Never confuse ‘quaint’ with ‘beautiful’.

I don’t wish to offend, but you really are quite out of your depth.

I know of old families, members of the Nobility, with their ancestral homes in harbour areas. You cannot identify ‘hamalli’ geographically, especially within a small island such as Malta. By the way, nor can you identify ‘hamalli’ by their political beliefs (hehe!).

No, the Maltese language can easily be spoken most beautifully even by illiterate people.

It’s never used, Mr Borg, because English is allowed to evolve, which is why the Oxford dictionary is replete with words marked ‘archaism’, despite still being in the dictionary and officially still words.

If we had the equivalent dictionary system, ‘berga’ would similarly be marked as an archaism.

Maltese people in general tend not to understand the concept or reality of archaisms in language, which is why so many speak and write, in formal contexts, what is known as Indian English.

No. Be reasonable: such a word is never, ever used.

You see, that’s where you’re mistaken. There are one kind, and they’re urban. In England as in Malta, they tend to be concentrated in port areas or the equivalent. There’s a reason why the original meaning of the word was ‘porter’ – the people who congregated at the docks and scrambled to haul your luggage for a couple of coins. Rural peasants are not hamalli.