You’re out of date.

That’s because I’m completely bilingual and speak English as a mother tongue and not a foreign language.

Mr Farrugia’s problems there are all down to the fact that his English is absolutely terrible – probably worse than the prime minister’s.

It’s impossible to carry out simultaneous translation when you’re fumbling around inside your mind for the right word in English and for the correct syntax while at the same time keeping your focus on what’s being said in Maltese.

Also, English and Maltese are COMPLETELY different languages borne out of two completely different cultures. Word for word translation doesn’t work at all. Sentences translated word for word from Maltese into English sound ludicrous and are difficult to understand.

The trick is to grasp the essence of what is said in Maltese and then précis it – because English is more concise and precise. Tell Mr Farrugia that from me.

Where on earth do people get off being so presumptuous. Imagine speaking English so badly, with such a lousy accent besides, and claiming to be an English-language simultaneous translator or interpreter.

You’re back at it again….I enjoy reading your witty analyses of the local
scene but please do not put pen to paper on all things and everything,
especially where you risk discrediting yourself.

Clarification: I am not Arab and I am not here to defend Arabs and their
culture. Intellectual honesty commands that when something fallacious is stated it must be corrected.

1. From a strictly linguistic point of view, Arabic is equivalent to the SUM of ALL languages that derived from Latin. So, I let you imagine how rich this language is. Arabic monolingual dictionaries run in dozens of volumes.

2. An extremely rich literature is produced in the Arabic language by Arabs and non-Arabs. Many Arab writers contribute their share to world literature and culture. Have you ever heard of Naguib Mahfouz, winner of the Nobel Prize of literature in 1988 ? Do you know that poets like Adonis and Nizar Qabbani hold their poetry reading sessions in studiums attended by thousands of fine literature lovers ?

3. Do you also know that when Jewish scholars embarked on reviving Hebrew (it was a “dead” language up to the beginning of the 20th century), they borrowed a sheer amount of terminology and phraseology from Arabic ? That was a natural thing to do since the 2 languages are “sisters”.

4. Do you also know that a substantial amount of technical terminology
(especially in chemistry and mathematics) is derived from Arabic, starting with “zero” and “algorithm” ?

5. I bet my 5 kopeks that you know that Western/European classical music borrowed immensely from what is commonly known as Arabo-Andalusian music. Listen to a piece by Lully (17th century) then to a piece of Arabic classical music and you will find out for yourself. Or better still, watch “La Reine Margot” directed by Patrice Chéreau (1984) and listen to the music. Go and find out where the naming of some musical pieces came from…I’m referring to the “matinales”, “nocturnes”, “vespérales” then get acquainted with the sophisticated musical system of the Noubas. Or ask a musicologist!

6. Do I need to add that Arabic is an official language of the United Nations, of the African Union, of the OIC, and of a few other sub-regional organizations?

7. Dozens of thousands of books in all fields of knowledge are published every year in the hundreds of publishing houses found everywhere from Morocco to Iraq.

8. How much do you know about the cultural and intellectual vitality of the people of Lebanon, Tunisia, Iraq, Algeria and Morocco?

Now, one last word about this misnomer “Semitic” when referring to
the origins of the Maltese language. By calling it “Semitic” one puts
it on a par with Hebrew, Arabic and Amhara (that’s the official language of
Ethiopia, derived from liturgical Gueze, for your information). That’s a very serious case of utter intellectual dishonesty! Maltese is an off-shoot of Arabic. Proof ? For decades, it has been taught in the Arabic Department at the French Institut des Langues et Civilisations Orientales….

P.S.: This country and its people must consider themselves lucky to have always “belonged” to the mighty civilizations at any time in history: Roman
with Rome was the superpower, Arab when the “Arabs” ruled the world,
British when the British ruled the world, in the European Union when the EU is such a perfect example of integration for all to emulate…

Yours respectfully

People in Malta don’t know Arabic or Arabic verbs and nouns, so they are completely unaware that Maltese verbs and nouns are actually Arabic verbs and nouns.

Instead of being curious and trying to find out, they block it all with prejudice.

But really, it’s a fascinating subject and that is exactly how it should be approached. Maltese uses Italian-influenced nouns only for things which entered Malta’s reality (or were invented) in the last 800 years or so. All other nouns are the actual Arabic.

Analysing the Maltese words for different foods and food plants is particularly interesting because it tells you exactly which foods were known here before 800 years ago and which foods only became known afterwards – and this even without looking at the history of trade.

I’m not writing this for YOUR benefit, incidentally.

So Maltese is a ‘Semitic’ language rather than a derivative of Arabic. And Maltese people have ‘Semitic influences’ rather than Arabic ones.

You are the one who is lashing out: the typical chippy person – I won’t say ‘man’, because there are women who are that way, though the problem is more common with men who feel criticised by a woman.