Marcus Borg is of Scandinavian, not Maltese, descent
Published:
January 23, 2015 at 12:59pm
I suppose many of those who read this story will take it that Marcus Borg is of Maltese descent. He isn’t. His surname is the Scandinavian Bor(ye) and not the Maltese Bor(ch). Borg is a common surname in Scandinavia – the most famous example being the 1970s tennis champion Bjorn Borg, who gave rise to a spate of Bjorn Bor(ch)s in Malta.
The fact that he is Lutheran and from Minnesota should indicate this immediately. Minnesota is the Scandinavian immigrant heartland of the United States of America. Thirty-two per cent of its population is of Scandinavian descent, the highest of all the states.
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http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2015-01-23/world-news/Liberal-theologian-Marcus-Borg-dead-at-72-6736129290
http://maltarightnow.com/news/2015/01/22/filmat-transfer-ukoll-ghall-ghassa-mobbli-ta-wied-il-ghajn/
It’s actually pronounced more like Borye (but don’t pronounce the “e”) – if that makes sense.
It means “small castle”.
To quote Star Trek First Contact: “Borg? Sounds Swedish.”.
Daphne, I see that your blog is an excellent source for geography.
Just a minor comment. In Swedish Borg is pronounced Borj with the Maltese “j” sound.
[Daphne – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfy66r4WVU4 ]
I think we should ask Byon Jo.
So now we know how the papers print all those “international news” stories. They just have a bot that searches for anything with the word “Malta”.
That old Borg-Warner gearbox in the 1951 Studebaker pickup truck was not half made in Hamrun either.
Back in 1950s Malta, a well known doctor in town owned a rather luxurious German made Borgward automobile, and people pronounced the car make’s name with a soft “g”, just like the local surname of Borg.
Of course we children assumed it was a Maltese made car.
There is also a German village called Borg http://www.perl-mosel.de/ortsinfo/ortsteile/borg/