In response to the lack of differentiation in the maltese “Neputi/neputija”, I bring this slightly off the topic enlightenment…

Since I’ve been married to my lovely Greek wife, I’ve discovered that there are many cultural similarities between Greeks and Maltese than I have ever been taught in school or by friends and relations.

All Greeks refer to any Greek person who is of their parental generation as “Thea” or “Theo” (zija/ziju)out of respect of course. They (the false aunties/uncles)in turn refer to these people as “anepsi” or “anepsja” (neputi or neputija). The fact that younger people refer to the older as zija/ziju or neputi/neputija (vice versa)actually means that any 40 year old (for example) will call any 80 year old “Aunty” even if he’s never seen her before in his life. Therefore, anybody within hearing distance would not assume that they’re in fact related, and if they really were related, the same would apply.

So if you (for example) met your neighbour(s) whilst taking a stroll in Athens on say a warm sunny afternoon in the middle of say a summer arts and crafts festival and you met someone as old as your parents and were to call them uncle/aunty (out of respect), a passer by would be none the wiser as to whether or not you’re friends or relatives.

The point I am making is that in Greece, there is no distinction between zijiet u hbieb and neputijiet u hbieb. I had absolutely no idea that Maltese mentality can be found in the Greek islands. Nor did I ever understand the term “min wara ‘l-muntanji” until I heard from Greeks that in the old days, education never reached villagers who lived behind the mountains and this is how they justified their sometimes very Maltese mentality.

Much of Malta’s superstition is actually found in Greek homes today, surprisingly not in the Italian homes! The evil eye is still talked about amongst most Greeks today. Here’s a small article which I found on the net concerning Greeks influences in Malta.

When the Roman Empire fell in 395 CE, Malta was placed under the eastern portion of the old Roman Empire, which was ruled from Constantinople. This change in ruling brought several Greek families to Malta, introducing various traditions, proverbs and superstitions some of which are still present in the Maltese culture of today.

Who knows, perhaps there’s some connection between Greeks’ reference to uncles and aunties and Maltese nieces and nephews!

PS. Ingravata, Karrozzi and tut(berries) are all current in Greek vocabulary.

Secondly, I agree with Daphne that, although there may be various versions of English termed American English, Australian English etc, there is only one called simply “English” and this is the version which is accepted in Malta. There is no “Maltese English” – this is just bad English. If bad speakers and writers of English could expect to get away with it by claiming that this is their version of English, then there would only be chaos.

I do not agree with those that blame the poor standard of English (and other foreign languages) in Malta to the emphasis on Maltese. My generation was compelled to study four languages in secondary school and many mastered at least three of them and some all four. What needs to be done is to instil in students the love of learning with patience. One does not fully master a language in a few weeks but along a more protracted period of time.

Are you another one of those who cannot accept that Malta is a tiny, tiny island with a population of just over 400,000 people – comparable to a mid-sized town anywhere else in Europe? Get real, won’t you? Maltese is totally and completely irrelevant beyond our national borders! Having said that, it’s absolutely imperative that the Maltese remain (or better still, become) truly bi-lingual and not speak Malglish (Trid nixtrilek ice-cream hi? Ixrob il-milk!)

Who are we to say that Belize, the Caribbean, South African and Indian English is bad English? Go tell the Americans that their American English is utter rubbish!

I will now make my point: in Malta we don’t speak the Queen’s English – we speak our own Malta English version, developed over a period of two hundred years in contact with the British. The majority of Maltese speakers of English formulate their thoughts in Maltese, and translate the MALTESE concepts into English. And that’s a fact.

Malta English has not yet achieved the status that the other ex-colonies’ versions of English have achieved, but in a couple of decades’ time, we might get there!

Let us for the time being enjoy the prestigious status that our Maltese language is enjoying in Malta, in Europe and in the cyberworld!

[Moderator – There may be many different ‘versions’ of English, but only one actual English language. Nobody is saying that American English is “utter rubbish”, but it it remains American English and not English. Color, anyone? Fall? Fanny? Purse? What you call ‘Maltese English’ isn’t a language at all. It’s a patois, incomprehensible to English speakers.]

It seems to me that the Maltese Language Taliban are winning the day.

actually correction re Ghandi – what he actualy said was “For international commerce, undoubtedly English occupies the first place…..”

[Daphne – Yes, of course I agree. There are further ramifications. Anyone who speaks only Maltese is by definition poorly educated, because he or she has no access to the works of fiction and non-fiction that make for the difference between a person with training and a person with education. And that’s quite apart from films, newspapers, magazines, and so on. Over a couple of months last year, I spent a total of around 24 hours in waiting-rooms at St Luke’s Hospital, and in all that time I was the only one reading. Everybody else was staring blankly into space and huffing and puffing. I suspect it wasn’t that they couldn’t read, but that they couldn’t read English, and the Maltese options are not exactly wildly tempting or interesting.]

English is undisputedly the lingua franca of the business world. Back in 1947 Ghandi said that French was the language of diplomacy, whilst English was the language of the world. Due to the high level of English that was prevalent amongst the civil service and professionals, and to a lesser extent, the public at large, Malta used to have a significant edge over many other countries. We are slowly but surely losing that edge. English is now compulsory in German schools, other countries, such as Spain, give tax incentives to parents who send their children on English language courses. On the contrary here, we have been witnessing a surge of the Maltese language to the detriment of English. Year in year out a high percentage of first year B.Ed students at the University of Malta – our teachers of tomorrow – fail their English language proficiency test!

The Maltese language is important as part of our national identity, however, let us not kid ourselves, it is largely irrelevant beyond the shores of Malta. We have witnessed a surge in nationalism over the years. To uphold Maltese at the cost of the English language is deplorable.
Sadly some leaders of this country have, in their over-zealous quest to heighten the profile of maltese, contributed sigificantly to the deterioration of English in Malta. I feel they have been misguided in this.

The fact that both languages are national languages is endorsed in our constitution. It is understandable that one would speak one language more than the other. Yet many deride those who speak English as their predominant language as being ‘tal-pepe’ and are told off by being told “ahna maltin – nitkellmu bil-malti”.

We are meant to be a bi-lingual nation. The sooner we embrace that and see it for the advantage it is the better.

[Daphne – What they actually say is “Ahna Maltin, nitkellmu bil-Malti haqq il-Madonna, haqq ***xx il-l**ba.]