGWA MINN SQALLIJATHE LANGUAGE INFLUENCE FROM SICILY

F’kitbiet dwar Malta u l-Maltin f'atti notarili, in-nutara kienu jiktbu bl-Isqalli u jinkludu kliem bil-Malti.

In writings about Malta and the Maltese in notary acts, the notaries used to write in Sicilian and include Maltese words.

Malta tibda tingħata lil sidien fewdali differenti, fosthom Sqallin u aktar tard Spanjoli.

Malta starts being given to different feudal lords, some of which are Sicilians and later on Spanish.

Il-Malti jibda jinqata' bil-mod il-mod mill-influwenza Semitika u jibda jdaħħal fih ħafna kliem ġdid li jgħix ma' ta' qablu mingħajr problemi

Maltes starts becoming slowly detatched from the Semitic influence and introduces a number of new words which amalgamate to the older words without any problem.

INFLUENZA FIL-LINGWA MILL-KAVALLIERI TA’ SAN ĠWANN – THE LANGUAGE INFLUENCE BY THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN Il-Kavallieri għamlu Malta

fortizza u ċentru ta' kummerċ ċentru ta' arti u nies letterati taħlit ta' nies b'kulturi differenti Port u belt kapitali importanti ħafna

The Knights make Malta A fortress and a commerce centre A centre of art and literate people A multiculture of different people A very important harbour and capital city

INFLUENZA FIL-LINGWA MILL-KAVALLIERI TA’ SAN ĠWANN – THE LANGUAGE INFLUENCE BY THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN Il-Malti kiber u twessa’ biex fih idaħħal ideat ġodda li

kienu ġejjin mit-Taljan u b’hekk ma mietx.Il-qassis, it-tabib, in-nutar, u l-avukat kienu jitkellmu mal-poplu u speċjalment mal-klijenti tagħhom, u jekk għall-ewwel dawn ma kinux jifhmu kollox, bil-mod il-mod kienu jidraw jużaw kliem komuni bħal purċissjoni, mediċina, ingwent, maġistrat u sentenza. Dak li jolqtu kulħadd jitgħallmu u għalhekk nistgħu ngħidu li kieku t-Taljan kien iservi biss għall-poeżiji u r-rakkonti kieku qatt ma kien jinfirex bil-mod li tlaqqam fuq l-element semitku. Jekk infirex mal-poplu dan ġara biss għax kien utli fil-prattika u b'mod konkret...

Il-Malti- Elf Sena ta' Storja, ta' Joseph M. Brincat

Maltese grew and broadened to accept new ideas coming from Italian and so it did not die out.

The priest, the doctor, the notary, and the lawyer used to talk to the people and especially their clients and if at first these didn’t understand all, bit by bit the started getting used to words like ‘purċissjoni’ (procession), ‘mediċina’ (medicine), ‘ingwent’ (ointment), ‘maġistrat’ (magistrate) u ‘sentenza’ (sentence). When something is relevant to you, you learn it and so we can say that if Italian served only for poems and prose, it would have never spread in this way into the semitic element. If it spread across the people, it was only because of it’s necessity and practicality and in a concrete way...

Il-Malti- Elf Sena ta' Storja, by Joseph M. Brincat