Agreed.

The same for accjomu – we did not take it from Latin ecce homo but from Sicilian “ecci omu”.

Please keep in mind that the first assimilation of Latin words into Maltese was from Sicilian not Italian. Medieval documents in Malta were written either in Low Latin or in Sicilian, sometimes a Maltese variation of it.

You may find it surprising that when Italy was unified in 1861, a mere 2 per cent spoke Italian. The rest spoke their dialect as many still do in their homes and their regions. It was more formal education and the advent of radio and television which made Italian (Toscano) more widely spoken in Italy.

Though called “dialects” many of these are really languages with their own established literature, poetry, theatre etc. Neapolitan, Sicilian and Venetian are clear examples. Neapolitan songs are some of the most beautiful and popular examples of Neapolitan culture and they are always in the Neapolitan “dialect”.

Italian was the dialect spoken in Tuscany but it was used by some of the greatest writers in world literature: Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio etc and that’s how Tuscan became the standard Italian.

Come on Purdie, surely you can do better than that. Let me know once who’ve sharpened your tongue – lots of things to do with it.

A somewhat childish retort, however, somehow expected.

Grezz, let us know when you make your mind up.

You wouldn’t even have to dress up as a cow, Daphne.

I would normally accompany such a comment with a smiley, but smileys are not to be used with the older generation.

I like your new Kanak flag, Purdie. A white cross on a white background won’t bug you.

Matto for Mattow as known in Maltese, but as an English man would pronounce it.