Afternoon and evening are cultural definitions in Malta
This business of the distinction between afternoon and evening, which has made Chris Said the victim of political and personal revenge, is one which has piqued my curiosity for some time now.
Over the years, I’ve noticed that there is a definite cultural distinction between what is afternoon to some and what is evening – using the Maltese words, that is, and not the English ones.
In my world, the evening begins at 6pm and ends at 10pm, and the period between noon and 6pm is the afternoon.
So when speaking Maltese I use the same system: wara nofsinhar is the period between noon and 6pm and filghaxija is the period between 6pm and 10pm. Ten o’ clock is when night begins: il-lejl.
Most my cohorts define time in the same way.
But then I began to notice that there are people who use the terms differently. Wara nofsinhar is almost literally that, and filghaxija can be as early as 4pm – the height of the afternoon for those who define time as I do.
Only a couple of days ago, a builder told me he would come round to check on some work that needs doing, ‘filghaxija‘. I told him that wasn’t convenient because I would be going out at 6pm. No, no, he said – he meant around 4pm.
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I think it has to do with the working day of the individual. Builders tend to start work early and clock off before 4 pm, whereas I assume most of your cohorts do knowledge based work and tend to start later and usually clock off around 6 pm.
I consider ‘fil-ghaxija’ to start with sunset. Probably because my father’s parents were villagers who worked “minn filghodu sa flghaxija” or ” minn ‘x’hin jisbah sa ma’ jidlam’ .
Their day started with ‘ta’ l-ewwel’: mass at 5am, after which they would go to their workplace at dawn (iz-zernieq) or ‘kif jibda jbexbex’ and by sunrise ‘sebh’ they were working already.
They would stop at noon to eat their ‘hobza bil-gbejniet’ when the church bells pealed the Angelus, and stop working when they heard the same bells knell the Paternoster at sunset (inzul ix-xemx) and by dusk (ghabex) they would be on their way home.
What I’m trying to say is that ‘filghaxija’ and ‘wara nofs in-nhar’ have a time span which varies between the long days of summer and the short days of winter, not to mention the other variable: summertime.
I must admit that I never really thought about this before you pointed it out. I remember a time when I used to work in an open-plan office with 20 colleagues. I used, and still do, answer phone calls with ‘good afternoon’ at 5:30pm or later, but I also distinctly remember others who switched to ‘good evening’ after four.
My biological clock diverges on what I consider night. My night begins after 11:30pm. Years of grabbing a nap after an early evening dinner and then going out at midnight to meet friends at some bar must have changed my perception.
I am very keen to see how the Criminal Court will define afternoon and evening. I suspect they will use a prima facie approach.
But as you say, Daphne, the people have their own rules, based on their culture. So really, if Chris Said can prove this, then he should be getting ready to return to the Auberge de Castille.
[Daphne – He doesn’t have to prove anything. Perjury doesn’t depend on getting the facts wrong, but on lying with malicious intent and those lies having a bearing on the outcome of the case. It is the prosecution that has to prove Said’s guilt, not Said who has to prove his innocence.]
Jiddependi anke jekk ikunx is-sajf inkella ix-xitwa. Fis sajf nghidu “fl-erba ta’ wara nofsinhar” ghax ikun baqa hafna hin bid-dawl. Fix-xitwa “fl-erba ta filghaxija” ghaliex ikun kwazi dalam.
At university, an evening course may have lectures starting as early as 4.45pm.
I don’t know much about the case but I fail to see the relevance it might have to any custody case. Chris Said said so as well. But then he resigns.
I think that if it had no relevance then he need not resign.
And the PM should not have accepted the resignation.
This creates a precedent if you hate a minister’s guts or want to get him out of the way initiate proceedings against him and he will resign or be expected to.
The ethical part is that you cannot serve as Minister or PS and be under police investigation, however trivial the case. It is the same for any other high-ranking public servant.
The cut-off point revolves round the time people finish work. Builders generally knock off at 3.30 pm. For shop assistants “fil-ghaxija” would probably be 7pm to 9pm
I guess it depends on when one starts the day. If your builder gets up at 4am and is on the job by 5am, 4pm will feel like filghaxija. That’s the nice thing about siestas. You wake up at 4pm and it feels like filghodu.
Some people actually go to bed at 9pm. So, no wonder that 4pm for them is evening.
For a builder, probably up on his feet at 4.30 or 5am and hard at work all day, yes, 4pm would be the evening, the time when a hard day’s work is done and looking forward to a well earned rest
But may I ask : why is so much importance given as to whether the court decided in the afternoon or evening? would the time factor shange the court’s decision?
There’s a seasonal influence too. 6pm on a hot, summer’s day might well be afternoon but try convincing me it isn’t already evening when the same 6pm is during a cold, wet and dark winter’s day.
Having said that, I’ve enjoyed many entertaining discussions with foreign clients as to when afternoon surrenders to evening. It seems to me that there are a number of variables an individual takes into consideration, albeit unconsciously, when thinking of afternoon, evening and night. These include location, climate, season, weather and cultural background.
You have just GOT to see these Maltastar headlines:
“ONE autumn highlights – intruiging and challenging” ( http://www.maltastar.com/pages/r1/ms10dart.asp?a=12087 )
“C is for cleavage – Katy Perry banned from Seasame Street?” ( http://www.maltastar.com/pages/r1/ms10dart.asp?a=12088 )
What Daphne is trying to say is that there are various overlapping periods represented by the words we use in Maltese.
When does ‘wara nofs in-nhar’ make way to ‘filghaxija’, and what is the difference between ‘filghaxija’ and ‘bil-lejl’, which itself seems to overlap with ‘filoghdu kmieni’.
But all in all, if justice takes its course, I’m more than confident that Chris Said will not only manage to clear his name but also achieve the necessary political popularity in order to finally replace the people within the government who are rapidly growing stagnant and obsolete.
What I cannot understand is why was it necessary to ask a witness about the timing of a court decision. Surely there are official records for this sort of thing.
Well they are culturally defined everywhere, not here in Malta only. This is very subjective. People also define afternoon from noon till sunset. However, with the passing of the seasons (let alone if one also factors in different countries with climatic differences) sunset happens at different times as well.
‘Ghaxijiet in-nhar’ is evening twilight. The time for local twilight varies according to the season and more. We therefore cannot really give a time when ‘wara nofs in-nhar’ enters into ‘fil-ghaxija’.
‘Ghabex’ is the word.
Having read the detailed explanation given by Mr Xuereb’s lawyer one would appreciate that there is more than meets the eye than Dr Said’s assertion that it is a simple case of mixing up ‘evening’, ‘afternoon’ or whatever.
Besides, I’m really exasperated at the Maltese mentaility of ‘mhux xorta’. It seems Dr Said is saying ‘mhux xorta, evening, morning, hi”. Le, hi MHUX XORTA! Coming from a lawyer of his standing and a Parliamentary Secretary to booth he should be made aware that even slight details might have repercussions.
Daphne, you of all people, should have got this just rather than defend the indefensible.
[Daphne – Actually, Jean, it really is a case of ‘mhux xorta’. It didn’t make a difference at all.]
is it “to booth” or “to boot”?
[Daphne – The second.]
We are very close, if not completely identical, to the Italians in this respect:
sera [sé-ra] s.f.
1 Parte del giorno compresa tra il tramonto del sole e la piena oscurità
2 estens. Convenzionalmente, spazio di tempo compreso fra la cena (o il tardo pomeriggio) e la mezzanotte
pomeriggio [po-me-rìg-gio] s.m. (pl. -gi)
• Parte della giornata che va da mezzogiorno al tramonto: vedersi nel primo, nel tardo p.; domenica p.
Compare and contrast with:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afternoon
Nahseb li jiddependi wkoll f’liema hin l-individwu jkun beda l-gurnata tax-xoghol tieghu u kemm ikun ghadda hin mil bidu tal-gurnata tieghu.
Jekk “il-bennej” fit-3am qieghed il-barriera jghabbi l-gebel u ahna ghadna fis-sodda ma niskantax li dak il-hin u jsejjahlu filghodu u ahna nsejjhulu lejl. Fuq l-istess principju l-4pm “il-bennej” iqisu fil-ghaxija u ghalina jkuna ghadu kmieni wara nofsinhar.
There should not be a ‘cultural definition’ really – from 12 noon it is afternoon and from 6 it is evening. After 8 it is night. Correct me if I am wrong.
Excuse me, but this is totally unrelated.
from Maltastar:
‘Danica Muscat is the second Maltese girl this year to show the international world what the Maltese are really made of.’
http://www.maltastar.com/pages/r1/ms10dart.asp?a=12093
What does ‘international world’ mean?
And, in what way does a talent show contestant ‘show what Maltese are made of’.
Their level of reporting is simply brilliant: “According to her Facebook page …”
Un-friggin-believable. A phone call would have sufficed. (Admittedly, if it were my child I would not let her speak to the Maltastar reporters, but that is a different matter altogether.)
Couldn’t resist posting this. In another story [1], they consistently spell Mark’s name as Marc (despite pointing to the correct Wikipedia page), link to a “massive interview” that is 4.5 words long (“Hello, we’re talking to Ma–,” presumably), and, well, then I gave up reading. Imnalla Mintoff taghhom l-edukazzjoni b’xejn. Il-vera mnalla.
[1] http://www.maltastar.com/pages/r1/ms10dart.asp?a=12080
International World.
Simple.
Labour people exist in their own ‘world’. That world where they except Malta not to be the least affected by the international recession and thus it should be reducing taxation left, right and centre.
Thus, anything else which happens beyond our shores is, for them, the ‘international’ world.
Re your second link, probably deep down they do believe that it’s through talent shows that we can “show what Maltese are made of”.
Look at the Leader. And Wife.
Perhaps if you really want to know the difference between afternoon and evening you should ask the bright sparks at Maltastar. They seem to know everything about the international world.
There is the Maltastar world and the real world. I guess that’s what they mean by ‘the international world’ – everything that is outside their narrow, uninformed existence.
Chris Said did the honourable thing. Once the judge decided to ask for his prosecution for perjury he had no other option.
The chronology of events that actually took place in a court of law should never have been the cause of a dispute. Every detail is on record. Xuereb’s counsel should have challenged Said’s testimony there and then. The records would have been consulted abd the matter resolved on the spot.
The worrying aspect of this sad mess is that the matter was allowed to reach the stage it did.
I am a complete layman in matters legal. Most of what I know about perjury I learnt from following the Jeffrey Archer case.
How can one maliciously lie about something that is recorded in black and white in the files lying beneath the judge’s nose ?
In this case either the judge is an ass or the law is an ass or both.
Chris Said will emerge from all this kerfuffle with his reputation enhanced.
You’re spot on in saying that the standard “good afternoon/evening greeting” is one of social and cultural norms. In Italy, for example, it is quite common to be greeted with “buona sera” as early as 2pm. Apparently, once lunch is over, that is the standard greeting, and “buon pomeriggio” is next to obsolete. Sounded strange at first, but one soon gets used to it.
Whenever I said ”buon pomeriggio”, the reply I always got was ”buona sera”, even as early as 1pm.
I can’t imagine what difference it could have made saying in the ‘afternoon’ instead of, in the ‘evening’ or vice versa, though I’m not aware of the context.
From what I have heard, even those who are vehemently against the PN have not a word to say against Chris Said, who is known as a true gentleman. I am sure he will prove himself correct.
I hardly ever heard, ‘wara nofs in-nhar it-tajjeb’ being said casually, in Malta too.
The magistrate in question should have at least pointed out in his conclusion what the correct distinction is between afternoon and evening – unless there is something else that we are all missing.
Time indications are really confusing, and it seems that there are no specific rules. Or still if there are, no one seems to follow them.
Beyond the puerility of this afternoon/evening distinction, I see the depths plumbed by embittered individuals in separation battles.
Chris Said is an up-and-coming politician by all accounts and acknowledged as such by many people on either side of the political divide.
His predicament is little more than collateral damage in a conflict between an ex (presumably) couple. That it has come to this is due – directly or indirectly – to petty oneupmanship and squabbling by the people who run our country in their spare time, or so it seems.
I hear that such things are quite run of the mill in separation cases. Do we have a way of knowing that such goings-on are limited to separation tribunals or whatever they’re called? Can we be sure that this “fear of reprisal” won’t hinder the true and fair progress of justice?
You’re now going to think that I’m going out of point, but how will the introduction of divorce solve these problems? This is a genuine question. I appreciate that this is your blog and I won’t “bear any grudges” if you decide to edit out the last question.
[Daphne – Reuben, those two were not even married. The mistake she made was to register him as the father. She should have just taken the baby and gone back home to England, and been shod of him for good. Summary of story: English women whose parents own a house in Gozo holidays here, falls for Gozitan savage who takes the opportunity of having sex with somebody he doesn’t have to marry, falls pregnant, has baby, Gozitan savage tries to keep baby without keeping woman and kicks her out when the baby is three weeks old, then pursues custody because he thinks he is a fit father.]
This is the disadvantage of being old (I’m 84) – thinking of the judges that Malta was “blessed ” with in the past – my heart bleeds!
I don’t think it’s a particularly Maltese thing. I, like you, refuse to switch over to evening before about 6, but here in France, it is not uncommon to hear a ‘Bon Soiree’ as early as 4.