social studies

1. The Maltese Language

2.  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.

3.  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.

4.  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.

5.  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.

6.  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.

7.  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.

8.  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.

9.  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.

10.  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

11.  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