Download or read book Maltese and Other Languages written by Joseph M. Brincat and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout the ages, the Maltese language has undergone a series of internal changes as well as modifications and accretions caused by various external forces. Internal changes are not easy to date and explain because they require a painstaking comparative exercise that can be carried out only by experts in Semitic languages. As a result, their systematic description in a historical grammar of Maltese has not yet been published. By contrast, the external history of Maltese is essentially an account of its contact with various languages. All languages are marked by contact, albeit to varying degrees. Gumperz holds that "most words in most modern languages would count as borrowed" (1982: 67), but what makes Maltese unique is that it blends together elements from three distinct language families: the Semitic, the Romance, and the Germanic. The language spoken in Malta today is the result of a process that has been going on for a thousand years and, consequently, the account presented in this book will show how social, political, and cultural events are reflected in the changing face of the language. As the lexicon is the most tangible aspect of a language, it will naturally be privileged in this account. Thanks to its position exactly at the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, 90 km from Sicily and 290 km from the Tunisian coast, Malta's relations have not been limited to its immediate neighbours, Sicily and North Africa. Since time immemorial, Malta has been at the mercy of all the great naval powers that sailed the Sicilian channel. As a result, the Maltese language has been shaped by its inhabitants' interactions with all the peoples who, throughout the centuries, have landed on the islands to govern it or establish colonies there. In a territory as small as 27 km by 14 km, the ratio between the numbers of the rulers and the ruled is highly significant. For thousands of years, when the inhabitants had to live off the islands' resources, the size of the population must have been consistently small, around 5,000 in all; this factor may have allowed the language to be substituted a number of times. This may surprise us today, but before the Romantic Age, people had a very pragmatic view of language. Like any other tool, language was prized mostly for its efficiency. The population of the Maltese islands has multiplied in the past one thousand years, rising to around 400,000, and such a rapid increase in such a small place could not fail to exert a strong influence on the linguistic scenario. The increase in population was due not only to natural growth but also to cumulative waves of settlers from abroad. Social interaction between the locals and the visitors was strong, bilingual communication took place in various domains at all social levels and relations were especially strong when mixed marriages took place. For this reason, a history of the Maltese language must be seen in the wider context of a linguistic history of the Maltese islands, and will offer linguists belonging to both the historical and typological fields an intriguing case study of what can be considered a "minor" language from the international point of view (used only in a small state, but spoken by the great majority of the islanders) which has managed to survive alongside a series of "major" languages such as Arabic, Latin, Sicilian, Italian, and English, languages which were widely spoken and written abroad and which also enjoyed prestige in Malta itself, but whose local circulation was generally limited to the literate minority.
Download or read book The languages of Malta written by Albert Gatt and published by Language Science Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this volume is to present a snapshot of the state of the art of research on the languages of the Maltese islands, which include spoken Maltese, Maltese English and Maltese Sign Language. Malta is a tiny, but densely populated country, with over 422,000 inhabitants spread over only 316 square kilometers. It is a bilingual country, with Maltese and English enjoying the status of official languages. Maltese is a descendant of Arabic, but due to the history of the island, it has borrowed extensively from Sicilian, Italian and English. Furthermore, local dialects still coexist alongside the official standard language. The status of English as a second language dates back to British colonial rule, and just as in other former British colonies, a characteristic Maltese variety of English has developed. To these languages must be added Maltese Sign Language, which is the language of the Maltese Deaf community. This was recently recognised as Malta’s third official language by an act of Parliament in 2016. While a volume such as the present one can hardly do justice to all aspects of a diverse and complex linguistic situation, even in a small community like that of Malta, our aim in editing this book was to shed light on the main strands of research being undertaken in the Maltese linguistic context. Six of the contributions in this book focus on Maltese and explore a broad range of topics including: historical changes in the Maltese sound system; syllabification strategies; the interaction of prosody and gesture; the constraints regulating /t/-insertion; the productivity of derivational suffixes; and raising phenomena. The study of Maltese English, especially with the purpose of establishing the defining characteristics of this variety of English, is a relatively new area of research. Three of the papers in this volume deal with Maltese English, which is explored from the different perspectives of rhythm, the syntax of nominal phrases, and lexical choice. The last contribution discusses the way in which Maltese Sign Language (LSM) has evolved alongside developments in LSM research. In summary, we believe the present volume has the potential to present a unique snapshot of a complex linguistic situation in a geographically restricted area. Given the nature and range of topics proposed, the volume will likely be of interest to researchers in both theoretical and comparative linguistics, as well as those working with experimental and corpus-based methodologies. Our hope is that the studies presented here will also serve to pave the way for further research on the languages of Malta, encouraging researchers to also take new directions, including the exploration of variation and sociolinguistic factors which, while often raised as explanatory constructs in the papers presented here, remain under-researched.
Download or read book Teach Yourself Maltese written by Joseph Aquilina and published by . This book was released on 1965 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Further Studies in the Lesser Known Varieties of English written by Jeffrey P. Williams and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-04-30 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book documents the lesser-known varieties of English which have been overlooked and understudied within the canon of English linguistics.
Download or read book Grammatical Gender in Maltese written by George Farrugia and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2018-09-10 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is grammatical gender merely stored as a syntactic property of nouns, or is it computed according to a noun’s semantic, morphological and phonological properties every time it is required? In many languages, gender appears to resist systematic treatment and can even cause problems for non-native learners. Native speakers of these languages appear to have no difficulty in assigning the correct grammatical gender to thousands of nouns in their language. Being an offshoot of Arabic, Maltese inherited a system comprising two gender categories, masculine and feminine. Numerous nouns were introduced in Maltese through contact with Sicilian and subsequently with Italian, two languages that also have a masculine/feminine-based gender system. However, the more recent contact, with English, seems to have complicated matters. This work investigates how grammatical gender functions in Maltese, how native speakers apply different criteria to classify nouns, and how this choice is reflected in syntactic agreement. It also takes into consideration the wider psycholinguistic context that influences the choice of category, and provides valuable data for theories that seek to explain the linguistic categorization of nouns in various languages.
Download or read book Views on the Improvement of the Maltese Language and Its Use for the Purposes of Education and Literature written by Christoph Friedrich Schlienz and published by . This book was released on 1838 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Maltese for Foreigners written by Alain de Raymond and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-12-29 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are you learning Maltese? Do you find it difficult to make sense of the Maltese language? Is the spoken Maltese too different from the Maltese you've already learnt? Can you use some help with the expressions and special word combinations? A book with over 700 Maltese words and expressions In this book, you'll learn the most used words and expressions in spoken Maltese. Links to audio files are included to hear the Maltese pronunciation, so you can practice your hearing skills as well. An overview of all the content: Pronunciation How to greet in Maltese Essential sentences to start using Essential Maltese expressions and words Non-essential filling words to sound Maltese Connecting words How Maltese questions start Prepositions and how they are combined with other Maltese words Pronouns and how to use them Ask for directions The most used conjugations - Maltese verbs Adjectives Everyday Maltese words for at the doctor, at home, in the restaurant and many more And some other useful phrases Fun extras Links to more Maltese So what are you waiting for to learn Malta's official language? Start learning today by buying this book!
Download or read book Loan Verbs in Maltese written by Manwel Mifsud and published by BRILL. This book was released on 1995 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A description of the processes by which, over centuries of large-scale contact, Romance (Old Sicilian and Italian) and English verbs have been integrated to varying degrees into the Arabic structure of Maltese. Loan verbs are analysed and classified into categories ranging from fully naturalised verbs to undigested loans.
Download or read book Learn Maltese written by Alain de Raymond and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-03-15 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are you learning or willing to learn the Maltese language? Are you having some trouble with the verbs? Would you like to have clear explanations? Can you use full conjugations of the main Maltese verbs? A book fit for Maltese learners In this book, you will learn the structure of the Maltese verbs and all the different tenses. You will find as well as over 120 full conjugations of the most frequently used verbs in a simple and concise overview of Malta's official language. Each of the verbs is explained in an easy way. In the index, the translation Maltese-English and English-Maltese is given. So it is used as a learner's dictionary. Here's the structure: Introduction Pronunciation General structure Part 1 of the verbs Part 2 of the verbs Verbs from other languages Exceptions Additional notes Index So, ready to learn Maltese verbs? Let's start by learning Malta's verbs!
Download or read book Views on the improvement of the Maltese Language written by Christoph Friedrich Schlienz and published by . This book was released on 1838 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Views on the Improvement of the Maltese Language and its Use for the Purposes of Education and Literature written by Christoph Friedrich Schlienz and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2024-09-02 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reprint of the original, first published in 1838.
Download or read book Views on the Improvement of the Maltese Language and Its Use for the Purposes of Education and Literature written by Christoph Friedrich Schlienz and published by Theclassics.Us. This book was released on 2013-09 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1838 edition. Excerpt: ... Having considered the various inconveniences and evils, arising to the Maltese, from the present state of their language, as well as the inadequacy of the modes hitherto employed for removing them, I now, in conclusion, proceed to mention those means, by the adoption of which, I think the existing evils may not only be remedied, but also great advantages obtained. It is simply this: gradually to introduce, and eventually to use, the literal Arabic, for the purposes of education and of literature; to bring the advantages of such an education within the reach of every child, that is capable of profiting by it; and to treat all other languages, according to their nature, as foreign, giving, however, to the English, as its due, the preference, by making provision for its study in every public school, and by encouraging its general use. In this case, by using the literal Arabic, the Maltese will have the advantage of a highly cultivated language, and will not be in want either of common words, or scientifical terms. Sir William Jones says: "As it is unquestionably one of the most ancient (languages) of the world, so it yields to none ever spoken by mortals in the number of its words, and the precision of its phrases." (His works, Vol. I. p. 39.) Thousands of intellects have been advantageously developed therein, and hundreds of thousands of clear, useful, great, majestic thoughts have flowed through this healthy channel, in correct and graceful style, to revive and enlighten Europe during the middle ages. As the literal Arabic has been successfully tried in a variety of extensive and valuable translations, as well as in many original works, we have already prepared to hand a collection of literature and science of easy access to the Maltese, ...
Download or read book The Babel Message written by Keith Kahn-Harris and published by Icon Books. This book was released on 2021-11-04 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Quite simply, and quite ridiculously, one of the funniest and most illuminating books I have ever read. I thought I was obsessive, but Keith Kahn-Harris is playing a very different sport. He really has discovered the whole world in an egg.' Simon Garfield A thrilling journey deep into the heart of language, from a rather unexpected starting point. Keith Kahn-Harris is a man obsessed with something seemingly trivial - the warning message found inside Kinder Surprise eggs: WARNING, read and keep: Toy not suitable for children under 3 years. Small parts might be swallowed or inhaled. On a tiny sheet of paper, this message is translated into dozens of languages - the world boiled down to a multilingual essence. Inspired by this, the author asks: what makes 'a language'? With the help of the international community of language geeks, he shows us what the message looks like in Ancient Sumerian, Zulu, Cornish, Klingon - and many more. Along the way he considers why Hungarian writing looks angry, how to make up your own language, and the meaning of the heavy metal umlaut. Overturning the Babel myth, he argues that the messy diversity of language shouldn't be a source of conflict, but of collective wonder. This is a book about hope, a love letter to language. 'This is a wonderful book. A treasure trove of mind-expanding insights into language and humanity encased in a deliciously quirky, quixotic quest. I loved it. Warning: this will keep you reading.' - Ann Morgan, author of Reading the World: Confessions of a Literary Explorer
Download or read book The Languages of Malta written by Albert Gatt and published by Saint Philip Street Press. This book was released on 2020-10-09 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this volume is to present a snapshot of the state of the art of research on the languages of the Maltese islands, which include spoken Maltese, Maltese English and Maltese Sign Language. Malta is a tiny, but densely populated country, with over 422,000 inhabitants spread over only 316 square kilometers. It is a bilingual country, with Maltese and English enjoying the status of official languages. Maltese is a descendant of Arabic, but due to the history of the island, it has borrowed extensively from Sicilian, Italian and English. Furthermore, local dialects still coexist alongside the official standard language. The status of English as a second language dates back to British colonial rule, and just as in other former British colonies, a characteristic Maltese variety of English has developed. To these languages must be added Maltese Sign Language, which is the language of the Maltese Deaf community. This was recently recognised as Malta's third official language by an act of Parliament in 2016. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.
Download or read book Deconstructing Language Structure and Meaning written by Mihaela Tănase-Dogaru and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2021-07-01 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together a number of researchers working on generative syntax and semantics, language acquisition and phonology to explore various theoretical frameworks, ranging from generative grammar and formal semantics to more descriptive approaches. The contributions gathered here investigate various aspects in the syntax, semantics, phonology and acquisition of Romanian in comparison with other (mainly Romance) languages. The book will be of interest to linguists who are keen on keeping up with the latest advances in the field of Romance studies, as well as those whose research bears on languages such as Hungarian, German, and Maltese, among others.
Download or read book Learn Maltese written by Joseph Vella and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Introducing Maltese Linguistics written by Bernard Comrie and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2009-06-24 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of articles highlights a selection of on-going research projects. Phonological, morphological, and syntactic issues are addressed by international experts on Maltese. The diachronic development of Maltese, its age-long contact with Italo-Romance, and the present diglossic situation with co-official English are the topics of a variety of contributions to this volume. The repercussions that the promotion of Maltese to the status of official working language of the EU has on the Maltese lexicon are discussed. A project on the sociolinguistics of non-native Maltese-English is presented. The problems posed by the creation of electronic resources for Maltese are equally focused upon. The papers amply demonstrate that Maltese Linguistics can stand on its own outside the traditional field of Oriental Studies.
