In the first post regarding the Maltese language, I introduced the alphabet.
Today, following my notes order, I am going to write about the article, but first let me add that in the Maltese alphabet the consonants are arranged in two groups:
Sun Consonants: Ċ, D, N, R, S, T, X, Z, Ż
Moon Consonants: B, F, Ġ, Ħ, J, K, L, M, P, Q, V, W
This grouping will make easier to remember the rules for a correct use of the articles.
The Maltese language actually has only one article: il-
Note that the article requires to be separated from the following word with a "-" (dash).
Even though it is written as one of the Italian articles, its usage is in fact very similar to the English the: it remains the same regardless the number and the genre of the noun it precedes.
However, unlike the English article, the Maltese one changes slightly depending on the first letter of the following word.
If the following word starts with a The article is
Vowel A, E, I, O, U, IE L-
GĦ, H L-
Sun consonants I<consonant>-
Moon consonants IL-
Basically, when the word that follows starts with a sun consonants the L changes into that consonant. If the word that follows starts with a vowel, the I is dropped. In all the other cases the article is always IL-.
Since għ and h do not have a sound on themselves, the rule is the same of the vowels one.
Some examples:
L-Ilma The water
L-Ieħor The other one
L-Ħobż The breadIĊ-Ċirasa The cherry
ID-Dar The house
IX-Xita The rain
IL-Mara The woman
The last example "il-mara" gives me the opportunity to introduce one characteristic of the Maltese language: adding the article to a word, can change the meaning of it.
In this case, "il-mara" can be used with the meaning "my wife".
To distinguish these cases in writing, the general rule is to change to capital the first letter of the word following the article.
In speaking, the intended meaning can be understood from the context.
Some examples:
Il-mara The woman
Il-Mara My wife
Il-raġel The man
Il-Raġel My husband
L-erbgħa The four
L-Erbgħa Wednesday
As far as I know, there are no exceptions to the rules for determining the correct article, but I cannot be completely sure, being my knowledge limited.
Native Maltese speakers, am I correct?
Showing posts with label Maltese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maltese. Show all posts
Saturday, 24 September 2016
Wednesday, 3 August 2016
The Maltese language
Today I have received a letter from the MCAST institute with the score of the final assessment exam.
During the past four months I have attended the Maltese for Foreigners Level 1 course that was focused on the very basic of the grammar and the understanding of short text and speaking.
In general, learning a new language is a difficult task that requires a good effort especially at the beginning.
Considering that I am trying to improve my English at the same moment, learning Maltese is even more difficult for me considering the small amount of time I can dedicate to it.
Many teachers suggest the best way to learn a language is immerse yourself into it: I am listening radio (in Malta there are a few of very good stations), watching TV (even though, in general, I am not used to) and put some effort in trying to translate what native speakers say.
While waiting for the starting date of the next course of Maltese language (yes, I have passed the exam with a quite good score ☺ ), I have decided to revisit what I have learned writing a series of post in this blog.
Maltese alphabet is composed of 30 letters:
A B Ċ D E F Ġ G GĦ H Ħ I IE J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Ż Z
a b ċ d e f ġ g għ h ħ i ie j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x ż z
Maltese language is very phonetic and, with some very minor exceptions, letters are pronounced always in the same manner.
The author of this video spells the alphabet:
I have to say that for an Italian native the most difficult letters are "q", a guttural sound, and "ħ" the "sounding h" somewhat similar to the English one that we find so difficult to pronounce correctly.
On the other hand, even though not very difficult to pronounce, I find very difficult to distinguish ż from z when native people speak.
Għ is a particular case: it does not have sound per-se, but prolongs the vowel that precedes it. This is what the official rule says.
Unfortunately, native speakers pronounce it in several fashion because of dialects.
tiegħi (= mine/my) is pronounced "tiAi", "tiEi" or "tii-i" depending of the village of origin of the speaker.
There are a few other exceptions, but in general reading Maltese language consists in connecting the sounds of the alphabet letters.
Il-bnedmin kollha jitwieldu ħielsa u ugwali fid-dinjità u d-drittijiet. Huma mogħnija bir-raġuni u bil-kuxjenza u għandhom igibu ruħhom ma' xulxin bi spirtu ta' aħwa.
English
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
During the past four months I have attended the Maltese for Foreigners Level 1 course that was focused on the very basic of the grammar and the understanding of short text and speaking.
In general, learning a new language is a difficult task that requires a good effort especially at the beginning.
Considering that I am trying to improve my English at the same moment, learning Maltese is even more difficult for me considering the small amount of time I can dedicate to it.
Many teachers suggest the best way to learn a language is immerse yourself into it: I am listening radio (in Malta there are a few of very good stations), watching TV (even though, in general, I am not used to) and put some effort in trying to translate what native speakers say.
While waiting for the starting date of the next course of Maltese language (yes, I have passed the exam with a quite good score ☺ ), I have decided to revisit what I have learned writing a series of post in this blog.
The alphabet
Maltese alphabet is composed of 30 letters:
A B Ċ D E F Ġ G GĦ H Ħ I IE J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Ż Z
a b ċ d e f ġ g għ h ħ i ie j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x ż z
Maltese language is very phonetic and, with some very minor exceptions, letters are pronounced always in the same manner.
The author of this video spells the alphabet:
I have to say that for an Italian native the most difficult letters are "q", a guttural sound, and "ħ" the "sounding h" somewhat similar to the English one that we find so difficult to pronounce correctly.
On the other hand, even though not very difficult to pronounce, I find very difficult to distinguish ż from z when native people speak.
Għ is a particular case: it does not have sound per-se, but prolongs the vowel that precedes it. This is what the official rule says.
Unfortunately, native speakers pronounce it in several fashion because of dialects.
Example:
tiegħi (= mine/my) is pronounced "tiAi", "tiEi" or "tii-i" depending of the village of origin of the speaker.
There are a few other exceptions, but in general reading Maltese language consists in connecting the sounds of the alphabet letters.
Example (from Ager, Simon. "Omniglot - writing systems and languages of the world" www.omniglot.com):
MalteseIl-bnedmin kollha jitwieldu ħielsa u ugwali fid-dinjità u d-drittijiet. Huma mogħnija bir-raġuni u bil-kuxjenza u għandhom igibu ruħhom ma' xulxin bi spirtu ta' aħwa.
English
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Sunday, 20 December 2015
Is English an official language?
Stefano has been attending SkolaSport for some time. SkolaSport is a program of the Maltese government to promote sports for kids of every age.
My wife and I decided to register him for the gymnastics class.Actually, because of the average age of the participants, during this class, they just play together. Still, we think this is more than sufficient, considering this is also an occasion for Stefano to socialise with other children.
Last week, I received an email from the sports centre: they invited me to a parents' meeting to discuss the new gymnastic academic course. The idea behind this is to identify potential in the kids to build a future team of professionals.
We decided to attend the meeting, even though we were aware that it is perhaps too early for such a commitment.
The meeting started with the introduction by one of the organisers.
Unfortunately for me - but, after all, we are in Malta - he started speaking Maltese.
I then politely asked him to switch to English to let us understand.
What surprised my wife and me was the face of the speaker and the rest of the committee.
After a short discussion, the speaker replied in English that the rest of the attendees preferred Maltese.
We were about to leave the room when one of the committee members proposed himself as a translator from Maltese to Italian: he invited me to sit beside him.
With his help, I understood the most important topics, but the bottom line is that Stefano is still too young (and "inexpert", whatever it means for a young child) to attend the academic program.
In hindsight, that situation raised a question in my head:
Maltese and English are both official languages in Malta: is it my right to request to speak English at a public event?
Friday, 18 December 2015
L'inglese è una lingua ufficiale o no?
Stefano da qualche tempo partecipa a SkolaSport un programma governativo che promuove lo sport per gli studenti di tutte le età.
Io e mia moglie abbiamo deciso di iscriverlo al corso di ginnastica.
Durante questa ora settimanale in realtà, vista l'età media di cinque anni, più che altro fanno giochi di gruppo, ma riteniamo che sia più che adeguato dato che è anche un modo per socializzare.
La settimana scorsa ho ricevuto una email dal centro sportivo con l'invito ad un incontro con i genitori per spiegare l'organizzazione del nuovo anno accademico di ginnastica.
In buona sostanza, un incontro per gli interessati ad un programma più impegnativo per fini possibilmente agonistici.
Pur avendo in mente di non stressare troppo il nostro piccolo sportivo, abbiamo comunque deciso di partecipare all'incontro.
Il giorno fissato, siamo arrivati al centro sportivo inusualmente puntuali (per i nostri - ahimè - standard).
Dopo una breve attesa ci siamo finalmente seduti per ascoltare il discorso degli organizzatori.
Come immaginavo, lo speaker ha cominciato subito a parlare in maltese.
Poco male - mi sono detto - mi sono quindi alzato e chiesto, in inglese, scusandomi per l'interruzione, se poteva parlare in inglese anche lui.
La faccia stupita della gente sul palco mi ha lasciato perplesso a mia volta: dopo aver confabulato brevemente fra loro, l'uomo mi ha risposto in inglese che il pubblico avrebbe preferito il maltese, anche se sinceramente non ho capito da cosa lo ha dedotto.
Stavo quindi pensando di andare via, quando, visto che fra gli organizzatori era presente un italiano, sono stato invitato a spostarmi vicino a lui che si è cortesemente prestato a fare da traduttore.
Alla fine ho capito i punti essenziali del discorso e che comunque Stefano è ancora piccolo (e inesperto) per accedere all'accademia.
Non è mia intenzione dare colpe a nessuno, ma la situazione vissuta mi ha lasciato in testa delle domande:
Durante questa ora settimanale in realtà, vista l'età media di cinque anni, più che altro fanno giochi di gruppo, ma riteniamo che sia più che adeguato dato che è anche un modo per socializzare.
La settimana scorsa ho ricevuto una email dal centro sportivo con l'invito ad un incontro con i genitori per spiegare l'organizzazione del nuovo anno accademico di ginnastica.
In buona sostanza, un incontro per gli interessati ad un programma più impegnativo per fini possibilmente agonistici.
Pur avendo in mente di non stressare troppo il nostro piccolo sportivo, abbiamo comunque deciso di partecipare all'incontro.
Il giorno fissato, siamo arrivati al centro sportivo inusualmente puntuali (per i nostri - ahimè - standard).
Dopo una breve attesa ci siamo finalmente seduti per ascoltare il discorso degli organizzatori.
Come immaginavo, lo speaker ha cominciato subito a parlare in maltese.
Poco male - mi sono detto - mi sono quindi alzato e chiesto, in inglese, scusandomi per l'interruzione, se poteva parlare in inglese anche lui.
La faccia stupita della gente sul palco mi ha lasciato perplesso a mia volta: dopo aver confabulato brevemente fra loro, l'uomo mi ha risposto in inglese che il pubblico avrebbe preferito il maltese, anche se sinceramente non ho capito da cosa lo ha dedotto.
Stavo quindi pensando di andare via, quando, visto che fra gli organizzatori era presente un italiano, sono stato invitato a spostarmi vicino a lui che si è cortesemente prestato a fare da traduttore.
Alla fine ho capito i punti essenziali del discorso e che comunque Stefano è ancora piccolo (e inesperto) per accedere all'accademia.
Non è mia intenzione dare colpe a nessuno, ma la situazione vissuta mi ha lasciato in testa delle domande:
- Se non ci fosse stato l'interprete, lo speaker avrebbe accettato di parlare in inglese o sarei stato costretto a rinunciare a capire?
- In una nazione dove l'inglese è una delle due lingue ufficiali, non è mio diritto insistere nel chiedere di usarlo?
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