Nitolbu (I)

Tifel misthi, imdendel m’id ommu,
ihares b’halqu miftuh ‘il fuq lejn is-saqaf
imlewwen bil-moffa.
Ommu,
l-ixkaffa ta’ sidirha riha ta’ hobz,
ghajnejha maghluqin fl-estasija
tal-litanija.
Sidna Gesu’ Kristu fuq salib ghalik miet,
ibni.

The Language Issue

One of the advantages of being Maltese is that we are bilingual. I thought most people would agree with this; as I discovered, I was very much mistaken. I was enjoying a cocktail and a discussion at a party once, when the language issue arose. I was amazed at how fervently those patriotic people voiced their argument that, in Malta, Maltese is the more important language. Irked, I asked, ‘is it not wonderful that we are able to use English to communicate with foreigners?’ Instantly, I was answered by a loud chorus of ‘no’s. One eyebrow raised, I sheepishly asked, ‘why not?’

The following is the answer given to me by one especially fervent patriot (in Maltese):

‘I was at a restaurant and there was a foreign waitress. I spoke to her in Maltese. When she said she didn’t understand, and would I please speak English, I refused, and asked to speak to the manager. I figure if she can work in Malta, she should know the language.’

‘Mela!’ and ‘Naqbel mieghek jien!’ seemed to be the general reaction to this; my eyebrow continued to rise.

‘But’, I tried to argue, ‘if you go to any other European country, like Germany, and you don’t know German, they would have no qualms communicating in English.’

‘I don’t care’ was his obviously educated response.

Though Maltese is Malta’s national language, both Maltese and English are official languages. Technically this means we are bilingual. Of course, there are some cases of Maltese people who cannot speak Maltese; which I think is a real shame, as it is shameful that a good amount of Maltese people cannot speak English. How, then, can we call ourselves bilingual if, on top of this, there are people who outright refuse to learn one of the two languages?

The Maltese language is very important to us: as Derrida said, every language is based on its own unique ideology: this means that Maltese is an accurate portrait of our identity as Maltese people. It is a beautiful language, both poetic and practical, and reflects the island’s history.

Yet, surely English is important too. Maltese is a language spoken by only about 500,000 people world-wide, and while we should be proud to have our own language, we must realise that outside Malta, if you can only speak Maltese, you’re basically screwed.

Another thing that really gets to me is the ‘fonetikal’ spelling we seem to think it is our right to adopt. Picture this: you’re eating your cereal, reading a Maltese newspaper which seems innocent enough; then, all of a sudden, without warning, you spot a word such as:

-Xawer

-Skrin

-Futbol

-Ticer

-something equally abominable

In these situations, what I tend to do (after I have finished screaming, of course) is close the newspaper, fold it down the middle, throw it on the ground disdainfully, jump up and down on it whilst making agitated noises. Then, I grab the nearest Oxford English Dictionary and read 2 or 3 pages of that to cleanse my mind.

Just because you slaughter a word, that does NOT make it Maltese. Three words: USE. INVERTED. COMMAS. Seriously, all you have to do is write ‘shower’; ‘screen’; ‘football’; ‘teacher’ (respectively) instead. We will all understand you just as well, if not better, and you will spare us the tearing-out-of-hair.