Contemporary Journalistic Maltese: An Analytical and Comparative Study 9004057560, 9789004057562

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CONTEMPORARY JOURNALISTIC MALTESE

STUDIES IN SEMITIC LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS EDITED BY

G. F. PIJPER Emeritus Professor in Arabic Language and Literature in the University of Amsterdam

VIII

EDWARD FENECH

CONTEMPORARY JOURNALISTIC MALTESE

LEIDEN

E. J. BRILL 1978

CONTEMPORARY JOURNALISTIC MALTESE An Analytical and Comparative Study

BY

EDWARD FENECH

LEI DEN

E. J. BRILL 1978

ISBN 90 04 05756 0

Copyright 1978 by E. J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche or any other means without written permission from the publisher PRINTED IN BELGIUM

CONTENTS PREFACE. ABBREVIATIONS 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.41 0.42 0.5 0.51 0.52 0.53 06. 1. 1.1 1.2 1.21 1.211 1.212 1.22 1.221 1.211

1.2212

INTRODUCTION Aim of Research Scope of Research . Nature and Extent of Previous Studies History of the Press in Malta The Maltese Press Abroad Brief Appraisal of the Historical Aspect of the Maltese Press. Present State of the Contemporary Maltese Press The Weekly Newspapers . The Daily Newspapers Main Linguistic Trends in the Modern Newspapers Method of Research PHoNOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY Phonological and Orthographic Preliminaries The Orthography of the Newspapers Symbols used in the Newspapers Symbols used for the Vowels and Diphthongs in the Newspapers. Symbols used for the Consonants in the Newspapers Spelling Trends Peculiar to the Newspapers Phonologically Conditioned Spellings Modifications involving Vowels and Diphthongs ( 1) Omission of the Vowel i in initial position (2) Omission of the Morphologically Pertinent Vowels (3) Misplacement of the Euphonic Vowel . (4) Misplacement of the Prosthetic Vowel (5) Replacement of i- by j- as Prefix in the Imperfect (6) Replacement of ie by i or e . (7) Replacement of i or e by ie . Modifications involving Consonants (1) Replacement of Consonants by Allophonic Symbois: n > m, d > t, p > b

XIII XVII

2 3 4 7 9

10 10

12 13 14 16 16 17 17 17 20 25 26 26 26 27 28 28 29 30 31 32 32

VI

CONTENTS

1.223

(2) Omission of the Consonant r between two other Consonants (3) Use of Single instead of Double Consonants (4) Use of Double instead of Single Consonants (5) Redundant use of gh as length marker . Spellings having Morphological Characteristics (I) Duplication of j and w for Morphological Reasons (2) Misplacement of gh (3) Omission of gh (4) Redundant use of the Definite Article Appraisal of the Journalistic Trends in Spelling

33 33 34 34 35 35 36 37 37 38

2. 2.1 2.2 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.3 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.4 2.41 2.42 2.43 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9

MoRPHOLOGY Preliminary Considerations The Verb Semitic Maltese Vetbs Romance Maltese Verbs Maltese Verbs derived from English Patterns followed by Romance and English loan verbs The Noun Semitic Maltese Nouns Romance Maltese Nouns Maltese Nouns borrowed from English The Adjective Semitic Maltese Adjectives Romance Maltese Adjectives Maltese Adjectives borrowed from English The Personal Pronouns The Pronominal Suffixes The Adverb The Preposition The Conjunction

39 39 39 39 41 43 44 46 46 .48 50 53 53 54 55 56 56 58 58 59

3. 3.1 3.2 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.3 3.31

SYNTAX . Preliminary Considerations Definiteness The Definite Article The Pronominal Suffixes with Nouns The Construct State Indefiniteness Absence of the Marker indicating Definiteness

61 61 61 62 66 67 69 70

1.222

VII

CONTENTS

3032 3033 3034 3035 3036 3037 304

The Substitute for the Indefinite Article The Impersonal Wiehed 'One' on its own The Indefinite Determiners Xi 'Some' and Certu 'Certain' The Partitive Minn 'Of, From' The Impersonal Passive Form Impersonal use of Intqa/ 'it was said' and Jinghad 'it is said' The Problem of Definiteness in the Comparative and Superlative Degree Comparison Possibility The Nominativus or Casus Pendens Negation Conditional Sentences

70 71 71 72 72

0

73 73 75 76 77 77 79

0

305 306 307 308 309 40 4.1 402 4o2l 4022 4023 4024 40241 402411 402412 402413 402414 40242 402421 402422 402423 402424 40243 402431 402432 402433

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL AsPECTS

Preliminary Considerations Lexical Material Semantic Innovations Morphological Innovations Modified Loan-Words Unmodified Loan-Words Education and Social Communications Education Journalism and Photography Radio and Television Telephone and Post Office Commerce and Administration Commercial Terms Stationery and Clerical Terms Trade- Unions Politics Professional and Ecclesiastical Terms Legal Terms Medical Terms Terms dealing with the Police Force and Civilian Prisons Military Terms Religious Terms 0

0

0

402434 402435

0

80 80 80 82 84 87 94 96 96 97 98 99 l 00 101 l 02 l 03 I05 l 06 106 107

•

l 09 110 Ill

VIII

40244 402441 402442 402443 402444 402445 402446 402447 40245 402451 402452 402453 402454 402455 402456 40246 40247 403 4.4 4.41 4.42 4.43 50 501 502 503 5031 5032 5033 5034 5.4 5.41 5.411 5.4111 5.4112 5.4113

CONTENTS

Technical and Mechanical Terms Traffic Terminology Vehicles 0 Aircraft and Airport Ships and Seaport Building Industry 0 Various Instruments Electricity Terms dealing with Entertainment and Alimentation Sports Fashion and Colour M~

112 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 119 121 In 123 124 125 126

Cinema and Theatre Catering Food and Drink General Lexical Items General Conclusions of the Survey dealing with Unmodified Loan-Words 128 Statistical Analysis of the Semitic, Romance and 132 English Vocabulary in Journalistic Maltese Phraseological Material 141 Prepositional Phrases ·142 Idiomatic Calques 143 Phraseological Calques 145 STYLE

Preliminary Considerations General Description of the Journalistic Genres The Form of the Journalistic Genres The News Report Genre The Editorial Genre The Article Genre 0 The Advertisement Genre Stylistic Analysis of the Content of the Journalistic Genres Style and Vocabulary in the Journalistic Genres Style and Vocabulary in the News Report Genre Violent or Negative Words Positive Hyperbolic Words English Unmodified Loan-Words for Stylistic Reasons

148 148 149 149 149 151 153 155 157 158 159 159 160 161

CONTENTS

IX

5.4114 5.412 5.4121 5.4122

Words exciting Curiosity Style and Vocabulary in the Editorial Social and Political Vocabulary . English Unmodified Loan-Words for Stylistic Em~~

I~

5.4123 5.413 5.4131 5.4132 5.4133 5.4134 5.4135 5.4136 5.414 5.4141 5.4142 5.4143 5.4144 5.4145

Bombastic or Sarcastic Maltese Neologisms Style and Vocabulary in the Article Genre Neologisms Archaisms . Calques . English Unmodified Loan-Words and Loan Phrases . Colloquiali"sms Malapropisms . Style and Vocabulary in the Advertisement Genre Use of General Positive Words "Precious" Language Calques . Direct Borrowings General Conclusion Concerning the Lexical Stylistic Aspects of the Journalistic Genres Style and Morphology in the Journalistic Genres Style and Morphology Common to all Four Journalistic Genres . Agreement in Gender between Nouns and their qualifying Adjectives Agreement in Gender between Subject and Verbal Predicate Agreement in Number between Noun and Adjective Agreement in Number between subject and Verb Redundant Use of the Definite Article Absence of the Definite Article Agreement in Tense between Verbs in Parallel Syntactic Structures . Use of Direct instead of Indirect Pronominal Suffixes Frequency Distribution of the Parts of Speech occurring in the Journalistic Genres . The Parts of Speech in the News Report Genre The Parts of Speech in the Editorial Genre The Parts of Speech in the Article Genre The Parts of Speech in the Advertisement Genre

163 164 164 165 166 166 167 168 169 169 169 169 170

5.42 5.421 5.4211 5.4212 5.4213 5.4214 5.4215 5.4216 5.4217 5.4218 5.422 5.4221 5.4222 5.4223 5.4224

161 162 162

170 171 171 171 172 173 173 174 174 175 175 176 176 179 181 183

X

5.4225 5.43 5.431 5.4311 5.4312 5.432 5.4321 5.4322 5.4323 5.4324 5.4325 5.4326 5.433 5.4331 5.4332 5.4333 5.4334 5.434 5.4341 5.4342 5.435 6.

6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.41 6.42 6.43 6.5 6.6

CONTENTS

Comparative Frequency Distributions of the Parts of Speech in the Journalistic Genres, Literary Maltese and Spoken Maltese Style and Syntax in the Journalistic Genres Style and Syntax in the News Report The Relative Clause The Subordinate Clause . Style and Syntax in the Editorial Relative and Subordinate Clauses Co-ordinated Nouns, Adjectives and Prepositional Phrases . The Auxiliary Verb and Connected Verbs Co-ordinated Relative Clauses Co-ordinated Sentences Complex Sentences Style and Syntax in the Article Genre Personal, Indefinite, and Demonstrative Pronouns Conjunctions and Co-ordinations Use of the Negative Compex Syntactic Structures Style and Syntax in the Advertisement Genre The Imperative. Telegram-like Syntactic Structures General Conclusions Concerning Style and Syntax in the Journalistic Genres CoNCLUSIONS

Phonology and Orthography Morphology Syntax Lexical and Phraseological Aspects Lexical Material Statistical Analysis of the Semitic, Romance and English Vocabulary in Journalistic Maltese Phraseological Material Style. Final Observations

185 188 188 189 190 191 193 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 201 202 204 205 206 207 208 211 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 217 227

APPENDICES

AI.

THE SEGMENTAL PHONEMES OF STANDARD MALTESE

228

CONTENTS

XI

Al.l A1.2 A1.21 A1.211 A1.212 A1.212 A1.22

The Phonemic Vowels and Consonants in Maltese Symbols The Vowels The Short Vowels . The Long Vowels The Diphthongs The Consonants

228 228 229 229 230 230 231

A2. A2.1 A2.2

THE LANGUAGE OF OLDER MALTESE NEWSPAPERS Preliminaries Statistical Analysis of the Semitic, Romance and English Vocabulary in 1929-1930 Journalistic Maltese The News Report The Editorial The Article . The Advertisement The Older Journalistic Language

234 234

A2.21 A2.23 A2.24 A2.25

235 235 237 238 239 241

BIBLIOGRAPHY I. Newspapers 2. Books and Articles

244

ANALYTICAL INDEX .

247

245

PREFACE

This analytical and comparative study arose as part of an attempt to analyse the present-day Maltese language as it is actually used outside the literary circles. Traditional grammarians have established fixed rules to govern the standardized type of Maltese. This 'normative' aspect is best illustrated by rules intended to govern 'correct' Maltese as taught in schools. The grammars used for such a purpose were all basically of the prescriptive type, with the effect that they all describe not the living language but the fossilized type which was created under the influence of Latin, Italian, Hebrew and Arabic grammars. 'Non-normative' Maltese is, of course, a very vast subject, and cannot be treated extensively in a single survey. It is proposed here, therefore, to study only one facet of contemporary Maltese, namely the language used in newspapers. This has not to my knowledge previously been described, or indeed recognized, as being (as I hope to show it is) a type of language with special characteristics of its own, which distinguish it from both contemporary spoken and literary Maltese, and from the language used in Maltese newspapers in the past. During the present analysis of the journalistic language, reference was made to spoken and to literary Maltese, as well as to foreign linguistic influences. By following this method, I was able on the one hand to describe the 'non-normative' aspects, and on the other compare and contrast the results in the light of 'normative' material. A study of this kind required obviously the consultation of specialized materials not easily accessible; and I have to thank the Librarians and Staff of the National Library of Malta (then called the Royal Malta Library), the Library of the University of Malta (then called the Royal University of Malta), the British Museum, and the Library of Congress, as well as, in respect of more general materials, the Brotherton Library of Leeds University; all of whom have generously offered me their facilities and valuable services during my research. As to the acquisition of photostat copies of old newspapers and other material required for my survey during my stay in the United Kingdom, I deeply thank my mother and my two sisters who took on in turn the laborious and time-consuming task of providing me with all the necessary documents existing in Malta.

XIV

PREFACE

To understand the technique of the Press, inside knowledge, which can only be provided by actual newspaper editors or journalists, is certainly needed. Here I was fortunate in being offered generous help by Maltese newspaper editors and journalists through personal interviews, replies to questionnaires, and private correspondence. I am most grateful to all these gentlemen whose names are too numerous to be mentioned here individually. Where the working up of data in the light of modern linguistic approaches is concerned, I wish to express my deepest thanks and sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr. B.S.J. Isserlin, M.A., B.Litt., D.Phil., Head of the Department of Semitic Studies at the University of Leeds. I am very grateful to him for all the help he gave me to present my work for the doctorate in Semitic Studies in a relatively short time of two calendar years; this reflects his frequent and regular supervision far beyond what would be normal for a more extensive period of study. A word of thanks should also go to Mrs. Isserlin for her kindness and hospitality, as well as for her interest in my research and her constant encouragement. This book, in its present form, is a revised edition of my doctoral thesis. It incorporates useful comments and inspiring suggestions by Professor Pierre Cachia, M.A., Ph.D., of the University of Columbia, who examined my thesis, and by Mr. and Mrs. F.D.C. Williams who kindly read through the pre-final typescript and who generously helped me with proof-reading. I wish also to thank Professor Joseph Aquilina, B.A., LL.D., Ph.D. (London), F.R.A.S., then Head of the Department of Maltese and Oriental Languages of the Royal University of Malta, for the academic training he gave me, and for relieving me of my teaching duties during my absence from Malta. Likewise, I thank Professor Edwin J. Borg Costanzi, B.Sc., B.E. & A., M.A. (Oxon.), A. & C.E., Rector of the University of Malta, as well as all the other Members of the Council of the same University for providing me with a scholarship which enabled me to persue this study. As this work would not have found its way into print had it not found an enterprising printer and a willing publisher, I am deeply indebted to E. J. Brill who took upon themselves the hard task of printing and publishing my analytical survey in such times of financial difficulties. My thanks go also to Dr. F. Th. Dijkema, Oriental Editor of the said Printers and Publishers, as well as to Rev. Albert Borg,

PREFACE

XV

Head of the Maltese Augustinian Province, both of whom gave their share in making this publication possible. 28th August, 1977

EDWARD FENECH,

Department of Maltese and of Semitic Studies, University of Malta, Msida, Malta

ABBREVIATIONS

I. The titles of the main newspapers referred to in the text were abbreviated as follows: (a) Maltese Newspapers

H L N 0

/1-Hajja (Blata 1-Bajda) Lehen is-Sewwa (Blata 1-Bajda) In-Nazzjon Taghna (Pieta) L-Orizzont (Valletta)

(b) English Newspapers

Mirror Post Sun Times

Daily Mirror (London) Evening Post (Leeds) The Sun (London) The Times (London)

2. The abbreviations used for Literary Maltese texts analysed in this research are the following: Ah An Bl G

Zammit, T., "Ahlef u Ghid is-Sewwa", Lehen il-Malti, 1931, as quoted by Sutcliffe, E. F., A Grammar of the Maltese Language with Chrestomathy and Vocabulary (3rd Impression), Malta, 1960, pp. 238-242. Psaila, C., Antologija, Malta, 1963. Galea, G., Bla Habi, Malta, 1972. Saminut, F., 11-Gagga, Malta, 1971.

3. With reference to the present-day Spoken Maltese, free talks from the transcripts of the Malta-Leeds Dialect Survey were analysed; references to such texts are abbreviated as follows: A B

c

First sample of free talks between Professor J. Aquilina and each of the two informants Mr. E. Cassar and Mr. G. Cini, Ms. pp. 1932-1938, and 1952-1954. Second sample including part of a free talk between Professor Aquilina and Mr. J. Attard, Ms. pp. 1939-1947. Third sample including free talks between Professor Aquilina and each of the two informants Mrs. A. Attard and Mr. V. Pule, Ms. pp. 19701979.

4. When dealing with semantic themes, the following abbreviations were used: Aircraf Build Cater Cinema Commer Educ Educs Electr Enter Fashion Food General

Aircraft and Airport Building Industry Catering terms Cinema and Theatre Commercial and Administration Education Education and Social Communications Electricity terminology Entertainment and Alimentation Fashion and Colours Food and Drink General Lexical Items

XVIII

Instrum Journal Legal Medic Militar Police Profess Radio Relig Ships Station Technic Teleph Trade Traffic Vehic

ABBREVIATIONS

Various Instruments Journalism and Photography Legal terms Medical terms Military terms Police and Civilian Prisons Professional and Ecclesiastical terms Radio and Television Religious terms Ships and Seaport Stationery and Clerical terms Technical and Mechanical terms Telephone and Post Office Trade-Unions Traffic terminology Vehicles

5. General Terms, including Phonetic and Grammatical Terminology, were abbreviated as follows: Adj Adv Art Co Conj EM EU Part Prep Pron RM RU S vd vi

Adjective Adverb Definite Article our own Contemporary Journalistic Maltese Conjunction modified English loan-words unmodified English loan-words Particle Preposition Pronoun modified Romance (mainly Italian) loan-words unmodified Romance (mainly Italian) loan-words Semitic origin voiced consonant voiceless consonant

6. References to the newspapers L-Orizzont (0 for short), /1-ltajja (tt for short), and In-Nazzjon Tag1ma (N for short) are abbreviated as in the following example: 0 15.4-5.4:16 This should read: L-Orizzont, page 15, columns 4-5, line 4, 16th August, 1973 The last number always refers to the month's run of August, 1973. 7. References to Academic Bodies are given as follows: NLM UM

National Library of Malta University of Malta

INTRODUCTION 0.1

AIM OF RESEARCH

0.10 The aim of this investigation is to analyse the type, or rather the types, of the Maltese language being actually used in present-day newspapers. This aspect has never been extensively and adequately covered by any previous study. It is, therefore, hoped that this survey will be a help for those who are interested in Maltese in general and the journalistic language in particular. Certain fields of research, such as investigation into morphological usages of the press as distinct from the literary forms, might look unattractive, unrewarding and even absurd. This is perhaps so in many languages which already have a sound literary and linguistic past. But the situation is different with Maltese. For many past centuries, this language never received the attention of the grammarian and the schoolmaster, nor did it undergo the normative effect that they usually exercise. It was only on the eve of the nineteenth century that some sporadic attention began being given to it. The first Maltese grammar of some value was published in Malta in 1827. This was Michael Anthony Vassalli's Grammatica della Lingua Maltese, which, although it was presented to the scholar as the second edition of the same author's early grammar My/sen Phoenico-Punicum sive Grammatica Melitensis (Rome, 1791), was substantially a new and much better work. However, the first book which had a real impact on the study of Maltese as we know it today was published only in 1924. This was the Taghrif Fuq il-Kitba Maltija, published by the Ghaqda tal-Kittieba tal-Malti (Society of Maltese Authors). It was through this book that the present standard Maltese orthography was established. Later, in 1936 and in 1938, Mr. Anthony Cremona published the first and second volume of his grammar Taghlim Fuq il-Kitba Maltija. These two books soon became textbooks in all the schools of Malta and Gozo. It was also in 1937 that the Chair of Maltese was instituted at the Royal University of Malta. This explains why soon after 1940, when the Professor of Maltese, Dr. Joseph Aquilina, took over his teaching duties after accomplishing a two-year course at the University of London from where he took his doctorate, the Maltese language

2

INTRODUCTION

began to become more standardised. However, the time which has elapsed since then has been too short to bring about a real standardisation of Maltese, which, as the newspapers themselves show, is not even now as regular as most European languages. Within this fluid situation, journalistic Maltese is less standardised than the literary language. This is partially so because it is more 'daring' in accepting words and forms occurring in the spoken and at times even in the colloquial language. Besides, it is more liable to be influenced through foreign languages. 0.2

ScoPE OF RESEARCH

0.20 The scope of the present research had necessarily to be limited. It is true that the material available is indeed very vast. However, it was felt that valid results could be attained by working on a manageable but representative amount of data which would allow one to arrive at certain abstractions about the present-day journalistic language as a whole. With this aim in view, it was decided to base this study on a month's run (August, 1973) of the three newspapers L-Orizzont 'The Horizon', ln-Nazzjon Taghna 'Our Nation' and ll-Hajja 'The Life', which are the only dailies in Maltese being published in Malta during the survey. Taken together, these amount to 78 issues, with a total number of words which exceeds 5,000,000. This survey was also supplemented by questionnaires, private correspondence and personal interviews. As the present survey is concerned with the genuine journalistic language as it occurs today, another limitation was necessary regarding literary Maltese contributions which appear periodically in the press. For this reason, it was deemed necessary to exclude from the survey all those articles and poems which were published each week in the literary page of the said newspapers. Notwithstanding all these limitations, one may feel confident that this sampling is in fact genuinely representative. Although later material was never quoted, an eye was kept on subsequent issues and, as no major divergencies were ever observed, one may be allowed to think that the sampling of a greater number of issues would not have affected these findings to any significant extent.

INTRODUCTION

0.3

3

NATURE AND ExTENT OF PREVIous STUDIES

0.30 The studies concerning journalism in Malta published so far deal mainly with the historical aspect of the press, including the newspapers published wholly or partially in French, Italian, English and Maltese. The development of the press, considered historically, is in fact fairly well documented. This subject will be resumed later (in 0.4). The catalogue of the National Library of Malta is of great importance to newspaper research workers. There are in fact two separate lists for the journals, one in chronological order and the other in alphabetical order. Quite often the lists give the dates of the first and last issue of past newspapers, and at times they give information as to the place of publication. The main drawback in these lists is the fact that they make no distinction between a newspaper, a magazine and a special number of a magazine bearing a different title according to its special dedication. Of some help, there are also two rather short 'handouts' published in duplicated form in 1971 by Mr. Joseph Cassar Pullicino for the use of the students at the University of Malta. One of these 'handouts' lists the main periodicals in English which were published in Malta between 1838 and 1870. 1 The other, which is more important to our study, gives a list of some Maltese newspapers, magazines, and a series of books, published between 1838 and 1900. 2 These two lists are very selective, and they barely cover three pages. Nevertheless, they are useful as some of the newspapers mentioned there, and some of the information on the listed publications, do not figure in the catalogue of the National Library of Malta. As to the textual analysis of the language used in newspapers, we find, not abstract studies, but rather short essays devoted to practical criticism and suggestions. It was Mr. Erin Serracino Inglott who, between the years 1969-1971, published a series of thirty articles, generally under the initials e.s.i., in the newspaper Il-Poplu 'The People'. 3 These deal mainly

1 J. Cassar Pullicino, "Periodicals in English (1838-1870)'', stencilled 'handout' for private circulation among the students of the University of Malta, Malta, 1971, p. I. 2 J. Cassar Pullicino, "Gurnali bil-Malti (1838-1900}", stencilled 'handout' for the students of the University of Malta, Malta, 1971, pp. 2. 3 The first article in which E. Serracino lnglott criticised the language of the newspapers appeared in 11-Pop/u, 24th June, 1969, and was entitled, "Se' ndumnu niktbu 1-Malti bl-isbalji (sic)?" The last article on the same subject appeared in the same newspaper on II th April, 1971. This was entitled, "Jekk insaqsi ... jafu jwiegbu? !" A popular sarcastic tone characterises in most of these articles.

4

INTRODUCTION

with orthographic mistakes in the local newspapers. His arguments are not always very convincing. 0.4

HISTORY OF THE PRESS IN MALTA

0.40 In 1644 Malta already had its first pnntmg press. It was introduced by Pompeio del Fiore with the permission of the Grand Master Jean Paul de Lascaris Castellar (1636-1657). However, it was only in 1798, soon after the expulsion of the Knights of St. John from the island, that the first newspaper was published. This was Le Journal de Malte, 4 which, as its title suggests, was written in French. It was short-lived because in 1800 the French garrison, which was responsible for its publication, surrendered to the British after a two-year military occupation of the island. When in 1800 the British took over the administration of the island, Italian was the cultural and the literary language, as well as the language of the Law Courts and the Church. Maltese was simply the spoken language, while English was completely unknown by the masses. It was for this reason that the first newspapers under the British rule were written in Italian, including Giornale di Malta, 5 which served as a Government newspaper. In January 1812, this paper was re-baptised Gazzetta del Governo di Malta, 6 and became an official Government publication. In 1812, Lord Bathurst, State Secretary for the Colonies, sent a dispatch to Maitland, Governor of Malta, instructing him that the attention of His Majesty's Government was turned to the means of affecting a gradual advancement in the conditions of the people of Malta, and of identifying their affections and interests with the British connection. He was also ordered to make use of any ways and means by which he could replace Italian by English. This gave rise to the Language Question which lingered in Malta up to 1934, when English and Maltese were declared the official languages of the island. Four years after the above mentioned dispatch to Maitland, English was introduced in some sections of the Government's official newspaper. Twenty-two other years passed until the Government decided to publish the newspaper completely in English, with the effect that it was 4 National Library of Malta, formerly known as Royal Malta Library, and henceforth referred to as NLM, 80.4.42. ' NLM, Rack 63. 6 NLM, BG.5.12.

INTRODUCTION

5

again re-baptised Malta Government Gazette. 7 This was in 1838, which is a landmark in the history of the journalism in Malta, as it was during that year that freedom of the press was granted to the Maltese, following the recommendations of the Royal Commission of 1836. The freedom of the press encouraged the publication of a vast number of newspapers in Malta. The first newspaper ever to be published in Maltese was 11-Kaw/ata Maltija 'The Maltese Hotchpotch'. 8 Ironically enough, its publishers were both Englishmen, namely G.P. Badger and J. Richardson. It appeared in 1838, but was very short-lived. On 24th January 1839, another newspaper in Maltese was launched in opposition to it. This was entitled Bertoldu 'Bertoldus'. 9 The result was that 11-Kaw/ata Maltija stopped its publication after the third number, while Bertoldu stopped just after its first issue. The first newspaper published in Maltese by a well known literary writer was Ga1~an 'a national character found in Maltese folk-tales'. 10 The first issue appeared in September 1846, and its editor was Richard Taylor, author of the paraphrase in Maltese of the Psalms of David, and of many other works. The last issue appeared in January 1848. Taylor was also editor of the following newspapers: 11-Ghassies 'The Watchman'~ 1 (published in 1855); Ix-Xitan iz-Zopp 'The Lame Devil'~ 2 (6th February 1864-26th July 1864); and Is-Serduk 'The Cock' 13 (published in 1867). He was also regular contributor to the newspaper 11-Gurna/ Malti 'The Maltese Journal' 14 which was published between 5th January 1864 and February 1866. Other early editors of Maltese newspapers worthy of notice are the following: Guze Muscat Azzopardi, P.L., editor of In-Nahla Maltija 'The Maltese Bee' 15 (29th November 1877- 29th April 1879); Id-Dawl 'The Light' 16 (19th March 1892-August 1894); II-Gazzetta Ma/tija NLM. Rack 63. Information about the existence of 11-Kaw/ata Maltija and its publishers was kindly given orally by Mr. J. Cassar Pullicino. There is no copy of it at the National Library of Malta, nor at the British Museum. 9 NLM, BP.B.31. 10 NLM, BP.B.l84. As to the name of the editor of the newspaper Gahan, see Cassar Pullicino, op. cit. 11 This newspaper is mentioned by Cassar Pullicino, op. cit. and does not occur in the catalogue of the National Library of Malta. 12 NLM, BP.A.2. See also Cassar Pullicino, op. cit. 13 See Cassar Pullicino, op. cit. 14 NLM, BP.B.6. 15 NLM, News. Misc. 160. 16 See Cassar Pullicino, op. cit. 17 NLM, News. Misc. 248. 18 NLM, F0.6.24/31. 7

8

6

INTRODUCTION

The Maltese Gazette'~ 7 (2nd September 1899-13th December 1900); Js-Sa/ib The Cross' 18 (1901-1920); Anton Muscat Fenech, editor of Il-Habbar Ma/ti 'The Maltese Announcer' 19 (14th June 1878-18th November 1895); Dr. Cristofaro Frendo, editor of Ward u Zahar 'Flowers and Blossoms' 20 (27th May 1899-1900); Augustine Levanzin, editor of Js-Sengna The Trade' 21 (4th February 1893- June 1893) and regular contributor to II- Habib Ma/ti 'The Maltese Friend' 22 (16th January 1888-September 1890); Michael Angelo Borg, editor of Il-Hmar 'The Donkey' 23 (April 1917-December 1928); and Gino Muscat Azzopardi (son of Guze Muscat Azzopardi, mentioned earlier), editor of Il-Kotra 'The Crowd' 24 (1926-1933), which, as a political (Labour) newspaper, can be considered as the forerunner of Js-Sebh The Dawn' 25 (June 1949-January 1959), Il-Helsien 'The Liberty' 26 (January 1959-1967), Ji-Zmien 'The Time' 27 (1967-1973), and the contemporary newspaper Js-Sebh The Dawn' 28 , which made its first appearance on 13th January 1973. In September 1928, the newspaper Lenen is-Sewwa 'Voice of Truth' 29 began publication, and was concerned mainly with religious matters. It is the only old newspaper still being published (see below in 0.51 ). Later, in May 1930, the news'paper il-Berqa 'The Lightning' 30 made its first appearance. This newspaper catered mainly for the working class, and aimed at giving them news and general information. During the second World War, it had great impact on the morale of the Maltese population by keeping them informed of the progess of the war, and by emphasising the brighter side. This newspaper stopped publication in 1966, and was replaced by another paper Telstar u Il-Berqa 'Telstar and the Lightning', 31 which carried on mainly on the same lines of its predecessor, but in turn stopped publication in 1971. 19 Anton Muscat Fenech was editor of 1/-ltahhar Matti for a short period. See NLM, News. Misc. 294, 295, 296. 20 See Cassar Pullicino, op. ct. 21 Ibid. 22 NLM, News. Misc. 141. 23 NLM, N.P.R.14,1/8; News. Misc. 216. 24 NLM, News. Misc. 123/128. 25 NLM, N.P.R.4.5/17. 26 NLM, Rack I. 27 NLM, Rack 3. 28 See more information about this newspaper in the present introduction in 0.51. 29 NLM, Rack 59. 30 NLM, Rack 56. 31 !hid.

INTRODUCTION

7

Still nearer to the present time, there was the newspaper 11-!laddiem The Workman' 32 (1950-1969), which may be considered as the forerunner of the present newspaper 11-!lajja 'The Life', 33 about which see later (in 0.51). Another newspaper which ought to be mentioned is 11-Poptu 'The People' 34 (June 1958-1974). It was in this newspaper that Mr. Erin Serracino Inglott published some articles containing practical criticism about the language of the newspapers, especially in matters of orthography (see above in 0.30). 0.41

THE MALTESE PRESS ABROAD

Although our interest here is in the local Maltese newspapers, something can be said about the Maltese press outside the islands, in order to complete the picture. Our findings are based on data to be found at the National Library of Malta, and on private correspondence. 0.411 The foreign countries in which Maltese newspapers were published are Egypt, Tunisia, Canada and Australia. The need for Maltese newspapers in these countries was felt because of the presence of Maltese immigrants there. It seems however that, despite the great numbers of Maltese in the United Kingdom, no Maltese newspaper has ever been published in Great Britain. On the other hand, the Maltese immigrants in the United States established their own newspapers in English, though not in Maltese. Partly, this is also the situation of the Maltese press in Canada and in Australia. 0.411 The Maltese press in Egypt goes back to 1859, when the newspaper Jt-Bahrija 'The Moth' 35 was published in Alexandria. Later, in 1897 the paper L-Egittu 'Egypt' 36 was published in the same country. At a much later date, between September 1921 and June 1924, another newspaper L-Istandard tat-Mattin Eku ta' 1-0rjent Matti 'The Banner of the Maltese, Echo of the Maltese East' 37 was published in Cairo. This was followed by 11-Qari Matti 'The Maltese Reader', 38 which was NLM, Rack 11.1/32. NLM, Rack 11.33. 34 NLM, Rack 14. 35 NLM, News. Misc. 168. 36 NLM, News. Misc. 277. 37 NLM, News. Misc. 265, 269. 38 NLM. News. Misc. 762. According to a notice in Lehen is-Sewwa, 1st September, 1928, p. 7, the newspaper 11-Qari Matti was being published in Port Said, Egypt, by Mr. Said (no Christian name is given in this notice), who at the time was living at 2 Chareh Hamdi, Port Said. The annual subscription was 4s.6d. ( = 22 1/ 2 p). 32 33

8

INTRODUCTION

published in Port Said between July 1928 and January 1935. Yet another newspaper, the Bullett in tal-Kajr 'Cairo Bulletin, 39 was published between February 1938 and October 1939. Another newspaper, bearing the same name Bul/ettin tal-Kajr 'Cairo Bulletin' 40 was published in Egypt between February 1940 and May 1953. Further, between November 1943 and May 1945, another paper with the title Il-Qari Matti 'The Maltese Reader' 41 (same title as above) came out in Alexandria. Since the time when these newspapers were launched, the number of Maltese in Egypt has dwindled considerably, so a Maltese newspaper in that country is no longer feasible. 0.4112 Although emigration of Maltese to Tunisia (and Algeria) began in the second half of the nineteenth century, it was only in April 1915 that the first Maltese newspaper Melita 'Malta' 42 was published in Tunis. It was shortlived, as it ceased publication in January 1916. It was however followed immediately by !/-Habib ta' Tunes 'The Friend of Tunis', 43 but this was published only between February and November 1916. It seems that after this date no other attempt was made to publish a Maltese newspaper in Tunisia. Today, the number of Maltese living in that country is very small, and many of them speak French, and have only a limited knowledge, if any, of Maltese. 0.4113 In Canada and the United States, Maltese publications were all in English. The only newspaper which had a column in Maltese-an editorial-was the Malta News 44 of Canada. This was published in Windsor by Mr. George Bonavia between the years 1953 and 1965. It had a circulation of about 2000 and reached Maltese communities in Canada and the United States. 45 0.4114 Despite the many thousands of Maltese in Australia, there has never been a newspaper completely in Maltese in that country. Actually, there is the Times of Malta and Australia, 46 which is published NLM, News. Misc. 14. NLM, News. Misc. 15. 41 NLM, C.K.9.77. 42 NLM, News. Misc. I. 43 Ibid. 44 This information was kindly given by the ex-editor of Malta News (Canada), Mr. George Bonavia. 4 ' Ibid. 46 This information was kindly forwarded to the present writer by the editor of In-Nazzjon Tag1ma, Mr. Michael J. Schiavone. 39

40

INTRODUCTION

9

in English in Victoria, Melbourne. But the only newspaper which publishes contributions to the press not only in English, but also in Maltese, is The Maltese Herald. 47 This is a weekly publication, and is printed in Bankstown, in New South Wales. It began publication in July, 1960, and is at present edited by Mr. Lino Carmela Vella. Its previous editor, Mr. George Chetcuti, had connections with the press in Malta, as he had held the post of night editor of li-Berqa (see above in 0.40). 0.42

BRIEF APPRAISAL oF THE HISTORICAL AsPECT OF THE MALTESE PRESS

The history of the Maltese press cannot be compared with that of highly civilized countries such as England, France, Germany and Italy. However, it compares well, where the length of its existence is concerned, with many other "less privileged" countries. We have seen earlier (see above in 0.40) that the first newspaper in Malta was published in French in 1798, while the first newspaper in Maltese was published in the same island in 1838. At the same time, we have also seen that the first newspaper in Maltese ever published abroad appeared in Egypt in 1859 (see above in 0.4111). If we compare this with the rise of the press in other "less privileged" countries, then we find that Malta, in spite of being a very small community heavily overshadowed by foreign languages and cultures, nevertheless produced a press of its own at a date which is respectably early. Thus, looking at Mediterranean countries, we find that the first newspaper in Egypt was Le Courrier de /'Egypte, 48 written in French and published, as in the case of Malta, by Napoleon's forces in 1798, while the first Arabic newspaper in Egypt, A 1- Waqa 'it: aiM i~riyya, 49 was published at Cairo in 1828; the first Greek newspaper in the homeland, Salpinx Helleniki, 50 was founded in Nauplia in 1821; the first Turkish newspaper, Takwimi Wekaji 'Calendar of Events' 51

47 This information was kindly sent to the present writer by the editor of The Maltese Herald, Mr. Lino Carmelo Vella. The first editor was M. Lawrence Dimech, later Consular Attache in New South Wales. In September, 1971, Mr. George Chetcuti took over from him. 48 See F. L. Molt, Newspapers, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. XVI, Chicago, London, Toronto, 1957, p. 360. 49 V. Monteil, L'Arabe Moderne, Paris, 1960, p. 32. 50 See Molt, op. cit., p. 355. 51 Ibid., p. 355.

10

INTRODUCTION

appeared in 1831; and the first newspaper at Beyrouth, lfadiqat al-Abbar, 52 was founded in 1857, just two years before the publication of the first newspaper in Maltese outside Malta. Looking further afield, we find, for example, that the first Jewish newspaper, the weekly Ha-Maggid, 53 began publication in 1856. Finally, if we take into consideration the press in the British colonies, we find that even such a big country as Australia had its first newspaper, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 5 4 published in 1803. 0.5

PRESENT STATE oF THE CoNTEMPORARY MALTESE PRESS

0.50 Malta has today seven influencial national newspapers written in Maltese, and when one takes into consideration the small population (about 330,000 in all the three islands), one has to admit that this is surely a very high number. These newspapers are all "tabloids", measuring approximately 28 em. by 40 em. Four of them are weekly, while the other three are daily papers. With the aim in view of giving a fairly complete picture of the state of the contemporary Maltese press, something will be said of each individual newspaper. Information towards this section was generously provided by the editors themselves and by some journalists during personal interviews and by means of questionnaires. 0.51

THE WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS

The oldest weekly newspaper is Le11en is-Sewwa 'Voice of Truth'. 55 Its first issue was published on 1st September, 1928, and thus it is at the same time much older than any of the daily newspapers. There were times when it was published every day; at other times it appeared three times a week; and now it is being published every Saturday. The Monteil, op. cit., p. 33. /hid., footnote 2, p. 33. 54 The first editor was Mr. G. Howe. In 1825, the title was altered to the Tasmanian. See Molt, op. cit., p. 341. 55 NLM, Rack 59. The information regarding this newspaper was kindly given by the editor, Chevalier Paul Saliba L.P. The following were the editors of Lehen is-Sewwa: Mons. Enrico Bonnici (1928-1930); Mons. Arturo Bonnici B.A., D.O., H.E.L. (19311933); Dr. Herbert Ganado B.A., LL.D. (1933-1939); Mr. Michael Caruana P.E.P. (1939-1943); Mons. Salvino Bartoli Galea B.D. (3rd January, 1943-29th January, 1973); Mons. Carmelo Xuereb (provisional editor: I st February, 1973- 7th September, 1973); the present editor took over on 8th September, 1973. 52 53

INTRODUCTION

11

present editor is Chevalier Paul Saliba L. P. (born in 1927). The purpose of this newspaper is that of giving religious information and of forming public opinion in the light of the Catholic moral theology and the doctrine of the Church. The readers of this newspaper belong to all social classes, but, contrary to what happens in the case of other newspapers, 95% of the readers are regular subscribers, and receive the paper by post. The age of the journalists varies greatly, and though there are many who are still very young, the average age is about 45 years. The articles received for publication are always revised for their spelling with the aim of reaching a uniform orthography throughout the newspaper, and quite often they are also revised for their style. When a translation is necessary, it is only rarely done literally, as a free translation is generally preferred. The type of language aimed at in this newspaper is a compromise between spoken and literary Maltese. The newspaper l/-Tori:a The Torch' 56 was first published in October 1959. The present editor is Mr. Anthony Farrugia (born in 1940). The purpose of this newspaper is that of promoting Labour movement policy. The newspaper is published every Sunday. It is read by people from all social classes, but most of the readers belong to the working class. The average age of the journalists is in the region of 24 years. Articles received for publication are revised both for the orthography and for style. Free translations and the spoken language are the norm in this newspaper. In chronological order, II-Mument 'The Moment' 57 is the third weekly newspaper, as it was published for the first time on 8th January 1972. Its editor is Dr. Michael Refalo LL.D. (born in 1939). Its purpose is that of divulging social, political and independent information. It is published every Sunday, and is read by people from all social classes. The average age of the journalists is 27 years. Articles received for publication are revised both for the orthography and for style. Free translations and the spoken language are always aimed at being achieved in this newspaper.

'" NLM, Rack 9. The information regarding this newspaper was kindly given by the editor, Mr. Anthony Farrugia. The first editor was Mr. Joseph Attard Kingswell, and was followed for some time by Mr. Frans Camilleri, from whom the present editor took over. 57 NLM, Rack 56 B. The information regarding this newspaper was kindly given by the editor, Dr. Michael A. Refalo LL.D.

12

INTRODUCTION

The youngest weekly newspaper is Is-Sebh 'The Dawn'. 58 Its first issue was published on 13th January 1973. Its editor is Mr. Emmanuel Zammit (born in 1946). The purpose of the newspaper is that of educating and instructing the working class. This paper is published every Saturday, and is read mainly by working class people, especially by Dockyard workers. The average age of the journalists is about 28 or 29 years. Articles received for publication are revised both for the spelling and the style. Free translations and the spoken language are the preferred patterns. 0.52

THE DAILY NEWSPAPERS

The oldest newspaper among the dailies is L-Orizzont 'The Horizon' 59 which made its first appearance in November 1962. Its editor is Mr. Carmel Micallef (born 1944). It caters for the working class, but it is read also by industrial and commercial people. The average age of the journalists of this paper is about 25 years, although some are much younger. Articles received for publication are revised for the orthography, and at times also for style, including syntactic structure of the sentence and division of paragraphs. This is because simple sentences and short paragraphs are preferred in principle. Recent loan-words are written as in the original language, but older ones are written in the Maltese spelling. Spoken Maltese is aimed at throughout the newspaper, but literary Maltese is used in the literary page and at times in the editorials. The second daily newspaper in chronological order is the ln-Nazzjon Tag1ma 'Our Nation', 60 which had its first issue in July 1969. The editor so far has been Mr. Michael J. Schiavone (born in 1947). The newspaper caters for people from all social classes. The average age of the journalists is about 22 years. Articles received for publication are revised for the orthography and style, including structure of sentences and division of paragraphs. This is because simple sentences and short paragraphs are in principle preferred to long and complex structures. Necessary loan-words generally retain the spelling of the source ' 8 The information given here was kindly sent to the present writer by the editor, Mr. Emmanuel Zammit. 59 NLM, Rack 25. This information was kindly given by the editor, Mr. Carmel Micallef. 60 NLM, Rack 56 A. This information was kindly supplied by the editor, Mr. Michael J. Schiavone.

INTRODUCTION

13

language, but when inflections are necessary, as in the case of i:inemajiet 'cinemas' N 5.3.27-28 :2 the Maltese system of spelling is applied. The spoken language is aimed at throughout the newspaper, with the exception of the literary page where literary Maltese is used. The youngest daily newspaper is 11-tlajja 'The Life' 61 which made its first appearance on lst January 1970. Its present editor is Mr. Charles Buttigieg (born in 1948). This newspaper is read mainly by middle class people, though it is also read to a Jess extent by the working and the upper classes. The average age of the journalists is about 24 years, but there are some over 30. Articles received for publication are revised for the orthography, and at times also for style in the case of complex sentences and long paragraphs. Loan-words are written as far as possible in the Maltese spelling. The spoken language is aimed at throughout the newspaper, with the exception of the literary page where literary Maltese is used. 0.53

MAIN LINGUISTIC TRENDS IN THE MoDERN NEWSPAPERS

Taking into consideration the information given by the editors during personal interviews and the answers to a questionnaire handed in by many journalists, 62 one can say that both the editors and the journalists

61 NLM, Rack 11.33. This information was kindly given by the editor, Mr. Charles Buttigieg. The first editor was Mr. John Buttigieg, brother to the present editor. He was succeeded by Mr. Henry Frendo B.A. (Gen.), B.A. (Hons.), M.A. 62 The names of the journalists who kindly answered the questionnaire concerning the present-day newspapers in Malta are given in the following list. They are classified according to the title of the newspaper or newspapers to which the persons involved are attached. After every name, there is the age of the journalist as it was in January 1974 when the questionnaires were filled in, and the office of every individual. (a) L-Orizzont: Mr. Louis Cauchi, 27, foreign news reporter; Mr. Lino Ciantar, 23, local news reporter; Mr. Alfred Briffa, 27, local and foreign news reporter; Mr. Peter Bartolo, 29, films critic; Mr. Alfred Zarb, 34, reporter; Mr. Anthony Costantino, 27, sports reporter; Mr. Saviour Cachia, 27, sports reporter. (b) It-Torca (and L-Orizzont): Mr. Michael Micallef, 28, news reporter; Mr. Joseph Mercieca, 23, news reporter; Mr. Richard Mifsud, 26, local news reporter; Mr. Maurice Gruppetta, 25, reporter; Mr. Evan Mamo, 20, reporter. (c) 11-Poplu: Mr. Frank Spiteri, 48, editor up to 1974, when the newspaper stopped being published. (d) In-Nazzjon Tag1ma: Mr. Michael Caruana, 23, assistant editor; Mr. Mario Schiavone, 23, Law Courts and Parliament reporter; Mr. Joseph Cachia, 26, feature writer; Mr. Joe Calleja, 28, films, variety and political critic; Mr. Martin Camilleri, 21, foreign news reporter. (e) 1/-Hajja: Rev. Fr. Hilary Tagliaferro O.S.A., 38, sports reporter and contributor to the editorial column; Rev. Noel Grima, 26, foreign news reporter; Mr. Charles Xuereb, 25, feature writer on general culture; Mr. Alfred Massa, 35, literary editor.

14

INTRODUCTION

are quite conscious of the language they are using, and of the linguistic difficulties which they have to face daily. In theory, at least they all aim at a uniform orthography, and, in well established loan-words, they revert to the Maltese phonemic spelling. They try to make use of Maltese words, whether Semitic or Romance, as far as possible, but they do not hesitate to introduce in their texts any necessary loan-words. As a rule, they prefer free translations, though exceptionally, as in the case of some technical legal text, they make some literal translations. They also try to make liberal use of the spoken language, without doing away completely with literary Maltese influences. In the revision of material sent for publication, they also aim at simplifying the syntax by avoiding complex sentences and long paragraphs. For this reason, they split long sentences and paragraphs into shorter ones. On the whole, we can say that the journalists have sufficient linguistic training and education, enabling them to cope at least with many of the difficulties that they encounter from time to time. Most of them have secondary education, while just a few possess a university degree. 0.6

METHOD OF RESEARCH

The method chosen for this research is that of analysing and describing a sampling of contemporary Maltese newspapers. As daily papers are generally more representative of the journalistic language, the required sampling was taken from the only three Maltese dailies L-Orizzont, 11-!lajja and In-Nazzjon Tag1ma (see above in 0.20). Furthermore, as it was prima facie arguable that since these newspapers cater for different types of subscribers, they might also vary in their linguistic approach, it was decided to keep the newspapers apart in the analysis. The method adopted here was such that the study began with certain aspects of the phonology of spoken Maltese and their impact upon the spelling of the journalistic language. As a step further, research was done into the morphological peculiarities of the newspapers. Syntax was then tackled, followed by a study of some lexical and phraseological aspects, including the problem of calques and direct loan-words from other laguages. Finally, the styles of the newspapers were studied, so that the main journalistic genres occurring in the Maltese papers were established and analysed with regard to form and content. Whenever deemed necessary, reference was made to spoken and literary Maltese,

INTRODUCTION

15

and to foreign linguistic influences. Where standard Maltese grammar is concerned, we rely mainly on E. F. Sutcliffe, A Grammar of the Maltese Language, and A. Cremona, Taghlim Fuq il-Kitba Maltija. These are generally recognised standard works, and we refer to them when this seems desirable.

l.

1.1

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

PHONOLOGICAL AND ORTHOGRAPHIC PRELIMINARIES

1.10 The journalistic language is, in the nature of things, available to us only in the written medium. In most of the main European languages, the rules governing spelling in newspapers, as in other written and printed materials, have long been established, and to investigate the symbols used in the orthography of Maltese newspapers might thus appear absurd. But Maltese is still, as investigation will show, quite fluid, to the extent that in some respects spelling conventions generally absent in literary Maltese are fairly systematically employed in journalistic Maltese. An enquiry into the spelling of the latter is thus justified. Furthermore, as the orthography of a given language should normally reflect to some extent the phonology of that given language, we are indirectly involved also with some phonological aspects, incorporating the special features of journalistic Maltese seen within this frame of reference. 1 A close examination of present-day Maltese newspapers reveals that deviations from literary Maltese spellings are not fully uniform throughout the press. Partly, this is because different symbols are being used in several newspapers to represent graphically the same sound. In addition, some loan-words are at times written as in the source language, while on other occasions they are transcribed so as to fit into the system of Maltese orthography. There are other instances in which the loan-words themselves are written in the source language, while morphological increments borrowed from Maltese grammar follow the spelling customary there. This blend of spellings results in a hybrid orthography, as in the case of the morphologically increased loan-word teamijiet ( < English loan-word team + Maltese morphological increment denoting the plural in nouns -ijiet) 'teams' 0 15.4-5,4:16. 2 1 For the general treatment of Maltese phonology, see below Appendix I "The segmental phonemes of standard Maltese". See also J. Aquilina, The Structure of" Maltese, Malta, 1959, Part I, pp. 1-141. 2 References to newspapers, as in this case, shoud be read as follows. The initial letter refers to the title of the newspaper concerned, so that 0 stand for L-Orizzont, ft stands for 11-ftajja, and N stands for ln-Nazzjon Tag1ma. As to the subsequent numbers,

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

17

The extent to which variant spellings of loan-words occur varies again from one newspaper to another, and sometimes even within the same newspaper. All told, it is, therefore, appropriate to examine the orthography of the newspapers with reference to the standard spelling. As the subject of this research is not the Maltese language in general, we will not deal here with the segmental phonemes of standard Maltese, nor with the phonetic description of the Maltese vowels, diphthongs and consonants. But as such general aspects might prove useful as a background study, these are treated below in Appendix l. 1.2 1.20

THE ORTHOGRAPHY OF THE NEWSPAPERS PRELIMINARIES

The analysis presented here takes two points regarding orthography in consideration. In the first place, the symbols used in the newspapers are compared and contrasted with those occurring in the orthography of the literary language. Later, peculiar spelling trends occurring in contemporary newspapers are pointed out and discussed individually. 1.21

SYMBOLS USED IN THE NEWSPAPERS

1.210 In general, the orthographic symbols used in the newspapers are of course based to a large extent on those of the literary language, as advocated by the Maltese Academy (Akkademja tal-Malti, then called Gnaqda tal-Kittieba tal-Malti 'Society of Maltese Writers') in their official publication Tagnrif Fuq il-Kitba Maltija, which was published in Malta in 1924. For various reasons, however, as we will see later, the newspapers developed their own tendencies in the transcription of certain phonemic vowels and consonants, as well as for the historical consonants h and gn. 1.211

SYMBOLS UsED FOR THE VowELS AND DIPHTHONGS IN THE NEwsPAPERS

1.2111 The symbols used in the newspapers to represent the short vowels are very much the same as those used in the literary language. the first refers to the page, the second to the column, the third to the line, and the fourth the date in the month of August, 1973. A hyphen between two numbers, indicates continuation of same column, if it occurs in the second place, or continuation of the line, if it occurs in the third place. Thus, the reference 0 15.4-5:16 should read: L-Orizzont, page 15, columns 4 and 5, line 4, 16th August, 1973.

18

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

These are i, e, a, o, u, and stand for the Maltese phonemes /i/, /e/, jaj, joj, juj, discussed later in Appendix I (see below Al.211). Their usage can be seen in the first five vowels of the following two words: interna 'internal' M 4.5.44:4, konsumatur 'consumer' N 1.1.53 :4. 1.2112 As against this, the symbols which in the newspapers stand for the long vowels are not always the same as in the literary language. The mark of distinction is the grave accent which occurs in the literary language on the long vowels in stressed open syllables. In the newspapers, there are three ways in which this may be expressed in writing. One is that of using the grave accent on the vowel, as in the literary language. The second is that an apostrophe follows the stressed vowel. The third possibility is that no mark whatever is used to indicate stress and length. As to long vowels occuring in other positions, one should remark that they are left unmarked both in the journalistic spelling and in the literary language orthography. Confer the tabulation given below. Phonemic Symbols

Orthographic Symbols In Stressed Open Syllable Literary Maltese

/i :/ je :/ /a:/

i' e e a a' 0 0 u u'

e a 0 u

jo :/ ju :/

Newspapers

In all other positions Literary Maltese

Newspapers

e a

e a

e a

0

0

0

u

u

u

The use of the grave accent on stressed open syllables is limited mainly to the newspaper In-Nazzjon Tag1zna, though occasionally it figures also in the other two papers. The following words may serve as examples. Newspapers Symbol e a 0 u

Example Rene eta pero Peru

Meaning

Reference

Rene age however Peru

N N N M

1.3.33:14 12.1.36:15 1.4.16:14 15.1-3.5:4

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

19

The most common means to mark both the stress and the length of the vowel occurring in stressed open syllables, in all three newspapers being studied here, is that of writing the symbol for the short vowel and add an apostrophe to it instead of the grave accent customary in literary Maltese. The words listed below may serve as examples. Newspapers Example Symbol i' e' a 0

u'

Cili' kafe' utilita' pero' Peru'

Meaning

Reference

Chile coffee utility however Peru

N 7.5.20:7 N 5.2.10:14 H 6.3.16:4 0 15.1.93:1 0 15.2.32:3

In the newspapers, there is also a new tendency to leave the vowel in stressed open syllable totally unmarked. The following words will exemplify this trend. Newspapers Example Symbol a u

Cili verita Peru

Meaning

Reference

Chile truth Peru

N 3.1.41 :6 H 4.2.36:6 H 4.4.9:20

As to long vowels other than those occuring in stressed open syllable, one may say that in principle vowel length is left unmarked, both in the literary language and in the newspapers, as illustrated in the following examples. Literary Maltese Example and newspapers Symbol e a 0

u

id te:i:i serata skop vuci

Meaning

Reference

hand thesis soiree aim voice

N 1.5.28:25 H 1.1.27:3 0 3.3.40:21 H 1.1.47:23 0 10.2-3.43.23

On closer examination, however, one notes that in the orthography of newspapers as well as in the literary language as a rule, the two historical consonants g1z and h sometimes act as length markers to

20

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

adjacent vowels. This occurs mainly when they are in initial or medial position, as in g11ada 'tomorrow' 0 l.l-2.12: l. It is only in a few cases that newspapers make use of the historical consonants as length markers in words where they are not used in standard Maltese spellings. This is treated below in 1.3212, item 5 of the journalistic trends concerning spelling discussed there. In the literary language, the circumflex accent is sometimes used to mark long stressed vowels in medial positions. This occurs exceptionally with the intent of avoiding ambiguity, as in the case of zlna 'lust' and zina 'embellishment'. The newspapers, however, hardly, if ever, make use of this length marker. 1.2113 The symbols used in the newspapers to represent the phonemic diphthongs correspond exactly to those occurring in the literary language. These are ie, ew, iw, ej, aj, aw, and stand for the phonemes fie/, feu/, /iu/, /ei/, /ai/, /au/. The words listed below may serve as examples. Literary Maltese Example and Newspapers Symbol ie ew iw ej aj aw

1.212

nies i:ewg liwja fejn minghajr jemigraw

Meaning

Reference

people two curve where without they emigrate

0 1.3.23:1 0 1.4.36:1 11 11 N N

9.3.23:4 1.1.27:1 1.3.59:1 1.5.4:1

SYMBOLS USED FOR THE CONSONANTS IN THE NEWSPAPERS

1.2120 The symbols used in the orthography of the newspapers to represent the consonant phonemes correspond in the main to those occurring in the system of literary Maltese, but they differ, at least partially, in just a few instances. In the tabulation given below, they are compared and contrasted with both the phonemic and the literary Maltese symbols. Phonemic Symbols

Orthographic Symbols Literary Maltese

/p/ /b/ /t/

p b

Newspapers

p b

21

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

It!/

c

fv/

f v

d k g, k q z Z, i c, c g, g f v

/z/

z

i,

X

X

d k g q z z

/d/ /k/ /g/

f?f

/ts/ /dz/

g

/d3/ /f/

/sf

If/

Z, S

/3/ /h/ /m/ /n/ /r/

(s, g) h, h,gh m n

(s, g) h, h, gh, gh m n

fw/

w

w

/1/

/j/

1.2132 The symbols which require particular attention in the orthographic usage of the newspapers are those which stand for the following consonant phonemes: jgj, jdzj, /tf/, /d3/, jzj, /3/, jhj. Examples illustrating cases where such differences arise are to be found in the lists given below. 1.21321 The phoneme /g/ is most of the time written g in the newspapers. Sometimes, however, due to etymological reasons, it is substituted by k in words of Romance origin, as in the case of the second spelling given hereunder. Phonemic Literary Symbol Maltese Symbol /g/ /g/

g g

Newspapers Literary Maltese Symbol Example g k

vaganzi vaganzi

Newspaper Meaning Example vaganzi vakanzi

holidays holidays

Reference

H 7.1.3:30

0 5.4.68:4

1.21322 The literary language makes no orthographic distinction between the symbol used for the phoneme jtsj, as in zija 'aunt', and that used for the phoneme jdzj, as in gazzetta 'gazette, newspaper'. Both phonemes are represented there by the symbol z. Meanwhile, in the newspapers, the phoneme /ts/ is always represented by the symbol z (without any diacritic at all), while the phoneme jdzj is sometimes

22

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

represented by the symbol z and sometimes by the symbol i. This confusion arose because of the voicing of the phoneme /dz/, on the one hand, and the absence of a particular symbol in the literary language, on the other. These usages are exemplified below. Phonemic Literary Symbol Maltese Symbol

Its I ldzl ldzl

Newspapers Literary Symbol Maltese Example

z z z

z z z

zalza zona zona zeluzi

Newspapers Meaning Example

Reference

zalza zona zona zeluzi

M 7.4.23:16 0 9.2.29:29 0 8.5.12:21 M 8.3.36:7

sauce zone zone zealous

The problem behind the phoneme /dz/ is that it is a voiced alveolar affricate. Technically, it is incorrect to represent it with the orthographic z, since this symbol is used to represent the voiceless alveolar affricate. But it is likewise incorrect to represent it with the orthographic i, as this is used to represent the voiced alveolar fricative. 1.21323 The phonemes /tf/, /d3/, and /z/ are always written i:, g, i in the literary language, but in the newspapers they occur quite often as c, g, z without the diacritic. This tendency, however, does not reflect the mind of the journalist, but rather the limitations of the printing press. When such symbols occur in block letters, as in the case of head-lines, they are generally written without a diacritic because the required fonts are missing. As against this, it is only very rarely that the diacritics are not used in the normal small print. The following list gives examples from the three newspapers. Eight of the nine words picked up at random occur in head-lines; the only example occurring in small print is the word bilanc 'balance' M 1.5.52 :21. Phonemic Literary Symbol Maltese Symbol

Newspaper Symbol

It! I

c

c

ltf I

c

c

fd31

g

g

Literary Maltese Example

Newspapers Meaning Example

Reference

uff!Cini kapaci faeli ufficini bilanc speejali oggetti gar a gurnal

ufficini kapaei faeli ufficini bilanc specjali oggetti gar a gurnal

0 6.2-3.5:6 M 7.2.16:6 N 6.1.13:1 0 6.2-4.2:6 M 1.5.52:21 N 8.1-5.2:22 0 1.1-4.21 :7 M 3.1-2.9:7 N 5.1.5:6

offices able easy offices balance special objects it happened journal

23

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

/d3/

g

g

(z(

z

z

(z(

z

z

inginier hrug magenb mizura zmien deeizjoni mizuri zmien ibbai:ati

inginier hrug magenb mizura zmien deeizjoni mizuri zmien ibbazati

engineer issue near measure time decision measures time based

0 H N 0 H N 0 H N

16.1-2.14:7 2.1.3:7 11.4-6.2 :22 1.1-2.8 :31 1.4-5.6:31 1.1.24:31 1.1-2.6:31 1.3-4.2:31 1.1-4.4:31

The phoneme /z/ has yet another grapheme in the orthography of the newspapers. Mainly for etymological purposes, this phoneme is sometimes represented also by the symbol s, as in the following examples. Phonemic Literary Symbol Maltese Symbol

Newspapers Literary Maltese Symbol Example

z

/z/

Zvizzera bazici vizibbli

Newspapers Meaning Example Svizzera basiCi visibbli

Reference

Switzerland 01.1.11:16 basic H 6.2.16:6 N 11.1.45:16 visible

1.21324 The phoneme /h/ is the realisation of a merger of the five historical speech-sounds [h], [x], [h], n, [y]. The historical speech-sounds [h] and [x] are always realised phonemically as /h/ in modern Maltese. The other three historical sounds are sometimes realised as /h/, sometimes as vowel length, and sometimes have no realisation at all. In literary Maltese, the phoneme /h/ is always written n, but in the newspapers it is sometimes represented by the symbol n, and sometimes by the symbol h. This difference in the orthography does not reflect in any way a historical distinction between [h] and [x]. It is again only due to the limitation of the fonts available in the printing-press, especially when special types of print are required for head-lines and sub-titles. Phonemic Historical Symbol SpeechSound /h/

[h], [x]

Literary Maltese Symbol

Newspapers Literary Maltese Symbol Example

h

h

h

h

tirbah habs sbuhija jiftah habs sbuhija

Newspapers Meaning

tirbah habs sbuhija jiftah habs sbuhija

it wins prisons beauty he opens prisons beauty

Reference

0 H N 0 H N

1.2-5.3:16 1.2-5.3:16 11.1-3.10:14 1.1.5:16 1.3.6:16 11.1-3.6:14

24

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

The historical speech-sound [h] is realised as [h] when it occurs in morpheme boundary if it is at the end of a word, as in [fieh] fih 'in him', or if it is preceded by the historical consonant g11, as in [tahha] tag11ha 'her'. There are also a few instances in which the historical [h] is realised as [h] without being in morpheme boundary, as in the case of[ishma] ishma 'shares'. In all other positions, the historical [h] is either realised as vowel length, or has no realisation at all. In literary Maltese, the historical consonant [h] is always written h, whether or not it is realised as a consonant In the newspapers, it is written 11, namely when it is realised as [h], independently of the historical g11. These instances are exemplified below. Phonemic Historical Symbol SpeechSound

/hi

[h]

Literary Maltese Symbol h h

Newspapers Literary Symbol Maltese Examples h

h

maghhom gieh hienja ishma

Newspapers Meaning Examples with them gieh hienja ishma

Reference

N 1.1-4.9:14 honour 0 8.2.29:3 happy M 4.2-3,30:3 shares N 12.4.83 :2

The historical speech-sound [~'] and [y] are realised as [h] when occurring in morpheme boundary if followed by the historical consonant h of the pronominal suffixes -ha 'her', -hom 'their', as in the example [mahha] magMa 'with her'. It a few instances, they are also realised as [h] when occurring in final position, as in the case of [bieh] bieg11 'he sold'. In the literary language, they are always represented by the symbol g11, with the exception of those occurring in final Psition without having any realisation at all in phonology. When this happens, an apostrophe takes the place of the symbol g11, as in /aqa' 'he received'. Due to the limitations in special fonts in the printing-presses in Malta, the symbol g11 is simplified to gh in most head-lines and occasionally even in the small print. This may be seen in the examples listed below. Phonemic Historical Symbol SpeechSounds /h/

n [yJ

Literary Maltese Symbol

Newspapers Literary Symbol Maltese Examples

gh

gh

gh

gh

maghhom i:ghai:agh i:ghai:agh taghhom

Newspapers Meaning Examples

Reference

maghhom i:ghai:agh i:ghai:agh tagh hom

N 1.1-4.9:14 M 1.1-2.8:16 0 1.1-4.4:6 M 1.1-3.33:6

with them youths youths their

25

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

The phoneme /3/ is not adequately represented in the Maltese orthography. Both in the literary usage, and in the newspapers, it is represented by one of the symbols s or g, depending on the spelling of the source language from which the word in which it occurs originally derives. In Semitic Maltese, the sound [3] exists as an allophone of If/ with which it is in complementary distribution. It is in fact its voiced counterpart. Thus, for example, the word /fbi :n/ xbin 'godfather' is pronounced [3bi :n]. This is because the voiceless allophone [f] becomes voiced in this case as it is followed by the voiced consonant [b]. With the introduction of several Joan-words in Maltese carrying the sound [3], it became necessary to consider it as a distinct consonant, and, therefore, as an independent consonant phoneme. For its phonemic status, see the minimal pair /marru :f/ marrux 'did they go?', /marru :3/ mar-rouge 'with the face-rouge?'. As to the actual spelling, the following two words may serve as examples. Phonemic Literary Maltese Example and Newspapers Symbol Symbol

Meaning

Reference

television beige

television beige

H 1.1.38:3 N 11.3.7:21

/3/

1.22

g

SPELLING TRENDS PECULIAR TO THE NEWSPAPERS

1.220 We will here discuss, not chance errors or misprints which might be passed over, but fairly regular orthographic trends which really call for some attention. Although from the investigations which were carried out among editors and journalists, it transpired that there is no orthographic handbook for journalistic usage, one can say from the present analysis that the spelling trends peculiar to the newspapers show a nearly systematic deviation from the orthography of the literary language. In the preceding paragraph (in 1.21 ), it was noted that the same phoneme may be represented by more than one symbol in the orthographic system of the newspapers, without being liable to be labelled outright incorrect. However, the actual amount of deviation in the spelling of the newspapers goes far beyond this limit. The peculiar spellings of the newspapers may be classified under two headings: those that are mainly characterised by phonological features. Each of these two classes will be treated separately below.

26 1.221

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY PHONOLOGICALLY CONDITIONED SPELLINGS

The spellings which occur in the newspapers due to phonological conditioning may be classified in those involving vowels and diphthongs, and those involving consonants. Each class will be treated below on its own.

J.22JJ

MODIFICATIONS INVOLVING VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS

The journalistic trends in spelling involving modifications of vowels and diphthongs are summed up below, under seven headings. (I) Omission of the vowel i in initial position

In the orthography of the newspapers, when a Romance Maltese word begins with the vowel i, this vowel is generally omitted if it is immediately preceded by a word ending in open syllable. Examples: 1-iziluppi nternazzjonali (for 1-i::viluppi internazzjonali) 'the international developments' 0 1.1.56:1 is-somma nvoluta (for is-somma invo/uta) 'the sum involved' 0 2.2.52:1 min hu nteressat (for min hu interessat) 'he who is interested' 0 3.4.20:3 festi nterni (for festi interni) 'indoor celebrations' 0 4.2-3.22:8 jaghmluha mmedjatament (for jagnm/uha immedjatament) 'they make it immediately' M 1.5.17-18:1 huwa nutli (for huwa inutli) 'it is futile' N 2.2.67:1 1-ebda ndikazzjoni (for 1-ebda indikazzjoni) 'no indication' N 3.2.27: I votazzjoni nvalida (for votazzjoni in valida) 'invalid voting' N 3.4.66-67 :2

In the literary language, the initial vowel i in Romance Maltese is considered as part of the word, and is, consequently, always written. On the other hand, it is treated as a prosthetic vowel in the newspapers. This is due to the actual pronunciation, because in continuous speech the vowel in question is not pronounced. The application of this trend in spelling sometimes creates homonyms, as in the case of nattiv, which may mean 'native' or 'inactive'. Its usage occurs in the following example kien kwaii nattiv (for kien kwaii inattiv) 'he was nearly inactive' N 7.4.47-48: I. This trend is very frequently followed in L-Orizzont, but it is not so frequent in In-Nazzjon Taghna, and even less so in Il-Hajja. Since this trend in spelling is based on phonological grounds, and is in no way contrary to any morphological rule, it seems likely that

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

27

it will be accepted later in the literary language. In this sense, there is already a break-through in literary Maltese where adjectives denoting nationality and having an initial i, may retain or omit this vowel, as in mara lngliza or mara Ngliia 'an English woman'. (2) Omission of Morphologically Pertinent Vowels

The second vowel of a verb in the third person, masculine, singular, past tense (as in bagnat 'he sent'), is omitted if the verb takes a pronominal suffix while its medial radical is one of the historical consonants gn or h. Examples: dehrlu (for deherlu) 'it appeared to him' 116.2.60:3 baghtha (for baghatha) 'he sent her' 11 3.1-2. 7 :7

In such examples where gn and h have no phonemic value as consonants, the literary language makes use of morphological patterns to reconstruct their orthography. But in the newspapers, especially in 11-Hajja, phonology is the main deciding factor. Thus, for example, the verb deherlu 'it appeared to him' is pronounced [de :rlu] in the standard Maltese phonology. It is for this reason that the newspapers write the first of the two vowels and add the symbol h because of vowel length. The choice of h as vowel length marker results from etymological derivation. Similar to the above mentioned trend in journalistic spelling, one notes also in the newspapers the elimination of the final vowel a in verbs when these are followed by the pronominal suffix -ha (feminine, singular) or the pronominal suffix -hom (plural), as in the example jipparagonhom (for jipparagonahom) 'he compares them' N 4.4.33-34:4. The reason behind such a newspaper spelling is that in standard Maltese phonology, the final vowel a under consideration here becomes long [a:] if followed by the orthographic -ha, and changes to [o :] if it is followed by the orthographic -hom. Consequently, the above example is pronounced Oipparagono :m], and it is only natural to build the orthography on this pronunciation. As the above two trends of spelling, involving the omission of a morphological vowel which has no realisation in phonology, are reasonably motivated and present no great dangers to the patterning of verbs, it seems likely that they may be accepted in literary Maltese in due course.

28

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

(3) Misplacement of the Euphonic Vowel

A euphonic vowel is placed after the historical consonant gn when this occurs between two consonants. This goes directly against the practice of the literary language, in which the euphonic vowel is placed before gn. Examples: gimghatejn (for gimaghtejn 3 ) 'two weeks' 0 7.1.40:4; N 3.2.76:1 nibghatulkom (for nibaghtulkom) 'we send you' 0 2.1.85:7 joqghodu (for joqoghdu) 'they stay' M 9.3-5.67:4; N 12.2.10:2 jilghabu (for jilaghbu) 'they play' N 7.2.48:2

The cause of this orthographic deviation from the practice in the literary language is the fact that in the singular the gn is always followed by a vowel in all these cases. Thus, for example, one writes gimgna 'a week' and nibgnatilkom 'I will send you (something)'. Another reason is that phonology does not help in any way in deciding the position of the euphonic vowel. This trend in the spelling of the newspapers is not easily acceptable in the literary language. This is because so far the gn is not treated as a special case by grammarians. It is considered as a full consonant. If its status of a historical consonant were to become acknowledged, and if, as a logical sequence, it were to be treated differently, this type of spelling might also find a place in literary Maltese. It is worth noting that the literary language has already accepted that the euphonic vowel required for the initial gn in certain nouns may either precede or follow it. Thus, one can write gnasafar or agnsafar 'birds', gneriebel or egnriebel 'sieves'. 4 (4) Misplacement of the Prosthetic Vowel

When, in the newspapers, the definite article is placed before an English loan noun beginning with two consonants the first one of which is s, the prosthetic vowel required is generally written immediately after the article, and not at the head of the loan-word

3 See E. F. Sutcliffe, A Grammar of the Maltese Language (3rd Impression), Malta, 1960, pp. 35-36, par. 20 (I) (v). 4 See A. Cremona, Taghlim .fuq il-Kitba Maltija, (9th Edition), Malta, 1968, p. 192.

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

29

Examples: li li li li

Speaker 'the Speaker' 0 2.5.16-17:2; N 1.1.8:1 spare parts 'the spare parts' 0 1.1. 13 :3 skyjackers 'the skyjackers' N 4.4.24:1 steering wheel 'the steering wheel' N 1.3.42:6

In similar cases, in the literary language, the prosthetic vowel immediately precedes the noun (irrespective whether this is Semitic, Romance, or even an English unmodified loan-word); thus, the examples quoted above would be written 1-ispiker, 1-isperparts, 1-iskajgakers, 1-istering. In this last example, the word 'wheel' has not been transcribed because the term 'steering wheel' is simply called stering in Maltese. 5 While the trend of misplacing the prosthetic vowel as above is very strongly followed in L-Orizzont and ln-Nazzjon Tagnna, it is hardly attested in Il-Hajja, as this newspaper follows as a rule the trend of placing the prosthetic vowel at the head of the noun even when this is an English loan-word, e.g. 1-isterling area 'the sterling area' M 8.4.50: 15. This is the norm of literary Maltese. The special trend in spelling followed here by newspapers may be summed up as follows: the prosthetic vowel i is misplaced when the definite article precedes an English unmodified loan-word beginning with two consonants the first one of which is s. This misplacement is due to the interference of the English orthographic system occurring in the unmodified loan-word. (5) Replacement of i- by j- as Prefix in the Imperfect

In the newspapers, verbs beginning with gn as the first radical take the prefix}- (rather than i- customary in the literary language), for the third person, masculine, singular, and the third person, plural, in the imperfect, when such verbs occur either as the first word of a paragraph, or as the first word after a punctuation, or as the first word following another word which ends with a consonant.

3 The words 1-isperparts and 1-iskajgakers could undergo another modification in assimilating themselves to Maltese by replacing the English plural in-s by the Maltese plural in -ijiet, so that they would read 1-isperpartijiet and 1-iskajgakerijiet. The trend of making such replacements is gaining ground both the journalistic language, and in spoken and literary Maltese.

30

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

Examples: Jghaddi (for literary Maltese lghaddi) 'he passes' 0 2.3-5.56 :I it-telegramm jghid (for it-telegramm ighid) 'the telegram says' 0 1.1.30 :I biex jghallem (for biex ighallem) 'so as to teach' 11 1.3.42-43: I rna jkunx jghodd (for rna jkunx ighodd) 'it will be invalid' 11 6.4.61 :2 min jghix (for min ighix) 'he who lives' N 4.4.38:2 kien jghajjat (for kien ighajjat) 'he used to shout' N 4.4.59:4 biex jghassu (for biex ighassu) 'so as to watch' N 12.5.57:9

In similar cases, as the words given between curved brackets show, the literary language makes use of the prefix i-, and not of the prefix j, as in the newspapers. This is because the literary language treats the gh as a full consonant. (6) Replacement of ie by i or e

When the diphthong ie, customary in literary Maltese in the third and sixth derived forms, occurs before one of the historical radical consonants gh or h, it is replaced by e in the spelling of the newspapers. Examples: miftehma (for miftiehma) 'agreed' 0 1.2.16:3 qeghda tghid (jor qieghda tghid) 'she is saying' 0 16.2.47-48:4 tqeghdet (jor tqieghdet) 'it was placed' 11 5.4-5.48 :2 jiftehmu (for jiftiehmu) 'they agree' 11 6.3.8:2 igeghlu (jor igieghlu) 'they force' N 2.3.86:2 imweghda (for imwieghda) 'promised' N 4.4.54:6

Similarly, the diphthong ie, is replaced by i in the spelling of the newspapers when in literary Maltese it stands instead of the final vowel a followed by the negative suffix -x, or one of the pronominal suffixes -h, -ha, -hom. The word itself may be either a noun, or a pronoun with a verbal function, or a verb, or a preposition. Examples: kontrih (for kontrieh) 'against him' 0 1.2.14:7 hallasniha (for hallasnieha) 'we payed for it' 116.2.7-8:3 minix (for miniex) 'I am not' 116.2.31-32:3 kontrihom (for kontriehom) 'against them' N 2.1-3.4:3 drajnih (for drajnieh) 'we got accustomed to him' N 5.1-3:8:3 rna jithallix (for rna jithalliex) 'he is not permitted' N 3.4.11 :7

The trend of replacing the diphthong ie by i or e is very frequently followed in all newspapers. This replacement is based on phonology,

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

31

because in all the above cases the ie occurring in the spelling of the literary language is pronounced either i in the case of the negative suffix and the pronominal suffixes, or e in the case of the historical consonant g11 or h in the third and sixth derived forms. (7) Replacement of i or e by ie

When the vowel i in the literary language is followed by the historical consonant g11, or by one of the consonants 11 or q, it changes to ie in the spelling of the newspapers. Examples: irqieq (for irqiq) 'thin' 0 9.2.3:3 sabieh (for sabih) 'lovely' 0 5.3.80:8 smiegh (for smign) 'hearing' 0 1.2.15:7 caqlieq (for i:aqliq) 'movement' M 1.5.1 :I kollox ghal riehu (for kollox ghal rihu) 'everthing on its own' M 6.4.78-79:3 taqtiegh il-qalb (for taqtigh il-qalb) 'discouragement' N 4.1.15:2 qliegh (for qligh) 'profit' N 4. 1.30:2

Similarly, when the vowel e in the literary language is followed by the t corresponding to Arabic ta-marbuta, it changes to ie in the journalistic spelling. Example: lejliet Santa Marija (for lejlet Santa Marija) 'the eve of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary' 0 5.1.68-69 :7

The above trend of replacing both i and e by ie in the described environments has originated in the actual spoken Maltese, and is thus based on existing phonological tendencies. On the face of it, these tendencies may appear to be in contradiction to the morphological patterns involved. Thus, for example, the word lejliet, in literary Maltese, is the plural of lejla 'evening', and not (as used alternatively in the newspapers) the construct of the singular lej/a plus the t-marbuta. However, in the spoken language, lejliet may mean either 'evenings' or 'eve'. Furthermore, the newspapers violate the rule which in the literary language lays down that whenever the diphthong ie becomes unstressed (because of stress shifting due to morphological increments), it is reduced to either i or e. The result is that the original ie remains ie in the spelling of the newspapers, even when the stress shifts over to another syllable.

32

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

Examples: rna niehdux gost (for rna nihdux or rna nehdux gost) 'we are not happy with the fact that' 0 2.2.36: I rna kienux (for rna kinux or rna kenux) 'they were not' 0 1.4.41 :2 xnieghat (for xnighat) 'hearsay' 0 6.1-2.2:3 rna rnexxielux (for rna rnexxilux) 'he did not succeed in' M 5.4-5.58:2 tiehux (for tihux or tehux) 'do not take' N 4.4.10:8

This trend is based not on the phonology of standard Maltese, but on the colloquial language, which makes more liberal use of secondary stresses than the standard form. For this reason, it is very unlikely that this trend will gain ground in the literary language.

1.2212

MoDIFICATIONS INVOLVING CoNSONANTS

The journalistic trends involving modifications of consonants are given below, grouped under four headings, enumerated between curved brackets. (1) Replacement of Consonants by Allophonic symbols n > m, d > t, p > b

When the dental nasal n occurs before the bi-labial plosive b, it is written m in the spelling of the newspapers. Examples: rna timbidilx (for rna tinbidilx) 'it does not change' M 4.2.39 :I lembuba (for lenbuba) 'truncheon' M 7.4-5.70:7

This trend occurs mostly in 1/-Hajja, and originated in the phonological rule which says that the dental nasal [n] is replaced by the bi-labial nasal [m] due to partial assimilation whenever it occurs before a bi-labial. Furthermore, the spelling of the newspapers may be affected by the voicing or devoicing of adjacent consonants in a word, so that d may become t, and p may become b due to 'hypercorrectness'. Examples: mitbiela (for rnidbiela) 'withered' 0.8.4.56 :6 rkabtu (for rkaptu) 'solution' N 10.2.8:20

As in spoken Maltese, a voiceless consonant becomes voiced when followed by a voiced consonant, the d of the literary Maltese spelling

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

33

midbiela is sometimes considered as colloquial, and therefore suspected of being incorrect. As a result of this misguided judgement, the d

is quite often replaced by t whenever the above word occurs in the newspapers. Similarly, as in spoken Maltese, a voiced consonant becomes devoiced when followed by a voiceless consonant, the p of the literary spelling in the Romance word rkaptu is sometimes considered as sub-standard and is accordingly replaced by b in the newspapers. Such trends are not very commmon in the newspapers. But, the few words in question occur again and again in the journalistic orthography. (2) Omission of the Consonant r between two other Consonants

When the consonant r occurs in loan-words between two other consonants, it is frequently omitted in the journalistic spelling. Examples: propjetarju (for proprjetarju) 'proprietor' N 1.1.13:2 propju (for proprju) 'proper' N 4.4.49:4 propjeta (even without an accent, for proprjeta) 'property' N 3.4. 10:8

This trend of spelling is most common in In-Nazzjon Tag1ma. In the other two newspapers, the consonant r is generally written when it occurs between two other consonants, e.g. proprju 'proper' 0 9.1.15 :4, proprjetarju 'proprietor' M 7.2.22 :3. The omission of r between two other consonants is encouraged by the phonology of Maltese, because in such a position it is frequently not pronounced at all. It is mainly through etymology that this consonant is written in the literary language and, at times, in the newspapers. (3) Use of Single instead of Double Consonants

In the spelling of the newspapers, double consonants required either because of etymology, or because of phonological, or even because of morphological reasons, are at times reduced to a single consonant if they are followed immediately by another consonant, or if they occur at the end of a word. Examples: telegram (for telegramm) 'telegram' M 1.1.22:1 titrijonfa (for tittrijonfa) 'it triumphs' M 6.1.74:4 ruxmata (for ruxxmata) 'a huge crowd' N 1.1.26:2 Oerusalem (for Gerusalemm) 'Jerusalem' N 1.2.54:3

34

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

This trend is followed most commonly in 11-llajja and In-Nazzjon Tag1ma. L-Orizzont, as a rule makes use of the double consonants when these are required, e.g. telegramm 'telegram' 0 1.1-2.8: I. When etymology favours the use of a single consonant, as in the case of Gerusalem, the literary language accepts this spelling as an alternative. However, when ambiguity may arise by following etymology, the literary language favours the double consonant, as in the case of the preposition minn 'from', to denote that in phonology, the vowel i of minn is to be considered as short, in contrast with that of min 'who'. At times, in the newspapers, minn is also written with a single final consonant. Examples: ii:jed min dak (for iijed minn dak) 'more than that' 0 2.3.15-16:1 xi hadd min uliedhom (for xi hadd minn uliedhom) 'some of their children' N 5.1.10:8

In cases where the doubling is necessary for phonological or morphological purposes, this trend of eliminating one of the doubled consonants is not likely to gain ground in the literary language. ( 4) Use of Double instead ol Single Consonants

In the spelling of the newspapers, single consonants are sometimes doubled through a corresponding usage in colloquial speech. Examples: dubbju (for duhju) 'a doubt' 0 9.3.54:2 kavallieri (for kavalieri) 'knights' 0 5.1.50:5 dollorui: (for dolorui) 'dolorous' 117.5.21-22:2 jigu mghejjuna (for)iKu meghjuna) 'they will be helped' N 4.3.55-56:1 1-ghajjat (for 1-aghjat) 'the cries' N 4.4.58:4 okkai:i:joni (for okkaijoni) 'occasion' N 4.4.12-13 :7 art imharrbta (for art imharhta) 'uneven land' N 12.3-4.5:7

Such deviations from the practice of the literary language orthography are not as a rule supported by the pronunciation of standard Maltese. They are based only on colloquial speech. (5) Redundant use of' gn as length marker

In the orthography of the newspapers, the symbol gn is sometimes used as length marker in places where it is not customary in the spelling of standard Maltese.

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

35

Examples: taghtu vann (for tatu vann: the radicals of the irregular verb ta 'to gtve are gh-t-j. as they appear in the noun ghatja ·a gift', and not *t-gh-j) 'she gave him a van' N 1.2.40-41:3 jaghfuhom (for jafithorn: the verb ja( 'to know' is not only irregular, but also defective; it has no perfect form) 6 'they know them' N 5.2.31 :3 rna tibqghax (for rna tihqax: morphologically speaking, the gh should have been written after the vowel a, as in the pattern rna tiksirx 'she does not break'; but in the literary language it is omitted completely whenever the verb takes the negative increment -x) 'she does not remain' N 3.4.7:7

The redundant use of gh, although in phonology it marks a vowel length, is not accepted in the literary language. It is a pseudo-learned phenomenon, and thus unacceptable in the standard orthography. Its use is mainly limited to In-Nazzjon Taghna. 1.222 SPELLINGS HAVING MoRPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS The spellings which in the newspapers are morphologically conditioned deal either with the duplication of j or w, or with gh when this has no realisation as consonant in phonology, or with the redundant use of the definite article. No problems about vowels arise in this respect. The journalistic trends are treated separately below. (I) Duplication of j and w for M orpho/ogica/ Reasons

When, following the patterns of the second and fifth forms of the derived verbs, the second radical should be duplicated, this duplication occurs in the spellings of newspapers even if the second radical is j or w followed immediately by a consonant (where literary Maltese spelling would omit it). Examples: msejjha (for literary Maltese rnsejha) 'called' 0 2.1.33: I; 11 1.1.20-21:3 mghajjta (for rnghajta) 'shouted' 0 2.4.47: I jghajjtu (for jghajtu) 'they shout' N 4.3.61: I indawwru (for indawru) 'we turn' 11 4.3.46:7 mizzewwgin (for rni:=:=ewgin) 'married' 0 9.5.74-75: I

According to the patterns of the second and fifth derived forms, the duplicated middle consonant is followed immediately by another consonant in the third person, feminine, singular, and in the first, second and third person plural of the perfect tense; in the first, second 6 Sutcliffe, op. cit., p. 138, commented that the verb ja( may be a contraction of the verb g1wraf 'to recognise'.

36

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

and third person plural of the imperfect tense; and in the third person, singular, feminine, and the third person plural of the past participles. In all these cases, the newspapers tend to duplicate the second radical even if this is j or w. In the literary language, in all the above cases, the second radical is not duplicated if it is j or w, which the traditional grammars call "weak consonants", and which in the standard orthography should be at least preceded or followed immediately by a vowel. The trend of the newspapers mentioned above is a pseudo-learned phenomenon. It tries to simplify the rule of duplication of the second and fifth derived verbs by applying it consistently to all sorts of consonants, whether they are the "weak" consonants j and w, or whether they are the other consonants which the grammarians call "strong consonants". However, the result of this simplification of the rule of duplication is a clumsy spelling, which is not likely to pass over into the literary language. (2) Misplacement of gh

When the historical consonant gh has no phonological realisation as a consonant, but simply represents an underlying radical, it causes difficulty as to the place in which it should occur within the word. Thus, in the newspapers, it may be preceded or followed by a vowel, independently of the pattern which it should follow in each particular case. Examples: 1-ghola prezz (for 1-og"h/a prezz, on the pattern I-onia 'the sweetest') 'the highest price' 0 2.3.12-13:8 fi grad ghola (for fi grad ogftla) 'in a higher grade' M 6.4.60:3 ghola minn dak (for ogftla minn dak) 'higher than that' N 2.3.48-49:3 oghla sas-smewwiet (for gnola sas-smewwiet, on the pattern nela 'it became sweet') 'it went up to the skies' 1'18.3.24:1 tefghalu (for tefagnlu, on the pattern nefantu 'he blew over him') 'he threw something towards him' 0 16.1.25:1

In the literary language, the place of the gh is determined by the pattern followed by the word in which it occurs. The unrealised gh is used in the standard orthography with the intent of retaining intact as far as possible the underlying mechanism and structure of the words. The journalistic trend, however, is making this structure obscure by placing at random the gh before or after the vowel. This leads only to

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

37

confusion, and as such this misplacement of the gh can never be sanctioned in the literary language.

(3) Omission of gh When the gh occurs at the end of a word and has no phonological realisation, neither as a consonant, nor as vowel length, it may optionally be left out completely in the spelling of the newspapers. Examples: titfa (for titfa', on the pattern tikser 'she breaks') 'she throws' 0 8.3.71 :1 snajja (for snajja', on the pattern xmajjar 'rivers') 'trades' 0 5.1.43:7 jista (for jista', on the pattern jikser 'he breaks') 'he may' M 2.1.32:2; N 4.3.21:2 rna 1-ebda klabb (for rna' 1-ebda klabb) 'with no club' M 16.2-3.26 :8 fid-disa snin (for fid-disa' snin, on the pattern flames 'fifth') 'during the nine years' N 4.4.35:4 tela (for tela', on the pattern niiel 'he went down') 'he went up' N 3.1.22:7

In the literary language, the gh, which occurs at the end of a word, and which has no phonological realisation, is replaced by an apostrophe, as in the re-written forms above (given between curved brackets). In the newspapers, this way of marking an eliminated g1l, is also followed in many instances. One should note, however, that such a use of the apostrophe is only a conventional sign. It has no real function, and serves only as a mark showing that an omission has taken place. For this reason, the journalistic trend of omitting the apostrophe with such a function may be later sanctioned and accepted in literary Maltese. (4) Redundant use of the Definite Article

In the spelling of the newspapers, the definite article is at times suffixed to the preposition Iii 'to' even when this precedes a noun which carries a pronominal suffix. Examples: lill-missieru (for Iii missieru) 'to his father' M 2.1.32-32:8 lill-mohhhom (for Iii motrflhom) 'to their mind' N 4.4.56:1 lill-pajjiina (for Iii pajjiina) 'to our country' N 4.4.28:2

In the literary language, a noun which has a pronominal suffix cannot take the definite article. Its definiteness is determined by the pronominal suffix itself, and not by the article.

38

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

The journalistic trend regarding the redundant use of the definite article before nouns having a pronominal suffix is restricted mainly to 1/-ltajja and ln-Nazzjon Tag1ma. This deviation is due to hypercorrectness. 1.223

APPRAISAL oF THE JouRNALISTIC TRENDS IN SPELLING

All in all, we have seen that there are 16 deviant trends in the ·spellings of the newspapers. These are divided into twelve phonological (seven of which deal with either vowels or diphthongs, while the remaining five involve consonants), and four morphological. While certain trends in the spellings of newspapers may fade out in due time, yet it is clear that from several aspects journalists have made an important contribution towards the simplification of the modern orthography. In this sense, they are breaking new ground, especially by giving more representation to the phonological changes which take place in the living language (whether this is the standard or the colloquial pronunciation of Maltese). In this field, the literary language has been more conservative - perhaps over-conservative. If so, it may surely gain by following in the steps of the newspapers, and thus accepting in writing certain phonological changes which are occurring in spoken Maltese.

2.

2.1

MORPHOLOGY

PRELIMINARY CoNSIDERATIONS

2.10 As in other respects, so in matters of morphology, journalistic Maltese is influenced by both the written literary language, and by the popular speech and pronunciation. Generally speaking, the morphology of journalistic Maltese has, naturally, much in common with that of the literary language. It follows, therefore, that we should concentrate mainly on the divergent peculiarities of the morphology found in the newspapers. 2.11 The grammatical terminology followed here is mainly based on that of traditional Maltese grammars. To a lesser extent, it was also supplemented by some 'modern' linguistic terms which could be usefully and clearly employed in the present analysis. 2.2

THE VERB

The verbs occurring in the newspapers may be classified under three main headings: verbs which belong to Semitic Maltese; verbs which have a Siculo-Italian origin; and verbs which are derived from English. 2.21

SEMITIC MALTESE VERBS

Semitic Maltese verbs are treated in the newspapers very much the same as in the literary language. This is partially due to the fact that the spoken language makes the same use of these verbs to a large extent. It is only in dialectal speech that we note differences in this area. However, these do not show in the press except in certain cases involving phonological changes (for which see above in 1.221 and 1.222), as in the case of omission or misplacement of vowels. It is worth noting, however, that some past participles, carrying a passive meaning, sometimes have 'deviant' journalistic formations. This happens mainly in the case of certain verbs which are not frequently used. Verbs, which like hass 'to feel', have a reduplicated middle radical, in literary Maltese form their passive participle on the pattern

40

MORPHOLOGY

mVC 1 C 2 u:C 2 , as in mahsus 'felt'. In the journalistic usage, however, this form is sometimes mixed up with the passive participle of the verbs of the second form having gh as their third radical, as in qatta' 'to tear', which gives the passive participle mqatta' 'torn' (and not *maqtut). Examples: gew imhatta 'they were unloaded' N 1.3.40:7

The past participle imhatta occurring in the newspaper is similar in structure to imqatta' 'torn' with the exception ·of the final but unpronounced gh. The corresponding form in literary Maltese is mahtuta or mahtutin. But even so, the form gew mahuta or gew mahtutin is not considered as good literary Maltese, because the auxiliary gew, literally 'they came', is considered as an Italian calque, corresponding to the use in the whole expression vennero scaricati 'they were unloaded'. The verb gie 'to come' is used in this sense as an auxiliary in literary Maltese only when other forms fail to give the same meaning. The normal auxiliary in Maltese is the verb kien 'to be'. Therefore, a better rendering of the same structure gew mahtuta would be kienu mahtutin. But, since this is a passive form, the use of the seventh form of the derived verbs should serve even better than the past participle. This would give us the literary and the more correct form in normal speech kienu jinhattu. 2.211 In Semitic Maltese, pronouns function quite often as copulas where other languages like English use verbs. In literary Maltese, as E. F. Sutcliffe says, "The pronoun used as copula agrees in gender and number with the subject of the sentence. An example in the plural: hafna mill-kittieba huma nies ta' nofs taghlim 'many of the writers are half-educated people". 1 In the newspapers, however, especially when the pronoun is used as a verb in the negative form, there is a tendency to avoid agreement in number, if not also in gender. Examples: bhalissa mhu qed jittiehdu ebda mii:uri speejali 'at present no special precautions are being taken' 119.5.8-10:9 mhux formidabbli, imma xorta tajbin '(they are) not formidable, but good all the same' 1115.3-5.4-5:17

1

Sutcliffe, op. cit., p. 180.

MORPHOLOGY

41

In literary Maltese, the above examples would read, bhalissa mhuma qedjittielldu ebda miiuri specja/i, and mhumiex formidabbli, imma xorta tajbin. The tendency to ignore agreement in number, and possibly also in gender, when the pronouns are used as verbs in the negative is perhaps due to English influence. This is because negative words, such as 'no' and 'not', may occur in English before one or more of the grammatical categories noun, adjective, adverb and verb without being inflected, and at times, as in newspaper headlines, without the need for a verb in the same structure. Thus, a head-line in an English newspaper may read, 'not formidable', while in Maltese it needs a pronoun, used as a verb. 2.22

RoMANCE MALTESE VERBS

Verbs which are of Siculo-Italian origin belong to three main classes: those which are derived from verbs ending in -are in Italian; those which are derived from verbs ending in -ere in Italian; and those which are derived from verbs having ending in -ire in Italian. These are treated separately below. 2.221 Verbs which in Italian end in -are, as in the case of the verb ammirare 'to admire', take a suffix -a in Maltese for the third person, masculine, singular, Perfect and Imperfect, as in ammira 'he admired', jammira 'he admires', and in the second person, singular, Imperative, as in ammira 'admire!' Verbs which in Italian take a vowel i between the stem and the morphological increment -are for the Infinitive, as in allogiare 'to lodge', have that vowel changed to the glide j in literary Maltese, so that the pattern would be alloggja 'he lodged', jal/oggja 'he lodges', al/oggja 'lodge!' On the other hand, the trend in the journalistic language is to eliminate that vowel completely. Examples: jimmanigga (for literary Maltese jimmaniggja) 'he manages' 0 3.5.66:14 jingaggaw (for jingaggjaw) 'they enrol themselves' 0 16.5.89-90:15 jappoggaw (for jappoggjaw) 'they support' H 8.3.33 :20

2.222 Verbs which in Italian end in -ere, such as in the case of the verb competere 'to compete', take the suffix -a for the third person, masculine, singular, Perfect, as in ikkompeta 'he competed', and the suffix -i for the third person, masculine singular, Imperfect and the

42

MORPHOLOGY

second person, singular, Imperative, as in jikkompeti 'he competes', ikkompeti 'compete!? In this form of verbs, newspapers show morphological deviations from the literary language, but they tend to make use of certain verbs of this type which the standard language would avoid, as in the case of tikkoni:erna 'it concerns' in the text rakkomandazzjoni li tikkoni:erna rihabilitazzjoni (sic) vokazzjonali 'a recommendation concerning (lit. 'that concerns') vocational rehabilitation' 0 2.1.10-12:3. In literary Maltese, this would probably be replaced by rakkomandazzjoni dwar rijabilitazzjoni vokazzjonali. 2.223 Verbs which in Italian have the ending -ire, as in the case of obbedire 'to obey', take the suffix -a for the third person, masculine, singular, Perfect tense, e.g. obda 'he obeyed'; on the other hand, they take the suffix -i for the third person, masculine, singular, Imperfect tense, and for the second person, singular, Imperative, e.g. jobdi 'he obeys', obdi 'obey!'. This rule is followed in both the literary and the journalistic language. These two types of Maltese, however, differ in the use of the ending -ixx which some, but not all, of these verbs take in Maltese usage, immediately after the stem and preceding the suffix -a or -i. This increment is derived from the Italian morphological element -isc (as in contribuisce 'he contributes'). The relevant structure of these Romance Maltese verbs can be seen in the examples kkontribwixxa (= kkontribw + ixx + a) 'he contributed', jikkontribwixxi (= jikkontribw + ixx + i) 'he contributes' (however, this form does not occur, for example, for the verb obbedire 'to obey'- there is no Maltese form *jobbedixxi in contemporary usage). While in literary Maltese, the ending -ixx is as a rule applied, with some exceptions when the verb has pronominal suffixes, there is a growing tendency to eliminate this ending in the journalistic language both in the singular and in the plural forms even when no pronominal suffix is added, e.g. jassorbi (instead of

2 As in the case of the Italian verb competere 'to compete', which in Maltese becomes ikkompeta, jikkompeti, ikkompeti, there are many Siculo-Italian loan verbs, which, independently of their Infinitive ending, redouble their first consonant when this is followed immediately by a vowel in Italian. In this way, they assimilate themselves structurally to the fifth form of the derived verbs, which in the third person, masculine, singular, Perfect tense, have the pattern CCVCCVC, as in tkellem 'he spoke'. The Siculo-ltalian pattern would be (V)CCVCCVC(V), as in ikkompeta 'he competed'. The reduplication, however, does not take place normally if the structure of the verb in the third person, masculine, singular, Perfect tense, is CVCCV, as in .finga 'he imagined'. This would fit structurally into the pattern of the second form of the verbs with a weak third radical, as in mexxa 'he made someone walk'.

MORPHOLOGY

43

jassorbixxi) 'he absorbs' It 8.4. 7:7; jassorbu (instead of jassorbixxu) 'they absorb' 0 1.3.21 :29. It is to be noted that in neither literary, nor in any other type of Maltese did the forms -isco, -iscono of the first person, singular, and the third person, plural, Present tense of the Italian morphology reflect themselves exactly in Maltese. They are instead replaced by the form -ixx of the third person, masculine, singular. Consequently, the Italian forms assorbisco 'I. absorb', assorbiscono 'they absorb' become nassorbixxi, nassorbixxu, and not *nassorbiski, *jassorbisku. While in Italian the form -isc does not figure in the Perfect tense, it is present in literary Maltese, e.g. ikkontribwixxew 'they contributed', but absent again in the journalistic language, e.g. kkontribwew 'they contributed' N 1.2.11 :14.

2.23

MALTESE VERBS DERIVED FROM ENGLISH

Maltese verbs which are derived from English verbs or from other types of words, may be divided into two main classes: those which take the suffix -a for the third person, masculine, singular, Perfect and Imperfect; and those which take the suffix -)a (instead of -a) in the above mentioned instances. 2.231 Maltese verbs derived from English take the suffix -a if the stem ends in a consonantal cluster having one of the consonants /, m, n, r, in final position. Thus, from the English word triple, phonetically ('trip!], the Maltese stem tripp/ is formed, by means of an orthographic duplication of the consonant p which precedes the liquid /. Then, the first consonant t, which again precedes another liquid, is duplicated in writing as well as in speech, and the suffix -a is added to the whole complex, thus forming the verb ittripp/a 'he made triple'. When the plural forms are required, the ending -a changes to -aw, as in the verb tittripplaw 'you make triple' N 11.3.57-58:28. The newspapers follow substantially the same rules as the literary language. The only difference is that, while in the Perfect tense forms the vowel i always precedes the verb, e.g. ittripp/a 'he made triple', in the literary usage it is only inserted in the newspapers when it is required as a prosthetic vowel. 2.232 Maltese verbs derived from English take the suffix -)a when the stem ends with a single consonant and when it ends with a long consonant or with a consonantal cluster, except when this ends in one of the liquids /, m, n, r. Thus, the Maltese stem dil is derived from

44

MORPHOLOGY

the English verb 'to deal'; the first consonant is duplicated, and the suffix -ja is added to the complex, giving the verb ddilja 'to deal'. Another example is the verb 'to skid', which gives the Maltese stem skid, and which becomes skidd by the duplication of the last consonant; further, the suffix -ja is added to the increased stem, giving the verb skiddja 'to skid'. A third example is the verb 'to challenge', which gives the stem i:aleng; the first consonant is duplicated, and the suffix -ja is added, giving the verb i:i:alengja 'to challenge'. Most of the Maltese verbs derived from English belong to this last clas~. The main differences between the literary usage and that of the newspapers in respect of these forms are two. The literary language adds the vowel i- before such derived verbs, in the Perfect forms and considers it as part of the stem; the journalistic language, on the other hand, treats this vowel as a prosthetic vowel, and makes use of it only when the verb is not preceded immediately by a vowel, e.g. hija rrekordjat (for literary Maltese hija irrekordjat) 'she recorded' N 11.1.38: 1. Another peculiarity of newspapers is that they tend to simplify the ending -ja to -a, as in jillanda (for jillandja) 'he lands' 0 l.l-3.25 :9; esplojtat (for esplojtjat) 'exploited' 0 5.4.36 :30. This usage, however, is mainly restricted to L-Orizzont. 2.24

PATTERNS FOLLOWED BY ROMANCE AND ENGLISH LOAN VERBS

In matters of structure and morphological increments, all SiculoItalian and English Joan verbs follow the patterns of Semitic Maltese verbs which have a 'weak' consonant as third radical. 2.241 Romance loan verbs which in Italian end in -are, and all verbs derived from English, follow the class of weak verbs which historically had an 'alir as their third radical, e.g. qara 'he read', which becomes jaqra 'he reads' in the third person, masculine, singular, and jaqraw (and not *jaqru as in the case of verbs with a third radical j or w) for the plural, Imperfect in both cases. Thus, we get verbs such as rriskja 'he risked',jirriskja 'he risks',jirriskjaw 'they risk'. In the case of these verbs, the newspapers take the same prefixes and suffixes as the literary language, but sometimes they replace the suffix -ja by the simpler form -a. 2.242 All Romance loan verbs which in the Italian Infinitive end in -ere or -ire, follow the class of weak verbs with j or w as third radical, as in bena 'he built', which gives the forms jibni 'he builds' and

MORPHOLOGY

45

jibnu 'they build' for the third person, masculine, singular and the plural, Imperfect. Thus, from the Romance stock, we get the corresponding forms obda 'he obeyed', jobdi 'he obeys', jobdu 'they obey'. Although these verbs, in the usage of the newspapers, have the same prefixes and suffixes as in the literary language, they differ in making use of the initial i- before these verbs only when required, and not consistently, whether necessary as a prosthetic vowel or not, as in the literary language. Another difference concerns the use of -ixx added after the stem in some loan verbs derived from Italian verbs ending in -ire. Newspapers tend to eliminate this increment, as in kkontribwew (for ikkontribwixxew) 'they contributed' N 1.2.11 :14.

The forms of the past participle of all the loan verbs, including those of English origin, are based on the Siculo-Italian endings for the past participle -ato, -uto, -ito. These are modified to -at, -ut, -it for the masculine, singular; -ata, -uta, -ita for the feminine singular; and -ati, -uti, -iti for the plural, e.g. ppjanat 'planned' 0 13.3-4.8:3; solvuta 'solved' 0 15.3.37:3; stabbiliti 'established' M 6.1.16: 1. As in other forms of loan verbs, the trend of the newspapers differs from that of the literary language in treating the initial ias a prosthetic vowel in the Perfect, e.g. gie ssetiljat (for gie isseti/jat) 'it was settled' M 1.3.13:14; kienet ibbaiata (as in the literary language) 'it was based' N 9.1.40-41 :3. Another difference lies again in the fact that the newspapers tend to eliminate the j normally suffixed to these verbs, as in kien esplojtat (for kien esp/ojtjat) 'he was exploited' 0 5.4.36 :30. A third variation lies in the fact that in the journalistic Maltese, as a sequence of the loss of initial i-, there is a growing tendency to reduce the double consonant in initial po~ition in the past participle into a single consonant, e.g. li jkun gustifikat (instead of the normal and literary form li jkun iggustifikat) 'that will be justified' 0 2.3. 75:3. All these three points show that the journalistic language is seeking after simplicity. It goes further in this direction than the literary language. 2.243

On rare occasions, the English past participle is directly borrowed from English grammar, and occupies the same place as the Maltese past participle. Such a practice of transferring the English past participle completely unchanged into Maltese occurs in the spoken language as well as in the newspapers, e.g. jigu microfilmed 'they are microfilmed' 0 5.3.8-9:22; 1-ittra tieghu kienet acknowledged 'his letter 2.2431

MORPHOLOGY

46

was acknowledged' M 9.3.72-73:15; giet resited 'it was resited' 0 13. 1.31 :30; gie boarded out 'he was boarded out' 0 16.5.9-10:14; ilhaddiema gew locked-out 'the workmen were locked-out' N 1.1.9-10:18. Literary Maltese would avoid these constructions either by using Semitic vocabulary, e.g. instead of 1-ittra tieghu kienet acknowledged it would be gharfu /-was/a ta' 1-ittra tieghu, or by using modified Romance and English loan-words, e.g. giet resitedwould be replaced by ghamlulha pjanta gdida, and gie boarded out would be replaced by ghaddewh bord. 2.3

THE NouN

Nouns found in the newspapers may be classified under three headings according to their origin and their morphological peculiarities: nouns belonging to the Semitic stock; nouns of Siculo-Italian or French origin; and nouns of English origin. Although this classification may appear to be etymological, it is morphologically pertinent because Maltese nouns behave differently in matters of morphology according to the class of derivation. 2.31

SEMITIC MALTESE NouNs

2.311 As to gender, all Semitic Maltese nouns are as a rule masculine unless there are morphological or other usages to the contrary. They are feminine if they end in -a as '1 morphological increment, e.g. mara 'woman', t(fla 'girl', gharusa 'bride', widna 'ear', mejda 'table'. This is observed in both the literary and in the journalistic language, with some exceptions. Thus, for example, words which in their present state end in a, not because it is a morphological increment, but because the noun in which it occurs lost the final historical consonant, are still masculine in the literary language, e.g. ghata 'a cover', sema 'sky'. On the other hand, there is a growing tendency in the newspapers to treat such nouns as feminine, e.g. ghata gdida 'a new cover' N 3.5.12-13 :8. This reflects similar usages in the spoken language, but such a trend is considered as lapsus linguae. By extension of the above rule that words ending in the suffix -a are feminine, geographical place-names which end in a are considered to be feminine both in the literary and in the newspaper language, e.g. Malta 'Malta', Fi/jla 'Filfola'. These two types of Maltese, however, differ in determining the gender of the names of islands which end in a consonant. While in the literary language, all place-names are treated

MORPHOLOGY

47

in the same way, namely if they end in a consonant they are masculine, and if they end in a they are feminine, the journalistic language brings in a semantic distinction so that the rules mentioned here apply for the continents or their parts while all islands tend to be feminine, even when the place-name ends in a consonant, e.g. Gnawdex isibuha fgata bin-nies 'they will find Gozo overcrowded' M 7.1.18-19:17. In literary Maltese, this example would read Gnawdex isibuh fgat bin-nies. The feminine could be used if the word giira 'island' is expressly used in the text so that the above sentence would read il-giira ta' Gnawdex isibuha fgata bin-nies. The trend of treating the names of islands as feminine, independently of their ending, reflects the actual use in spoken Maltese, especially among the younger generations. The journalistic language agrees with the literary language in treating as feminine a limited number of nouns ending in a consonant, e.g. hint 'daughter', gnajn 'eye', ras 'head', belt 'town', triq 'street', dar 'house', qmis 'shirt'. 2.312 As to number, Semitic Maltese nouns may be singular, dual or plural. Singular nouns include collectives and nouns of material, such as kliem 'words', bajd 'eggs'; xema' 'wax', deheb 'gold'; as well as nouns of unity derived from collectives and from nouns of material, such as kelma 'word', bajda 'egg', xemgna 'candle'. The journalistic language differs from the literary language in its trend of treating some collective nouns as plurals, e.g. gnodda antiki (instead of the literary forms gnodod antiki or gnodda antika) 'old instruments' M 2.1.13:15; dawn il-kliem (instead of dan il-kliem or dawn il-kelmiet) 'these words' 0 16.4-5.51 :8; N 1.1.70:9. The dual is taken by nouns denoting two things of the same kind. It is formed by means of the suffix -ajn in the case of nouns ending in n, q, or historical gn, e.g. gwinnajn 'two wings'; in the case of all other consonants in similar position, the ending would be -ejn, e.g. idejn 'two hands'. Only very familiar words, such as those denoting parts of the body, time, weight, numerals and edible objects can take the dual. This is valid for all types of Maltese, except that the dual is quite often taken instead of the singular form in the newspapers, e.g. 'his right hand' would there be idejh il-leminija (instead of the logically and grammatically correct form idu 1-/eminija) 'literally, his right hands' M 3.5.12-13:11; similarly, idejh ix-xel/ugija (instead of idu x-xellugija 'his left hand') 'literally, his two left hands' M 1.5.11 :17; or even fejn kienet saqajha

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(for fejn kienu saqajha) 'literally, where her two feet was' 11 7.3.8 :11. This journalistic usage occasionally occurs in spoken Maltese. The plural may be taken by most of the Semitic Maltese nouns. This may be either determinate, e.g. ghadiriet 'ponds', and is mainly used after the numerals . from two to ten; or indeterminate, e.g. ghadajjar 'ponds', used when the objects referred to are considered as forming a class, and no numeral precedes them. Morphologically, the plural may be either 'sound', that is formed by one of the plural suffixes -at, -iet, -ijiet, -in, -an, -ien, e.g. kitbiet 'writings'; or it may be 'broken', that is, formed by internal changes, e.g. kotba 'books' plural of ktieb, and qlub 'hearts' plural of qa/b. As a rule, all this holds good both for the literary and for the journalistic language. The main divergence of newspaper Maltese from the literary usage lies in the fact that the newspapers tend to make use also of the Siculo-Italian suffix -i besides those listed above. Thus, for example, the plural of debba 'mare' is given as debbi in 0 4.3.26-27:18, instead of the literary Maltese form dwieb. This is a case of a heterogeneous suffix replacing the broken plural. 2.3113 As to formation, Semitic Maltese nouns may be formed on older roots. These are generally either nouns of unity, as in the case of serqa 'burglary' from the verb seraq 'to steal', or nouns denoting state or action, as in serq 'stealing' from the same verb seraq as above. Such reconstructions occur in both the literary and the journalistic language. In this field, due to urgent necessity for new words, newspapers are making a good contribution, e.g. il-hin tal-haifa (reconstructed on the verb hataf 'to snatch away') 'the time of the kidnapping' N 8.2.55: 16. 2.32

RoMANCE MALTESE NouNs

2.321 As to gender, Romance Maltese nouns are masculine if they end in a consonant or in one of the back vowels o and u, or the front, but stressed, vowel e, e.g. mument 'moment', motto 'motto', Marzu 'March', kaje 'coffee', sujjle 'sponge-cake'. Romance nouns which end in one of the front vowels i, e, a, are feminine, e.g. inva:ijoni 'invasion', serje 'series', munita (cp. Italian moneta) 'coin'. Exceptions to these rules exist in both the literary and the journalistic language, but on the whole, the rules, as formulated here, are better observed in the newspapers.

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49

The following words are masculine, despite their ending in -a or -i, in both the literary and the journalistic language: poet a 'poet', monarka 'monarch', neputi 'nephew', orgni 'organ'. Most of these words, in fact, refer to a male. The word nazzjon is feminine in the literary language. This is due to its gender in the Siculo-Italian morphology. In the newspapers, on the other hand, it is being 'normalised' and considered as masculine due to its ending in a consonant, e.g. ibati n-nazzjon 'the nation suffers' 0 5.2.5:4; nazzjon xin 'an old nation' N 4.4.27:23. On the other hand, the words problema 'problem', sistema 'system', ordni 'religious order', are masculine in literary Maltese, while they tend to be feminine in the newspapers, e.g. problema kbira 'a big problem' 11 5.5.26-27:3; sistema rnisa 'a cheap system' 0 9.1.16: I ; 1-0rdni Dumnikana 'the Dominican Order' 0 8.4.34:8. 2.322 As to number, Romance nouns may have the singular, the dual and the plural, as in the case of Semitic Maltese nouns, but with more restrictions. Singular nouns are generally nouns of unity, e.g. qassata 'a round cheese-cake'; but some collective nouns, especially nouns of material, also occur. e.g. ram 'copper', i:omb 'lead'. This is valid for the literary, the spoken, and the journalistic language. The dual occurs very rarely in Romance Maltese nouns, e.g. koxxtejn 'two thighs', spallejn 'two shoulders', qassatejn 'two round cheesecakes'. Occasionally, feminine nouns ending in a, as in koxxa 'thigh', take the t-marbuta before the suffix -ejn. The suffix -ajn does not occur in Romance Maltese nouns because no such nouns may end in n, q, and historical gn. All this applies for all three types of Maltese, whether it is literary, spoken or journalistic. The plural may be taken by most of the Romance Maltese nouns, including many cases in which the Italian morphology supplies no plural form, as in the case of words ending with a stressed a, e.g. partikularitajiet 'particularities' 113.4.37:2. However, some nouns which in the singular end in i, as in orfni 'orphan', remain unchanged in the plural in Maltese. Some Romance Maltese nouns, especially those having the pattern CVCCV, like Semitic Maltese qamna 'a corn', nassa 'a lettuce', have a 'broken' plural, e.g. razez 'races' 11 8.4.42:3 from the singular form razza. However, most of the Romance Maltese nouns have a 'strong' plural. The most common suffix for this purpose is -i, e.g. passaggi 'passages' 11 7.1-2.52:3; but the ending -ijiet is

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also quite common, especially in words ending in -i, e.g. neputl}let 'nephews' 0 3.5.57:3; in words ending in a stressed vowel -e or -a, e.g. partikularitajiet 'particularities' H 3.4.37:2; in nouns ending in a consonant which was originally followed by a vowel in the source language, e.g. nazzjonijiet 'nations' 0 7.1.13:2 ;fattijiet 'facts' H 6.2.22 :9. Generally speaking, all the above rules are observed at all levels of Maltese. In certain particularities, however, they differ. Thus, for example, while the literary language gives the plural surmastrijiet 'teachers, headmasters', by affixing together the singular form surmast, the historical consonant r which occurs in the Siculo-Romance stem maestr ( + -u or -o) 'master', and suffix -ijiet; the journalistic language sometimes gives the form surmastri H 2.2.41 :8. Another case is created by the word pittura 'painting'. In the literary language, this word is used in the sense of 'the art of painting' and as such it has no plural. In the journalistic language, it is used both in that sense and in the sense of 'picture in paint', and as such it has the plural pitturi 'paintings' H 2.2.54:4. This is homophonous with the word pitturi 'painters' H 2.4.50 :4, plural of pittur. In the literary language, pictures in paint are called kwadri tal-pittura. The new trend of the newspapers is due to language interference. Although it is a Romance noun, the word pittura acquired the meaning of'picture in paint' through English usage, and this brought about the Romance morphological increment for the plural. 2.323 As to formation, Romance Maltese nouns follow basically the same structure as in the Siculo-Italian morphology, being generally that of a stem and a suffix, as in debbolizza (formed of stem debbol and suffix -izza) 'weakness'. Such suffixes have sometimes influenced Semitic Maltese roots, as in .fenkata 'a rabbit stew'. N 3.1-2.57:22. The most frequent suffixes borrowed from Sicilian or Italian and functioning in Maltese as noun formatives are -ar, -ata, -iimu. This applies to both the literary and the journalistic language, but it occurs more frequently in the latter, which is not constrained by any theory of 'pure' (Semitic) Maltese, as is often the case with the former. The following nouns may serve as examples from the newspapers: immarkar 'marking' H 16.1.31 :6; imbuttatura 'a push' H 6.3.63 :14; immodernizzar 'modernisation' H 9.1-4.1 :31 ; inneguzjar 'bargaining' H 8.1.33 :11. 2.33

MALTESE NouNs BoRROWED FROM ENGLISH

2.331 As to gender, Maltese nouns borrowed from English, whether they undergo a phonological or orthographic change or not, are

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51

masculine if they end in a consonant or in one of the vowels -i, -o, -11, e.g. krejn 'crane', party (which in standard Maltese is sometimes writtenparti) 'party', 1-istudjo 'the studio', blu 'blue'; on the other hand, such loan-words are feminine if they end in -j or in one of the vowels -e or -a, e.g. ash-tray 'ash-tray', sine 'cine-camera', Cinema 'cinema'. Although these rules apply to both the literary and the journalistic language, they are more frequently followed by the latter where borrowing of loan-words is extensive. The following examples may show how the above rules are being applied in the newspapers, independently of the orthography followed there. Examples: a) Masculine Nouns: karavan kbir 'a big caravan' 0 3.2.56:3 kowt li huwa wiesgha (sic, for wiesa') 'a coat that is wide' 0 6.2.55:10 il-kju jibda kmieni hafna 'the queue begins rather early' 0 6.4.49:16 Iott mibjugh 'a sold lot' 0 8.1-2.67: I leadership kollettiv 'collective leadership' 11 8.2.41 :21 jintemm is- 'Sit-In' ii:da jibqa' 1-'Lock-Out' 'the Sit-In is over, but the Lock-Out is still on' 11 1.1-4.5-6 :25 terminal building gdid 'a new terminal building' N 1.1.12:6 iridu lijitwaqqaf'Fact Finding Committee' 'they want a 'Fact Finding Committee' to be set up' N 1.1-5.5-6:21 b) Feminine Nouns: jarda 'yard' 0 9.1-2.5:3 (note the Maltese suffix -a denoting a noun of unity) linka 'ink' 116.4.8:15

There is a comparatively small number of English loan nouns ending in a consonant or, at least phonologically, in -i which are feminine due to semantic interference. This happens mainly when such nouns refer to females, ships, small objects, machines, and actions considered individually. Because of their foreign nature, such words are more likely to occur in the newspapers' language than in standard Maltese. Examples: air mistress (sic!) 'air hostess' 11 8.2.61 :4 Jill-maid taghhom ukoll jaghtuha 1-vaganzi 'they also give holidays to their maid' 11 6.5.19-20:20 trawler Taljana 'an Italian trawler' N 2.3.9:16 molecule li tahdem 'a molecule that works' 11 5.4-5.67:31 kull claim riedet bil-fors tghaddi minghand id-direttur 'every claim had to be examined by the director' N 8.5. 72-73 :24 din 1-extra duty 'this extra duty' N 5.5.13:16

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2.3132 As to number, Maltese nouns borrowed from English may have only the singular and the plural. The dual, which is very limited in Semitic Maltese, and exceptional in Romance Maltese, is completely absent in Maltese nouns derived from English. The singular form of Maltese nouns borrowed from English is basically the same as in the source language. The spelling is sometimes altered so as to fit into the system of Maltese orthography, and, as we have seen in the preceding paragraph, some English nouns take the suffix -a to denote the singular of a noun of unity, e.g. jarda 'yard', kit/a 'kettle', link a 'ink' (note also the initial I which was originally a definite article, thus 1-inka). In exceptional cases, the Maltese word borrowed from English adapts itself to the structure of Semitic Maltese nouns, and may have a 'broken' plural, e.g. ktieli 'kettles' M 8.4-5.50:1, which is very similar to the Semitic Maltese form of xtieli 'plants', plural of xit/a. However, the vast majority of Maltese nouns derived from English have a 'strong' plural by means of the suffix -ijiet. This is true in both the literary and the journalistic language, with the difference that newspapers make more liberal use of such loan-words and such a form of plural. The following words exemplify this usage: furijiet 'furs' 0 6.1-4.34:10; konvojijiet 'convoys' M 8.3.14:22; i:inemajiet 'cinemas' N 5.3.27-28 :2. Those English loan nouns which have not yet been completely 'normalised' in their plural form, still make use of the English plural suffix -s. This, again, occurs in both the literary and the journalistic language, but whereas the English orthography is used throughout in the nouns which take such a plural, Maltese spelling is attempted quite often in the newspapers. Thus, one finds such hybrid systems: magaiins 'magazines' 0 3.1-2.28:11; mekkaniks 'mechanics' 0 9.1. 19-20:8; kjus 'queues' 0 6.4.51 :15; skripts 'scripts' M 7.3.9:14; telefons 'telephones' M 2.2.28:18; tajers 'tyres' M 7.2.6:25; trejdunjons 'trade unions' M 4.2.28:31. 2.3133 As to formation, Maltese nouns derived from English may be either simple transferences or adaptations of English nouns, or new formations by means of the ending -ar suffixed to the Maltese verbal stem of English derivation. Thus, the English verb 'to land' takes the Maltese form as llandja; then, the suffix -ar is added to the stem /land}, thus giving the noun llandjar 'the landing' M 1.4-5.24:9. Other examples are: 1-{ffi/mjar 'the filming' 0 2.4.14-15:29; N 12.5.53:22;

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pparkjar 'parking' 0 12.4.27:9. This is the normal way in which an English verb is transformed into a Maltese noun. The suffix -ar which is functioning in this noun formation is the truncated form of the Siculo-Italian suffix for the Infinitive. Nouns reconstructed in this way are generally found in the journalistic language, and reflect the actual use in daily speech. 2.4

THE ADJECTIVE

The adjectives found in the journalistic language may be classified into three main classes, according to their language of origin: adjectives derived from Semitic Maltese; adjectives of Siculo-ltalian derivation; and adjectives of English origin. The morphology governing these three classes differs in certain aspects, as we will see below. The literary language, on the whole, tries to avoid adjectives, and past participles functioning as adjectives, derived from English. In the journalistic language, however, these figure along with adjectives from the other two classes. 2.41

SEMITIC MALTESE ADJECTIVES

2.411 As to gender, Semitic Maltese adjectives may be either masculine or feminine. The rule is that they are all masculine, except when they take the ending -a for the feminine, e.g. hafiffhafifa 'light', hieni/hienja, 'happy', helufhelwa 'lovely'. Some Semitic Maltese adjectives denoting nationality take the ending -i for the masculine, and the ending -ija for the feminine, e.g. Malti/Maltija 'Maltese', Ghawdxi/Ghawdxija 'Gozitan'. Semitic Maltese adjectives are as common in the press as in the literary language, e.g. Prim Ministru Malti 'Maltese Prime Minister' 0 1.1-2.7:1; success kbir 'a great success' 0 3.2-3.60:2; haxix niexef 'dried grass' M 6.1.45-46:1; ghalliem Gharbi 'an Arab teacher' N 12.1.21 :4; ta' natura hafifa 'of a superficial nature' 0 1.5.68-69:1; kampanja kbira 'a big campaign' 0 3.2-4.22:2; mara Maltija 'a Maltese woman' 0 3.5.2-3:3; libsa gdida 'a new dress' 11 8.1.4:1. 2.412 As to number, Semitic Maltese adjectives can be either in the singular or in the plural. No dual form exists in any class of the Maltese adjectives. While the singular differs according to gender, the plural is common, e.g. sussidji kbar 'huge subsidies' 0 1.1-5.5:4;

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ghalliema Ma/tin 'Maltese teachers' 11 1.4-5.48:7. The feminine singular form is also sometimes used, both in the literary and in the journalistic language, instead of the plural form, e.g. gojjelli misruqa 'stolen jewels' 0 16.1-2.28:4; spejjei iejda 'useless expenses' N 12.3-5.1:31. Under this heading there are thus no significant differences between literary Maltese and journalistic Maltese.

2.413 As to comparison, Semitic Maltese adjectives are formed on the pattern VCCVC, as in ikbar or akbar 'greater'. The first vowel may be -i, -e, -a, -o, depending on vowel harmony, though, as in the case of ikbar and akbar, these vowels may be in free distribution. There is also a paraphrastic comparative form in which case one of the words iktar or aktar 'more' is placed before the adjective, e.g. iktar sabin 'more beautiful'. In matters of comparison, the journalistic language follows the above rules, which are well established in the literary language, to which it thus conforms in this respect also. 2.42

RoMANCE MALTESE ADJECTIVES

2.421 As to gender, Romance Maltese adjectives may be either masculine, or feminine, or common gender. Adjectives which end in a consonant or in the back vowel -u are masculine, e.g. antik 'ancient' 0 14.2-3.77:4; konvint 'convinced' 11 3.4.16:6; krudil 'cruel' N 10.4-5. 19 :3; barbaru 'barbaric' 0 5.3.64 :23. The feminine form is obtained by means of the suffix -a, e.g. baxxa 'low' 0 6.5.71-72:3; griia 'grey' 11 6.5.26:29; ekonomika 'economic' N 3.4.42 :3. Finally, the adjectives which end in -i are of common gender, e.g. banali 'banal' 0 1.3.18:15; globali 'global' 11 8.2.63; orali 'oral' N 1.5.30-31 :8. Adjectives denoting nationality are formed by means of the endings -in, -an, -ii, -it for the masculine, e.g. Tuneiin 'Tunesian', Ta/jan 'Italian', Inglii 'English', Israelit 'Israeli'; and the suffixes -ina, -ana, -iia, -ita for the feminine, e.g. Lixandrina 'Alexandrian', Indjana 'Indian', Frani:iia 'French', Israelita 'Israeli'. No distinction is present between literary and journalistic usage. 2.422 As to number, Romance Maltese adjectives may be either singular or plural. While in the singular most Romance Maltese adjectives differ according to gender, they all have a common plural in -i, e.g. sanzjonijiet ekonomii:i 'economical sanctions' 11 5.1.67-68:1. Adjectives which are not marked for gender in the singular, that is those which end in -i, are also unmarked for the plural, e.g. komplikazzjonijiet

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legali u kostituzzjonali 'legal and constitutional complications' N 3.5. 8-9: I. Though in theory such rules are binding in both the literary and the journalistic language, they are put into use more frequently in the newspapers than in the standard language. 2.423 As to comparison, Romance Maltese adjectives may follow the Semitic Maltese pattern VCCVC, as in ijjen 'more fine', but this is rather exceptional. The more common trend is to use the paraphrastic system, as in the example aktar baxx 'lower' N 1.3.22 :4. (the form *ibxex does not occur at any level). In the journalistic language, there is also the Romance superlative form by means of the suffix -issimu or -issmu for the masculine, -issima or -issma for the feminine singular, and -issimi or -issmi for the plural, e.g. haga utilissima 'a most useful thing' 0 8.5.43 :14; regula generalissima 'a most general rule' M 6.4.64-65:31; element interessantissimu 'a most interesting element' N 11.2.47 :3. This usage occurs also in the spoken language, but is avoided in literary Maltese. 2.43

MALTESE ADJECTIVES BoRROWED FROM ENGLISH

2.431 As to gender, adjectives borrowed from English, as well as present and past participles functioning in the same way as adjectives, have no morphological distinction to mark whether they are masculine or feminine. In other words, such adjectives are unmarked for the gender. This can be seen in the following examples taken from the journalistic language, where they generally occur: lanqas hu fair 'it is not fair' 0 14.5.9-10:3; qmis blu 'a blue shirt' M 3.4.60:9; titjira chartered 'a chartered flight' M 5.1.20-21 :13; studio air-conditioned 'an airconditioned studio' M 7.2-3.42-43:13. Exceptionally, some Maltese adjectives borrowed from English take a suffix to mark their gender, e.g. mara gingrija 'a ginger-haired lady' 0 5.2.60:14; xorb alkoholiku 'alcoholic spirit' M 5.3.11 :20. 2.432 As to number, adjectives and participles functioning as adjectives borrowed from English have no morphological distinction to show whether they are singular or plural, e.g. vetturi impressed 'impressed vehicles' M 9.1-2.49:7; kmiem arc-welted 'arc-welted sleeves' N 11.2.27-28:21; tkakenslanting 'slanting heels' N 11.3.14-15:21. It is only exceptionally that such adjectives are marked for their number, e.g. mara gingrija 'a ginger-haired lady', nisa gingrin 'ginger-haired ladies'. Such forms reflect actual trends in the spoken language.

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2.433 As to comparison, Maltese adjectives and adjectival participles borrowed from English may follow the paraphrastic structure by means of one of the words iktar, aktar, iijed 'more' e.g. iktar fair 'more fair', iijed slanting 'more slanting'. The English suffixes -er and -est for the comparative and the superlative do not affect the Maltese morphology, not even that of the newspapers. Besides, the paraphrastic comparative is very rare. In the literary language, such usages are not admissible.

2.5

THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS

2.51 Maltese morphology did not accept any Siculo-Italian, French or English influence in the system of the personal pronouns. Consequently, very few observations can be made in the analysis of such materials, but those which can be made are not without interest. 2. 511 In the literary, as well as in the journalistic language, there are two forms for the singular personal pronouns. These are the plain or fuller form: jiena '1', inti 'you', huwa 'he', hija 'she'; and the truncated form, having the last vowel of the plain form missing: jien '1', int 'you', hu, 'he', hi 'she'. On the other hand, in the literary language, there is only one form for the plural personal pronouns: anna 'we', in tom 'you', huma 'they'. In the journalistic language, all these pronouns figure as well, but besides these forms, there is another form intkom 'you' for the second person plural. As to this form, the newspapers are following dialectal morphology, as in the examples intkom toqtlu 'you will kill' 0 2.3.48:3; intkom tghajjew (sic, for tagf!iew) 'you will get tired' 0 2.3.52 :3. The form intkom seems to be composed of the second person singular form of the personal pronoun int, and the second person plural of the pronominal suffix -kom.

2.6

THE PRONOMINAL SUFFIXES

There are two main classes of pronominal suffixes in Maltese: those which are affixed to verbs, and those which are affixed to nouns and prepositions. The present investigation has shown that there is no difference in their usage whether they are applied in the literary, in the journalistic or in the spoken language. However, some interesting general facts became apparent in this analysis.

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2.61 The present survey has shown that the pronominal suffixes which accompany the verb, whether they are direct or indirect pronominal suffixes, are still in full morphological and linguistic vigour. They may follow, in fact, not only Semitic Maltese verbs, but also any other loan verb. This is more apparent and clearer in the journalistic language, because of its liberal use of loan verbs in contrast with the literary language. The following list of verbs followed by direct or indirect pronominal suffixes should be enough to show that such suffixes are free to function also with loan verbs. Examples: kellha jakkompanjawha 'she had some accompanying her' 0 9.2.63-64:2 napprovahom 'I approve them' 0 11.3.21 :2 ddemoralizzahom 'he demoralized them' 0 15.5.58:6 iddisturbahom 'he disturbed them' 0 13.4.52:24 igongihom 'he joins them' M 7.2.14:17 jimmaltrattahom 'he maltreats them' M 7.1.20-21:15 tinteressaha 'it interests her' M 8.3.55:9 kkonsultahom 'he consulted them' N 4.3.41 :2 immutahom 'he made them mute' N 2.1.21 :4 jinnazzjonalizzalhom 'he nationalizes for them' N 3.5.20:22 jinblokkalhom 'he blocks the way for them' N 4.4.63 :6 nissuggerilu 'I suggest to him' 0 6.2.21-22:9 svelali 'he unveiled to me' 0 14.1.14:14

2.62 On the other hand, pronominal suffixes which may accompany nouns have more restricted usage in the newspapers than in literary Maltese. This is because the trend of the press is to use possessive pronouns instead of these suffixes, except in the case of (a) words referring to parts of the body, e.g. wii:Chom 'their face' 0 1.1-3.8 :2; (b) words denoting kinship, e.g. missieru 'his father' 0 1.5.17:2; (c) and words denoting certain intimate localities, e.g. pajjiina 'our country' 0 8.3.23:1 ; M 8.3.26:1 ; N 2.3.35:1 ; fi triqtu 'on his way' 0 1.5.17 :2. In this respect again, journalistic Maltese reflects the spoken language. Siculo-ltalian loan nouns may occasionally take a pronominal suffix in some of the above cases. More often than not, however, they take the possessive pronoun intead, as in id-delegazzjoni tiegnu 'his delegation' 0 1.1.15-16:1, and not *delegazzjonitu although this form is morphologically correct. On the other hand, French and English loan nouns can never take a pronominal suffix in the journalistic language. Thus, while the examples su.fflik 'your sponge-cake' and vannu 'his van'

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may be accepted at a certain level of the literary language, they do not, and are not likely to occur in newspapers. Just as in the spoken language, so the paraphrastic form is felt to be obligatory in the press. In this area, therefore, the newspaper language is moving from the inflectional to the isolating type of language. Meanwhile, pronominal suffixes are still very frequently used in conjunction with the Semitic Maltese prepositions, though they cannot function at all with Romance Maltese prepositions. This is so not only in the newspapers, but also in the literary language.

2.7

THE ADVERB

Adverbs in Maltese cannot be considered as a closed class, for they are still being formed. The language which has provided and is still providing many adverbs in the Maltese language is Italian, though the Sicilian influence of the past cannot be ignored. Although new accretions sometimes occur in the literary language, it is in the newspapers that such innovations generally take place. The most typically journalistic examples of loan adverbs are those which are substantially based on Romance adverbs, but at the same time have undergone some phonological change or accretion through the influence of English. The following list exemplifies such a trend which was created in the newspapers through a similar usage in the spoken language. Examples: obbvjament (instead of literary Maltese ovvjament < Italian ovviamente, influenced phonologically by English ohviousl_v) 'obviously' N 11.1.9:11 fii:ikalment (instead of literary Maltese fl:.ikament < Italian fisicamente, influenced phonologically by English physically) 'physically' N 7.1.56:3 politikalment (instead of literary Maltese politikament < Italian politicamente, influenced phonologically by English politically) 'politically' 0 1.1-2.58:27

Such phonological changes and accretions are due to language interference. The literary language is so far free from these linguistic influences.

2.8

THE PREPOSITION

The preposition in Maltese may be considered as forming a halfclosed class. The main prepositions are Semitic, e.g. bi 'with', fi 'in', minn 'from, by', ghat 'to', rna' 'with', ta' 'of. This type of preposition

MORPHOLOGY

59

has full morphological function. It may precede a Semitic Maltese noun, or even a loan-word. It can also be followed by a pronominal suffix in most cases, and by the article in many of them. This is so at all levels of Maltese, whether spoken, literary or journalistic. 2.81 Another sub-class of prepositions is made up of those prepositions borrowed from Italian, Latin or English in direct loans involving foreign expressions. Such prepositions have a very limited function in Maltese because their use is restricted to the expressions in which they occur. The main prepositions borrowed from Italian, Latin and English are the following di, 'of, in 'in', a 'to', ad 'to', sub 'under', for 'for'. Unless they occur in a technical term, these prepositions figure mainly in the journalistic language. Examples: krudil di natura 'cruel by nature' N 4.4.55:16 niehdu in charge 'we take in charge' 0 8.1.35:21 kif del resto gie koncess 'as after all it has been conceded' 0 4.5.34-35:29 il-materja hija sub judice 'the matter is sub judice' 0 1.2.52-53:25 a termini ta' 1-att 'according to the act' 0 1.2.38:25 kumitat ad hoc 'an ad hoc committee' 0 5.2.23:15 wasal on day 'he arrived on the right day' 0 13.4.13:18 in konnessjoni mal-flus 'in connection with the money' 0 4.1.65-66:3 komparati rna' li standard of living taghna 'compared with our standard of living' 0 6.2.77:18 in vista ta' 1-i:i:vilupp 'because of this development' M 8.2.14:2 nehduhom for granted 'we take them for granted' M 8.2.14:22 di ottima fattura 'of the best quality' M 6.2.39:27 a favur ta' kliem fieragh 'in favour of vain words' N 4.4.65:20 fil-lejla in kwestjoni 'during the night in question' N 2.4.26-27 :31

The morphological restriction on these prepositions is such that they cannot have an affixed pronoun, or even a definite article unless this already occurs in the source language, as in the case of del (It. di + il) in the borrowed Italian expression del resto 'after all'. In literary Maltese, such prepositions are replaced by Semitic Maltese prepositions as far as possible. Thus, for example, the journalistic expression krudil di natura 'cruel by nature', would be substituted by krudil min-natura in the literary language.

2.9

THE CoNJUNCTION

Conjunctions in Maltese form a half-closed class. The main conjunctions are of Semitic stock, e.g. u 'and', meta 'when', jew 'or',

60

MORPHOLOGY

jekk 'if, ghaliex and ghax 'because', bhalma 'as'. Such Semitic

conjunctions are common at all levels of Maltese.

2.91 There is, however, another sub-class of conjunctions of Romance or hybrid (Romance and Semitic) origin, e.g. mentri 'while', galadarba (It. gia 'since' + Semitic Maltese Ia 'since' + darba 'once'; this is replaced in literary Maltese by Ia or ladarba or billi) 'since', sija ... sija 'both ... and'. These conjunctions are rare in the literary language, but quite common in the newspapers, as well as in spoken Maltese. The following examples illustrate their use in the press. Examples: mentri rna kinux korretti 'while they were not correct' 0 1.4.40-42:2 m'hemmx chart, ossija pjanta 'there is no chart or plan' 0 6.1-2.35-36:15 galadarba iddeeidew (sic) li jhallu 1-baracks 'since they decided to leave the barracks' N 4.1.62-63:6 sija 1-entasjazmu zejjed u sija !-modi 'both the extreme enthusiasm and the manners' N 4.4-5.58:2

Such conjunctions, as we noted above, occur also in the spoken language. Therefore, one may safely assume that it was through this type of Maltese that they found their place in the press.

3. 3.1

SYNTAX

PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS

3.10 As we have already noticed under other aspects, journalistic Maltese draws on two main sources for its syntax: the literary language which aims at refinement and obeys consciously formulated rules, on the one hand; and the spoken language, which is not polished and does not obey rules handed down by grammarians but rather certain unformulated tendencies, on the other. Under the aspect of syntax in general, one should also take into consideration the problem of bilingualism or even trilingualism in Malta, which, as one can easily imagine, leaves its impact on the syntactical aspect as well. It is understandable, however, that the syntax of the journalistic language is not so far removed from the syntax of literary Maltese as to claim complete distinction and independence. But, even so, the new syntactic trends in the newspapers are not lacking in interest and importance. 3.11 In this chapter, we will deal mainly with those aspects of syntax which show peculiarities in the journalistic language, deviant from literary Maltese. The terminology used in this field of research is substantially traditional (as was our usage in other fields). 3.2

DEFINITENESS

3.20 The three most important ways in which a noun or an adjective can be marked syntactically for their definiteness are: (a) the definite article; (b) the affixed pronoun; and (c) the construct state. The vocative particles 0 and Ja, both meaning 'Oh', can also mark definiteness when placed before a noun, but their usage is restricted nearly exlusively to literary Maltese, especially in the liturgy. In literary circles, the particle Ja is preferred to 0 for etymological reasons as it is Semitic. 1 In the modern liturgy, however, the Romance particle 0 has replaced the older form Ja for sociocultural purposes, because the particle Ja, for most Maltese speakers, marks the code of the completely 1 Both SutclifTe, op. cit., p. 209, and Cremona, op. cit., p. 232, mention only ja without elaborating on the usage.

62

SYNTAX

uneducated class. Newspapers, on the other hand, refrain from using both particles to the extent that not a single Ja or 0 figured among the over five million words analysed in the texts of the newspapers. For these reasons, the study below does not take these particles into consideration. 3.21

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE

3.210 In Maltese there is only one definite article i/- 'the' for both masculine and feminine, as well as for the singular, dual and plural, e.g. if-mara 'the woman', il-pittur 'the painter', il-kotba 'the books'. 2 3.211 Syntactically, the definite article always precedes the word which it defines. This is generally a noun, an adjective, or a participle used as a noun or as an adjective. Therefore, the syntactic structure involved can be presented thus: ((definite article) + (noun or adjective)), e.g. I + intelligenti 'the intelligent (man)'. 3.2111 The definite article can be preceded by a preposition if this ends in a vowel or a single consonant, e.g. bil-pinna (bi 'with' + I 'the' + pinna 'pen'), mas-surmast (rna' 'with' + s- 'the' + surmast 'teacher'), gha/1-kelb (ghal 'for' + 1- 'the' + kelb 'dog'). 3.212 In standard Maltese, every definite noun, unless otherwise marked for its definiteness, normally takes the definite article. In the journalistic language, however, not every definite noun has its individual definite article. This is because when two or more nouns are in a single sequence, they can share the same definite article which occurs at the head of the sequence according to the journalistic trend, e.g. wara din it-tfittxija u sejba 'after all this search and discovery' 0 1.1.23-24:20. In literary Maltese, this example would be replaced by wara din it-tfittxija u s-sejba, with an overt definite article before each noun. 3.213 The definite article which marks the definiteness of two or more nouns in a sequence can in the journalistic usage also be preceded by a preposition, e.g. bil-produzzjoni u preientazzjoni 'with the production 2 The definite article changes phonologically so as to assimilate itself with the following consonant when this is a dental, an alveolar or a voiceless palato-alveolar (thus forming the traditional class of 'sun letters' or ittri xemxin, cfr. Cremona, op. cit.pp. 212-213), e.g. id-dar 'the house', in-nies 'the people'.

SYNTAX

63

and presentation' M 7.2.39-40:6; fit-teknika u professjoni 'in technique and profession' N 5.2.14-15 :25. In such cases, both the preposition and the definite article are syntactically united with each of the nouns in the sequence. The norm in similar circumstances in literary Maltese is that the preposition with a suffixed definite article precedes the first noun in the sequence and that the definite article alone is repeated before every other noun. Thus, the above examples would be bilproduzzjoni u 1-preientazzjoni and fit-teknika u 1-professjoni. 3.2131 It must of course be added that the practice of eliminating subsequent definite articles after the use of the definite article preceding the first noun in a sequence of co-ordinated nouns should be considered as a trend in the newspapers rather than as an absolute rule. Normal literary syntactic usage of the definite article in this type of structure is naturally common in the journalistic language, e.g. ii-Presidenti u /-Prim Ministri 'the Presidents and Prime Ministers' 0 1.1.50:1; bil-pai:enzja u 1-generoiita' (sic) 'with their patience and generosity' M 6.3.44-45 :6; ir-romol u t-ifal 'the widows and orphans' 3 N 8.2.43 :31. 3.2132 In both literary and journalistic Maltese, when a sequence of definite nouns is preceded by the preposition ta' 'of denoting office, trade or occupation, as in the political term Ministru tax-Xog1wl, lmpiegi u Sigurta' (sic) 'Minister of Public Works, Employment and Social Welfare' M 1.3.14-16:1, it is only the first noun in such a series that takes the definite article (besides the preposition itself). It seems that the foreign influence, both Italian and English, was so strong where such technical terms are concerned that the definite article was introduced simply to comply with the bare minimum need of Maltese syntax. The trend toward simplicity has been so powerful that the definite article is not repeated even if one of the nouns is qualified by an adjective, e.g. Ministru tai-Gustizzja u Affarijiet Parlamentari 'Minister of Justice and Parliamentary Affairs' N 1.2.18-19:1; Ministeru tal-Bini Pubbliku u Xognlijiet 'Ministry of Public Buildings and Works' 0 1.3.16-18:1. 3.214 The definite article is also used in Maltese with certain placenames. As a rule, we can say that all place-names take the definite article, with the exception of: (a) the countries of France and Spain, i.e. Franz a, Spanja; (b) all the Mediterranean islands including those 3

The phrase ir-romol u /-({a/literally means 'the widows and the children'.

64

SYNTAX

of Malta, e.g. Ghawdex 'Gozo', Sqallija 'Sicily', Cipru 'Cyprus', Rodi 'Rhodes', Kreta 'Crete'; (c) all foreign cities, e.g. Ateni 'Athens', Ruma 'Rome', Parigi 'Paris', Londra 'London', Leeds 'Leeds'; (d) all the local place-names of towns and villages which are either compound words or words of foreign origin, e.g. Borm/a ( > Bur Mula 'meadow of the lord'), alias 'Cospicua', Ghajn Tuffieha ( < Ghajn 'fountain' + Tujjieha 'apple') 'fountain of the apple', Ghajnsielem ( > Ghajn 'fountain' + Sielem > Arabic saliim 'peace') 'fountain of peace', Hai-Zebbug ( > Hal 'village' + Zebbug 'olives'), Paceville ( > Pace 'the Maltese surname Pace' + Ville 'French word for city'), Valletta ('capital of Malta, named after the Grand Master La Valette'). 3.2141 The rules given above apply to both the literary and the journalistic language. It is interesting to note that although such rules have never been presented as above in a Maltese grammar or elsewhere, Maltese writers follow them instinctively. It is only in exceptional cases that doubt arises in the newspapers as to whether the definite article should be applied or not. A good example is the name of the relatively new state of Israel. In literary Maltese, this is translated as Jirael, without any definite article. The reason behind this is that before its adaptation as a name of a state, it was already known as a proper noun. This contributed to the feeling that it was sufficiently definite in itself, and that consequently the use of a definite article would be redundant. Exceptionally it is found in the newspapers without the article, e.g. 1-Ambaxxatur ta' Israel (sic) 'the Ambassador of Israel' M 1.1.13-14:3. But the general trend in the journalistic language is that of 'normalising' the manner in which its definiteness is marked, and just as 'England' is called 1-Ingi/terra in Maltese, so 'Israel' is called /-Israel M 1.1-2.7:3; N 1.2.60:3, or 1-J::rae/ 0 16.3.7:3 in the newspapers. 3.215 The definite article may precede not only a noun, but also an adjective. This happens when the adjective is used as an attribute to a definite noun preceded by a definite article, e.g. il-knisja 1-qadima 'the old church' M 8.2.-4.2 :6. In such a function, the attributive adjective helps in specifying a particular characteristic of the nouns with which it stands; and, as we shall see later (in 3.216), such adjectives receive in Maltese syntax a different treatment from that given to adjectives of a general descriptive type. In the example given, the definite adjective il-qadima 'the old' is specifying the definite noun il-knisja 'the church' which precedes it syntactically.

SYNTAX

65

The practice of marking both the definite noun and its attributive adjective with an overt definite article in each case is observed mainly in the literary language, though, as in the example above, it is occasionally followed in the newspapers. The journalistic trend, however, is that of omitting the definite article in front of the attributive adjective, e.g. id-dinja antika 'the old world' 0 5.2.15-16:2; bil-ligi gdida 'with the new law' N 5.1-2.41-42:7; din il-klawsola gdida 'this new clause' M 2.3.5-6: I. This trend owes its origin to foreign, mainly English and Italian, influences, and is noticed also in the spoken language. According to this tendency, the definite noun and its attributive adjective are considered as one immediate constituent, and the definite article, which precedes them, marks the definiteness of both units jointly. Graphically, therefore, the example id-dinja antika can be presented thus: ( id-( ( dinja) ( antika))). In the case of the example bil-ligi gdida, which stands instead of the literary form bil-ligi 1-gdida, the definite article governs both the noun and the adjective, while the preposition bi 'with' governs all the immediate constituent il-ligi gdida. 3.216 While the above is true for adjectives denoting a particular characteristic, a descriptive adjective cannot take the definite article, even if it stands with a definite noun. This holds good not only in literary Maltese, but also in the journalistic language, e.g. 1-isport lokali 'the local sport' 0 5.1.54:1 (and not *1-isport il-loka/i, on the pattern il-knisja 1-qadima); 1-ispirtu awtentiku 'the authentic spirit' M 8.1.6:6; il-qag1tda internazzjonali 'the international situation' N 12.1.32-33 :31. In contrast to the attributive adjective which singles out a particular characteristic of a definite noun, the descriptive adjective simply restricts the noun to a generic type. Thus, while, according to Maltese syntactic usage, in the example il-knisja 1-qadima 'the old church' one particular church is singled out, in the example il-knisja /okali 'the local church', a particular type of church is hinted at. At no level of Maltese is it possible to say *il-knisja 1-/okali or *1-ispirtu 1-awtentiku. It is interesting to note that most Maltese adjectives are descriptive, and that, consequently, most adjectives do not take the definite article in any type of Maltese. 3.2161 Adjectives which are derived from geographical place-names, among which are those denoting nationalities, form part of the descriptive adjectives with a generic connotation. Their syntactic usage is, therefore, the same as above, e.g. bag1tat telegramm /ill-Prim Ministru Kanadii 'he sent a telegram to the Prime Minister of Canada'

66

SYNTAX

0 1.1.26-27:1; if-President Amerikan 'the American President' N 3.3.13: I ; id-Demokristjani u Xellugin Cileni 'the Chilean Christian Democrats and Leftists' M 5.1. 5-7: I. In this, journalistic, literary and spoken Maltese follow the same trend.

3.217 When an adjective is placed before, and not after, the noun it qualifies, it takes the definite article, while the noun itself remains without any article at all, e.g. i/-famui strajk 'the famous strike' 0 6.2.22:15 (compare Italian 'il famoso sciopero'); bis-solita tieqa 'with the usual window' M 8.4.69:6 (compare Italian 'colla solita finestra'); g1ws-sempliCi raguni 'for the simple reason' N 5.3.40:9 (compare Italian 'per Ia semplice ragione'). The trend of placing the adjective before the noun is very common in the newspapers, and it reflects a similar practice in the spoken language due to foreign syntactic influences, mainly Italian. In literary Maltese, this trend is very weak as it is considered as a substandard syntactic usage. 4 3.218 Definiteness is also expressed in the same syntactic structure as above in the case of adjectives in the comparative form with a superlative meaning, e.g. 1-ikbar ringrazzjamenti 'the greatest thanks' 0 6.3.33:8; 1-isbah playing field 'the most beautiful playing field' N 5.5.43-44:9. The structure present here is very similar to that of the syntactic unit il-famui strajk 'the- famous strike' mentioned above. The difference is only morphological, in that in these examples the adjectives are in the comparative form, while those above were in the positive form. The usage of prefixing the definite article only before the adjective in the comparative form, and not before the noun as well, is accepted in all types of Maltese alike. 3.22

THE PRoNOMINAL SuFFIXES WITH NouNs

3.220 One way of marking definiteness in Maltese is by means of the pronominal suffix. Thus, if a noun has a pronominal suffix, it is definite in spite of the fact that the definite article cannot in such instances act as marker for definiteness. In this case, definiteness is marked by means of apposition of the noun to its pronominal suffix,

4 See Sutcliffe, op. cit., p. 63, where he commented, "Some writers reprobate the construction ... il-mahbub Jsqof tag1ma ...

SYNTAX

67

e.g. djarhom 'their homes' 0 1.4.14:1. This syntactic structure involving the noun and its pronominal suffix can be shown graphically as follows ((djar)(hom)). 3.221 Nouns with pronominal suffixes occur both in the literary and in the journalistic language, but, as we have seen earlier (in 2.6), such a structure is very limited in the newspapers. Pronominal suffixes can occur there only with Semitic and Siculo-Italian nouns, and are generally words referring to parts of the body, kinship and certain localities. They can never occur with French and English Joan nouns. In the literary language, there are no such restrictions. These occur in journalistic Maltese because of a similar trend in the spoken language, restricting the use of the pronominal suffix to mark definiteness and, naturally, possession at the same time. 3.222 One of the factors contributing to the elimination of the syntactic structure Noun+ Pronominal Suffix is the frequent use of the possessive pronoun in the newspapers, as well as in the spoken language. Thus, instead of employing the above structure, as in the example hidmithom 'their activity' which is quite common in the literary language, the trend in the press is that of replacing it by the structure Definite A rtic/e + Noun + Possessive Pronoun, as in il-hidma taghhom 'their activity' 0 5.3. 90: l. Definiteness, therefore, is here marked by means of the definite article.

3.23

THE CoNSTRUCT STATE

3.230 Another way of marking definiteness in Maltese, besides the use of the definite article or that of the pronominal suffix, is the construct state. This term is used here in the traditional sense, and stands for the nominal syntactic structure by means of which two nouns in a sequence are structurally bound together in such a way that the first noun refers to the person or thing possessed by, or somehow belonging to, the second in the sequence, e.g fomm il-bnedmin 'the mouth of the people' N 8.4.76:9. 3.231 The syntactic structure of the construct state is such that the first noun in the sequence acquires definiteness solely through its co-ordination with the second noun, while the second noun in turn takes its definiteness either by means of the definite article, or by means of a pronominal suffix, or even because of the fact that it is a proper noun

68

SYNTAX

or one of the place-names which do not require a definite article. Basically, therefore, the construct state is made up of two units: a first noun, doing the function of the 'possessed' which has no marker for its definiteness, e.g. fomm 'mouth' in the above example, and a second noun, doing the function of the 'possessor', which has an overt or an implied marker for its definiteness, e.g. il-bnedmin '(of) the people' in the same example. 3.2311 The syntactic structure of the construct state can be presented graphically as follows: ((fomm) (il-bnedmin)). Structurally, therefore, it is very similar to the noun having a pronominal suffix, as in ( ( djar) (hom)) 'their houses' 0 1.4.14: l. In both cases, the thing possessed is the first unit, while the possessor is the second unit. 3.2312 The construct state has the same syntactic structure in all types of Maltese, whether it is literary, journalistic or spoken. As to its application, however, there is already a certain degree of limitation in the literary language itself, especially when loan nouns are involved. But this limitation is increased in the newspapers to such an extent that the use of the construct state is limited mainly, though not exclusively, to a few standardised expressions only, as can be seen from the following list. Examples: lejliet (sic - see above in 1.2211, journalistic modification No. 7) Santa Marija 'the eve of Saint Mary' 0 5.1.68-69:7 qiegh il-bahar 'the sea bed' 0 16.5.62 :7 nofs in-nhar 'mid-day, noon' 0 5.1.69:7 :lmien il-festa 'the time of the feast' 0 5.2.31 :7 nhar Santa Marija 'the feast day of Saint Mary' 0 5.1.70:7 fi hdan il-Kurja 'in the environment (literally, bosom) of the Curia' 11 4.1.30:1 wicc is-Santa Sede 'the honour (literally, face) of the Holy See' 114.2.20-21 :I fghajnejn is-sempliCi 'in the eyes of the simple (people)' 11 4.2.21-22: I fi zmien zemzem 'in the time of iemiem, i.e. never' N 4.4.56-57 :59

3.2312 Some examples of the construct state have become so fossilized in the language that the whole structure is quite often considered as one word both semantically and morphologically. Thus, for example, the construct state nofs in-nhar which can mean either 'south' or 'noon', is in fact a literal translation of the Italian expression mezzo giorno. Examples such as this are also treated differently from the normal examples of the construct state to the extent that the first noun in the sequence receives its definiteness from the second noun, while the

SYNTAX

69

whole sequence takes its definiteness by means of the definite article, e.g. in-nofs in-nhar 'the south (wind)'. It is interesting to note that there is a trend in the newspapers to treat such fossilised construct states as single morphological units. Thus, the example just quoted, whether it means 'south' or 'noon', is quite often written as one word nofsinhar 0 16.1-2.6:7; M 2.2.43:31; N 1.5.39:9. 3.2314 In the journalistic language, more than in literary Maltese, the preposition ta' 'of is used instead of the construct state whenever the genitive form is necessary, with the exception of such well established expressions as those quoted above (in 3.2312). Thus, for example, the construct state suret in-nies 'gentleman's appearance, i.e. polite, smart', (which after all is still used in the spoken language) is quite often replaced by sura ta' nies in the newspapers, as in 0 8. 5.12 :9. 3.3

INDEFINITENESS

3.30 Indefiniteness may be expressed in several ways in Maltese. The most common systems used for such a purpose, especially in the newspapers, are the following: (a) absence of the marker indicating definiteness; (b) use of the word wiehed, literally 'one', in the function of an indefinite article; (c) use of the impersonal wiehed 'one' employed on its own; (d) use of xi 'some' or certu, certi 'certain' before nouns; (e) use of the partitive preposition minn 'from, of, in the expression wiehed minn 'one of. A somewhat different type of indefiniteness is observed in the following cases: (f) use of the passive in certain expressions, such as hu mifhum 'it is understood', gie rrappurtat 'it has been reported', hu maghruf'it is known'; (g) impersonal use of the verbal forms intqal 'it has been said' and jinghad 'it is being said'. All these phenomena regarding indefiniteness will be discussed individually, and in greater detail, below. In the spoken language, there is another much employed way ,of expressing indefiniteness which involves the use of the verb in the second person, singular, generally in the Imperfect tense, such as int tghid 'you say', inti tigi 'you come' carrying the meaning of 'one says', 'one comes'. This practice did not occur at all in the texts that were studied for this analysis, and its occurrence seems unlikely except perhaps in some reported speech. But this, again, would reflect the spoken, and not the journalistic, language. For this reason, this trend is not examined later.

70 3.31

SYNTAX ABSENCE OF THE MARKER INDICATING DEFINITENESS

3.310 In Maltese there is no indefinite article in the real sense of the word. The absence of the definite article or of any other marker for definiteness is enough to indicate that the noun or the adjective concerned is indefinite, e.g. ingagg gdid 'a new enrolment' 0 1.3-5.3 :9; kien hemm :iagniugn 'there was a youth' 0 16.1.33-34:9; kodii:i ta' dixxiplina 'a codex of discipline' H 1. 5.4-6 :3; subborg imwarrab 'a solitary suburb' N 1.2.20:9; ajruplan ighir 'a small aeroplane' N 12.3.38:9. 3.311 This method of expressing indefiniteness is common to all types of Maltese, whether literary, journalistic or spoken. It is, however, perhaps more striking in journalistic headlines which aim, on the one hand, at being as concise as possible, and on the other, at revealing only part of the picture, e.g. imnallef jiri:ievi kumment anonimu 'judge receives anonymous comment' H 1.4-5.47:1, while in the text that follows the headline, both the judge and the anonymous comment become definite: 1-imna//ef 'the judge' H 1.4.50:1, il-kumment 'the comment' H 1.4.63: 1. 3.32

THE SuBSTITUTE FOR THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE

3.320 Although strictly speaking there is no indefinite article in Maltese, one can make use of the word wiened, literally, 'one', which functions as a substitute for the indefinite article. This uage may owe something to language interference, especially through Italian morphology which has the indefinite articles un, uno, una 'a', according to gender and environment, and which may be translated literally wiened, wanda 'one, a', depending on the gender, e.g. wiened tij'el 'a boy', wanda mara 'a woman'. 3.321 The use of wiened, wanda, as indefinite articles for the masculine and feminine respectively is very limited, both in the literary and in the journalistic language. It is perhaps more used in the spoken language, but its occurrence in the newspapers show that such a usage for the indefinite article is acknowledged there, e.g. nhiegn Iii wiened nego::jant 'it was sold to a businessman' N 12.3.49:9; biegnet 1-ajruplan Iii wiened 0/andi:i 'she sold the aeroplane to a Dutchman' H 1.4-5.14:9. Generally speaking, this substitute for the indefinite article is used mainly for stylistic reasons, or for emphasis. Indefiniteness, for example,

SYNTAX

71

does not suffer substantially if the text nbiegh Iii wiehed negozjant given above is replaced by nbiegh Iii negozjant, but it is surely better expressed by means of the substitute for the indefinite article, than by the non-marker for definiteness. Furthermore, the words wiehed, wahda, are sometimes considered as equivalents of the indefinite determiners certu, certa 'a certain'' about which see below (in 3.34). This trend, however, occurs mainly in the literary language which prefers Semitic to Romance vocabulary. 3.33

THE IMPERSONAL WIEMED 'ONE' ON ITS OWN

3.330 The word wiehed 'one' is quite often used in Maltese by itself as an impersonal pronoun, and as such, it expresses indefiniteness, e.g. wiehed li kien preienti 'one who was present' 0 2.2.47:30; wiehed lifl-iskola ghamel biss kwart tai-imien li ghamlu huma 'one who did only one-fourth of their schooling period' M 7.2.8-ll :9; wiehed middipartimenti 'one of the departments' N 4.47 :24; wiehed jaghraf ilkarozza 'one distinguishes the bus' N 4.2.28-29:9. 3.331 The trend of making use of the impersonal wiehed to express indefiniteness occurs in all types of Maltese, but because of journalistic etiquette in criticism, whereby the facts are reported, but the persons involved are not revealed, this impersonal pronoun has greater importance in the journalistic language. 3.332 There are also other pronouns, such as min 'he who', x'uhud 'some, used as a plural', which imply indefiniteness, e.g. min b 'responsabbilita' (sic) u min igri u gerri 'he who acted with responsibility, and he who acted lightly (literally, run and make run)' M 7.1.32-34:6; x'uhud mill-poeiiji 'some of the poems' M 7.4.73-74:6. Their usage, however, is very much the same in all types of Maltese, and they do not call for any particular attention. 3.34 THE INDEFINITE DETERMINERS XI 'SOME' AND CERTU 'CERTAIN' 3.340 The words xi 'some' and certu 'certain' mark the indefiniteness of the noun which follows them, e.g. sa certu punt 'up to a certain point' M 2.1.45:3; certi pajjiii Gharab 'certain Arab countries' M 1.4.17-18:3; xi punti 'some points' M l.l-4.6:3; xi xhur ilu 'some months ago' N 1.2.27:9; certi nies 'certain people' N 5.4.13:9; certi kundizzjonijiet 'certain conditions' N 5.5.23-24:10.

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3.341 The words xi 'some' and certu and its plural form certi 'certain' occur in all types of Maltese. But while the literary language prefers the word xi because of its Semitic origin, the journalistic language imitates the spoken language by making more use of the words certu, certi, as these are felt to mark indefiniteness more clearly than the word xi itself. 3.35

THE PARTITIVE MINN

'OF,

FRoM'

3.350 Another way of marking indefiniteness in Maltese is by making use of the partitive preposition minn 'of, from', which is generally preceded by the pronoun wiehed 'one' which refers back to the noun involved, e.g. wiehed mill-gwienah 'one of the wings' 0 1.3.36:9; wiehed mi/1-effetti 'one of the effects' If 8.3.20: I; wiehed mit-tyres 'one of the tyres' N 12.3.41-42:9. 3.351 Although the partitive minn is used as a marker for indefiniteness at all levels of Maltese, it is a device which journalists, especially news reporters, tend to make use offrequently as it helps them to give the basic fact without getting involved in individual detail. 3.352 The partitive minn can also be preceded by quantitative words, such as hafna 'many', ftit 'few'. Furthermore, it may be followed by a pronoun, e.g. dawn 'these', as in hafna minn dawn ta' 1-ahhar 'many of these; many among the latter' 0 1.5.43-44:9. This is also common at all levels of Maltese. 3.353 In Maltese, the partitive minn can never be preceded by the singular form of the noun and then followed by the definite article and the same noun in the plural as in classical Arabic. Therefore, the structure *rage/ mill-irgiel 'one of the men' is not permissible, but should be replaced by wiehed mill-irgiel. 3.36

THE IMPERSONAL PAssivE FoRM

3.360 Indefiniteness is also expressed in Maltese by means of the impersonal construction with the passive form of certain verbs, e.g. hu mifhum 'it is understood' 0 1.5.21 :9; hu maghruf 'it is known' If 1.1.54:9; huwa maghruj'it is known' N 12.5.42:9; gie irrappurtat (sic) 'it was reported' N 12.3.46 :9. 3,361 This impersonal passive use of such verbs is a typically journalistic device. It is condemned as sub-standard in literary circles,

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and does not occur in the spoken language. This usage is in reality foreign in inspiration, and is mainly due to the English expression 'it is understood', and extensions of it. The literary language, as well as spoken Maltese, prefer the active voice to the passive, and the first or third person, plural, instead of the third person, singular. As to tense, both the Perfect and the Imperfect are used, e.g. qalu 'it is said; literally, 'they said'; ighidu 'it is being said; literally, they are saying'; nahsbu 'we think'; nifhmu 'we understand'. 3.37

IMPERSONAL UsE OF INTQAL 'IT WAS SAID' AND JINGHAD 'IT IS SAID'

3.370 Indefiniteness is also expressed in Maltese by means of the third person, masculine, singular of the seventh form of qal'he said' giving the form intqal 'it was said', and the seventh form of ighid 'he says' giving the form jinghad 'it is said', e.g. jinghad li ghandu madwar 17-i/ sena 'it is said that he is seventeen years old' N 12.3.52-53:9; jinghad li rna weggax 'it is said that he escaped unhurt' N 12.3.45 :9. 3.71 While the above forms are common at all levels of Maltese, the newspapers language has contributed its share in this area by reducing the same verbs back to the first form, and by adding an indefinite subject, eg. imkejjen infurmati tajjeb jghidu 'well informed sources say' N 1.1-3.49:9; imkejjen infurmati qalu 'informed sources said' 0 1.2.38:9; kelliemi gha/1-agenti lokali qal 'a spokesman for the local agents said' M 2.1.44-45:9. Here again, the journalistic language developed this trend mainly under the influence of English. Such structures occur mainly in news reports, and although they are not condemned in literary circles, it is very unlikely thet they will find a place in literary writings. 3.4

THE PROBLEM OF DEFINITENEss IN THE CoMPARATIVE AND SuPERLATIVE DEGREE

3.40 Strictly speaking, in a morphological sense, there is no superlative form of the adjective in Semitic Maltese. As it has been pointed out in the previous chapter (see above in 2.423), there is a superlative form having the suffix -issimu or -issmu in Romance Maltese, but there is no morphological equivalent on the Semitic side. For practical purposes, examples such as isbah 'nicer' and iktar sabih 'more beautiful' are called comparative forms in the traditional grammars, while examples such as 1-isbah 'the nicest' and 1-iktar sabih 'the most beautiful' are

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called superlative forms. If we take a more objective aspect of these forms, however, we should come to the conclusion that the real difference between the two forms is a problem of definiteness and indefiniteness. 3.41 The form isbah and its paraphrastic equivalent iktar sabih, are morphologically in the comparative degree. More precisely, isbah is the comparative of sabi1z, while iktar (or aktar) 'more' is the comparative of a disused adjective, which may be presented hypothetically as *katir(cp. Arabickathir). The morphological change from sabih to isba1z, and from the hypothetical *katir to iktar brings about a change only in degree, so that from a positive degree, they become comparative. These two adjectives have no definiteness at all in their present state as they have no definite article and no other marker for definiteness. They are, therefore, in the indefinite form of comparison. 3.411 Under this aspect of comparison, the literary, the journalistic and the spoken language make the same use of the indefinite form. The only difference is that while the literary language makes more use of the indefinite comparative adjective constructed on the pattern VCCVC, like isbah, the journalistic language imitates the spoken type of Maltese by making more frequent use of the paraphrastic form of comparison. This is due mainly to more liberal use of Romance Maltese adjectives, as in aktar baxx 'lower' N 1.3.22 :4, since the form *ibxex was not attempted. 3.42 Forms like 1-isbah, and its paraphrastic form 1-iktar sabih 'the nicest', 5 are also structurally comparative adjectives. But, because they are preceded by a definite article, they are in the definite form of comparison. 3.43 Romance adjectives in Maltese have no morphological increment for the comparative. Instead, they make use of the paraphrastic structure with iktar, aktar or izjed, and for their definiteness or indefiniteness behave in the same way as Semitic adjectives in the paraphrastic usage. Sometimes, however, they take a real superlative form, by means of a morphological increment in -issimu, -issima, -issimi, e.g. tkun haga utilissima 'it would be a most useful thing' 0 8.5.43:14; element interessantissimu 'a most interesting element' N 11.2.46-47:3. When this happens, the superlative adjective is syntactically indefinite if it accompanies an indefinite noun, as in the above examples; 5

Literally, the phrase 1-iktar sabih means "the more beautiful'.

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75

while it is definite if it accompanies a definite noun, e.g. /-element interessantissimu 'the most interesting element', which in literary Maltese would be replaced by /-element 1-iktar interessanti. 3.431 The problem of definiteness and indefiniteness of the Romance superlative is more relevant to the journalistic language than to the literary type, as the use of the superlative suffixes is mainly restricted to the press. However, paraphrastic usages occur as well, e.g. 1-iktar partitarji anzjuii 'the most anxious partisans' 0 13.3.26-27:2; I-iijed gurnata memorabbli 'the most memorable day' 0 16.4-5.4:3. Note also the position of the various elements in this type of paraphrastic structure, which is taken over from spoken Maltese. 3.5

CoMPARISON

Comparison may be expressed in Maltese by means of quite a number of adverbs. The most common in Semitic Maltese are the following: Mal 'like'; Mala 'as, like'; bha/ma 'as'; daqs 'as'; hekk 'so'; kif ... hekk 'like ... like', as in kif il-missier hekk 1-iben 'like father like son'. In Romance Maltese the most common adverb for this purpose is tant 'so'. 3.50

3.51 The Semitic adverbs of comparison are found to the same extent and with the same usage in both the literary and the journalistic language. We merely give here some examples from the press so as to show how they function, e.g. bhala partit huma ghandhom jibqghu newtrali 'as a party they should remain neutral' 0 5.4.65-66 :9; j din i/-faii hekk importanti 'in this phase of such great importance' It 7 .3.22:7; partitarji bhala tali 'partisans as such' It 7.3.18:31 ; ana/iii bhal din 'an analysis like this' N 2.1.49:10; semmiet Mala eiempju 'she mentioned as an example' N 2.5.73-74:14. 3.52 The Romance adverb of comparison tant 'so' occurs more

frequently in the newspapers than it does in literary Maltese. This is because literary authors tend to replace it by the Semitic equivalent hekk mentioned above. In the spoken language, the adverb tant is also very common, and it was through this usage that it found a prominent place in the press. The following quotations from newspapers can serve as examples: tant huma maghrufa 'they are so notorious' 0 8.3.93-94:7; tant hu helu 'he is so nice' It 7.1.19:31; tant ghandu sti/ sabih 'he has such a nice style' It 7.1.19:31; tant ma jaqbilx 'he disagrees to such an extent' N 12.2.20-21 :24.

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3.521 As to the position occupied by the adverb of comparison, one should note that while tant generally precedes verbs which admit gradation and other replacives for such verbs, as in the examples given in the previous paragraph, the Semitic adverbs of comparison tend to precede nouns, adjectives an'd pronouns (see above 3.51 for examples). 3.6 PossiBILITY 3.60 There are various ways of expressing possibility in Maltese. The most common among these is the verb jista' 'it may', in such expressions as jista' jigri li 'it may happen that'; jista' jkun li 'it may be that'; jista'jaghti 1-kai: li 'it may happen that'. Another way is by means of the word ghandu 'he has', as in the expressions ghandu mnejn li 'it may be that'; ghandu hila 'he may; literally, he has courage'; ghandu a/mu 'he may; literally, he has courage', (almu 'courage'< Sicilian animu 'mind, courage'). Another possibility is that of using the adverb hemm 'there' in the function of a verb, meaning 'there is', as in the expressions hemm il-possibilita li 'there is the possibility that'; hemm ic-cans li 'there is a chance that'. Other ways of showing possibility are found in the following expressions: haga i:ghira biex 'no wonder that; literally, it is a small thing that'; habba )rid biex 'no wonder that; literally, he wants a farthing to'; ma jridx wisq biex 'he will not find it difficult to'; literally, he does not want much to'; possibbli li 'it is possible that'; kapaCi 'he may; literally, he is able to'. If the possibility is rather slight, one may employ the word forsi 'perhaps'; if, on the other hand, the event is highly probable, one may use the phrase aktarx li 'it is likely that'. 3.61 The Semitic words and expressions through which possibility may be expressed occur at all levels of Maltese; on the other hand, those which are of Romance or English origin are either restricted to, or occurring mainly in, the newspapers and in spoken Maltese. The following selections from the newspapers can serve as examples: aktarx li hu responsabbli 'quite likely he is responsible' 0 1.1-4.19:7; x 'aktarx huma bombi 'most probably they are bombs' 0 16.5.57-58:7; jista' }sir taghlim 'some training may be given' It 8.1.43-44 :4; jistghu jinholqu faci/itajiet 'some facilities may be created' It 8.1.44 :4; tista' ddum ma tit/a' j'wicc 1-i/ma 'it may take some time to come to the surface (literally, the surface of the water)' N 4.4.11-12:1; jista' jiddikjara 'he may declare' N 4.4.34 :3. Other examples, containing Romance words expressing possibility or its negation, may be added: mhux

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possibbli li jkun hemm kuntistabbli 'it is not possible that there could be a constable' 0 6.3. 71-73:7; forsi wko/1 t11allsu /-flus g11aliha 'it may also be that money was already paid for it' 0 5.4.68:23; forsi g11andu 1-widna 'it may be that he has an ear' N 5.5.8 :2. 3.7.

THE NoMINAnvus oR CAsus PENDENS

3.70 The independent nominative, technically called nominativus or casus pendens, occurs quite frequently in spoken Maltese, and less frequently in the literary and in the journalistic language. It can occur either as the anticipated subject of a subordinate clause, e.g. jien 11add ma jista' jg11id mniex g11addejt '1, nobody can say what I have experienced' (where jien 'I' is the subject of the subordinate verb g11addejt); or it can be the anticipated object, direct or indirect, of the verb in the main or in a subordinate clause, e.g. g1lajn li tixrob minnha Ia ddardarhiex 'a fountain from which you drink, do not disturb it' (where g1lajn 'fountain' is the direct object of the verb in the main sentence ddardar 'disturb', which recalls the anticipated object by means of the pronominal suffix -ha, here realised as -hie because of the negative increment -x). 3.71 The most common trend in the journalistic language is that in which the independent nominative is used as an anticipated subject of a subordinate clause, an placed immediately before an impersonal passive form of a small list of verbs, already treated above (in 3.36), such as sar mag11ruf 'it became known', hu mag11ruf 'it is known', e.g. ii-iewg a11wa sar mag11ruf li huma ta' madwar 20 sena 'it became known that the two brothers are about twenty years old' 0 1.1.29-31 :20; il-pulizija sar mag11ruf li iammet iag11iug11 'it became known that the police are keeping a youth under their custody' 0 1.1.24-25:20; 1-0/andii hu mag11ruf li xtara dan 1-ajruplan 'it is known that the Dutchman bought this aeroplane' M 1.4-5.14-14:9. 3.8

NEGATION

3.80 Negation of a sentence is expressed in Maltese by means of the negative particle ma 'not' or one of its shorter forms m' or mplaced before the word to be negated (i.e. a verb, a personal pronoun or a preposition with a pronominal suffix functioning as a verb, or the quantitative adverb tant 'so much, so many'), in conjunction with the

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negative suffix -x placed at the end of the following morphological categories: (a) a verb, e.g. ma set ax ma jinnutax 'he could not miss noticing' 0 6.1-2.21:1; (b) a pronominal suffix attached to a verb, e.g. majaghtuhomx 'they do not give them' 0 6.1.64-65:1; (c) a personal pronoun functioning as a verb, e.g. mhux se jigri iijed 'this is not going to happen again' 0 5.4.64-65:1; (d) a pronominal suffix attached to a preposition functioning as a verb, e.g. m'ghandhiex tinqa/a' /-problema 'the problem should not arise' M 4.5.45-46:1; (e) and, finally, after the quantitative adverb tant 'so much, so many', e.g. ma tantx nahseb 'I do not think it likely' N 4.3.15 :2. 3.81 When the sentence contains a word which in itself denotes negation, such as xejn 'nothing', hadd 'nobody', ebda 'none', qatt 'never', minghajr 'without', bla 'without', lanqas 'not even', the suffix -x is not added, e.g. hadd ma sejjah/i 'nobody called me' 0 6.1.12-13:1 ; ma jaqta' xejn 'it never stops' 0 6.2.8-9:1; qatt ma nista' niehu 'I can never take' 0 6.1.67-68:1; minghajr majithallsu 'without being paid' M 6.2.35-36; /anqas ma hu mezz prattiku 'nor is it a practical way' M4.3.9-10:2; magnandu 1-ebda obbligu 'he has no obligation' N 4.3.45 :2. 3.82 As one may deduce from the examples given, the above rules are generally observed in the journalistic language and they do not differ essentially from those governing literary and spoken Maltese. There is occasionally, however, a variant usage in the newspapers in the case of sentences including one of those words which in themselves denote negation, as those listed above in the preceding paragraph. Though the rule is that when one of these words occurs in the sentence, the negative suffix-xis not attached to the word being principally negated, the journalistic language considers this rule as optional, so that double negation occurs in some sentences, e.g. ma jixraqx bl-ebda mod 'it is not convenient in any way' M 4.2.21 :2; dan mhux se jigi permess qatt 'this will never be permitted' M 4.3.54-55:2. Double negation is not approved in literary Maltese, but it exists in the spoken language, especially when the word showing negation follows the verb or other word negated in the sentence, as in the examples from the newspapers quoted here. This is because the word showing negation is added as an afterthought, at a time when the suffix -x has been already attached. Thus, the above examples should be interpreted as if they were written ma jixraqx; bl-ebda mod and dan mhux se jigi permess; qatt!

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3.9 CoNDITIONAL SENTENCES 3.90 Conditional sentences in Maltese generally have one of the following words or phrases placed before the verb denoting the condition jekk, li, kieku, li kieku-, kemm-il darba, jekk kemm-il darba. They all mean 'if, but the last two phrases can also mean 'if ever'. The usage is common to all types of Maltese, whether it is literary, journalistic or spoken. The examples given here were selected from newspapers: jekk rna jixtrux 'if they do not buy' 0 6.1.61-62:1 ; jekk isir p/egg impossibbli 'if an impossible surety is established' H 2.5.49-50:1; kemm-il darba jirri:iulta inCident 'if an accident occurs' N 2.3.69-70:2; jekk qed ifladdem nies Malta 'if he has employees in Malta' N 2.3.49-50:2. 3.91 There are no Romance and no English words which could replace the above Semitic words and phrases employed for introducing conditional clauses. This is true not only in the literary, but also in the spoken and in the journalistic language, including calques.

4. 4.1

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

PRELIMINARY CoNSIDERATIONS

4.10 For its lexical and phraseological material, journalistic Maltese draws on two main sources. The first, and by far the most important source, is the local stock already found in the literary and in the spoken language. This material includes, of course, not only the Semitic element of Maltese, but also the standarised Romance element. The other source, which is really much smaller, but by no means negligible, is the imported foreign lexical and phraseological material, derived mainly from translations, adaptations or direct loans from the spoken or the written language; this is mainly English or Italian. 4.11 In this chapter, we shall not be mainly concerned with the large section of Romance Maltese which is now well established; nor shall we deal in detail with Semitic Maltese as such, since it is the timehonoured element of the language, and not the creation of newspapers. We will, then, keep in mind such aspects as are relevant to the journalistic language. Under the same heading, we will make a statistical analysis of Semitic and Romance Maltese, regarding both its vocabulary and its phraseology. We will also, and in the same way, deal with the fairly recent English loan-words which figure in the newspaper language. Under the same heading, we will make a statistical analysis of the Semitic, Romance and English vocabulary in journalistic Maltese. We will also, finally, deal with calques and with some unmodified English or Italian idioms, proverbs and proverbial expressions that figure in the daily newspapers. 4.2

LEXICAL MATERIAL

4.20 The lexical material peculiar to the journalistic language, as it is found in contemporary Maltese newspapers, can be classified under four headings: (a) semantic innovations; (b) morphological innovations; (c) modified loan-words; and (d) unmodified loan-words. By semantic innovations we understand those neologisms which are created through the use of current Maltese words, whether Semitic or Romance, with a superimposed new meaning. Thus, the word haifa

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

81

normally means 'a snatch', but through specialisation of its meaning, it is being used in the newspapers as the equivalent of 'kidnapping'. On the other hand, by morphological innovations, we mean those neologisms which are formed through a modification in the morphological structure on current Maltese roots or stems so as to approximate the required new sense. Thus, the word tishib was used by journalists in the new sense of 'participation; political membership' after being coined on the roots s-h-b, bearing the main idea of 'companionship', whence the noun sieheb 'companion; partner', and the derived verb issieheb 'to become a partner; to participate'. In the third place, by modified loan-words we mean those foreign words which have been borrowed by Maltese, but which were slightly transformed in the process so as to conform with the orthographic system of Maltese, e.g. tim 'team', (and also to its morphology in certain cases, e.g. timijiet 'teams'). Finally, by unmodified loan-words we mean those foreign words which were incorporated in the Maltese text just as they are in the source language, including both their spelling and morphology, e.g. it-teams gew draw 'the teams drew'. Generally speaking, such loan-words undergo a semantic change in the sense that they limit their range of meanings to the one found in the particular usage of the Maltese text, while in the parent language a whole spectrum of meanings may be associated with the word in question. Thus, for example, the word team is used in Maltese with the particular meaning of'a group of men working together or taking part in a game', e.g. huwa prodott tat-team tal-Minors 'he is a product of the Minors' team' 0 13.2.33:1; team ta' arkeologisti 'a team of archaeologists' 0 9.1.57:4; however, it cannot mean 'a group of working animals'. The translation equivalent of 'a team of animals' would be qatgha or gemgha bhejjem, and if they are placed in twos, as when they are drawing a plough or a cab, the equivalent would be iwieg ta' bhejjem, literally 'pairs of animals'. 4.201 Although archaisms occur in the literary language, they very seldom figure in the newspapers. Besides, semantic and morphological innovations are less frequent than modified or unmodified loan-words. This is because the spoken language has more influence on the journalistic language than literary Maltese, and also because at times foreign words sound more impressive as they belong to a prestige language, generally English or Italian.

82 4.21

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS SEMANTIC INNOVATIONS

4.210 Words may be semantically innovated either because they are literal translations with a superimposed new meaning in Maltese, e.g. dghajsa tal-giri 'speedboat', literally 'a (special type of Maltese) boat for running', 0 3.4.14:14, or because they are used with an extended or specialised meaning through association of basic ideas, e.g. heffa 'speed', literally 'lightness' 0 4.2.35 :4. 4.211 Words which are translated literally, and carry with them a new meaning, however slight, should be considered as semantic innovations. Thus, for example, the trade unionistic term 'locked out' was translated literally into Maltese as imsakkrin barra 0 1.1-2. 7-9:18. Previously, the phrase imsakkrin barra simply meant 'locked out' in the normal conventional way. In the new usage, however, the same phrase carries a technical and specialised meaning and is, as such, a neologism. Other examples of the same type are given below. Examples: 1-ajruplan kien fuq titjira chartered 'the aeroplane was on a chartered flight' 0 1.1.1 0: II, i.e. the word tit)ira, normally denoting the act of flying, took the specialised meaning of 'a journey in aircraft'. il-haddiema ghadhom maghluqin barra 'the workmen are still locked out' 0 4.2.57-58 :2, where maghluqin barra is another literal translation like imsakkrin barra above. It is interesting to note that while the newspaper L-Orizzont gave two literal translation equivalents for the lexical item 'locked out', the other two dailies, namely ln-Nazzjon Taghna and 11-llajja, made use of the English term without resorting to any translation or modification at all.

4.2111 Quite often, even in literal translations, English compound words or phrases are replaced by a noun and an epithet in Maltese newspapers. Thus, 'cold stores' was replaced by mhaien tal-friia 0 5.4.34 :28, and 'cease-fire' was translated waqfien mill-glied, literally 'a halt from fighting', N 3.1.7-8:2. 4.21110 The construct state also figures in literal translations of English compound words, as in the case of 'week-end', which was replaced by either tmiem il-gimgha, as in If 12.3-5.2:3, or by tarf il-gimgha, as in If 5.2.4 :27. 4.2112 Words with extended or specialised meaning are also neologisms. They are in fact lexical items on which a new meaning is superimposed by means of semantic extension or specialisation. Quite

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83

often, in the newspaper language, the new meaning is brought out clearly by means of an epithet which follows it in the translated form, which epithet may or may not be present in the source language. Thus, the phrase 'housing estate' was translated qasam tad-djar in 0 16.1-3.9:1 and in M 3.2-3.7:1; the word 'hijacking' was replaced either by serqa ta' 1-ajrup/ani, literally 'stealing of aeroplanes', as in M 8.2-4.3 :4, or by qbid ta' ajrup/ani, literally 'catching of aeroplanes', as in N 3.2-4.42:27; and the word 'eyelid' was translated 1-ghatu ta' ghajnu, literally 'the lid, or cover, of his eye'. In this latter case, one might have expected the Maltese equivalent it-tebqa ta' ghajnu, literally 'the shutter of his eye', but this word tebqa is becoming archaic, and only people advanced in age still use it. Even the verb tebaq 'to shut', from which it is derived, is slowly dying out. 4.2113 Some words with extended meaning at times have nothing special to mark their new meaning. It is only through the context that this comes out as, for example, the word heffa, literally, 'lightness, swiftness', in the sentence jaghtiha heffa ta' 95 mil fis-siegha 'it gives it a speed of 95 miles per hour' 0 4.2.35-36:4. Similarly, the word 'headline' was replaced in the Maltese text by ras, literally 'head', in the phrase taht ir-ras 'inCident stramb' 'under the headline "a strange incident"' 0 9.5.47-48: I. 4.2114 It is only rarely that verbs, as against nouns, are given an extended meaning in the newspapers. Thus, in the examples (a) 1-ajrup/an gie maqbud fl-ajru 'the aeroplane was hijacked while on a flight' 0 2.5.6-8:17; and (b) gha//iema kienet mahtufa minn sko/a 'a teacher was kidnapped in a school' N 8.1-2.58-59 :16; the verb 'to hijack' was translated qabad, literally 'to catch', and the verb 'to kidnap' was replaced be hataf, literally 'to snatch'. 4.2115 Some foreign words and phrases are translated into Maltese periphrastically, e.g. 'pickpocketing' was translated in three somewhat different ways: (a) serqiet minn bwiet in-nies, literally 'robberies from the pockets of the people', 0 2.5.38-39 :14; (b) serq ta' flus minn bwiet in-nies, literally 'stealing of money from the pockets of the people', N 12.2-4.17:14; (c) serq minnfuq in-nies, literally 'stealing from upon the people', M 9.5.2:14. It is interesting to note that these three versions for the same expression appeared in the three daily newspapers on the same day, as alternative renderings of the same news story, independently of each other.

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Another periphrastic translation is that for 'detached villa', which was replaced by villa bil-gnien dawra tond, literally 'a villa with a garden all round it', 0 11.3.18 :2. A close analysis of the above periphrastic examples shows that in such circumstances the journalistic language is making use of a noun (serqiet 'robberies', serq 'stealing', villa 'villa') and a prepositional phrase (minn bwiet in-nies 'from the pockets of the people,' minn fuq in-nies 'from upon the people', bil-gnien dawra tond 'with a garden all round'). The function of the prepositional phrase is that of clarifying the specialised meaning. The head nouns, therefore, of the above examples are also semantically innovated words, with extension or rather specialisation of meaning. 4.2116 Sometimes, when old words are used with a new or specialised meaning, by way of literal or quasiliteral translation, the foreign word or expression is given between brackets in the text of the Maltese newspapers, e.g. dghajjes tal-giri (speed-boats) 0 5.4.24:13; hjut tas-suf (cotton yarn) 0 16.2.20-21 :17; sena ta' dawl (light year) 0 9.2.7-8:8; lib sa ghat fil-ghaxija (evening dress) 11 2.5.42-43 :8. This is done, quite naturally, only when the word bearing the new meaning makes its first appearance, or perhaps its first appearances, so as to give it a chance of becoming known. 4.22

MoRPHOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS

4.220 Morphological reconstructions on old or currently used roots or stems recur more easily in the literary language than anywhere else. However, they occur also, though much less frequently, in the journalistic language. The forms that occur here are as a rule very simple and never too far-fetched. Such morphological innovations in the newspapers should be attributed more to the grammatical training that the journalists had received at school, than to the spoken language, which is apt to accept more easily foreign words just as they stand in the source language. The most common neologisms of this sort are generally nouns, denoting either (a) action, e.g. ht(l 'hijacking', or (b) abstract ideas, e.g. shubija 'membership', tiftix 'research', suplixxar 'the supplying of. Furthermore, verbs of this sort coined on English nouns by means of the ending -ja, are also very common, e.g. strajkja ( < English noun 'strike') 'he went on strike'. 4.221

The pattern qti/ ( = j?ti :1/), which is a variant of the pattern qta/

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85

( = j?ta :1/), 1 was followed in the morphological reconstruction of the

word htif, built on the verb hataf 'to snatch', in an effort to find an equivalent for the English word 'hijacking'. The neologism which resulted was adopted by all the three newspapers under survey here, as can be seen, for example, in the following texts: din is-sena kien hemm ghaxar kaii hiss ta' htif ta' ajruplani 'during this year, there were only ten cases of hijacking' It 8.2.14-16:4; misteru dwar htif ta' ajruplan 'a mystery regarding the hijacking of an aeroplane' 0 2.5.2-4:17; 1-Ingi/terra se' tiggieled ghal miiuri kontra 1-htif ta' 1-ajrup/ani fl-ajru 'England will press for measures against the hijacking of aeroplanes in the air' N 3.2-4.44-45:27. Furthermore, the pattern qat/ ( = j?atl/), 2 followed by a suffixed -a denoting a noun of unity, was employed in the morphological reconstruction of the word haifa, built on the same verb hataf as above, in the phrase fil-hin tal-haifa 'at the time of kidnapping' N 8.2.55 :16. 4.222 Some morphological neologisms which occur in the newspapers are verbal nouns, constructed with a prefix t-, as in tiftix 'research' It 9.2.38 :3, and these are generally used to denote abstract ideas. Such verbal nouns, as a rule, are derived from Semitic Maltese verbs, but by analogy they may also be derived from Romance Maltese, as in tkomp/ija 'completion' or 'furtherance', e.g. ii-imien ghat-tkomplija 'the time required for completion' It 3.4.4:1; it-tkomplija tar-rivoluzzjoni 'the furtherance of the revolution' 0 2.1.47-48:3. The suffix -ija, encountered in the last word discussed, generally occurs as sole affix in Semitic Maltese nouns formed either from verbs, e.g. tennija 'repetition', built on the verb tenna 'to repeat', or from adjectives, e.g. sbuhija 'beauty', reconstructed from the adjective sabih 'beautiful', or finally from other nouns, e.g. xbubija 'virginity', coined on the noun xebba 'a virgin'. In all these cases, the derived nouns denote an abstract concept. In the newspapers one finds many other examples of nouns coined by means of a prefix or a suffix, which are equally acceptable in spoken and literary Maltese, e.g. tishib shih 'full participation' It 4.3.63 :2, cp. sieheb 'partner', issieheb 'to become a partner; to participate'; tisliba 'crossword puzzle' N 8.1-5.2:1, cp. salib 'a cross'; tehid ta' pussess

1 See Cremona, op. cit .. pp. 133-135, where the author discusses the pattern qtiil, besides other internally structured patterns used for the formation of nouns and adjectives. 2 See Cremona, op. cit., p. 133-134.

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'the taking of legal possession' N 1.3.54 :2, cp. ha 'to take'; shubija ta' Malta fil-Commonwealth 'the membership of Malta in the Commonwealth' N 8.5.27-28:2, cp. sieheb 'partner'. 4.223 Morphological innovations take place also by means of the suffixes -ar and -jar to words of English or Romance origin. The verbal noun which is thus created generally carries with it an abstract idea, or else it denotes an action. Such suffixes are relatively speaking very productive, but in the literary language, they are used with caution. On the other hand, they are more common in the spoken language, and widely used in the press. Thus, while the word parking is used rather exclusively in literary Maltese, there is a growing tendency of replacing it by ipparkjar both in the spoken language, and even more so in the press, as for example, in 0 12.4.27:9 and M 9.1.47:13. The duplication of the first consonant of the stem, as in the example ipparkjar, generally occurs in such reconstructions. This gemination is the result of the prefix t- as in the case of verbs of the fifth and sixth forms, followed by assimilation to the first consonant of the stem. An initial prosthetic vowel is also required unless the word is immediately preceded by a word ending in a vowel, e.g. 1-ijflowtjar tal-lira 'the floating of the pound' N 5. 1.19:30; 1-ibbumbardjar 'the bombarding' M 5.3.11 :4; minkejja 1-ibbanjar tad-daqq tal-hornijiet 'in spite of the ban on the blowing of horns' M 8.2.35:25; supp/ixxar tal-medii:ini 'supplying of medicines' 0 8.4.32-33:30. It is interesting to note that the noun supplixxar, and the corresponding verb issupplixxa 'to supply', behave morphologically according to the Italian verb supplire 'to replace, substitute', which in the third person singular becomes supplisce, while semantically it draws on the English verb 'supply'. This product is due to homophony, and perhaps also to analogy. Other recent innovations involving verbal nouns in -jar are given here: isseti/jar ta' accounts 'settling of accounts' 0 16.1.28-29 :8, cp. issetilja 'to settle'; iffilmjar 'filming' N 12.1.47:16, cp. (f}ilmja 'to film'; irrikordjar 'recording' N 2.3.36 :20, cp. irrikordja 'to record'. 4.224 Besides morphological innovations involving nouns, there are also in the newspapers some new coinings of verbs, reconstructed mainly on English nouns, which are equally acceptable in spoken and literary Maltese. The suffix employed for such neologisms is -ja, which is also used with Maltese verbs derived from English and sometimes from Romance verbs, as in the case of startja 'he started' M 7.2.23 :25, from English 'to start', and appoggja 'he supported' M 8.2.46 :8,

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87

from Italian 'appoggiare' 'to support'. The following are examples of verbs reconstructed on English nouns: jistrajkjaw 'they go on strike' N 1.1-4. 5: 14; iffawlja 'he committed a foul' M 15.4.38 :6. 4.23

MODIFIED LOAN-WORDS

4.230 Modified loan-words are likely to be found in greater numbers in the journalistic language than in literary Maltese. The reason for this is that the press deals with a great number of topics, such as sports, cookery, fashion, hair styling, and the like, which are not normally treated in the literary language. But even in topics which occur at both levels, the newspaper language accepts modified loan-words with readiness if for some reason they seem necessary, while the literary language deals with such words with greater caution. In this, the journalistic language is influenced by spoken Maltese which makes considerable use of modified loan-words. 4.231 As to the spelling of the modified loan-words, the present survey has shown us that in the newspapers there is a class of words of English derivation which, through long and constant usage, have been so much integrated to Maltese, that they are now written according to the orthography of the 'target language', 3 even at the literary level. Thus, for example, the English word 'chance' is being written cans, following the spelling customary in Maltese, not only in the newspapers, as in 0 2.2.30:1, M 8.1-2.47:1, N 6.2-3.23:1, but also in literary works. Other examples of English loan-words commonly accepted in the Maltese spelling are given below. As we are here interested in the journalistic language, the following words have been selected from the daily newspapers: kowt 'coat' 0 6.2.53: I 0, N 11.4.39:7; kejk 'cake' 0 5.2.32:27; siment 'cement' 0 8.1-2.52-53: I; kors 'course' M 12.4.25 :8; vann 'van' M 3.4-5.24:4; folk/or 'folklore' N 4.3.37: 10. 4.2311 In the journalistic language, however, there is another class of loan-words, recently borrowed from English, which follow the spelling of Maltese, not because they are already well established, but because they occur rather frequently in the present usage. The practice is that when a loan-word has to be repeated quite often in 3 We are using the term 'target language' in a technical sense, meaning 'the language into which a translation is made'. In this terminology, we are following J. C. Catford, A Linguistic Theory of' Translation, London, 1965, p. 20 ff.

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the press, and it can be written according to the orthographic system of the target language without sounding too far fetched or exotic, the new spelling is adopted in many cases in all the daily newspapers. The orthographic change is considered as plausible by journalistic standards when the new spelling fits closely the phonological pattern of some already existing class of words, whether such pattern belongs to the Semitic, Romance or English stock of Maltese. Furthermore, the word accepting the new spelling need not necessarily fall into a pattern of the same morphological category, nor need it fit exactly into a pre-existing pattern. Thus, for example, the spelling for the word konkrit 'concrete' N 12.2.37:3 is quite acceptable, because its structure CVCCCV :C is very similar to the pattern CVCCV :C to which the noun tibdil 'change' belongs. The orthography of ginger 'ginger hair' 0 6.5. 77:22 is likewise acceptable as it fits well into the pattern of the quadriliteral verbs, as in gerger 'to grumble'. Furthermore, the spelling of the word kraxx 'crash' 0 2.2.18:14 is very plausible as it fits into the noun pattern CCVCC existing both in Semitic Maltese, e.g. mqass 'scissors', and in Romance Maltese, e.g. platt 'plate'. The following loan-words can serve as examples of recent borrowings from English which have already undergone a change in orthography in the newspapers: karavan 'caravan' 0 3.2.56 :3;kju 'queue' 0 6.4.48 :16; krejn 'crane' 0 13.2.37 :30; magazin 'magazine' 0 3.1-2.21:11; M 14.2. 70:1; mekkanik 'mechanic' 0 2.1.18:27; pajp 'pipe' 0 3.1-3.12:1; M 3.1-2.29:7; rejd 'raid' 0 1.2.29:4; M 2.1.42:22; bord 'board' M 2.3.28:3; brejk 'break' H 3.2.47:2; dixx 'dish' H 10.3.58:30; klabb 'club' H 14.4.27:1 ;frig 'fridge' M IO.l.l5:16;flatt 'flat' H 9.4-5.49:27; jott 'yacht' H 9.2.58 :14; studjo 'studio' M 2.1.56:4; sine 'cine-camera' H 7.3.29 :22; tarmak 'tarmac' H 7.4.47-48:3; unjon 'union' H 1.3-4.47:4; Cinema 'cinema' N 11.1.49:10; kamera tar-ritratti 'camera' N 2.2. 23-24:15; kost tal-produzzjoni 'cost of production' N 8.5.20:8; kanton 'canton' N 8.1.20:3; rekord 'record' 0 4.2-4.15:1 ; N 5.1-3.1 :4. Recently borrowed words from Italian which have undergone only a slight phonological change are very rare in Maltese. As an example, we can give the loan-word orangjo 'orange colour', from Italian orancio 'orange' or 'orange colour', 0 3.1.62:14; M 10.5.23:9, which did not change further to *orangju. 4.2312 While the loan-words so far discussed are all widely accepted in the press, this is much less the case with a class of loan-words we shall discuss now. This is a third class of words borrowed recently from

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89

English which looks exotic in the orthography of the Maltese system. It includes those words which have been constantly used and written in their English spelling, but which, however, are still considered as foreign. This is because most of them are technical terms, belonging mainly to sports terminology. Such modified loan-words occur more frequently in 11-ltajja; some of them figure also in L-Orizzont, and, very rarely, some occur as well in In-Nazzjon Tag1ma. This is in fact an area in which the press is breaking new ground. The following words can serve as examples: i:ess 'chess' 0 9.3.27:8; M 14.1-2.25:1; kamper 'camper' 0 8.4-5.65:28; skor 'score' 0 15.1-2.11 :6; M 16.1-2.32:2; tim 'team' 0 5.1.75:1; M 14.1.9:1; gowl 'goal' M 15.1.36:1; basketbol 'basketball' M 14.1-2.55:1 ;Jaw/ 'foul' M 16.4.29:6;futbol 'football' M 14.1-2.68:1; grawnd 'ground' M 16.4.42:1; rawnd 'round' M 14.1.27:1; hoki 'hockey' M 14.4.51:1; korner 'corner' M 15.2.68:6; kowi: 'coach' M 14.4.42:1; lobb 'lob' M 16.4.40:6; netbol 'netball' M 14.4.51:1; volibol 'volleyball' It 14.4.50:1; xutt 'shoot' M 16.3.51 :2; 0 15.2.52; N 6.2.41 :I. In the above examples, the newspaper In-Nazzjon Taghna hardly figures. This is because it is the most conservative of all three daily newspapers. Loan-words of the above category generally appear in their English orthography in this newspaper. It is only when other changes occur in the loan-words, as, for example, when morphological changes are deemed necessary, that such words are written in the Maltese spelling there. 4.232 Phonological changes generally occur in loan-words which can be slightly modified so as to fit into the phonology of Maltese. As a rule, all Romance words undergo such a change, unless they already fit into the system of Maltese. Thus, for example, the Italian word menta/ita 'mentality' is borrowed directly in Maltese, as in N 6.4.30 :9, as it fits the phonology of Romance Maltese. On the other hand, the Italian word regione 'region' becomes regjun in Maltese, as in 0 2.2.43 :8. There are also borderline cases of loan-words of Romance origin which tend to be modified phonologically in the press. Thus, the Italian word radio 'radio' is quite often replaced by radju in the newspapers, as in 0 8.1-2. 79:1; M 2.4.46:2; N 5.1.12 :3. In literary Maltese, the same Italian word generally undergoes an orthographic change, and not a phonological change, and is written radjo, as in Dun Karm's poem '0 Radjo!'. 4 4

C. Psaila, Antologija, Malta, 1963, p. 109.

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Words of English origin, on the other hand, tend to undergo phonological changes in the press, if such a change is feasible, and if they occur rather frequently. Thus, the English word 'cancer' became kancer, not only in 1/-Hajja, as in It 9.1-2.2:10, but also in In-Nazzjon Tag1ma, as in N 10.1-3.1:20, although this newspaper is so cautious about making changes in spelling. Another example is the word medikali 'medical', > Engl. 'medical', 0 11.3.50-51 :II, as against mediCinali 'medical', > It. 'medicinale'. 4.233 Hybrid orthography in the same word also occurs in the newspapers. This happens when the borrowed word in its simple form (that is before being morphologically increased) is written in the spelling of the source language, while the morphological increment or increments are written in the Maltese orthography. Technically, therefore, this is a case in which the free morpheme follows the source language, while the bound morphemes follow the target language in matters of orthography. This happens when the English loan-words (generally nouns) are still considered as too foreign, e.g.furijiet 'furs' 0 6.1-4.34:10; hornijiet 'horns' 0 6.3.47:23; teamijiet 'teams' 0 15.5.55: l. In the literary language, such words need further changes in spelling, so that these examples would read: ferijiet, hornijiet, timijiet. Hybrid orthographies occur mainly in L-Orizzont, as in the examples given above. The general tendency of 1/-Hajja is that of writing the whole word in Maltese orthography, e.g. timijiet 'teams' It 16.1-3.5:6. The newspaper In-Nazzjon Taghna, which is more conservative, prefers to leave the borrowed word as it is in the source language, even if that implies borrowings of foreign morphological increments, e.g. teams N 6.1.19:1. 4.234 Notwithstanding the fact that some loan-words figure in the newspapers in a hybrid orthography, the strongest trend in the journalistic language is to treat morphologically increased words as fully developed Maltese words as in literary Maltese. As such, they tend to be written completely in the Maltese orthography. This tendency is strong in all the three newspapers under review. The main classes of loan-words which generally undergo morphological and orthographic changes in all types of Maltese may be presented under four headings: (a) nouns, (b) adjectives, (c) verbs, and (d) participles. These are treated individually below.

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

9I

4.234I In the case of loan nouns, two changes as a rule take place: the loan noun is written according to the Maltese spelling, and, where required, the plural ending -ijiet is added. Thus, for example, the English word 'board' becomes bord in the newspaper orthography. Then, if the plural ending is needed, the suffix -ijiet is added to it, with the result that the form bordijiet 'boards' follows, as in 0 3.1-2.51 :9; M 9.4.33 :4. Other examples from the press are given here: brejkijiet 'breaks' 0 3.2.41 :2; M 3.3.27-28:2; i:ansijiet 'chances' 0 13.2-4.9 :2; krejnijiet 'cranes' 0 I6.1.52:27; dixxijiet 'dishes' 0 8.4-5.13:I5; M 6.1. 2I-22: II ; fannijiet 'electric fans' 0 9.I-2.8: I ; pajpijiet 'pipes' 0 8.I-2. 58:I; rejdijiet 'raids' 0 1.1-2.22:4; M 5.I-2.42:10; radjijiet 'radios' 0 9.1.20:8; M 6.3.34:9; rivolvrijiet 'revolvers' 0 5.2.27-28:28; jlokkijiet 'frocks' M I5.1.22:II; N 7.I-2.65:7; gowlijiet 'goals' M I5.3.I5:2; hornijiet 'horns' M 8.2.35:25; jottijiet 'yachts' M I5.3.36:7; klabbijiet 'clubs' M I4.3.75:I; korsijiet 'courses' M 12.4.3:23; N 2.4.14:6. There is a very small number of English loan nouns which have assimilated themselves so much to Maltese phonology and morphology that they fit into the pattern of Semitic words and, by analogy, have a broken plural. Thus, the English word 'kettle' became kit/a in Maltese, mainly by taking the suffix -a as in the case of the nouns of unity, and then formed the plural ktie/i, as in 0 8.I-2.58:I; M 8.4-5.50:1. It behaves, therefore, very like the word xit/a 'a plant', plural xtie/i. A similar noun is the curious loan-word senter 'shotgun', plural snieter, as in 0 l.4-5.I 0 :22. In Maltese, the shotgun being actually used is called senter, short for 'center-fire' in American usage, corresponding to 'centre-fire' or 'central-fire' in English usage. The centre-fire system was an improvement on the pin-fire system of the earlier type of shotgun. 5 Thus, the abbreviated name of the new system of shotgun replaced the old Maltese word xkubetta 'shotgun'. 4.2342 Loan adjectives, which are more common in the journalistic than in the spoken or literary language, either take the ending -ija, which is very common in the Semitic Maltese morphology as a feminine suffix, e.g. ginger 'ginger (hair)' becomes gingrija 0 5.2.59:14, or take the Romance Maltese morphological increments -i or -ali (which are 5 See C. Goddard, The Development of Small Arms: the Shotgun, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. XX, Chicago, London, Toronto, 1957, pp. 812-813. The centre-fire is said of a cartridge in which the fulminate is placed in the centre of the base, as opposed to rim-fire, as in the case of a rifle.

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unmarked both for gender and for number), e.g. rnanigerjali 'managerial', < Engl. 'managerial', tt l.l-2.25 :29; rnedikali 'medical' 0 11.3.50-51 :11. 4.2343 Loan verbs generally take both prefixes and suffixes when they are submitted to Maltese morphology. It is because of so many necessary changes that of all the parts of speech, they form the grammatical category which has adapted itself most to Maltese orthography. For the same reason, such verbs, written completely in the spelling customary in Maltese, occur to the same extent in the three newspapers being surveyed here. In literary Maltese, many of these words would not be accepted for the simple reason that they can be somehow replaced by Semitic or Romance Maltese words. Thus, while the journalistic language accepts the sentence ajrup/an ikkraxxja hekk kif il/andja 'an aeroplane crashed as it was landing' tt 1.4-5. 7-9:9, the literary language would replace it by ajruplan habat rna' /-art hekk kifniiel 'an aeroplane hit the ground as soon as it descended'. Although the literary version, as in the above example, can sound more Semitic without being archaic, newspapers make no such effort and in this they are following the spoken language. Loan verbs are so common in the newspapers that we have to be very selective in giving examples: jibbrajbja 'he bribes' 0 8.4.55:31; ddiljajt 'I dealt with' 0 1.4.44:31; jiddissocjaw irwiehhorn 'they dissociate themselves' 0 12.5.42:9; esplojtjat 'she exploited' 0 5.4.36:30; M 6.3. 6:21 ;jikkornparah 'he compares him' 0 1.1.66:8; ikkaverja 'he covered' 0 5.3.70 :24; jikklokkja 'he clocks in' 0 13.2.46 :6; 1/obbja 'he lobbed' 0 15.5.24:6; tt 16.1.37:6;jirredjaw 'they make a raid' 0 l.l-2.17:4; ibbraxxjah 'brush it' tt 10.5.26-27:16;jiccekkja 'he checks' tt 9.5.15:9; jibbojkottjaw 'they boycott' tt 9.4-5.8 :4; iddajvja 'it dived' M 8.3.3031 :4; rna ttajrnjawx 'they did not time themselves well' M 7.2.34:28; kkowcja 'he coached' N 7.2.11 :2; nnokkja 'he knocked down' N 6.2.18:1; skorja 'he scored' N 6.3.53-54:1; koprejna 'we covered' N 8.5.43:31;jikklerja 'he clears' N 12.3.56:9; sponsorja 'he sponsored' N 2.4.38-39:18; jittejpjaw 'they record on a tape' N 5.2.42:3; jikkarnpjaw 'they camp' N 5.4.33:25; tiddraftja 'you draft' N 8.2.56 :31. 4.2344 Past participles, built on English loan verbs, are also common in the newspapers. They are formed by means of the suffixing of the morphological increments -at, -ata, -ati, for the masculine and feminine singular and for the plural, which are taken over from the morphology of Romance Maltese. Also such past participles are written throughout in the spelling of the target language. The trend of such formations

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

93

is common in the spoken language, but very rare in literary Maltese. Examples from the newspapers must be very selective: allenjat 'aligned' 0 3.5.9:10;ffawljat 'given a foul' 0 15.5.21 :6; skurjat 'scored' 11 15. 1.26:6; assessjat 'assessed' 11 1.5.22:7; ibbuwjat 'booed' 11 14.3.44:11; bbakkjat 'backed' N 11.3.4-5:1; ssetiljat 'settled' N 2.5.78:14; ittestjata 'tested' 0 16.4.21 :3; iffriiata 'freezed' N 8.3.24:27; sslajsjata 'sliced' N 11.5.51 :14; iddraggati 'drugged' 11 10.2-5.2:7; iddrogati 'drugged' M 10.5.14:7; i:i:ekkjati 'checked' N 12.5.39:2; iffilmjati 'filmed' N 12. 4.61 :22. 4.235 There is also another class of loan nouns of hybrid formation, involving a loan-word in its simplest form, that is the free morpheme, being written in Maltese spelling, and the morphological increment for the plural -s taken over from English, being the source language of the loan noun, e.g. Cinemas 'cinemas' 0 4.5.11 :31, which involves the process: English 'cinemas' > Cinema + -s > Cinemas. Examples of this hybrid formation are very common in the newspapers, but they never occur in the literary language. The following is only a very selected list: kampers 'campers' 0 6.1-2.11 :18; harpoons 'harpoons' 0.6.4.58-59:9; dingies 'dinghies' 0 13.5.20:1; karavans 'caravans' 0 6.3.20:13; kjus 'queues' 0 6.4.51 :15; klabbs 'clubs' 0 5.1.61:1; magaiins 'magazines' 0 3.I-2.28:II; mekkaniks 'mechanics' 0 9.1. 19-20:8; strajks 'strikes' 0 6.4.6I :4; N 4.4.45:6; rekords 'records' 0 1.4.3 :4; tajers 'tyres' M 7.2.6:25; trejdunjons 'trade unions' M 4.2.28:31; grawnds 'grounds' M 15.1.4:8; gowls 'goals' 11 I3.5.25 :6; kowi:is 'coaches' M I5.1.4:I7; rawnds 'rounds' M 14.2.24:3; telefons 'telephones' M 2.2.28:I8; kosmetiks 'cosmetics' M 6.2.7I :24. 4.236 Owing to constant contact between English words borrowed in their original shape in the newspapers, and the spellings of Maltese orthography, certain loan-words are at times written in the local press substantially in their English orthography but in detail show some peculiar orthographic change. This can be seen in the examples given in the following list: surveyer 'surveyor' 0 15.l.l4: 15; helikopters 'helicopters' 0 8.4.49-50 :I; 0 6.3.60: I5; computor 'computer' 0 9.4.8 :I; intel/igentia 'intelligentsia' 0 5.4.36-37:25; 0 5.4.44:25; dingy 'dinghy' M 10.5.18 :3; stancilling 'stencilling' 11 6.5.5:22; hijack in 'hijacking' N 4.2.25-26:21; technical bord 'technical board' N 7.5.26 :I4; ekonomics 'economics' N 2.l.l2 :8; runaway 'runway' N l.l.II :6; roaster 'roster' (a case of hypercorrectness), N I2.4.22-23:10; chaplin 'chaplain' N I2.3.30:2.

94 4.24

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS UNMODIFIED LOAN-WORDS

4.240 Loan-words which do not undergo either a morphological or a phonological change, retain, as a rule, the spelling they have in their respective source language whenever they occur in the newspapers. As we have seen in the previous paragraph, there are, however, some loan-words which are constructed as naturalised Maltese words, and are written in the orthography customary in Maltese. In borderline cases, where there is doubt about the naturalisation of loan-words, the orthography of the newspapers may be still in a state of indecision, so that both the spelling customary in the source language and that currently used in the Maltese orthographic system occur in the press on different occasions (see above 4.2312). Loan-words can remain unmodified either because their phonology, morphology and spelling correspond exactly with those found in Maltese, e.g. gangster N 11.1.21 :17, or because they are still considered as foreign words and differ at least under one of the three just mentioned aspects, e.g. hardship 0 6.5.37:11; M 2.3.42:30; N 2.4.57:31. In view of the geographical position of Malta, one might expect to find a number of European and North African languages contributing to the new accretions of loan-words in Maltese. However, the newspapers under review here show that this is not the case. No North African language is actually influencing the journalistic language. French and, to a much lesser degree, Spanish, contributed, directly or indirectly, some few loan-words to Maltese which figure in the newspapers. However, such words may be considered as common European, e.g. coutouriers (sic, another case of hypercorrectness) 'couturiers' 0 6.1.46:10, matador 'matador' 0 9.1.53:54:1. Latin contributed a very limited number of cultural and liturgical unmodified loan-words, e.g. arboretum 'arboretum' 0 16.5.16:31; M 9.4.71 :30; presbyterium 'presbytery' M 4.2.50-51 :8. Italian contributed many unmodified loan-words, especially in the journalistic vocabulary dealing with general lexical items, and professional and ecclesiastical terms. Of all the Mediterranean languages, Italian is in fact the main contributor in contemporary Maltese. Sicilian has contributed in the past, but it has no influence on the modern journalistic language. English, however, is by far the greatest among all the contributors in the field of journalistic unmodified loan-words, especially in the spheres of entertainment (including sports), alimentation, technical and mechanical terms, and commercial and administrative terminology.

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

95

It is a rather striking fact that so many unmodified loan-words occur in the newspapers in spite of the fact that English phonology, morphology and orthography are so distant from Maltese. The class of unmodified loan-words with which we shall deal here is mainly made up of nouns, though some other grammatical categories occur as well. For this reason, it does not lend itself easily to a simple morphological classification. On the other hand, this class deals with various sorts of lexical items connected with most fields of human activity. Therefore, it seems best to classify such loan-words according to semantic categories. 6 The main semantic themes under which the unmodified loan-words can be classified ~re the six following: (a) education and social communications; (b) commerce and administration; (c) professional and ecclesiastical terms; (d) technical and mechanical terms; (e) entertainment, sports, and alimentation, and finally, (f) general lexical items. The number of words which could be quoted under these headings is very great. Therefore, we had to be very selective. In doing so, however, we tried to keep to some extent to the proportions which are actually met in newspaper vocabulary, in such a way as to give more examples if the number of words under the given heading is actually more abundant in journalistic Maltese, while we gave fewer examples if the words under the semantic theme being considered happened to be less abundant there. It is hoped that the representative examples given here will show to some degree what impact the unmodified loan-words have on Maltese at the journalistic level. In the survey that follows, we also made reference to the literary and the spoken language whenever it was deemed necessary. Besides, we discussed similarities and dissimilarities as to the choice of vocabulary existing in the individual newspapers. The six main semantic themes being considered here have been treated individually in the following paragraphs. Furthermore, the first five themes have been subdivided under several semantic headings, and discussed separately.

6 See J. Aquilina, Maltese as a Mixed Language, Papers in Maltese Linguistics, \1alta, 1961, pp. 49-53, for a semantic treatment of modified loan-words, where a few mmodified borrowed words occur as well.

96 4.241

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS EDUCATION AND SociAL CoMMUNICATIONS

Vocabulary connected with this main theme can be subdivided into four sub-classes, being linked respectively, with (i) education; (ii) journalism, including photography; (iii) radio and television; (iv) telephone and post office. 4.2411

EDUCATION

Most of the unmodified loan-words dealing with education and related fields are borrowed from English. This is true not only in the journalistic language, but also in literary and spoken Maltese. It is the result of the presence of the British-inspired educational system in the island, and of further studies in the United Kingdom undergone by many Maltese teachers and members of the administrative staff. There are, however, some Italian unmodified loan-words in this field, and they occur at all levels of Maltese. These reflect other cultural contacts with Italy and refer back to the times when education in Malta was Italian-inspired. The Italian borrowings of this sort are not too numerous, because most of the Romance loan-words have undergone some change, as in the case of Liceo 'Lyceum' M 6.4.25:16, from Italian Liceo. Further, there are also some Latin and some French words which passed through English into the journalistic language, as well as into the other types of Maltese. All in all, we can say that the journalistic vocabulary regarding education is very similar to that found in the English orientated educational circles in Malta and Gozo, both in the spoken and in the written medium. It is, at the same time, very far from the requirements of literary Maltese, and many changes would have to take place if such journalistic vocabulary had to be transferred to that level. This process involves translation in the first place. Thus, the words headmaster N 12.3.33:11, headmistress M 10.4-5.28 :2, pamphlets 0 6.2.31 :25, scholarship 0 3.5.4:8 should be translated as surmast, sinjora, libretti, boria ta' studju. When a translation is not feasible, then modification of loan-words by means of orthographic, phonological and morphological changes should be attempted. Thus, the examples board of studies N 1.3.52:13, crash course M 7.5.16:7, polytechnic 0 16.3-4.18:1, vacation courses 0 7.l-2.28 :6 should be replaced by bord ta' 1-istudji, kors intensiv, politekniku, korsijiet tal-vakanzi. The examples given below, as well as those given in the subsequent paragraphs, are grouped under separate headings, referring back to the

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

97

language of origin. Whenever the derivation of the word is thought to be indirect, there is also mention of the language through which it passed over into Maltese. Thus, for example, the word tutor 'tutor' M 6.3.63: II is derived from Latin through English. In the vocabulary being studied here, the newspaper II- Hajja has the largest number of unmodified loan-words dealing with education, while L-Orizzont and In-Nazzjon Tag1ma have approximately the same number of unmodified loan-words in the same field. However, it is clear that all three newspapers make use of foreign words without hardly any effort to translate them into Maltese, or at least to modify them so as to approximate to the literary level. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: diploma 'diploma' M 9.3.41 :3; esperti 'experts' M 6.1.41 :6; metodi 'methods'

0 9.3.16:3; M 6.1.39:6; universita 'university' 0 6.1-2.3:3; M 4.5.37-38:9; N 2.1-3.52:3.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: desk M 2.1.65 :3; enrichment courses M 1.5.18-19:7; essay 0 4.4-5.37 :7; N 4.1.30:28; high school M 2.2.60:9; instructor 0 15.4.38:17; M 9.5.19:4; N 12.5.1 :6; improvers M 12.4.24:16; junior college M 9.2.74-75:13; lectures M 2.5.71 :8; lecturer 0 6.1-2.3:3; leaflets M 5.2.39:4; N 3.4.63:1; mixed ability classes M 6.1.63:6; public speaking N 2.1.25-26:27; N 2.3-5.70-71 :I; remedial work M 6.3.59: II; refresher courses N 12.2.17-18 :30; supervisory course 0 8.4. 20 :24; streaming M 6.1.37 :6; seminars M 9.5.42 :II; training college N 12.3.63-64:9, (cp. kullegg tat-tanrig ta ·1-gnal/iema 0 7.1.31-32 :6; kullegg gnat-tanrig tal-gnalliema N 2.2-3.33-34:6); training school M 8.3.71 :22; textbooks M 6.3.26-27:6; teaching aids 0 7.2.55:6; teacher 0 3.1.35:4; M 4.1.19:6, (cp gnalliem 0 7.1.32:6); M I0.4-5.21 :2; upper secondary schools N 1.3.57: 13.

(iii) Example of Latin through English loan-word: forum M 4.1-.1 :9; N 4.1-3.1 :9.

(iv) Example of French through English loan-word: questionnaire M 4.1-2.6:10, (cp. kwestjonarju M 4.1-2.14:10).

4.2412

JOURNALISM AND PHOTOGRAPHY

The older unmodified loan-words dealing with journalism, including photography, were borrowed from Italian in the nineteenth century when this language had a dominant influence in Malta, and they occur equally in the literary, spoken and journalistic Maltese. Contemporary borrowings, however, are as a rule always from English. In literary Maltese English loan-words are replaced by Semitic words or Semitic

98

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

formations whenever this is possible. Thus, the loan-word cutting 0 4.4-5. 52 :7; N 1.4.48: I, can be replaced by the rather generic word qtugh, meaning 'cutting' in the literal sense. Owing to literary Maltese influence on journalism, this last example occurs sometimes in the newspapers, as in 0 3.3-4.4: l. Furthermore, if a Semitic word or a Semitic formation is not possible, literary Maltese prefers a Romance loan-word to an English unmodified word when that is available. This tendency, again, had its effect on the newspapers. Thus, the English unmodified word photographer 0 3.1.74:17 is replaced by fotografu in 0 3.1-3.13:1; N 1.3-5.27: l. Other words which cannot be replaced without sounding too far fetched are accepted also in the literary language. Journalistic Maltese, therefore, has some, but not very pronounced, features in this field. Since quite often journalistic Maltese uses both the modified and the unmodified forms of loan-words, it seems that it is in a transitory stage, in the sense that it is moving from a sub-standard to a standard use of loan-words. The number of loan-words which figure without any modification at all in the newspapers in the field of journalistic terminology is not strikingly different from one newspaper to another, though there is a slightly greater number in L-Orizzont. This difference is due to the fact that the other two newspapers make a somewhat greater use of modified loan-words under this theme. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: fotografata 'photographed' 0 4.3.13-14:22; gazzetta 'gazette; newspaper' 0 1.2-3.54-55:4; M 4.4.23 :3; N 1.1.13 :3; intervista 'interview' 0 14.4.38 :3; M 13.2.6:2; stampa 'press' 0 2.5.41-42:4; M 7.1.8:3; N 6.1-4.51:2.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: advertisers N 1.3.67:18; camera 0 2.2.47:7; N 3.3.8 :7, (cp. kamera tar-ritratti M 9.1.43-44: I; N 2.2.23-24:15; makna tar-ritratti M 3.4.9-10: 14); crossword puzzle 0 10.4-5.1:3, (cp. tisliba M 12.1-2.2:1; N 10.4.2:31); headlines M 8.2-3.14:6; N 4.4-5.28:2; news item M 1.2.16:10; posters 0 9.1.60:1; N 1.4.61-62:6, (cp. karte/luni M 3.4.36:6; N 1.4.62:6); press release 0 6.2-3.35-36:3; N 7.1.55:10, (cp. konferenza stampa 0 1.3.29-30:1; M 16.5.39:1; N 1.1.11-12:15); prints 0 3.2.22:30; reporter 0 6.5.71 :4; M 7.3.21 :10; sub-heading N 2.1.43:22.

4.2413

RADIO AND TELEVISION

Italian unmodified loan-words regarding radio and television terminology are very rare in Maltese, whether it is literary, spoken or journalistic. Most of the unmodified loan-words in this field are

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

99

borrowed from English. Many of these words are accepted without any change at all in the literary language, but some other occurring in the newspapers tend to be modified at that level. Thus, for example, the word aerial 0 11. 2. 31 :2 would be replaced by the Italian unmodified loan-word antenna, which fits much better into the phonology of Maltese. Furthermore, some French words came into Maltese either through English, or through local formation on a French word or stem and a French affix, in a combination which does not exist in French itself. Thus, the word compere 0 4.5.13:29 came from French through English, while the word valette 'hostess; a lady who takes part in television programmes dealing generally with music or variety, accompanying a compere' 0 16.4-5.6:17 is a local formation on the French word valet 'male servant' and the French feminine marker -te. Such words are now accepted at all levels of Maltese. We can say, therefore, that the journalistic terminology dealing with the radio and television is very similar to the spoken language, and not very strikingly different from literary Maltese. The number of unmodified loan-words is approximately the same in all the three newspapers, though there is a slightly higher number in L-Orizzont. The use of modified loan-words is very limited in each of the newspapers being analysed here. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: puntata 'episode' 0 10.2.88:2; H 13.3.13:2; N 9.2.6:8; Secondo 'Secondo Programma, second station of the RAI television' 0 11.5.14:4; H 13.3.5:29; N 9.3.41 :2; valletta 'hostess', same as valette above, N 11.1-4.52 :I.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: announcer 0 3.5.15 :16; N 2.2-4.26:10; editing 0 7.5.30:21 ;feature 0 4.5.40:3; N 2.1.43-44 :6; (il-programm ikun) live 'the programme will be live' H 7.2-3.41 :13; newscaster H 3.3.53:3; network (nazzjonali) 'national network' 0 7.5.10:21; newsroom N 8.4.46:14; panel 0 3.5.21 :I; N 12.2.19:4; producer H 8.3.45:10; radios 0 3.4.46 :4; H 3.1.11 :31; N 5.1.49 :25, (cp. radjijiet 0 9.1.20:8; H 6.3.34 :9); radio amateur 0 3.4.15-16:9; script 0 9.4-5.31:4, (cp. skript H 10.1.12:3); sound H 8.3.13:10; sound on film H 7.2.24:6; screen 0 11.1.31 :4; N 3.3.50-51 :17; television 0 11.2.30:2; H 1.1.38:3; N 8.3.37:9; (cp. televiijoni 0 7.3.30:13; H 2.1.68-69:3; N 9.3.1 :2); transistor radio N 12.1.31-32:29; wave length H 7.3.16:27.

4.2414

TELEPHONE AND PosT OFFICE

Unmodified loan-words regarding telephone and post office terms are borrowed both from Italian and from English. This is true both in the

100

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

spoken and in the journalistic language. In literary Maltese, however, some English unmodified loan-words are replaced by modified loanwords of Romance origin. Thus, the word parcels M 7.4.28: 17 is generally replaced by pakketti. This literary trend is reflected sometimes in the newspapers, as in the case of the loan term postal orders M 7.4.29:17, which is replaced by karti postali in 0 5.4-5.14:1. We can, therefore, say that, on the whole, more English unmodified loan-words occur in this field in the journalistic language than in literary Maltese. In the spoken language, quite often both forms occur, namely the English unmodified loan-word and the corresponding Romance modified form. As such, the journalistic language regarding the telephone and post office terminology reflects substantially the more recent borrowings found in the spoken language, and consequently differs in its main trend from literary Maltese. In the present survey of unmodified loan-words, the newspaper 11-ltajja showed a slightly bigger number than L-Orizzont and InNazzjon Taghna, which practically have the same number. All the three newspapers agree in their choice of loan-words, because, notwithstanding the fact that many of the English unmodified loan-words could be translated or modified according to the requirements of the literary language, they all tend to make more use of the direct English or Italian word instead. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: posta 'post; mail' M 6.2-4.48 :3; telefonata 'a telephone call' 0 6.2-3.10:7; M 1.4.24:6; telefonista 'telephonist' N 11.2.24:17; telegramma 'telegram' 0 4.3-4.3:15; M 3.4.9:15; N 1.2.61 :8.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: letter-box N 5.3.39:21, (cp. kaxxa ta' 1-ittri occurring in the spoken and in literary Maltese); postman 0 6.5.57 :13, (cp. tal-posta occurring in the daily speech and in the written language); postmaster general M 6.1.18 :27; telephone 0 7.3.34-35:4; N 3.2.33-34:10, (cp. telefon 0 3.2.81 :2; M 6.2.25:3; N 2.2.25:2); telephone booths 116.4.40-41:15, (cp. kaxxi tat-telefon occurring in the spoken and in the literary language); telex 0 16.1.38 :8; M 1.4.24 :8.

4.242

CoMMERCE AND ADMINISTRATION

Under the general title of commerce and administration, we will be dealing with four sub-classes of semantic themes. These are (i) commercial terms; (ii) stationery and clerical terms; (iii) trade-unions; and finally (iv) politics. Every lexical theme will be treated on its own.

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

4.2421

101

CoMMERCIAL TERMS

There are many unmodified Italian loan-words dealing with commercial terms at all levels of Maltese. These are well established, as a rule, even in the literary language, because they are time-honoured loan-words which have fitted into the established patterns of the Romance element of Maltese. On the other hand, loan-words from English are recent borrowings and have been absorbed in the journalistic language without any change at all. Many of these loanwords also occur, in the same unmodified form, both in the spoken and in the written Maltese used in commercial circles. In strictly literary Maltese, some of these Joan-words would have to be either modified or replaced by other terms. Thus, for example, the word abstracts 0 7.1-2.26:1 can be replaced by estratti, an Italian loan-word which fits better into the phonological and morphological systems of Maltese. Similarly, the phrase bank rate M 5.5.33-34:3 would be replaced by the translation equivalent rata tal-bank. Furthermore, some Latin and some French loan-words were borrowed through English in Maltese. All in all, we can say that the journalistic terminology regarding commerce shows no special efforts towards standardisation in the borrowing of loan-words recently taken over from English. In this, it differs from literary Maltese which requires greater changes when incorporating English loan-words. On the other hand, it is very close to the terminology in use in commercial circles (whether spoken or written). As to the number of unmodified loan-words, the newspapers figure in the following descending order: L-Orizzont, In-Nazzjon Tag1ma and 11-Hajja. But the difference between them is not very striking. Besides, they all agree in making use of the unmodified loan-words with hardly any apparent effort to attain a literary standard. This is due, perhaps, to the nature of the terminology in question. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: assi 'assets' 0 1.1.49:25; M 2.2.12:3; N 12.2.17:1; arretrati 'arrears' 0 6.4-5.50:5; N 5.4.61 :16; attivi (likwidi) 'liquid credits' N 12.3.16:1; ditta 'firm' 0 3.4.10:3; N 1.2.24:3; lira 'a pound' M 9.4.30:3; N 2.2.17:4; paga 'wage; pay' 0 1.5.35:2; M 2.1.46:3; polza (ta' sigurta) 'insurance policy' N 2.1.14:3; somma 'sum' 0 14.2.53:3; sterlina 'sterling' N 1.2.22:9; struttura 'structure' N 12.5.10:2; tariffa 'tariff N 1.2.9:7.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: accountancy N 2.1-3.4-5: II; accountants 0 1.2-3.56 :2; N 2.1-3.2: II; assessments 0 7.2.61 :4; M 1.5.24:7; bonds 0 5.3.25:15; business 0 13.5.8:7; N 5.1.76:3;

102

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

black market H 5.4.69:16; N 12.1.10:17; book-keeping H 12.5.40-41 :7; bearer accounts 0 3.5.40-41 :7; H 3.1.26-27:7; N 12.1.14:7; cash office 0 3.5.39:3; chartered accounts N 7.1-3.2:11; clearing house H 1.5.20:8; confirming house H 9.3.58:30; certified accounts 0 7.5.12:13; chief accountant N 12.5.15:2; chief executive N 5.2.38 :3; direct allocation N 12.3.80-81 :30; direct orders 0 3.35.2:4; N 12.1-3.2:4; deliveries H 6.5.65:13; deal'a deal' H 8.3.17 :20; equity participation H 3.2.83-84 :6; exports 0 3.5.24:20; export credit H 3.2.85:6; financial division N 12.5.20-21 :2; freeze 0 8.4-5.8:20; gross 0 3.2.16:10 inflated 0 1.5.15:24; increments N 4.4.52:18; internal auditor N 12.5.18-19:2; insurance 0 8.4.72:1; H 1.4.16:1; joint venture 0 4.3.29:6; H 9.4.66:6; letter of credit 0 16.3.10:20; marketing 0 1.2.15:13; middleman 0 16.1.41 :20; multiple rate of exchange H 8.4.28-29:14; mass production 0 9.1-2.9:1; minimum wage N 8.2.16-17:17; management 0 16.5.73-73:1; N 1.2.28-29:3; over charge 0 1.2.32:2; owners 0 8.5.57:1; overtime premium N 12.2.24:3; principles of accounts N 2.1.14:8; policy H 8.1-2.39:1; revenue N 4.1.44:2; rundown 0 1.4.42:1; N 12.3.47:1; reserve asset 0 3.4.21-22:11; H 6.2.10:13; retailers H 8.2.23 :14; shares 0 4.4.37 :2; H 2.1-2.6:3; share holders 0 4.3.31-32:2; H 2.1.15-16:3; short term borrowing N 4.4.41-42:7; soft loan N 8.2.49:20; stocks (tai-Gvem) 'Government stocks' 0 9.5.30:8; stock taking N 1.3.29:3; sterling area H 8.4.50:15; salesman 0 1.1.8:3; shipping magnate 0 1.3.61-62:2; trade weighting H 6.1.84:13; tenders 06.3.82:1; N 1.4.28:15; variahleexchangerate N 5.3.7-8:6; vouchersO 7.1-2.26:1; wage bill 0 2.4.39 :2; N 2.2.49 :2.

(iii) Examples of Latin through English loan-words: bonus 0 6.4-5.51 :6; H 6.3.22:14; N 11.3.62:9; consortium 0 16.5.46:2; H 3.1-2.53:3; memorandum N 5.1-2.50:10; premium N 4.2.21 :2, (cp. premju N 4.3.25 :2).

(iv) Example of French through English loan-word: entrepreneurs 0 16.5.34:7; H 15.2-3.27-28:21.

4.2422

STATIONERY AND CLERICAL TERMS

Most of the unmodified loan-words dealing with stationery and clerical terms are borrowed from English both in the journalistic language and in the spoken and written medium occurring in clerical circles. Many of these words, however, would have to be changed before being accepted in the literary language. Thus, for example, the phrase heads of departments N 1.3.60:13 should be replaced by kapijiet tad-dipartimenti as is already the practice at that level. Furthermore, there are also just a few unmodified loan-words borrowed from Italian occurring in the newspapers, but as they fit into the phonology and morphology of Maltese they already fulfil the requirements of the literary language, and as such do not need any change not even at that level.

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

103

All in all, therefore, we can say that the journalistic terminology regarding stationery and clerical terms is in most cases distinct from literary Maltese, but very similar to the spoken and written terms in clerical circles, where English is a means of communication side by side with Maltese. The unmodified loan-words dealing with stationery and clerical terms have practically the same number of occurrences in all three daily newspapers, although L-Orizzont slightly surpasses each of the other two, which have nearly the exact number of entries. All these newspapers also agree in making use of the English unmodified loanwords without any striking effort towards the standardisation of this type of terminology. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: lista 'a list' 0 3.3.18:4; N 3.1.12:3; (karti) volanti 'loose papers' N 5.4.23:15.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: acknowledged Jt 9.3.73-73:15; acknowledgement N 2.3.69-70:15; automatic promotions Jt 6.3.48-49:18; boarded out 0 16.5.10:14; N 12.5.17:8; civil servant N 3.3.70:7; covering letter N 1.1.12-13:15; carbon copy 0 6.2-3.26-27:3; clerical officer 0 7.3.6:4; clerk typists 0 7.3.7:4; departmental manager H 3.5.9-10:3; establishment N 8.3-4.46:23; envelopes 0 4.4-5.57:7 ;file 0 3.4.18 :4; H 9.3.70:15; N 11.2.14 :4;filing 0 7.3.32 :4; higher clerical officers 0 7.3.5 :4; higher executive officer 0 7.3.4:4; paymaster general Jt 6.1.18:27; renewal (permit) 0 3.2.7:7; refusal (of request) 0 3.3.22-23:7; refused Jt 3.4.45 :20, (cp. irrifjutat N 1.2.9 :3); supporting staffO 1.4.61 :15; Jt 1.1.22-23 :14; N 1.2.12 :14; shorthand H 12.5.9 :8; shorthand typist Jt 1.1.26-27:16; sales clerk Jt 1.1.6-7 :23; sales officers N 1.3.11 :6; stationery 0 2.4.18:24; supervisor 0 1.4.63:15; Jt 2.4.23:9; N 2.3-4.21 :20; tracing 0 7.3.32:4; tally-clerks Jt 6.2.13-13:14; typewriter Jt 10.1-2.41 :8; watercolours 0 5.1.35:16; H 2.3.38:23; N 12.5.41 :8; welfare officer 0 6.3.91 :17; 116.1.69:17; N 1.5.11:25.

4.2423

TRADE-UNIONS

Italian loan-words dealing with the terminology of trade-unions have generally undergone some change at all levels of Maltese. Thus, for example, the Italian word trattative 'negotiations' changed slightly when it was borrowed in Maltese and became trattativi, as in 0 4.4.14:3. That is why nearly all the unmodified loan-words in this field (including some originally derived from Latin or French) are borrowed from English, the main contributing language in this field of terminology. This is true not only for the spoken language, but also for the journalistic usage. In addition, in literary Maltese, many of

I04

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

these words would be considered as sub-standard, to the effect that many modifications and translations would be needed so as to bring such vocabulary up to the level required there. Thus, for example, the English direct loan-word flexibility N 8.1.57 :2I and the corresponding Italian word jlessibilita 0 2.1.47: II would have to undergo some phonological change leading to the realisation jlessibilta at the literary level, just as it stands in M 2.1.8:3I; N 1.2.24:29. On the whole, we can say that the journalistic unmodified loan-words in this field are very close to those in constant use, whether in actual speech or in writing, in trade-union circles. Such usages are considerably removed from literary Maltese. As to the number of unmodified loan-words employed, the two newspapers L-Orizzont and In-Nazzjon Tag1ma are nearly equal. 1/-ltajja has approximately half the number used in either of these two newspapers. Occasionally, L-Orizzont and 1/-ltajja make some effort to modify or to translate some of the loan-words required for their comments or their news reporting. The newspaper In-Nazzjon Tag1ma, on the other hand, is more conservative, and leaves the loan-words in their original form. (i) Example of Italian loan-word: paga minima 'minimum wage' 0 6.4.50:4.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: han N 4.4.38:17; blacklisted N 12.3.42:10; deadlock 0 1.4.15:18; douhle-shi/i N 4.4.48:15; factory shut down 0 16.3.42-43:22; freedom of association N 8.1. 29-30:21; hardship 0 6.5.37:11; M 2.3.42:30; N 2.4.57:31; job movements 0 5.3.21 :17; lock-out 0 1.3.28:3; M 1.2-3.28:4; locked-out 0 4.2-4.51 :2; M 1.1-2.9:18; N 1.1.27-28:3, (cp. magh/uqin harra 0 4.2.59-60:2; imsakkrin harra 0 1.1-2.7-9:18); multiple sh[fi 0 2..4.46-47:29; off in lieu N 1.3.17:16; picketing 0 4.4.40:4; package deal N 8.1.20:11; sh[fi 0 2.4.47:29; N 2.3.26:20, (cp. xiji M 6.5.36:1); shift allowance 0 3.1.29:17; sit-in 0 1.1-5.1 :3; M 9.4.11 :18; N 1.2-4.27 :4; shopstewardO 1.3.33:3; N 1.4.10:7; strike M 1.2.21 :14; N 1.2-3.31 :4, (cp. strajk 0 16.2-5.12:14; M 5.1.24:1); strike benefit N 8.1.37:21; strike breaker 0 16.2.30:22; time-in-lieu 0 6.3.51-52 :4; trade-unions N 4.2.43 :20; work permits N 5.2-5.1 :2.

(iii) Examples of Latin through English loan-words: (ftehim) interim 'interim agreement' 0 2.3.3 :4; minimum (wage) N 8.2.16-17:17. (iv) Example of French through English loan-word: lieu 'instead of, occurring in the expressions off in lieu and time-in-lieu given above under English loan-words.

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

4.2424

105

Pouncs

The older unmodified loan-words regarding political terminology are as a rule borrowed from Italian. These words are accepted at all levels of Maltese. On the other hand, modern loan-words in the same field are borrowed from English. Regarding the use of such direct borrowings, the journalistic language is following the terminology customary in the spoken and written medium in political circles. Many words can be easily translated into Maltese or at least modified without much difficulty. The fact that this is not taking place should serve as sufficient evidence to prove that, in matters of political terminology, the journalistic language is not trying to attain the literary level. Thus,forexample, the terms carriedM 1.5.27:1; N 1.3.21 :2, division 0 2.5.17:1; M 1.5.21:1; N 1.2.13:2, district commissioner N 5.3. 9-10:17 may be replaced respectively by ghaddiet, diviijoni and kummissarju distrettwali. Such Maltese equivalents occur in the spoken language and also in literary Maltese. It is only because the English terminology is more commonly used in political circles that newspapers tend to make use of so many unnecessary unmodified loan-words. As to the number of unmodified loan-words, the newspaper InNazzjon Taghna occupies the front rank; then comes Il-Hajja; and finally L-Orizzont. In this area, one finds that exceptionally both Il-Hajja and In-Nazzjon Taghna make use of the Maltese spelling for a direct English loan-word in the case of bojkott 'boycott'. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: assemblea 'assembly' N 10.1.5: I; interpellanza 'interpellation' H 2.3.43 :4; N 4.4.17:8; membri parlamentari 'parliamentary members' 0 3.3.45-46 :4; H 6.1.22-23:7; onorevoli 'honourable' 0 7.2.55:4; H 2.2.23:7; propaganda 'propaganda' H 6.3.14:3; N 3.2.12:30.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: bodyguardO 1.1.51 :I; H 1.2.35:1 ;boycottN 3.3.67:3, (cp. bojkott H 15.4-5.25:1; N 12.1-3.66:31); budget H 16.1.13:4; N 8.2.49:30; Commonwealth 0 1.1-2.10:1; H 1.1.9:1; N 12.3.60-61:1; debate 0 2.1-3.6:1; gallup poll H 7.1.22:3; island commissioner N 5.1.22-23:17; mass rally N 8.1-2.13 :4; meetings 'political meetings' N 5.1.25:7; out of order (used in parliamentary sittings) H 14.1.58-59 :2; N 3.4.27 :2; Privy Council N 3.5.16-17 :10; point of order 0 13.5.5 :I; N 3.4.27 :2; recess (of parliament) N 2.1.51 :2; roving ambassador H 4.1-3.52:10; ruling N 4.4.34:3; Speaker H 1.5.25:1; N 1.15:1; second reading N 4.2.18:2; standing orders N 3.5.24:2; Whip 0 2.5.18:2; H 1.1-2.9:2; N 1.2.5:2; White Paper 0 5.1.45:15.

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LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

(iii) Examples of Latin through English loan-words: persona non grata 0 2.5.28-29:15; referendum M 1.5.4:4; N 3.5.39-40:1; note also its plural form referenda N 4.1.39:6; ultimatum M 5.5.38-39:13; veto 0 13.1-5.3:1; M 14.1-3.2:2; N 7.5.26:1.

(iv) Examples of French through English loan-words: Attache 0 2.5.26:15; Charge d'Affaires M 1.5.7:30; N 1.4.56:20; detente N 4.1-3.2:10.

4.243

PROFESSIONAL AND EccLESIASTICAL TERMS

The sub-classes that we are taking into consideration here under the general semantic theme of professional and ecclesiastical terms are five, being (i) legal terms; (ii) medical terms; (iii) terms connected with the police force and civilian prisons; (iv) military terms, and, finally (v) religious terms. As elsewhere in this chapter, every sub-class will be discussed on its own. 4.2431

LEGAL TERMS

As Italian was the language of the Law Courts in Malta up to 1924, it is only natural that the Italian influence is strongly felt among the terms of legal terminology. Most of the Romance legal terms are modified loan-words. There are, however, some direct unmodified loan-words borrowed from Italian. These are all well established words and occur in all types of Maltese. There are also some unmodified English terms existing both in legal circles and in the newspapers. Many of these terms have to be modified, and some of them even translated, before being accepted at the literary level. Thus, the example property 0 3.3.52:20 and family tree N 1.2.25:27 would be replaced by proprjeta, as in 0 3.3.60-61 :20, and arblu tar-razza respectively. All in all, therefore, we can say that the journalistic legal terminology follows more closely the terms in daily usage at the Law Courts, and in legal circles, than the equivalents which one would expect to find at the literary level. As to the number of unmodified loan-words, In-Nazzjon Tag1ma comes first in order of frequency; very near to it is L-Orizzont; and close to this is Il-Hajja. All the three daily newspapers seem to make little or no effort to modify or to translate legal terms. The reason for this is the danger of giving a totally different legal meaning through translation and modification. Legal terminology is not easily fully understood by the layman. Hence the dangers of translation.

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

107

(i) Examples of Italian loan-words: danni 'damages' 0 3.1.47:3; 11 2.3.10:2; N 2.4.50:2; emenda 'emendation' N 2.5.31 :2; frodi 'frauds' 11 8.1.39:3; N 3.2.44:9; immunita 'immunity' N 3.3. 50:10; multa 'fine' 0 3.3.30:2; nulla 'nul' N 1.3.64:2; penali 'penals' 0 3.5.49:7; 11 3.2.19:7; seduta 'sitting' 0 3.3.22:3; 11 5.3.45:3; N 3.2.21 :3.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: attorney N 3.2.15:8; crime N 12.2.32:30; disbarrment 0 2.5.57:21; encroachment N 5.3.26:7; house arrest 0 2.1.50-51 :I; 11 2.3.17:1; N 1.4.6:1; impeachment N 4.2.40-41 :27; possession and use N 5.2.33:18; premises 0 3.3.53:20 (cp. dar 0 3.3.58:20); probation 0 2.5.60:1; 11 8.1.30:3; requisition order 0 16.5.33-34:1; N 4.2.17-18:1; warrant (for arrest) N 12.4.27:9.

(iii) Examples of Latin loan-words: sub judice 0 1.2.53:25; volens nolens 11 6.3.32: I.

4.2432

MEDICAL TERMS

Up to the first quarter of this century, the language of the medical profession in Malta was Italian, and most of the Maltese doctors who wanted to specialise in some field generally went to Italy, though some joinetl a medical school in France. During the last fifty years, however, English superseded Italian in this profession, and many medical doctors took, and are still taking, their specialised courses in the United Kingdom. These historical facts left their influence on the journalistic vocabulary, as well as on other types of Maltese. Latin unmodified loan-words, owing to their technical nature, are rare in the newspapers, while Italian unmodified borrowings are more frequent. But, on the whole, English loan-words are the most common medical terms in the journalistic language. At times, English unmodified loan-words are even replacing well established modified Romance words, as in the case of the word nurse M 2.3.45 :2, which is becoming also frequent in the spoken language, and which has nearly ousted completely the Romance word infermier. Furthermore, we can note that the journalistic language, in matters of medical terminology, prefers the English loan-word to words of Romance origin. Thus, while the Romance word drogi 'drugs' 0 1.1-2.18:4 occurs occasionally in the newspapers, the English unmodified word drugs 0 8.5.55:9; M 5.3.8:20; N 11.2.21:3 is much more frequent there. Summing up, we can say that the journalistic medical terminology is very close to that used in hospitals, clinics and other medical circles. This leads to a more liberal use of English unmodified loan-words

108

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

than it would have been the case if the literary Maltese standards were sought and achieved in the newspapers. As to the number of unmodified loan-words, L-Orizzont is far ahead of the other two newspapers. As a matter of fact, 11-ltajja and In-Nazzjon Taghna have approximately two-thirds and one-third respectively of the total number of unmodified borrowings found in L-Orizzont. All three newspapers, then, agree in making very little use of the possible phonological and orthographic modifications, besides further changes in morphology when these would be also needed. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: ambulanza 'ambulance' 0 1.2.38 :6; anestetista 'anaesthetist' 0 1.1.37 :6; bronco pulmonite 'bronco pulmonitis' M 9.1-2.70:7; dottoressa 'female doctor' M 9.1-2. 37:10; gotta 'gout' M 2.4.33:17; infettiva 'infective' 0 7.2.21 :I; pi/lola 'pill' 0 9.1.56:14; proteini 'proteins' 0 9.5.44:29; N 8.4.21 :I; pulmonite 'pulmonitis' 0 7.2.16:1; N 10.3.29:6; sintomi 'syntoms' 0 9.1.22:3.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: acupuncture 0 9.1-3.2:15; adenoids 0 9.1-3.28-29:17; ante-natal clinic N 1.1. 53-54:9; asphyxia 0 9.2.39:15; bacteria 0 9.3.44:29; breakdown 0 2.4.16:3; N 2.3.4:13; compounder N 2.3.7:4; clinics 0 6.4.60:8; M 6.4.68:16; cartilage 0 15.1-3.45-46:1; M 16.5.36:1; caustic lime 0 9.2.17:31; codeine 0 9.1-3.34:24; cancer N 10.1.10-11:20, (cp. kani:er N 10.1-3.1:20; M 2.3.48:3; also kankru 0 5.3.19:8); first-aid 0 9.1.37:31, (cp. 1-ewwel gnajnuna in literary Maltese); hay fever 0 9.1-3.25-26:17; insulation hospital M 6.2.24-25:18; industrial health 0 6.4.61-62:8; Malta fever M 2.2.53-54:10, (cp. deni rqiq literally 'slightly high temperature', which is the normal term in spoken and literary Maltese); medical and health inspectors 0 6.1.31-32:14; mental health M 6.4.41-43:18; nagana (a disease transmitted by the tsetse fly) M 2.1.54:11 ; nursing 0 3.4.65:13; nursing home M 8.3.69:22; phenol 0 9.2.15:31; smallpox M 2.3.49:2; soft drugs M 5.3.8:20; state enrolled nurses 0 1.1.10-11 :25; M 9.4.37-38:16; state registered nurses 0 1.1.20-21 :25; M 9.5.38-39 :16; trypanosome M 2.1.52: II; TB 0 4.1.31 :22; X-rays M 2.3.42-43:3; ward N 5.1.44:9.

(iii) Examples of Latin loan-words: exanthem subitum 0 9.1.32:3; roseola infantum 0 9.1.33:3; cannabis sativa M 3.4-5.24:17.

In this field of journalistic medical terminology, we note also some cross-fertilisations between two forms, say English and Maltese, with the result that the word that follows from this process is absent in either language in its new shape. Thus, for example, the word hashisha 'hashish' M 1.4.28:23 is the result of the English word 'hashish' and the Maltese word 'haxixa', literally meaning 'a plant', and by

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

109

extension 'hashish', as in 0 l.l-4.6 :20. Another example is the word chiropodist a, as in N 11.5.20:28, which occurs in every-day speech. This peculiar loan-word is derived from the English word 'chiropodist' and the Romance Maltese morphological increment -ista denoting trade or profession as in dentista 'dentist'. Its orthography, besides, is based on that of Italian, and makes it look as if it were derived from that language. But the translation equivalent of 'chiropodist' is either 'pedicure' or 'callista' in Italian. 4.2433

TERMS DEALING WITH THE PoLicE FoRCE AND CiviLIAN PRISONS

The older words borrowed from Italian and from English connected with the terminology of the police force and civilian prisons have generally undergone some change. Thus, the Italian word polizia 'police' was modified to pulizija, as in 0 4.2. 54 :3, and the English word constable become kuntistabbli, as in 0 6.3.72-73:7. Such changes occur at all levels of Maltese and are also accepted in the literary language. The more recent terminology, then, was borrowed from English. Many of the unmodified loan-words dealing both with the police force and the civilian prisons are not acceptable in literary Maltese as they can either be translated into Maltese, or at least be modified orthographically, phonologically or morphologically. Thus, for example, the expressionfuq if-beat 'on the beat' found in journalistic Maltese, as in 0 3.2.44:10, may be replaced by fuq ir-ronda, as in N 12.2.26:7, or better still kien qedjagfzmel ir-ronda, as in 0 7.l.ll :15. Although the word ronda occurring in these two phrases is a direct unmodified loan-word from Italian, it is now a time-honoured word in Maltese and sounds much better to the literary trained writer than the English equivalent 'beat'. As another example, we can take the rather long term civilian defence administrative officer M 1.3-10:28. In literary Maltese, this term cannot be accepted as it is, but a simple translation uffii:jal amministrattiv tad-dijiia i:ivili would easily suit that level. All in all, we can say that the journalistic terminology in this field is very far from the requirements of literary Maltese. This is due to the fact that the language of the daily newspapers reflects the type of vocabulary occurring in daily use among the members of the police force and the civilian prisons. As to the number of unmodified loan-words occurring in the daily newspapers, we can say that in this type of vocabulary the newspaper L-Orizzont leads the way, but it is only slightly ahead of the other two dailies which have an equal number between themselves.

110

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

(i) Example of Italian loan-word: pistola 'pistol' 0 1.1.21 :11; M 3.2.59:18; N 8.1.20 :7.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: assistant chief prison officer 0 2.3.11-12:22; M 2.3-4.12:23; N 1.3.44-45:22; detective-superintendent 0 9.1.36-37:4; patrol boats 0 1.1.43-44:2; M 1.5.10:2; principal warder N 1.5.56:22, cp. principal warden, used in the same sense in 0 2.5.21 :22; revolver 0 2.3.26:21; M 3.1-2.2:8; N 3.3.44:4.

4.2434

MILITARY TERMS

Maltese borrowed many unmodified loan-words from English for its military terminology. This was done either when a new term was needed, as in the case of a new military invention, e.g. machine gun 0 1.5.10-11 :10, or when an old term fell into disuse, as in the case of barracks 0 1.1.62:1 which replaced the older word barrakki. Such English unmodified loan-words occur both in the spoken and in the journalistic language. Some of these words are acceptable in literary Maltese, but others have to be modified or even translated. Thus, the English loanword army N 1.1.43: 17 would be replaced by armata, itself an Italian loan-word, as in N 8.1-2.10 :4. On the whole, we can say that the journalistic military terms follow basically the actual usage in military circles. This explains why most of the terms in the press are English loan-words. Furthermore, it is only through English, that some French word, as in the case of Reveille 0 2.3. 73:23, occurs in the press. As to the number of unmodified loan-words, L-Orizzont comes first, In-Nazzjon Tag1ma is the second, and Il-ltajja the third in descending order. One should add, however, that the difference in number between one newspaper and another is not very striking. All the newspapers agree in modifying and in translating military terms only on rare occasions. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: armamenti 'armaments' 0 1.4.21 :6; armi 'fire-arms' 0 5.1-2.3:3; alleati 'allies' 0 4.5.27:16; N 4.3.54:20, (cp. allejati M 13.2.4:2, as in literary Maltese); bomba 'bomb' 0 1.1.37:3; N 4.4.41 :4; ordinanza 'ordinance' M 9.1-2.8:4; parata 'parade' 0 16.3.27:2; M 3.4-5.1 :2.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: Air Defence Ground Environment N 3.1.74-75:24; Air Force N 3.4.51 :22; bombers 0 2.3.14:15; bullets 0 2.5.72:22; cadet M 3.5.28:3; commandos

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Ill

N 1.1-3.4:6; deserter 11 2.4.44:27; destroyer 11 9.1.29:16; N 12.5.16:16; dog fight 0 2.2.3-4:29, (the term 'dog fight' is here used as in an R.A.F. slang, to denote a skirmish between fighter planes); fighters 0 2.2.33 :6; fighter bombers 0 2.2.34:6; flag officer 0 3.2,3.33:7; fuse (of a bomb) 0 2.4.44:3; guards N 3.2.33 :2; guided missile destroyer 11 9.1.22-23:16, (cp. destroyer bil-missili ggwidati 11 9.1.26-27:16); handgrenades 11 8.2.34:4; Last Post 0 2.3.69-70:23; march-past N 7.1.65:23; mortar bombs 0 2.2.4-5:16; multiple warheads 11 5.5. 61-72:18; navy N 3.3.76:9; officer cadet 11 7.5.7:3; privates 11 9.1.26:4; radar 11 2.2.53:3; N 3.1.80-81 :24; rear-admiral 11 1.1.32:7; revolvers 0 5.4.51 :7, (cp. rivolvrijiet 0 5.2.27-28:28); rockets 0 2.5.14:3; 11 5.4-5.20:4; N 2.1.10:4; Scots Guards N 3.3.61 :3; sub-machine guns 0 1.1.20: II.

4.2435

RELIGIOUS TERMS

The religious terminology found in journalistic Maltese includes many unmodified loan-words from Latin as is customary in many other languages. However, most of the unmodified loan-words found in the newspapers in the ecclesiastical context were borrowed from Italian, because of the historical connections with Rome. In this way, they go against the main journalistic trend of borrowing freely from English. In the newspapers one finds some unmodified English loanwords, but these are very few. In literary Maltese, the English borrowings normally do not figure as they are replaced by Semitic or Romance loan-words when they are required at that level. Thus, the English word Father, occurring in If 6.2.24: I and in spoken Maltese, would be replaced by the Semitic word qassis, literally 'priest' or by the word patri 'monk', of Latin, through Sicilian, derivation, or finally by Dun 'Don' of Spanish origin if it is used as a title before the name of a secular priest. We can say by way of conclusion to this semantic theme that the journalistic ecclesiastical terminology follows substantially the usage dominant in religious circles in matters of Romance terminology, and peripherally that of the spoken language outside those circles when it comes to the English loan-words. As to the number of unmodified loan-words, the newspaper Il-Hajja has the greatest number; L-Orizzont is very close to it in matters of frequency; while In-Nazzjon Taghna has less than half its number of entries. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: anno santo 116.3.58:1, (cp. sena mqaddsa 11 6.3.47:1); Madonna 'the Blessed Virgin' 0 3.4.64:3; Madre 'Mother Superior' N 5.2.43:13; novena 'novena'

112

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

0 9.2.18:7; M 4.4-5.35 :4; ora santa 'holy hour' N 4.3.51 :3; Ortodossi 'Orthodox' M 4.1.9:17; papa 'pope' 0 3.2-4.74:2; M 4.2-3.32:3; Protestanti 'Protestants' 0 2.3.13-14:16; M 4.1.68 :3; seminarista 'seminarist' M 4.1.35:10; Terza Third Hour, in Divine Office' 0 7.3.69:3; Trinitd 'Trinity' M 14.1-2.2:7. (ii) Examples of English loan-words: Brothers M 6.2.24:1; chaplains 0 2.5.40:7; N 2.3.10:9;folk-mass M 6.3.75:8; White Fathers M 4.3-5.1 :8.

(iii) Examples of Latin loan-words: alba 'alb' N 8.1.11:25; Corpus 'Corpus Christi' N 5.2.72:13; Magnificat 0 9.4.9-10:7, (cp. Manifikat 0 9.5.31 :7); Pater Noster 0 9.4.27:7; praesente cadavere 0 4.3.12 :4; Presbyterium 'Presbytery' M 4.2.50-51 :8; Sanctus 0 9.3.21 :7; Te Deum 0 9.5.6:7.

4.244

TECHNICAL AND MECHANICAL TERMS

The subjects to be discussed below under this title are the following seven: (i) traffic terminology; (ii) vehicles; (iii) aircraft and airport; (iv) ships and seaport; (v) building industry; (vi) various instruments; and finally (vii) electricity. 4.2441

TRAFFIC TERMINOLOGY

Most of the Italian loan-words dealing with traffic terminology have undergone some change. For this reason, unmodified loan-words from that language are very rare, not only in the newspapers, but also in the spoken and in the literary language. In the older names of streets, for example, one might find the Italian unmodified loan-word strada 'street' still being used in spoken Maltese, especially in the cities, such as Valletta. This is reminiscent of the time when the names of streets in Malta until the Second World War were written in Italian. Normally, however, the Semitic Maltese word triq is used as a generic word. It was through English that most of the unmodified loan-words came into Maltese, whether spoken or journalistic. As to the literary language, the custom is to translate into Maltese or to modify at least partially the required traffic terms. Thus, the words fares N 5.1.55 :4, parking M 2.1.25 :2, rush hour M 5.1.2.16 :31, which occur not only in the journalistic language, but also in the spoken type of Maltese, would change to nollijiet 0 5.4.28 :4, ipparkjar 0 12.4.27:9 and flin tat-tluq, literally 'leaving time', respectively. It was also through English that a particular Latin word was borrowed by the journalistic language, as well as by literary and spoken Maltese.

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Summing up, therefore, we can say that the journalistic terms dealing with traffic terminology are very near to those actually written and spoken in traffic police circles, in the public transport offices and in other related spheres. It is only very rarely that the literary language had some influence on these terms. As to the number of unmodified loan-words in this field, the newspaper 11-Hajja has the greatest total of entries, but L-Orizzont and In-Nazzjon Tag1ma are very close to it. All three newspapers agree in accepting such unmodified loan-words with hardly any trend towards standardisation. (i) Examples of English loan-words: by-pass M 3.2.14:1; N 1.1-4.3:2; bus despatcher 0 6.5.63:13; bus stop

0 12.2.45:17; bus shelter 0 6.4.68-69 :25; highway M 5.3.6-7 :3; N 5.1.55 :4; no parking area 0 8.3.95:29; (cp. no parking M 9.1.20:13); one-way streets M 2.1.

25-26:2; park-attendant M 7.4.5-6:8, (cp. parker 1 used in the spoken language in Malta); roundabouts N 5.1.29:4; stage 0 3.2.35:2; M 3.1.24:2; N 12.2.41 :2; sudden emergency M 3.3.25-26:2; N 12.4.59-60:2; ticket inspectors M 9.4.24-25:21; traffic island 0 7.2.14:7; N 8.4.33:6; traffic jam 0 9.4.41 :4, (cp. kongjestjoni tat-traffiku occurring both in the spoken and in literary Maltese); traffic lights M 6.3.56-57:9; transit bus N 3.3.55:17; zebra crossing M 6.3.54-55:9; N 5.5.17:9.

(ii) Example of Latin through English loan-word: terminus 'bus terminus' 0 5.4.37:27; note also the plural form termini 0 5.2.77:29.

4.2442

VEHICLES

The few loan-words derived from Italian regarding vehicles and related objects have generally undergone some change in Maltese. Thus, the Italian word carrozza 'car' became karrozza, pronounced [ka'rozza], as in tt 3.3.4 :2. On the other hand, most of the loan-words borrowed from English in this field remained unmodified in the journalistic language. The rare modifications which sometimes occur deal with the spelling or the morphology, e.g. krejn 'crane' 0 13.2.37:30; trakkijiet 'trucks' tt 3.5.24 :2. This trend of modifying the orthography and of replacing the English or Italian morphology is an effect of literary 7 The English language in Malta has some peculiar developments which deserve a separate study on their own. The formation of the word parker for British English 'park-attendant' is one of these. Another similar formation occurs in the word goaler used in Malta for British English 'goal-keeper', this example figures later under the heading 'sports'.

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Maltese, which, under other aspects, had little influence on this class of words. All in all, we can say that journalistic technical and mechanical terms concerning vehicles are very near to those occurring in the car industry, and they reflect both the spoken and the written forms in these areas. Most of the terms are still far from the requirements of standard Maltese. As to the number of unmodified loan-words, the biggest total is found in L-Orizzont. The other two newspapers 1/-llajja and In-Nazzjon Tag1ma have approximately the same number of unmodified loanwords, and this amounts to two-fifths of that occurring in L-Orizzont. (i) Example of Italian loan-word: benzina 'benzine' 0 9.2.11 :31.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: bonnet 0 3.2.27 :2; M 3.2.25 :2, (cp. bonett N 12.2.62 :2); bulldozers 0 16.4.36 :8; car lift 0 8.5.70:7; dashboard 0 7.4.22:1; diesel 0 11.1.2:2; M 6.5.57:3; drivers 0 6.4. 73 :7; double wheels 119.3.22:4; dynamo M 2.4.67-68: I ;fire-engine M 3.2.43 :7; front wheel drive 0 4.1.56:4; N 2.5.36:23; fuel M 5.5.15:3; N 3.1.11 :4; gauge 0 6.5.77:2; gear-box 0 11.2.17:2; head lamps M 2.1.40:9; N 12.3.45:2; hub-cups 0 3.2.47:22; N 12.1.29-30:23;jack 0 3.2.48:22; N 12.1.30:23;jeep M 5.2.28:15; lorries M 5.5.37:13; N 5.4.32; mechanic N 11.3.19:4, (cp. mekkanik 0 8.4-5.1 :21); mechanical jitters M 7.1.8-9:27; motor scooters 0 4.5.7:20; negative steer(ng wheel radius 0 4.2.39-40:4; outboard 0 3.4-5.16:31; petrol 0 3.2.69:4; puncture M 9.3.21 :4; N 12.3.36:9; radiator 0 6.2.14:16; seat 0 7.3.33:1; N 3.3.38:17; silencers M 6.2.74-75:9; spare parts 0 1.1.9:3; M 1.3.24:18; N 1.2.33:3; steering wheel N 1..42 :6, (cp. steering 0 1.1.48 :6); suspension M 2.1.40:9; taxi 0 7.3-4.16: I ; M 5.1.51 :4; tractors 0 16.1.35:31; tyres 0 3.1-3.23:14; N 12.4.40:9, (cp. tajers M 7.2.6:25); windscreen 0 1.1-3.19:6; N 1.3.46:6.

(iii) Example of French through English loan-word: garages 0 1.1-3.67:25, (cp. garaxxijiet 0 8.2.16:1; M 11.1.23:1; N 1.2.26:3).

4.2443

AIRCRAFT AND AIRPORT

Romance borrowings dealing with aircraft and the airport have undergone some change. Thus, the Italian word aerop/ano 'aeroplane' and aeroporto 'airport' became ajruplan N 3.3.62:3 and ajruport N 3.2.27:7, not only in the newspapers, but also in the spoken and in the literary language. The journalistic unmodified terms in this field are all borrowed from English. They would have to undergo many changes before becoming acceptable in literary Maltese. Thus, the

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journalistic examples airport manager N 1.5.31 :27, aerobatics H 2.1.28 :20, hanger 0 1.3.30:9 would presumably become maniger ta' 1-ajruport, ajrubatiCi and hanger in the literary language. In this field of terminology, the journalistic language is hardly ever influenced by literary Maltese. The terms occurring in the newspapers are in fact substantially the same as those used in the spoken and written medium at the airport. As to the number of unmodified loan-words, L-Orizzont comes first; Il-tlajja is the second, and is only slightly behind the first one; and In-Nazzjon Taghna occupies the third place, but again it is just slightly behind the second one. All the three newspapers agree in making extensive use of the unmodified loan-words. Examples of English loan-words: blast fence 0 1.1.34:15; chartered 0 1.1.8: II ; 11 5.1.20:13; N 2.5.68: I ; chiefpilot 111.1.3-4:17; N 1.1-3.5:17; crew 0 14.3.22:7; check-point 0 2.2.4-5:22; check-off 0 16.2.65:17; heavy landing 11 1.4-5.22:9; helicopter 11 5.3-4.52-53:7; hostess N 3.3.42:17; jet propulsion 11 2.1.25 :20; jumbo jet 11 5.4.25 :4; pilots 0 6.3-5.2:3; N 1.4-5.2:17; refuelling 0 1.1.38:11; romney huts 0 1.1.24-25:15; runway 0 1.1-3.27:9; 11 1.4-5.6:9; N 12.4.38-39:9; soft landing 11 5.4-5.42:11; terminal 0 2.2.12 :22; N 1.1.12 :6; transit lounge 0 3.5.58: II ; under-carriage 111.4-5.29:9; N 12.4.43:9.

4.2444

SHIPS AND SEAPORT

The journalistic terminology of unmodified loan-words dealing with the seaport, ships and navigation in general owes its origin to English. It is also through English that a French word like corvette, as in N 10.2.14-15:23, came into Maltese. In this field, the literary language had little influence on the journalistic terms. As a rare exception, one can mention the literal translation dghajjes tal-giri, used in the three daily newspapers instead of the English unmodified loan-word speedboats, such as, for example, in 0 12.1.12:1; H 3.2-3.61 :8; N 5.3.25:3. All in all, we can say that the newspapers follow generally the English terminology occurring both in the spoken and in the written medium at the dockyard and the shipping industry in general. In most cases, the terms do not reach the required standard to be acceptable in literary Maltese. As to the distribution of the individual entries of unmodified loanwords occurring in each newspaper, Il-tlajja has the highest number, L-Orizzont nearly has an equal number; while In-Nazzjon Taghna, has

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less than half the number of 11-Hajja. In the textual material being studied here, 11-Hajja made use of the Maltese spelling jott 'yacht' M 9.2.58:14 just in one case, and L-Orizzont made a literal translation of an English term on one occasion (see dghajjes tal-giri above). The more conservative newspaper ln-Nazzjon Taghna accepted all the borrowed terms just as they are in the source language. Examples of English loan-words: boat-houses M 7.4.74:14; boom and salvage ship M 1.3.38:28; bosun 0 1.5.8:14; breakwater 0 6.3.11 :8; M 2.2.30:4; bridge (on a ship) 0 1.5.27:14; N 5.4-5.42:17; cabin cruiser 0 11.1.36:3; M 7.1.51 :24; chief engineer M 9.5.3:10; chief mate M 9.5.12:10; cruise M 7.2.3:1; dinghy 0 11.1.2:2; M 15.4.26:4; fancy boats 0 14.1.45-46:7 ;ferry boat 0 6.5.27:16; (cp.jerry N 3.1.13 :8) ;.fire-man 0 1.5.12 :14; fleet tender M 1.2.40 :28; fog horn 0 3.1.72 :14; M 2.5.55:17; foundation engineer M 3.2.8-9:17; lighthouse 0 8.5.29:14; midshipman M 2.3.34:31; motor-boat N 4.4.56:21; motor yacht M 2.2.42:17; outboard 0 3.4-5.16:31; pleasure boats 0 1.5.34-35:10; port labourers M 1.1-2.14:7; quarter deck M 2.4.27:31; senior engineers N 2.2.68-69 :14; stabilizers M 7.3.20-21 :I; tanker 0 8.4.30 :2; N 12.1.37:3; trawler 0 4.2.36:15; M 3.2.22:16; N 2.3.9:16; tug-boat 0 6.3.25:2, (cp. ta' 1-irmonk, with which cp. Italian rimorchiatore, and dgnajjes ta' 1-irmonk, both occurring in the spoken and in the literary language); turners M 2.5.62:28; yacht 0 1.2.67:2; M 12.5.11 :2; yachting 0 4.4.33:21.

4.2445

BUILDING INDUSTRY

There are very few unmodified loan-words borrowed from Italian regarding the terminology of the building industry. Such words deal mainly with architecture or structural buildings. Most of the unmodified loan-words in this field are borrowed from English. Such words occur also in the spoken language, but many would have to be modified or translated before being accepted at the literary level. Thus, for example, the term site plan, occurring in N 1.4.28 :22, has to be replaced by the Romance Maltese word pjanta, which is also commonly used in the spoken language. All in all, we can say that the journalistic terms dealing with the building industry reflect to a large extent the current use of technical and mechanical terms among the people in the trade itself, including those staff members who deal with the administrative side of this industry. Literary influences exist, but are very limited in the newspapers. As to the number of unmodified loan-words, we can say that there is hardly any difference between the total number of entries of one

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newspaper and another. We can add that every newspaper made some attempt at modifying some loan-word in this field of terminology, e.g. blokk 'block (of flats)' 0 7.4.13:4; koiwej 'causeway' It 7.1-5.1 :17; jlattijiet 'flats' It 2.3-5.26:2; mixer tal-concrete 'concrete mixer' N 12.2.36:3. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: apside 'apse' N 8.1-5.3:25; palazzi 'palaces' 0 9.5.33:4; pilastri 'pillars' 0 13.3.58:17; M 8.4.3:6; N 2.4.7:24.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: block (ta' flats) 'a block of flats' M 2.3.34-35:4; bricks M 5.2.14:4; causeway N 11.5.19: II ; chief engineer works 0 1.3.48-49:15; concrete mixer 0 4.2.28-29:3; M9.2.12-13:3; N 12.2.36:3; draughtsmen 0 1.5.9:15;jlats 0 7.3.52:4; M 2.3.35:4; kitchen garden plots M 2.3.38-39 :4; mixer 'concrete mixer' N 12.3. 75 :3; plots 'building plots' 0 11.1.31:2; M 6.4-5.2:11; pre-stressed concrete M 9.1.46:2; N 8.3.42:2; quantity surveyors 0 1.4.63:15; N 1.4.27:15; resiled (ghal erba' darbiet) 'it was resited four times' 0 13.1.30-31 :30.

4.2446

VA RIO US INSTRUMENTS

The unmodified loan-words dealing with most instruments occurring in several activities of the modern life were all borrowed from English. Through this same language, some Latin word, like apparatus It 6.4.46: 11 (with which compare the modified form apparat 0 8.1.15:2; It 2.3.24 :6), occurs also in the newspapers. Many of these English unmodified loan-words have no Semitic or Romance equivalent in Maltese, but just a few can be somehow translated. Thus, the words bicycle 0 6.4.15 :21, sewing-machine It 9.2.51-52:13; washing-machine It 8.2.43:25 which occur in the press may be replaced by the translation equivalents rota (as in 0 4.3.14:9; It 3.3.36:9; It 3.3.36:9; N 7.5.43:4), makna tal-hjata (which never occurred in the journalistic texts surveyed here), and makna tal-hasil (N 12.5. 73: 10). Such Maltese forms occur not only in the literary language, but also in the spoken medium. By way of conclusion, we can say that the journalistic terminology regarding various modern instruments is based mainly on the terms that first came into the language, together with the objects denoted, by importation. The literary language has had so far little influence on the journalistic type of Maltese regarding these loan-words. As to the distribution of the total number of loan-words in this field, we can say that there is no significant difference between one newspaper and another. In each of them, we note some slight effort in translating

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or in modifying such terms (see the preceding paragraph for some examples). On the whole, however, the terms used in the newspapers are very far from attaining the required standard for literary Maltese. Examples of English loan-words: boiler N 5.5.82-83:27; baroscope (an instrument for detecting the presence of metals) N 3.5.25:27; cooker N 12.4.6:11; driller 0 2.5.24:22; extinguisher 'fire extinguisher' 11 15.2.56-57:1; flick-knife 0 3.2.37:4; fork-lifters 11 6.2.12:14; goggles N 2.2.41 :31, (cp. maskra tal-ba1~ar used in spoken and literary Maltese); lighters (tas-sigaretti) 'sigarette lighters' 0 4.3.12:9; 11 3.4.10:14; meter 11 3.2. 18 :20; pliers 117.1.23:29 ;push-chair N 12.1-3.53:27, (cp. siggu ta' 1-idejn occurring in spoken Maltese); shower N 5.18.1 :22, (cp. doi:i:a, from Italian doccia 'douche', used in the spoken language, and doxxa, of the same dderivation, occurring both in the spoken, and in the newspaper language, as in 11 6.4.65-66: I); wheel chair 11 7.3.5-6:28; N 12.4.44:28, (cp. siggu tar-roti occurring both in the spoken and in the literary language).

4.2447

ELECTRICITY

All the Italian loan-words dealing with electricity have undergone some change at all levels of Maltese. Thus, the Italian words elettrico 'electric' and elettronici 'electronic' became elettriku N 12.2-4.47:4 and elettroniCi 0 1.2.42:17. For this reason, all the existing loan-words which are still unmodified were borrowed from English. II-Hajja and L-Orizzont make some occasional effort towards standardisation, e.g. kompjuter 'computer' M 8.2.47:23; xokk 'electric shock' M 6.2.30:18; 0 5.2.39 :8. The newspaper In-Nazzjon Tag1ma accepts all the terms just as they are in the source language. All in all, we can say that the unmodified loan-words in this field are the same as those used by electricians and other technicians dealing with the same or related subjects. As to the number of loan-words which were used without any modification, the newspaper 11-Hajja has the biggest total, while L-Orizzont has a very close number of entries. In-Nazzjon Tag1ma, on the other hand, has a very limited number of terms dealing with electricty. Examples of English loan-words: air-conditioners 11 1.1.19-20:22; amplifier 0 8.1.24:2; 11 6.4.15:16; brackets 'electric brackets' 0 6.1.14:14; 11 6.4.15:21; N 2.2-4.26:10; cable 0 1.3.41 :8; N 8.5.44:3; coils 0 1.5.31 :24; 111.4.22:24; computer 0 1.5.33:24; 1110.3.12:24; electric automatic heater 112.3.9-10:9; electric drill 0 2.3.26:22; 11 2.5.51-52:23; N 1.3.63-64:22; electric shaver 0 4.3.12:9; 11 3.3.37:9; N 2.3.15:10; electro-

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magnetic waves M 2.1.62:3; floodlights 0 13.3.64:17; M 2.5.53:17; fuse 0 2.1.57:22; generating station M 6.2.10:23; high tension M 5.2.6-7:15; N 10.3.33 :8; infra-red rays M 2.4.45 :3; intermediate frequency transformers 0 1.1.25 :22; loudspeakers 0 6.3.53:23; M 10.3.58 :I; plugs M 1.1.21 :22; refrigeration plant M 7.1.10:27; refrigerators M 8.2.42:25; shock 'electric shock' M 15.4-5.9:4; switch 0 3.2.10:18; tape-recorders 0 8.1-2.57:1; M 8.4-5.48-49:1; transmitter 0 6.1.28:4; M 5.2.15:9.

4.245

TERMS DEALING WITH ENTERTAINMENT AND ALIMENTATION

Under the general title of entertainment and alimentation, we will be dealing below with the vocabulary of the following six sub-classes: (i) sports; (ii) fashion and colour; (iii) music; (iv) cinema and theatre; (v) catering; and finally (vi) food and drink. 4.2451

SPORTS

Italian has supplied some unmodified loan-words to Maltese sports terminology, but the greatest number of unmodified borrowings in this field came undoubtedly from English. The few French and Spanish loan-words occurring in this field of vocabulary came into the language also through English. Since the unmodified English loan-words dealing with sports are very numerous, and since we wanted to keep to some extent to the proportions which are actually met in the vocabulary of the newspapers, we had to give a rather long list. However, this is not at all comprehensive. The journalistic terminology dealing with sports is based mainly on that currently used among Maltese sportsmen. Although there are slight changes in some terms in all three newspapers, most of the sports terminology still consists of unmodified loan-words. As to the number of entries, the newspapers L-Orizzont and In-Nazzjon Taghna have substantially the same figure, while 1/-Hajja has a smaller number. This is partially due to the fact that 11-Hajja tends to make more modifications than the other two newspapers under this aspect. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: at/eta 'athlete' 0 14.1.18:1; N 6.1-2.4:3; partita 'a match' 0 13.1.40:4; M 15.3.68-69:2; N 7.5.23:3; semi-finali 'semi-finals' 0 13.1-3.16:8; 0/impiadi 'Olympics' N 6.2.10:7, (cp. 0/impjadi N 6.2.15:7); ritiro 'withdrawal' N 7.3.65:7.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: archery N 6.2-4.12: I 0; (marru) all out 'they all went out' N 6.3.54:6; amateurs

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LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

0 15.5.55 :I; N 7.1.14:1; amateur players N 7.1.19 :I; away N 7.3-4.22 :2; aggregate shield 0 13.3-4.33:6; (sistema) all-play-all 'all-play-all system', (in playing chess) H 14.2.40:14; baseball 0 15.1.45:8; back-flick (in waterpolo) 0 15.5.47-48:6; best poser H 14.1.36:3; N 6.3.32:9; billiards 0 13.3.55 :I, (cp. biljards H 15.2.69 :I); body-builder N 6.2.32:9; boxer 0 14.1-3.51 :3; N 6.5.8:1; boxing N 6.4-5.5:1; bowling pitch 0 6.1.59 :29, (cp. if-pitch tal-bowling 0 6.1.63 :29); coach 0 13.3.48: I; N 6.4-5.1 :I, (cp. kowc H 14.4.42: I); coaching 0 5.1. 76: I ; captain H 14.4.40: I ; centreforwardO 13.3.34:2; centre-halfH 15.3.23:8; challenge cups 0 13.3-4.33:6; challenge trophy H2.5.83-84:8; N 11.5.12 :14; champion 0 14.2.6-7 :I; championship 0 14.5.19:1; checkmated 0 15.1.25-26:3; chess 0 13.1.44:3; H 6.2.31 :8; N 6.1.58:1, (cp. cess H 14.1-2.25:1); club 0 13.1-2.29:1; N 7.1.81 :1, (cp. klabb 0 5.1.61 :1); contenders (in boxing) 0 14.2.72:3; corner 0 15.5.49:6; N 6.1.78:1, (cp. korner H 15.5.27:6); darts H 6.2.31 :8; derby 0 13.2-3.7:4; H 14.1.41 :4; decider H 14.1.18:4; N 7.3.28:6; diving 0 15.1-3.9:11; discus N 6.1.14:3; discus throw N 6.2.8:3; down the line (in shooting) 0 13.1.67:10; H 15.5.47-48:16; draw H 14.1.21 :I; N 7.1.39:1; events 0 14.1.60:1; N 6.2.80:2; ex-midfielder N 7.4.28:3;/encing 0 15.1-3.9:11 ;five station (in shooting) H 15.5.50:16; final 0 9.1-2.5:2; H 15.5.7:7;fixures H 14.2.16:8; N 6.2.34:7;forward0 15.5.7-8:1; N 7.1.62:1; foul N 6.3.27:1, (cp. Jaw[ H 16.4.29:6); free release 0 13.1.2:4; free throw N 6.2.37:6; free transfer 0 15.2-3.36:1; N 7.4.34-35:1; friendly H 14.2.34:10; N 5.1-2.29:10; football 0 6.1.62:29; N 7.3.59:15, (cp. futbol H 14.1-2.68:1); full-back 0 15.2-3.35:1; N 7.1.84:1; H 16.5.33:1; footballer 0 10.2.64:2; N 7.3.59:15; goals 0 15.1.57 :I; N 6.1.25 :2, (cp. gowls H 13.5.25 :6); goalkeeper 0 15.2.55:2; N 7.1.83:1, (cp. goaler N 6.1.57:6; cp. also gowler H 16.3-4.15:6); goal-judge N 6.3.24:2; goal skorer 0 15.2.58-59:2; ground 0 6.1.61 :29, (cp. grawnd H 16.4.42:1); gymnasium N 6.2.35 :9; gym 0 15.2.19 :II; H 16.4-5.44:4; N 7.1-3.65:3; gym work N 7.2.31-32:1; gymnastics H 10.4-5.22:2; gatekeepers 0 5.3.65-66:17; hat-trick H 16.4.29:16; N 7.1.39:6; half back 0 13.1-2.57:1; half-time H 14.2.8:6; hammer throwN 6.2.12:3; hammer thrower N 6.1.30:3; heavyweight 0 14.2.68:3; high jump 0 14.2.12:1; N 6.1.15:3; home 0 15.2.11 :8; N 7.3-4.22:2; hurdles N 6.1.16:3; hill climb (in cycling) N 6.2. 7:14; inside forward (in football) N 7.5.43-44 :2; inter-sections deciders H 14.3-4.72-73:7; indoor game H 14.3.40:9; inside right 0 15.1.39:3; javelin throw N 6.2.9:3; judo H 6.2.32:8; juniors 0 15.1.8:3; keeping-fit exercises 'keep fit exercises' N 10.3. 15-16:20; knock-out 0 9.2.38:2; N 6.5.21:1; knock-out system H 14.3.45-46:10; lap (in cycling, one circuit round a track or race-course) N 6.2.16:14; leaders 0 15.1.6: I ; league 0 15.1. 7: I ; leg (the first event won, when a second is still necessary to decide the context) 0 15.2.33: I; N 7.2.36: I; lob (a ball returned in a high curve) 0 15.5.55:6; N 6.3.28 :I, (cp. lobb H 16.4.40 :6); middle distance runner N 6.1.20-21 :3; middleweight 0 14.3.56:3; midfielder N 7.5.22:1; minor 0 14.5.7:3; most muscular man H 14.1.36-37:3; non-first class player 0 13.1.76:9; open handicap (said of dinghies during races) 0 15.1.41 :9; penalty 0 15.5.19:6; H 16.4.36:2; N 7.3.75:8; positional play H 16.4.31 :17; physical training N 7.2. 17-18:1; pitch 0 15.1.10:1; H 15.1.26:2; N 6.2.40:1; play-offs 0 15.5.67:2; players 0 5.2.16:1; H 14.4.16:1; N 6.2.34:1; pole vault N 6.2.6:3; professionals 0 5.1.72:1; playing field 0 8.4.48-49:7; H 6.3.17:3; quarter finals 0 14.3.3:8; rebound H 15.2.24-25:2; N 6.3.78 :14; recreation centre 0 6.3.45-46 :2; referee

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

121

0 15.1-2.61 :2; H 15.2.20:1; N 6.2.69-70:1; replay 0 14.5.58:3; H 16.4.34-35:2; return leg N 6.3.27:8; release N 7.1.26:1; relegation N 6.1.20-21:1; replay N 7.1.36:2; reserves 0 15.1.55:1; right wing 0 13.1-2.55:1; round 0 15.1.18:3, (cp. rawnd H 14.1.27:1); runners-up N 6.4.48:3; saves 0 15.5.42:6; semi-finals 0 13.1.51 :4; shoot-offN 6.4.18:7; shield H 14.4.43:7; sport 0 12.3-4.3:14; score N 6.2.39: I ; skis 0 8.1-2.57: I; H 8.4-5.48: I ; swim up (in waterpolo) N 6.4.35:13; skipping ropes N 5.2.17-18 :I; steeplechase N 6.1.55:3; snooker 0 14.5.20 :I; starterO I5.3.56:!5;supporter09.4.5I :4; H 15.4-5.3:4; table-tennis H6.2.29-30:8; N 6.5.44:2; table-soccer H 6.2.30:8; team 0 13.2.33:1; N 6.1.19:1, (cp. tim 0 5.1.75: I; H 14.1.8 :I); tournament 0 15.4-5.2 :I; N 6.1.40:1; tournee H 14.3-5.3 :6; tennis H 14.1-3.1 :I; N 8.3-4.37:1; time-out H 14.5.50:10; training N 7.2-3.7:1; training partners 0 14.4.81 :II; trap side station (in shooting) H 15.3-4.66 :4; N 6.4.9:7; trophy 0 13.5.45:1; N 7.1.34:1; (cp. trofew H 16.1.48:3); triple jump N 6.1.58:3; un-rated player 0 13.1.74-75:9; volleyball 0 14.5.45:1, (cp. volibol H 14.4.50:1); waterpolo 0 15.2-3.2:1; H 15.1.1 :2; N 6.2.20:1; water-skiing 0 6.4.66-67:11; water sports 0 2.2.19:17; H 3.4.67:17 (cp. sport tal-baltar N 12.3.37:17); wrestling 0 15.1-3.9:11; wrestling mat N 6.4.36:10; walk-over (in tennis) H 15.3.46 :4; N 6.5.33 :6.

(iii) Example of French through English loan-word: masseur 0 15.3.72:7; N 7.3.14:2.

(iv) Example of Spanish through English loan-word: matador 0 5.4.42:6; rodeo 0 9.3-5.10:4; H 10.3.9:3; N 11.1-3.48:3.

4.2452

FASHION AND CoLOuR

Most of the unmodified loan-words regarding fashion and colour were borrowed from English. Just a few were also borrowed from Italian, while some others were borrowed from French through English. The loan-words denoting colour found themselves in the newspapers, and perhaps in the spoken language as well, through their connection with fashion. The grouping of both types of loan-words under one heading seems, therefore, to be justified. The journalistic terminology regarding fashion and colour is based substantially on that currently used in the fashion trade. They are also accepted in the spoken language, but very few have reached the literary standard. As to the distribution of the unmodified loan-words linked with fashion and colour, the highest frequence occurs in In-Nazzjon Taghna, while about 70% of the total number occurring there is to be found in each of the other two newspapers, L-Orizzont and Il-ltajja.

122

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

(i) Examples of Italian loan-words: dmi 'helmets' N 11.4.24:7; moda 'fashion' 0 7.3.11 :10; 11 10.3.20:16; N 11.1-3.2:21.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: arc-welted 11.2.26:21 ; bell-shape 11 10.1.10:9; box pleats 11 10.3.32:2; blouse 0 6.3.65 :10; brandy (colour) N 11.3.7:21; brushed pig-skin 11 10.3.2-3 :16; claret N 11.4.15:7; cocoa (colour) N 11.3.8:21; cognac (colour) N 11.3.7:21; drip dry 11 10.5.32:2; embroidery N 12.1.15:13; evening dress 11 2.5.42:8; hand-bag 11 3.2.36-37 :30; jeans 0 4.4.3 :9; 11 3.3.20:9; jumper halterneck 11 10.2.8-9:7; khaki 0 6.4.52:20; maxis 0 6.2.44:10; midis 0 6.2.44:10; mini 11 2.5.12:6; mittens 0 9.2.15:3; navy blue N 11.3.29:7; (cp. blu 0 1.1.40:31; 11 6.5.25:29; N 12.3.44:16); orange (colour) N 11.5.49:28; parchment colour 11 7.1.61-62:31; pinafors N 11.4.7:7; pleated 0 6.3.38:10; pleats N 11.5.18:7; reg/an type N 11.2.25-26:21 ; raincoat 0 6.5.65:13; shorts 0 8.2.26:3; single-breruted 11 10.1. 12:9; skinnie N 12.4.14:27; smock style N 11.2.9-10:21; smocky N 11.4.28:7; sun-tan (colour) N 11.5.50:28; tan (colour) 11 10.4.32: 16; track suit 11 16.5.10 :22; trouser suits 0 6.2.57-58 :10; 11 10.1.7-8:9; T-shirt 0 1.1.39:31; tunic 0 9.1-2.4:3; two-piece N 11.2.11-12:21.

(iii) Examples of French through English loan-words: beige N 11.3.8:21; coutouriers (sic) 0 6.1.46:10; crochet 0 7.1.28:11; 11 2.2.2:15; N 11.3.63:7; gabardine N 11.4.9:7; tourquoise N 11.3.9 :21.

4.2453

Mustc

The older unmodified loan-words dealing with music are derived from Italian, while the more recent terms are borrowed from English. Exceptionally, journalistic Maltese borrowed Italian words through English, as in the case of altos, meaning 'alto singers', which occurs in 0 1.5.16:7. This word would certainly be alti in its Italian form, as it actually occurs as a loan-word in It 9.3.45:7. Many of the loan-words regarding musical terms which occur in the newspapers would have to be translated or at least modified before qualifying for use in literary Maltese. On the whole, we can say that the journalistic terminology in this field of vocabulary reflects the actual usage in the spoken language as it is realised in modern musical circles in Malta. As to the number of unmodified loan-words, the newspaper L-Orizzont has the greatest number. About half of this total occurs in 11-Hajja, and just about one-seventh of the same total figures in In-Nazzjon Taghna. All the newspapers follow the same trend of accepting the loan-words just as they are in the source language.

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

123

(i) Examples of Italian loan-words: banda 'band' 0 2.3-4.40:7; bandisti 'bandsmen' 0 7.1-2.4:2; N 2.1-2.1 :9; quartino 'flageolet' 0 2.3-4.50:7; solista 'soloist' 0 7.1-3.4:23; M 2.5.12:23; soprani 'sopranos' 0 1.5.24:7; M 9.3.44:7.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: accordion 0 3.4-5.41 :20; M 2.1-2.32:24; althorn 0 4.5.16:23; ballad-singing 0 5.3.26-27:27; beat group 0 7.5.38:21; M 6.3.33:8; bugle M 8.4.38:22; concert N 11.1.24: I ; drummer 0 12.1.43 :3, (cp. tal-katuba occurring in spoken Maltese and acceptable in the literary language) ;folk 0 11.2.24:4 ;folk-singing 0 5.3.26:27; guest singers 0 3.3.41:21; jazz M 10.3.20:7; jazz festival 0 9.1.47:4; piano

sonata M 13.3.5-6:9; pop music 0 6.5.41-42:1; proto-pop N 10.3.7:3; recital (on the piano) 0 2.3.31-32:14; rock rock 0 16.3-4.17:1; M 10.3.19:7; sax alto 0 7.1-2.6-7:2; sonata form M 7.2.28:13; song 0 9.2.17:23, (cp. kanzunetta occurring both in the spoken and in literary Maltese); crumpeters 0 2.3.70:23; (cp. trumbettieri found in the spoken language, and acceptable at the literary level).

4.2454

CINEMA AND THEATRE

The Italian unmodified loan-words are linked with the theatre, rather than with the cinema. This is because the theatre in Malta goes back to the time of the Grand Master Emanuel de Vilhena, when Maltese was not used on the stage, as Italian was the prestige language. It was also from Italy that great companies went to Malta to present Italian plays and operas up to the first half of this century. It is only natural, therefore, that unmodified loan-words, like p/atea 'the pit' 0 8.5.61 :24, are borrowed from Italian. On the other hand, when the cinema was introduced in Malta, the connections were with Great Britain, and not with Italy. This explains why terms related to the cinema are generally English. All in all, the journalistic unmodified loan-words dealing with the cinema and the theatre represent substantially the actual realisation of the terms which occur in the films and drama circles in Malta. In all the texts which we analysed for this research, we did not find any modification aiming at reaching a standardised literary form in this terminology. As to the number of entries in the different newspapers, li-Hajja has the greatest total; L-Orizzont has just a few less; while In-Nazzjon Tag1ma has only half of the total number of entries occurring in li-Hajja. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: ballerina 'ballet-dancer' 0 3.3.35:25; danza 'a dance' M 7.4.19:28; mima 'a mime' 0 5.1.15:7; opera 'opera' N 8.4.53 :3.

124

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: acting 0 9.4-5.13:29; H 7.1.29:6; cast (of actors) 0 10.1.66:1; cinemas H 8.2.46:10; dances H 6.4.24:16; dragging 'a long and tedious film or play' H 7.1.54:28; drama H 3.5.32-33:15;film 0 10.1.79:1; H 13.3-4:3; N 10.1.28:1; film-review H 8.3.11 :20; mime ~ 10.2.24:1; N 11.3.25:8; miming 0 3.2.34:21; H 7.2-3.47:13; pageant H 4.4-5.47:7; N 11.2-4.16:8; picturegoers 0 8.3.30 :24; plot 0 11.1.33:2; preview H 8.2.17-18 :20; re-issue 0 9.2-3.35:11; renters 'film renters' H 8.2.11:10; show H 10.3.15:7; showgirl N 11.5.2:8; slides 0 7.3.17:2; talkies 0 10.5.59 :2.

(iii) Example of French through English loan-word: ballet 0 3.3.26:21; H 3.2.53:13; N 11.2.43:1.

4.2455

CATERING

Most of the unmodified loan-words dealing with catering and related terminology are borrowed from English. Just a few are borrowed directly from Italian, while some others came from French through English. The journalistic terms in this field are very similar to those in the catering trade and related circles. Some of these loan-words can be accepted in literary Maltese, while some others have to be translated or at least modified so as to fulfil the requirements of the literary standard. As to the distribution of unmodified loan-words, the newspaper L-Orizzont has the biggest number of entries, but both Il-Hajja and Jn-Nazzjon Tag1ma are very close to it in this aspect. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: bibita 'a drink' H 12.5.21-22:8; N 1.4.23:6; brindisi 'a toast' 0 3.1.33:15.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: bar H 10.1.28:3; N 3.3.40:17; barbecue 0 4.1.62:1; barman 0 6.1.45-46:25; canteen 0 16.1.19-20:9; catering 0 4.2.65:1; H 6.1.16:11; cocktails 0 5.2.15:16; dinner dance 0 2.5.32-33: l; disco dance N 2.2.26:3; entertainment N 2.3.62-63:18; farewell party N 2.3.6:9; fun palace H 7.2.15:10; get-together 0 13.1-2.6:14; guest 0 9.2.36:23; hotel H 11.2.19:3; lounge N 3.4.53:7; lunch N 5.5.18:7; night club 0 12.1.25:3; N 12.2.16:16; party N 3.5.50:3; refreshment 0 7.4.44:3; snackbar H 11.2.25-26:3; waiter H 11.1.31 :2; waitresses H 11.1.31 :2.

(iii) Examples of French through English loan-words: cabaret 0 11.2.21 :4; N 12.2.30:6; discotheques, from French discotheques, H 5.1.28:4; menu 0 3.4.43:13.

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

4.2456

125

FooD AND DRINK

The unmodified loan-words regarding food and drink are borrowed either from Italian or from English. This is so partially because of sociocultural contacts, but the main contributing factor is the fact that most of these loan-words designate actual imports from Italy or from the United Kingdom. Some of the loan-words also have a Maltese equivalent for the non-imported object. Thus, while the word breadcrumbs 0 9.3.81 :24 is used for the imported (packaged) type, the Maltese term frak tal-1zobi is used for the homemade variety, as in 0 9.3.79:24. Another reason for some of these loan-words is that there is a tendency to use the English word so as to sound more technical or more 'educated'. Thus, while broilers are called tigieg tal-borma, literally 'hens for the pot', as distinguished from tigieg tal-bajd 'layers', literally 'laying hens', in the spoken language, especially in the countryside, they are always called broilers in the newspapers, as in 0 2.3-5.48:13; M 9.4.35:13; N 1.2-5.2:4. All in all, we notice that the journalistic terminology is very close to that in current use among cooks and housewives alike, especially those who live in cities and those who are more exposed to cultural influences. The official Government documents which are issued periodically to announce changes in price, importation permits and other relevant information, have much influence on this aspect of the journalistic terminology. This is because some of the news appearing in the newspapers regarding this semantic theme are taken directly from such official documents. The literary level is reached only occasionally. As to the number of unmodified loan-words, 11-ltajja has by far the greatest number of entries. L-Orizzont and In-Nazzjon Tag1zna have rather fewer entries, but there is no striking difference between their two totals. Occasionally, we notice an effort towards attaining the literary level, either by modification, e.g. bejken 'bacon' M 3.1-2.49:28, or by translation into Romance or Semitic Maltese, e.g. soppa 'soup' 0 3.4. 52:13; N 5.2.13-14:14, as against the use of the English loan-word soup in M 8.3.36 :29. As a rule, however, the loan-words in this field are employed in all the three newspapers without any alteration at all. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: (tigiega) alia diavola 'a chicken prepared 'alia diavola" H 8.3.23-24:29; angelica 'angelica' H 10.2.15:16; birra 'beer' H 9.3.14:14; pasta 'paste' H 9.1-2.66:18; pane di Spagna 'gingerbread' N 11.1.13:21; spiumante 0 9.2.67:3; tag/iatelle alia bolognese H 8.3.22-23:29; vitella 'veal' H 9.5.31 :4.

126

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: bacon 0 9.2-3.58:24; M 1.1-2.16:4; N 2.5.2:4; greengages M 2.5.47:6; baked beans 0 9.3.15:3; fish fingers 0 9.3-4.1 :3; slices 0 9.3.14:3; tomato ketchup 0 9.3.12:3; brandy N 11.3.6:21; pies N 5.2.15:14; roast beef M 8.3.36:29; sauce N 11.2.38:28; Castor sugar M 10.1.15:16; N 11.1.18:21; chocolate roll M IO.I-2.13:23;frozen broilers M 9.2.55:15; pork chops N 5.2.15:15; soda water 0 9.2.67-68:3; sandwich 0 8.1.16:2; soya bean 0 1.3.27:11; cherry plums M 2.5.47 :6; whipped cream M 10.2.12-13: 16; mushroom N 11.5.19 :14; crystallised violets M 10.2.15-16:16; goulash M 8.3.16:29; (dqiq) self-raising 'self-raising flour' M 10.2.6:9.

4.246

GENERAL LEXICAL ITEMS

Besides the above words given under particular headings, there are in the newspapers many more unmodified loan-words which may be grouped together and classified as general lexical items. These loan-words are generally borrowed either directly from one of the two major contributing languages, being English and Italian, or indirectly from French or Latin through English. Furthermore, there are also some other Latin loan-words which are commonly found in many languages, and which might have found their way in Maltese directly from Latin by different channels as, for example, through the legal or ecclesiastical terminology. On the whole, we can say that as a general rule the journalistic vocabulary of unmodified loan-words in this field is based substantially on that of the spoken language, with minor influences from the learned class. Contrary to the general trend noticed under other particular headings, many of those loan-words are also acceptable in literary Maltese. As to the number of unmodified loan-words in the various newspapers, L-Orizzont occupies the first place, while each of the other two newspapers has about a third less. (i) Examples of Italian loan-words: addio 'good-bye' M 6.5.31 :10; N 4.3.25:17; adulta 'adult' M 8.3.71 :II; ampolla 'phial; ampoule' N 11.5.41 :9; atmosfera 'atmosphere' M 8.1.34:2; attivita 'activity' M 5.3.42:4; ballata 'ballad' 0 5.2.23 :7; N 4.1.29:17; banalita 'nonsense' 0 6.2.32:25; benessere 'well-being' N 8.3.82:25; disfatta 'defeat' 0 5.4.59 :9; N 1.3.61 :18; emisfera 'hemisphere' 0 9.1.32:29; eta 'age' 0 9.2.30:3; M 9.1.38 :4; finezza 'finesse' M 7.2.38:10; N 7.5.8:31; idea 'idea' 0 6.5.41:1; M 2.4.26:1, (cp. ideja M 6.4.72:1); idonei 'qualified' M 3.4-5.38:8; lava 'lava' 0 9.1.19:19; mossa 'gesture; manreuvre' 0 1.3.61 :9; N 4.1.304; oltre 'besides' N 1.5.45:8;

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

127

onesta 'honesty' 0 6.2.52:13; N 4.1.15:3; ospite 'guest' 0 9.2.30:23; ospitalita 'hospitality' 0 3.1.41 :15; pero 'but' 0 15.1.93:1; N 1.3.12:1; pirata 'pirate' 0 5.1-3.6:9; M 10.3.9:13; portata 'within reach' 0 15.2.61 :10; portavoce 'mouthpiece' M 8.4.17-18:7, (cp. portavuCi M 6.4.35:4; N 4.4.14:10); premessa 'premise' 0 7.1.25:17; problema 'problem' 0 14.3.9:14; M 2.1.27:2; pura 'pure' 0 5.4.38:16; razza 'race' 0 3.3-4.18:3; M 8.4.42:3; regola 'rule' 0 3.4.11:4; N 4.4.64-65 :3; risposta 'answer' 0 6.4.44:3; N 8.1-5.2:2; rivalita 'rivalry' 0 15.5.13-14:6; rotta 'course' 0 8.1.22:3; N 4.4.26:9; rovina 'ruin' 0 6.3.28:2; serata 'evening' 0 7.1.20-21 :18; M 6.2.46:4; sistema 'system' 0 13.1.52:9; M 1.3-4.57 :4; N 1.3.33:3; so/ita 'usual' M 8.4.68 :6; tema 'theme' 0 2.1.59 :II; N 9.2.20:3; tendenza 'tendency' 0 9.1-3.33:17; M 7.3.58:3; tipo 'type' M 8.3.21 :16, (cp. tip 0 5.1-2.14:8; M 8.1.38:3; N 2.4.78:2); tortura 'torture' 0 2.3-5.1 :3; M 4.5.14:8; umanita 'humanity' 0 5.2.56:27; utilissima 'most useful' 0 8.5.43 :14; vice-versa 'vice-versa' N 11.1.78 :4, (cp. vii:i-versa M 8.4.25 :7; N 12.1-2.10 :9); vita/ita 'vitality' 0 2.2.71: II; volonta 'will' 0 14.3.30:3; N 4.1.68-69:6.

(ii) Examples of English loan-words: action N 8.4.66:14; available N 8.5.8:20; average 0 7.2.49:4; M 6.4.20:6; baby 0 9.1-3.30:24; M 10.3.16:30; background M 8.3.54-55:8; N 11.3.34:17; badge 0 16.1.24:23; M 9.4.30:23; barriers M 6.4.69:15; branches 0 6.4.19:21, (cp. branki M 2.3.11 :7); bright N 12.3.47:2; centre 0 2.1-2.3-8:11; challenge 0 3.1-5.1 :31; N 12.1-2.5 :6; climax 0 15.5.63 :6; diamond N 11.2.35:21; enclosure 0 13.3.53:17; N 7.5.6:14; exercise M 6.2.59:24; (cp. eieri:izzju M 4.2.12:6); exhibition M 6.5.12:1; N 2.5.19:14, (cp. esebizzjoni 0 7.2.54:6); eyesore 0 12.5. 45-46:21; N 12.3-4.6:7;/air 0 14.5.10:3; gossip M 6.2.13:24; guts 0 13.5.17:10; hamper 0 16.2.35:1; N 5.5.27:17; hobby M 8.3.37:7; N 2.2.43:14; humour N 11.3-5.32:9; link 0 5.3.78:15; miscellaneous 0 5.3.60:17; monsoon M 5.3. 36-37:13; pattern M 7.1.46 :14; puppets N 4.2.12:30; raffle 0 16.1.72:7; N 2.5.60:9; rank 0 1.2-3.54:4; sample M 6.4.25:23; say (noun) 0 6.3.43 :30; shopping N 8.2.28 :3; surplus M 6.1.19:23; N 12.3.25:17; target M 5.3.18 :9; N 1.1.20:30; triplets M 9.4.41 :3; trouble M 3.2.19:13.

(iii) Examples of Latin loan-words: gratis 0 5.2.64:31; N 5.2.42:17; homo sapiens 0 5.2.58:23; modus vivendi M 7.4.50:14; prosit, short for 'prosit tibi' or 'prosit vobis', meaning 'best wishes; well done' in the Maltese usage, 0 6.3. 70:16; N 5.1-5.1 :3; sine die 0 15.4.49:10; M 3.5.72-73:20; status quo M 4.5.31 :24; ultra 'more than', as in ultra i:erti 'very certain' 0 12.3.16:8.

(iv) Example of Latin through English loan-word: status (soejali) 'social status' M 5.4-5.10:4.

(v) Examples of French through English loan-words: en bloc 0 16.1-3.26 :10; en passant N 8.3.18 :24; ensemble M 9.1.41 :23 ;femme fatale M 13.3.11-12:17; finesse M 7.3.31 :28; image M 7.4-5.70:7; nom-de-plume 0 4.4-5.45-46 :7; N 5.2.17:13; par excellence M 8.2.63 :7; vis-a-vis N 8.3.26 :4.

128 4.247

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS GENERAL CoNCLUSIONS OF THE SuRVEY DEALING WITH UNMODIFIED LOAN-WORDS

In the above paragraphs (4.24 and its sub-sections), we carried out a survey of 1000 unmodified loan-words which were selected from a total of 14,000 modified and unmodified loan-words occurring in the newspapers. Although these are only representative examples, every effort was made to keep close to the proportions of actual occurrences in the three daily newspapers for every lexical theme. It is thought, therefore, that the general conclusions draw below should be fairly near the truth, and that the main trends in the newspapers have been sufficiently illustrated. The vocabulary of the newspapers has some, but not very striking, particular features of its own. On the whole, we can say that it is based to a large extent on the lexical material currently used in the spoken and in the written (though, not necessarily, literary) medium in the particular fields, with . the exception of the general lexical items, which occur in the daily use of the general speaker and writer. The vocabulary of the newspapers, therefore, follows substantially the main trend of the spoken language, being that of accepting the foreign loan-words just as they are in the parent language. This tendency delays its progress towards standardisation. The main particular features noticed in the newspapers as regards loan-words may be summed up as follows: a) Some local re-structuring occur in foreign words through the use of foreign or Maltese morphological increments, e.g. the English word 'chiropodist' becomes chiropodist a N 11.5.20:28, and similarly, the English word 'hashish' becomes hashisha M 1.4.28 :23. b) Some foreign syntactic structures are replaced by Maltese syntactic structures, though the single loan-words themselves may be still used in unmodified forms, e.g. bowling pitch 0 6.1.59:29 becomes if-pitch tal-bowling in 0 6.1.63 :29, concrete mixer 0 4.2.28-29:3 becomes mixer tal-concrete inN 12.3.74:13, and guided missile destroyer M 9.1.22-23:16 becomes destroyer bil-missili ggwidati in M 9.1.26-27:16. c) Some English words are replaced by the English slang spoken by Maltese in Malta, or even by the same slang written according to the Maltese spelling, e.g. goalkeeper 0 15.2.55:2 becomes goaler in N 6.1. 57:6, and gowler in M 16.3-4.15:6. d) Some other foreign loan-words are given a literary form either by translation into Semitic or Romance Maltese, or by modification,

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

129

e.g. cutting 0 4.4-5.52:7 becomes qtugh 0 3.3-4.4:1, photographer 0 3.1.74:17 becomes fotografu 0 3.1-3.13:1, portavoce 'mouthpiece' tt 8.4.17-18:7 becomes portavuCi tt 14.1.27:16, crane N 12.2.52:11 becomes krejn 0 13.2.37:30. e) Other loan-words are borrowed without any modification at all. The journalistic features which we have just indicated show that although the vocabulary of the newspapers has not reached a literary standard, it has made progress in its own way, and cannot be considered merely spoken Maltese put into print. It derives from both the spoken and the literary language, but it occupies a sphere of its own. However, considering the great number of loan-words which it has embodied from the spoken language without any change at all, it seems reasonable to say that the vocabulary of the newspapers is nearer to the spoken than to the literary language as it is at present. Out of 27 particular themes studied above, there are only two, namely the religious terms and the general lexical items, that are very near to literary Maltese, with the exception of some English loan-words. The main reason behind this fact is that many of the loan-words which fall under these two headings are borrowed from Italian, and, by mere coincidence, the phonology and orthography of most of them correspond to the phonology and the spelling of Maltese, with the result that no change is required. In the following statistical surveys, words occurring more than once are counted each time. An analysis of the above corpus of unmodified loan-words shows that 78.4% of them are borrowed directly from English, 14.8% are borrowed directly from Italian, 2.9% are borrowed from French through English, 2% are borrowed from Latin terminology, 1.5% are borrowed from Latin through English, 0.2% are borrowed from Spanish through English, and finally, 0.1% are borrowed from Italian through English. This should make it clear enough that English is by far the greatest contributor in the field of unmodified loan-words since, all in all, it has contributed 83% of the entries. The other contributing languages taken together have given a share of only 17%. By analysing the number ofloan-words borrowed without any change at all with reference to the seven main themes, we find that 32.1% figure under entertainment (including sport and alimentation), 17.6% are under commercial and administrative terms, 17.4% appear under technical and mechanical terms, 14.3% are found under professional and ecclesiastical terms, 9.8% occur under the heading of general lexical items and, finally, 8.8% figure under education and social com-

130

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

munications. Of all the 27 individual sub-headings, two are worthy of special mention. These are sports, which contributed 15%, and commercial terms which had 6.1 %. Every other particular item has contributed less than 5% of the whole number of loan-words which were borrowed without any change at all. This is understandable enough, because there are twenty-seven individual sub-headings-a big number which does not allow much possibility for high percentages. The distribution of loan-words is given in the following three charts. The first one takes into consideration the main themes and gives the percentages of loan-words occurring in the three papers taken together in relation to the source or the original language. The second chart deals with particular sub-titles, and again gives the individual percentages of loan-words occurring in the three newspapers taken according to the source or original language. Finally, the third chart gives the actual number of unmodified loan-words occurring in every single newspaper for every sub-title. This last chart shows that L-Orizzont has about 90 loan-words more than each of the other two newspapers, which differ only marginally. The following abbreviations were employed in the first chart: Educs Education and Social Communications Commer Commerce and Administration Profess Professional and Ecclesiastical Technic Technical and Mechanical Terms Entert Entertainment and Alimentation General General Lexical Items

Chart 1 Main 7 Themes and percentages of loan-words in relation to source and original languages Main Theme

English

I tali an Latin

Educs Com mer Profess Technic Entert General

7.0 14.2 9.0 16.6 28.0 3.6

1.4 1.9 3.9 0.4 2.8 4.5

Totals

78.4

14.9

French through English

Latin through English

0.7

0.2 0.5 0.1 0.2 1.0 0.9

0.1

2.0

2.9

1.5

1.3

Spanish through English

Italian through English

0.2 1.0 0.2

0.2

0.1

0.2

0.1

Totals

8.8 17.6 14.3 17.4 32.1 9.8 100.0

131

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

The following abbreviations appear in the second chart: Educ Journal Radio Teleph Com mer Station Trade Legal Medic Police Militar Relig

Education Journalism and Photography Radio and Television Telephone and Post Office Commercial Terms Stationery and Clerical Terms Trade-Unions Legal Terms Medical Terms Police and Civilian Prisons Military Terms Religious Terms

Traffic Vehic Aircraf Ships Build In strum Electr Fashion Cinema Cater Food General

Traffic Terminology Vehicles Aircraft and Airport Ships and Seaport Building Industry Various Instruments Electricity Fashion and Colours Cinema and Theatre Catering Food and Drink General Lexical Items

Chart 2 The 27 Sub-Headings and percentages ofloan-words in relation to source or original languages

English SubHeadings

Italian Latin

French through English

Educ Journal Radio Teleph Commer Station Trade Politic Legal Medic Police Militar Relig Traffic Vehic Aircraf Ships Build In strum Electr Sports Fashion Music Cinema Cater Food General

3.1 1.2 1.9 0.8 6.2 3.2 2.5 2.3 1.3 3.3 0.7 3.2 0.5 2.0 3.5 2.2 3.3 1.4 1.8 2.4 15.0 4.0 2.1 2.0 2.3 2.6 3.6

0.3 0.4 0.3 0.4 1.1 0.2 0.1 0.5 0.8 1.1 0.2 0.7 1.1

0.5 0.2 0.6 0.5 0.2 0.8 4.5

0.8

0.9

Totals

78.4

14.9

2.1

2.9

0.1

Latin through English

Spanish through English

Italian through English

0.2

0.1

0.2 0.3 0.8

0.1

0.1

0.4

0.1 0.3

0.2 0.4

0.1 0.1

0.1

0.1

0.3

0.1 0.1 0.5

0.2 0.1

0.1 0.3

1.4

0.2

0.1

Totals

3.7 1.6 2.3 1.2 7.8 3.4 2.9 3.5 2.3 4.7 0.9 4.0 2.4 2.1 3.7 2.2 3.4 1.7 1.9 2.4 15.8 4.7 2.8 2.6 2.8 3.4 9.8 100.0

132

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Chart 3 Number of unmodified Loan-Words occurring in each Newspaper according to particular Sub-Titles Sub-Titles

L-Orizzont

Education Journalism/Photography Radio/Television Telephone/Post Office Commerce/ Administration Stationery/Clerical Terms Trade-Unions Politics Legal Medical Police Force/Prisons Military Religious Traffic Vehicles Aircraft/Airport Ships/Seaport Building Industry Instruments Electricity Sports Fashion/Colours Music Cinema/Theatre Catering Food/Drink General Lexical Items

13

10

14

5

40

18 16 12

10

30 8 20 II

8 25 12 18 9 5

14 86 15 21 12 13 12 57

514

Totals

4.3

Newspapers 11-Majja

STATISTICAL

ANALYSis oF THE SEMITIC,

In-Nazzjon Taghna

24 6 II

13 8

II

8 28 15 6 17 7 19

4 37 14 18 25 15 9

13

15

5

12 12 15 10

5 5

9 14 8 9 8 7

20 8 9 20 47 16 10 15

85 22 3 6

19 42

40

424

416

10

RoMANCE AND

5

II 10

ENGLISH

VocABULARY IN JouRNALISTIC MALTESE

In the previous section on the lexical material of the Maltese newspapers, we dealt with individual modified and unmodified loanwords (see above in 4.23 and 4.24). However interesting such an analysis may be in itself, it fails to give information as to the relative overall strength of the Semitic, Romance and English elements in the vocabulary occurring in the journalistic language as a whole. This can

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

133

be supplied, however, by statistical methods on the lines suggested by G. U. Yule in 1944 in his The Statistical Study of Literary Vocabulary (Cambridge), and more recently by J. Miles in 1967 in her Style and Proportion: The Language of Prose and Poetry (Boston), and especially by C. B. Williams in 1970 in his Style and Vocabulary: Numerical Studies (London). In what follows, we shall use the general approach by these writers, though in detail we do not always employ their methods. We are not, of course, interested in producing just numerical studies, but rather we aim at establishing the facts behind those statistical numbers. Our approach, therefore, will be that of recording statistical findings on given samples, and of studying and explaining their cause whenever relevant. We noted above (in 4.240) that the class of unmodified loan-words occurring in the newspapers is mainly made up of nouns, though some other grammatical categories occur as well. This statement similarly holds good in the case of modified loan-words. These observations make it useful to distinguish in the present statistical investigation, not only the class of the language of origin for every word occurring in the samples, but also the category of the parts of speech to which it belongs. As it was presumed that the percentages of Semitic, Romance and English words might vary according to the type of writing, samples of 1000 words each were taken from different genres of journalistic writings, i.e. the news report, the editorial, the article or feature writing, the display or normal advertisement, and the classified advertisement. The same exercise is repeated for all three newspapers, so that the total number of words occurring in all these samples amount to 15,000. 4.31 The samples for the news report type of writing were taken from the first 1000 words occurring on page 1, 1st August, 1973, in each of the three newspapers. 8 The combined result of the three samples is given in percentages in the chart below, where the following abbreviations were used: S stands for Semitic; RM stands for Romance Modified; RU stands for Romance Unmodified; EM stands for English Modified; while EU stands for English Unmodified. As to the grammatical classes, the following abbreviations were used: Art stands for Definite Article; Prep stands for Preposition; Pron stands for Pronoun; Adv stands for Adverb; Adj stands for Adjective; Conj stands for Conjunction; and Part stands for Particle.

134

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Chart showing the Class of the Language of Origin of the Words in the News Reports

s

RM RU EM EU

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

10.0 15.53 1.27 0.03 3.6

15.9

12.77 2.17

12.3

8.77

6.46 0.97

0.03

Conj

Part Totals

1.67 3.93

2.37

0.1

0.03

2.03 72.27 22.6 1.27 0.03 0.07 3.83

This chart shows that while there are altogether 72.27% Semitic words in the news reports which were analysed, there are 23.87% Romance, and 3.86% English. The stress is clearly on the Semitic element, though the Romance element is also substantial. The English element is relatively small, but it is not altogether negligible. As to the grammatical categories, we note that 75.66% of the loan-words are nouns. This is certainly a very high percentage, but this is what one really expects to find also in Standard Maltese. If we compare the three newspapers, we find that In-Nazzjon Tag1ma has a higher percentage of Semitic Maltese words in the news reports than the other two newspapers. On the other hand, L-Orizzont is marked by its higher percentage of unmodified English words. Finally, II-Hajja stands half way between the other two papers.

8 The following chart gives the individual percentages of the three samples. As usual, the lettes 0, l'f, and N stand for the titles of the daily newspapers studied here.

Chart showing the Class of the Language of' Origin of the Words in the News Reports in each Newspaper

s

0

RM

0

RU

0

11 N 11 N

11 N

EM

0

EU

0

11 N 11 N

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

Conj

Part

Totals

8.1 8.9 13.0 16.2 16.1 14.3 0.5

15.7 16.4 15.6

10.2 13.4 14.7 2.1 2.5 1.9

13.7 12.3 10.9

8.0 9.0 9.3

6.0 7.1 6.3 0.6 0.8 1.5

3.0 0.9 1.1 4.6 4.1 3.1

3.0 1.8 2.3

2.7 2.1 1.3

2.3

70.4 71.9 74.5 23.5 23.5 20.8 0.5 1.0 2.3

0.1

0.1

1.0

5.2 3.5 2.1

0.3 0.1

0.1 0.2

5.6 3.5 2.4

135

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

4.32 The samples for the analysis of the editorial were taken from the first 1000 words of the editorials, 1st, 2nd and 3rd August, 1973. 9 The combined result is given in percentages in the following chart. Chart showing the Class of the Language of Origin of the Words in the Editorials Noun

s

RM RU EM EU

8.2 13.93 0.97 0.27 1.43

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

Conj

14.67

13.7 2.43

12.53

9.47

7.2 1.77 0.03

3.67 4.0

3.26 0,07

0.1

Part Totals 2.2

0.1

74.9 22.2 1.1 0.27 1.53

This chart show that the percentage of the Semitic words used in the editorials is higher than that of the news reports, and therefore that the trend towards literary Maltese is strongly felt in the editorials. Taking into consideration the grammatical category of the loan-words, we find that the editorials make use of fewer loan nouns than the news reports. If we compare the three newspapers, we find that while In-Nazzjon Tag1ma and /1-Hajja make use of approximately the same number of loan-words in the editorials, L-Orizzont makes use of fewer loan-words. This shows that the editorial in this newspaper tends to be selective

9

The individual percentages of the three newspapers are given in the following chart. Chart showing the Class of the Language of Origin of the Words in the Editorials in each Newspaper

s RM RU EM EU

0 It N 0 It N 0 It N 0 It N 0 It N

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

Conj

Part

Totals

I3.2 5.7 5.7 10.7 15.8 15.3 0.6 1.1 1.2 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.9 1.7 1.7

16.5 14.0 13.5

13.2 12.4 15.5 1.6 2.4 3.3

15.3 13.8 8.5

8.7 10.1 9.6

8.2 7.2 6.5 1.3 1.3 2.7

3.0 3.7 4.0 2.2 5.0 4.8

2.4 2.5 4.9

1.5 2.6 2.5

82.0 72.0 70.7 15.8 24.5 26.3 0.6 1.5 1.2 0.4 0.3 0.1 1.2 1.7 1.7

0.3

0.1

0.3

0.2

136

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

in its vocabulary, and is influenced to some extent by the theory of 'pure' language generally advocated in literary circles. 10 4.33 The samples for the articles were taken from the first 1000 words occurring on p. 5, L-Orizzont, 1st and 2nd August, 1973; p. 8, Il-Hajja, lst and 2nd August, 1973; and p. 4, In-Nazzjon Tag1ma, 1st and 3rd August, 1973. The combined result of the three samples 11 is given in the following chart. Chart showing the Class of the Language of Origin of the Words in the Articles

Noun

s

RM RU EM EU

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

16.07 12.0 1.8 0.1 0.03 0.03

11.73

4.5 2.07

2.54 3.9 0.03

Verb

Art

14.77 7.5 12.63 1.0 0.3 0.97

Conj 5.24

Part Totals 2.73

0.03

0.03

77.08 20.5 1.09 0.33 1.0

When we look at this chart in the light of the statistics given above, we note that articles have the highest percentage in Semitic words. 10 These statistical results are not haphazard. The editor of L-Orizzont, Mr. Cannel Micallef, informed the present writer in an interview that in the editorials he tends towards literary Maltese. In matters of vocabulary, since 'pure' Maltese is attempted, the link with literary Maltese is closer than under other aspects, such as in matters of style and syntax. 11 The individual percentages resulting from these samples is given in the following chart.

Chart showing the Class of the Language of Origin of the Words in the Articles in each Newspaper

s

0

RM

N 0

RU

N 0

EM

N 0

EU

N 0

" "

" "

"

N

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

Conj

Part

Totals

7.9 5.3 9.3 11.4 16.9 9.6 1.3 1.1 0.6 0.9

14.3 16.8 13.2

12.0 14.0 22.2 2.3 2.1 1.0

13.4 12.7 9.9

12.9 10.2 12.1

3.9 5.6 4.0 2.2 1.3 2.7

3.8 0.2 3.6 5.6 5.8 0.3 0.1

4.5 5.3 5.9

2.6 1.3 4.3

75.3 71.4 84.5 21.5 26.2 13.8 1.4 1.2 0.7 1.0

0.8 1.1 1.0

0.1 0.2 0.1

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.8

1.2

1.0

137

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

This is an indication of more 'careful' writing, which tends towards the literary language. If we compare the three newspapers, we find that 11-Hajja has more loan-words than L-Orizzont in the article genre, but, on the other hand, L-Orizzont has many more loan-words than In-Nazzjon Taghna in the same genre. The reason behind this is that 11-Hajja makes the most liberal use of loan nouns, while the other newspapers are more 'careful' in the use of this grammatical category. 4.34 The survey of the display advertisements was also carried out on 1000 words, and these, of course, include several advertisements in different issues. 12 The combined result of the samples taken from the three newspapers 13 is given in the following chart. This chart shows a striking difference from the previous statistical information regarding the percentages of other types of journalistic 12 The following is a list of references to the display advertisements which were studied for this survey: 0 3.4-5.67-86:1; 0 5.1-2.82-91 :I; 0 6.4-5.74-81 :I; 0 7.1-3.34-53:1; 0 7.4-5.31-42:1; 0 8.1-2.46-83:1; 0 11.4-5.30-37:1; 0 14.4-5.28-44:1; 0 2.1-3.21-33:2; 0 5.1-3.48-62:2; M 4.3-5.53-59 :I; M 7.4-5.26-46:1; M 8.1-2.59-68 :I; M 8.3-4.37-74:1; M 10.5.36-44:2; M 10.4-5.19-28:2; M 7.1-2.30-38:3; M 7.1-2.39-54:3; M 8.1.60-76:3; M 14.1-3.41-47:6; M 8.1.58-65:7; M 8.4-5.64-73:7; M 13.4-5.83-90:8; N 2.1-2.71-83:1; N 4.1-2.70-75:1; N 4.4.57-60:1; N 6.4-5.47-62:1; N 8.1-2.61-68:1; N 2.1-2.64-81 :2; N 4.1-2.55-67:2; N 4.4.61-64:2; N 8.1-3.61-70:2; N 1.4-5.29-46:3; N 12.1-2.59-73:3; N 2.1-2.61-74:4; N 5.3-5.17-41 :4; N 7.4-5.50-62:4. 13 The individual percentages of the display advertisements are given in the following chart.

Chart showing the Class of the Language of Origin of the Words in the Display Advertisements in each Newspaper

s RM RU EM EU

0

H N 0 H N

0

H N

0

H N

0

H N

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

Conj

Part

Totals

18.6 18.5 20.8 14.8 15.5 12.5 2.8 2.2 2.3 1.0 0.6 0.8 12.9 8.8 8.2

14.3 16.3 13.5

8.5 7.8 7.4 0.8 0.9 1.1

15.2 16.7 17.3

2.2 1.5 1.9

1.6 1.4 2.9 0.1 0.3 0.2

0.3 3.0 3.7 1.6 1.8 2.8 0.4

3.6 3.0 2.5

0.2 0.2 1.0

64.5 68.4 71.0 14.3 18.7 16.6 3.4 2.2 2.3 1.0 0.6 0.8 13.8 10.1 9.3

0.1

0.2 0.1 0.1

0.2 0.1

0.2

0.7 0.7

0.3

138

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Chart showing the Class of the Language of Origin of the Words in the Display Advertisements Noun

s

RM RU EM EU

Art

19.3 14.71 14.27 2.43 0.03 0.8 9.97 0.13

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

Conj

Part Totals

7.9 16.39 0.93 O.o7

1.86

1.97 0.2

2.1 2.3 0.13

3.04

O.o7

O.o7

0.7

0.13

0.47 67.74 17.77 2.62 0.8 11.07

O.o3

writing in matters of the Semitic and the English elements. While the percentage of Semitic Maltese is much smaller, that of English loan-words is considerably higher. This is so because the display advertisements deal mainly with modem objects for sale, and modem types of entertainments, which quite often than not have English technical terms (see above 4.245). 4.35 The survey of the classified advertisements was, as in the previous types of journalistic writing, carried out on 1000 words, and consequently includes many advertisements in each newspaper. 14 The combined result of these samples is given in percentages in the following chart. 14 The following list contains the references to the classified advertisements which were studied here: 0 11.1.2-49:1; 0 11.2.2-51 :I; 0 11.3.4-44:1; 0 11.4.2-29:1; 0 11.5.2-22:1; H 11.1.3-40:1; H 11.2.3-43:1; H 11.1.11-39:2; H 11.2.3-39:2; H 11.1.3-19:3; H 11.2.42-48:3; H 11.1.3-16:4; N 3.1.52-69:1; N 3.5.51-61 :2; N 3.4.33-68:3; N 3.5.84-88:3; N 3.5. 46-84:4; N 3.5.46-63:6; N 3.1.54-59:7; N 3.1.43-58:8; N 3.1.69-84:8; N 3.5.23-38:9; N 3.5.49-52:9; N 3.5.46-61 :10; N 3.5.67-78:10. The individual percentages of each newspaper is given in the following chart.

Chart showing the Class of the Language of Origin of the Words in the Classified Advertisements in each Newspaper

s

0 H

RM

0 H

RU

0 H

EM

0 H

EU

0 H

N

N

N

N

N

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

Conj

Part

25.3 23.4 18.7 12.7 11.4 12.2 3.6 2.1 5.0 0.6 0.5

12.8 13.3 14.3

2.1 6.6 3.9 2.8 1.8 2.5

14.8 18.2 17.7

03. 0.7 1.4

1.2 2.9 1.7 0.1 0.3 0.5

4.0 4.4 3.5 2.0 1.7 3.5 0.1

3.4 2.6 3.6

0.2 0.4

12.5 8.5 10.8

0.1

0.1 0.1

1.7 1.2 0.2

Totals 63.9 72.3 65.2 17.6 15.2 18.7 3.7 2.1 5.0 0.6 0.5 14.2 9.9 11.1

139

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Chart showing the Class of the Language of Origin of the Words in the Classified Advertisements

Noun

s

RM RU EM EU

Art

22.46 13.47 12.1 3.57 0.37 10.6 0.03

Verb

Prep

4.2 16.9 2.37

Pron

Adv

Adj

Conj

0.8

1.93 0.3

3.97 2.4 0.03

3.2

Part Totals 0.2

1.03

0.07

67.13 17.17 3.6 0.37 11.73

If we compare this chart whith the previous one, we note that there is hardly any real difference. This is because here we are also dealing with advertisements, in spite of the fact that these are classified, while the others were display. They all deal practically with the same objects with little linguistic difference. When compared to other journalistic writings, the main stress here is on English loan-words. 4.36 For the sake of comparison, we are giving the following comparative chart containing the overall percentages of occurrence of the categories studied above in the journalistic language as a whole (J for short in the chart below), compared with analogous figures for the literary Maltese, based on three literary texts of 1000 words each/ 5 (L for short), and the overall percentages of spoken Maltese, 15 The analysis on Maltese literature was carried out on 1000 words from a book of essays by G. Galea, Bla ftabi (Bl for short), Malta, 1972, pp. 9-12; a second sample of 1000 words was taken from a novel by F. Sammut, 11-Gagga (G for short), Malta, 1971, pp. 21-23; and a third sample of 1000 words was taken from a book of verse by C. Psaila, (popularly known as Dun Karm), Antologija (An for short), Malta, 1963, pp. 1-5. The individual percentages are given below.

Chart showing the Class of the Language of Origin of the Words occurring in the Literary Maltese texts

s RM RU EM EU

Bl G An Bl G An Bl G An Bl G An Bl G An

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

Conj

Part

Totals

17.5 18.7 20.6 5.3 2.0 3.7 0.4 0.6 0.2

15.6 12.9 12.8

15.1 22.4 14.9 1.6 0.5

15.1 12.5 13.6

8.6 8.6 8.2

8.0 9.3 7.8 0.7

4.1 3.7 9.8 1.6 0.4

4.8 4.6 5.4

1.4 3.6 2.3

85.4 96.3 85.6 9.2 2.9 3.7 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.3

0.2 0.2 0.1

0.4

0.2

140

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

based also on three samples of I 000 words each, taken from free talks recorded in 1969 by the Malta-Leeds Dialect Survey, 16 (St for short). Chart showing the Class of the Language of Origin of the Words occurring in Journalistic, Literary and Spoken Maltese

s RM RU EM EU

J

L St

J L St

J L

St J L St J L St

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

11.64 18.93 13.67 13.82 3.67 5.53

14.86 12.15 13.77 17.47 12.03 19.8 2.01 0.7 0.67

13.37 13.73 10.17 0.04

7.82 8.47 8.63

0.4 0.6 0.29

5.03 8.37 14.57 1.26 0.23 0.83 0.01

2.73 5.87 2.73 3.54 0.53 0.93 0.03

0.01

1.56

4.07 0.17 3.73

0.02

0.03 0.01

0.03

0.07

0.13 0.04

Part Totals

3.5 4.93 1.97 0.02

1.82 72.92 2.43 93.97 2.77 86.34 20.69 5.13 8.09 1.65 0.4 1.1 0.3

0.01

0.03

0.2

0,02

Conj

0.01

0,02

0.03 0.25

0,07

0.13

0.6

O.o7

0.02

0.02 0.13

om

0.06 4.44 0.37 4.66

The above chart shows that the percentages for the Semitic and the modified Romance loan-words of journalistic Maltese vary greatly from those in both the literary and the spoken language. As to the Semitic element, journalistic Maltese has clearly the smallest percentage. The figures given above show that journalistic Maltese, as a whole, gives priority to the 'message', and not to the linguistic 'purity'; therefore, it makes use of any word, whether Semitic or Romance (and to a lesser extent also English), which seems apt to convey the most precise idea.

16 The samples of spoken Maltese were taken from tapes I and 2 of the 1969 set of the Malta-Leeds Dialect Survey, kindly put at my disposal by kind permission of Dr. B.S. J. Isserlin and Professor J. Aquilina. The samples were selected from free talks between Professor J. Aquilina and each of the following informants: Mr. Espedito Cassar, Mr. George Cini, Mr. Joseph Attard, Mrs. Angela Attard, and Mr. Vincent Pule. The samples of 1000 words each occur on pages 1932-1938 and 1952-1954 (later referred to as sample A, including talks between Professor Aquilina and each of the informants Mr. E. Cassar and Mr. G. Cini), pages 1939-1947 (later referred to as sample B, containing a free talk between Professor J. Aquilina and Mr. J. Attard), pages 1970-1979 (later referred to as sample C, including free talks between Professor J. Aquilina and each of the two informants Mrs. A. Attard and Mr. V. Pule). The pages refer to the manuscripts containing the transcriptions of the tapes, for which, see, Departmental Library, Department of Semitic Studies, The University of Leeds, or Department of

141

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

4.4

PHRASEOLOGICAL MATERIAL

4.40 The phraseological material which is peculiar to contemporary Maltese newspapers may be classified under three main headings. These are (a) prepositional phrases, (b) idiomatic calques in translation, and finally (c) phraseological borrowings. By prepositional phrases we mean those phrases which are introduced by a preposition. Here, however, we are dealing only with those prepositional phrases which were borrowed from another language. The borrowing in this case may either be direct from the foreign language without any modification, as in the case of phrase to the point found in M 6.1. 53-54 :30, or else in a modified or translated form, e.g. in kwantu 'as to' N 4.2.20 :2, from Italian in quanto, and gna/1-beneficcju ta' 'in favour of 0 6.2.43 :3, from Italian a beneficio di. Under the heading idiomatic calques in translation, we will deal with cases in which the foreign verb or prepositional verb 17 (i.e. a verb governed by a preposition, as in to go on (strike)) influenced the Maltese idiom. Thus, we find examples as jaqta' figura 0 3.2.21-22:12, instead of the idiomatic Maltese jagnmel figura, literally 'he makes a figure', and jonorgu fuq strajk 'they go on strike' 0 1.3-5.7-8:15; N 1.1-4.5:14, instead of the regular form jistrajkjaw. Finally, under phraseological

Maltese and of Semitic Studies, University of Malta. The individual percentages for each sample are given in the following chart. Chart showing the Class of the Language of Origin of the Words occurring in the Spoken Maltese texts

s RM RU EM EU

A B

c

A B

c

A B

c

A B

c

A B

c

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

Conj

Part

Totals

11.9 13.6 15.5 6.0 5.0 5.6 0.2 0.6 1.0

13.2 11.7 11.2

19.3 21.0 19.1 0.7 0.2 1.1

11.1 9.1 10.3 0.2 0.2

9.3 7.8 8.8

12.5 13.2 18.0 1.3 0.3 0.9

3.3 2.9 2.0 0.9 1.4 0.5

2.2 1.3 2.4

4.3 2.7 1.3

87.1 93.3 88.6 9.1 7.1 8.1 0.2 0.7 1.6 0.0 0.2 0.0 3.6 8.7 1.7

0.1 0.5

0.1 0.1

0.1 3.2 7.0 1.0

0.1

0.2

0.2

0.1 0.1 0.2

0.3 1.0 0.5

0.1

17 We are using this term in the same way as it is employed in A Grammar of Contemporary English, by Randolph Quirk eta/., London, 1972, p. 811.

142

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

calques, we will be dealing with phrases, sayings and proverbs which are found in the newspapers either in the same form as in the original language, e.g. equal pay for equal work N 8.4.6-7:11, or in a modified or translated form, e.g. ahjar tard minn qatt 'better late than never' 0 5.2.36-37:14. 4.41

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

4.410 The prepositional phrases being studied here are of two types, namely, the unmodified prepositional phrases which were borrowed by Maltese just as they stand in the source language, and the modified prepositional phrases, which have undergone some change in phonology or orthography, or which were at least partially translated. 4.411 Prepositional phrases which came into the language totally unmodified were borrowed from either Italian or English. Other languages had no effect on the contemporary journalistic Maltese. 4.4111 In the prepositional phrases which are borrowed from Italian, the initial preposition can be with or without a definite article, and may be followed by whatever gender or number. Examples: a termini 'according to' 0 1.2.38:25; di natura 'by nature' N 4.4.56:16; del res to 'after all' 0 6.1-2.40:15; N 2.4.58 :31.

Here we can also mention a peculiar case of cross-fertilization which appears in the newspapers in the example /'antica 'in the old fashioned way' M 7.3.56:14. The orthography in this example is that of Italian. The initial /' stands for the Romance Maltese Ia, as in the phrase Ia Maltija 'the Maltese way' which is very common in the spoken language. The word Ia, however, finally goes back to Italian alia, literally 'to the', of which it is an abbreviation. 4.4112 The initial preposition in the unmodified prepositional phrases which are borrowed from English can also be followed or not by the definite article. Examples: at ease N 4.1.14:9; with flying colours 11 7.3.34:17; on medical groufJds N 1.4.52-53 :22; up to dateN 6.1.48-49 :14; before and after treatment 117.4.53-54:3; to the point 116.1.53-54:30.

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

143

4.412 Modified or partially translated prepositional phrases found in the journalistic language are all borrowed from Italian. They can be divided into two sub-classes, namely those in which the preposition still stands as it is in Italian, and those in which the preposition was somehow translated into Maltese. 4.4121 Prepositional phrases which are modified, but which are still introduced by an Italian preposition, are quite abundant in the newspapers. Here, we are limiting ourselves to some examples. It is worth noting that these prepositions have no function outside of these phrases. Thus, while the phrase in kwestjoni 'in question' 0 4.4.16 :3 is quite normal Maltese, one cannot replace the prepositional phrase fi/-kamra 'in the room' by *in il-kamra, even though the noun kamra is of Romance origin. Examples: a proporzjon 'in proportion to' 0 15.2.27:3; a konoxxenza ta' 'to the knowledge of 0 1.1.63-64:25; in konnessjoni rna' 'in connection with' 0 4.1.65 :3; ad unur ta' 'in honour of M 14.4.21 :7; a propositu ta' 'as regards to' M 8.3.24:8; afavur ta' 'in favour of N 4.4.65:20; da parti ta' 'on one's behalf N 8.4.66:14; in vista ta' 'considering that' M 8.2.14:2; N 1.3.12:17; in konsiderazzjoni 'in consideration' N 2.3.51 :3; in genera/i 'in general' N 5.1.65:3.

4.4122 Modified prepositional phrases which are introduced by a Semitic Maltese preposition are very few in number. Besides, the preposition involved is always g1la/ 'to', which sometimes appears as a clear translation of the Italian a, as in the example gha/1-benefii:i:ju ta' 0 6.2.43 :3, and at times appears as an orthographic change of the Italian all', as in the example gha/1-arja aperta 'in the open air' 0 7.1.26-27:8, from Italian al/'aria aperta. 4.42

IDIOMATIC CALQUES

4.420 Journalistic Maltese has been influenced through English idiomatic expressions. Here, we will be dealing with four aspects of this field of study, namely, (a) translation of English verbs used idiomatically, (b) translation of English prepositional verbs, (c) full translation of English idiomatic expressions, and finally, (d) partial translation of English idiomatic expressions. 4.421 English verbs occurring in idiomatic expressions are quite often reproduced literally by another verb in Maltese. Thus, for example,

144

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

the verb 'to break' is translated qasam in idiomatic expression qasam ir-rekord 'he broke the record' H 7.4.46-47:3. In this example, literary Maltese was also influenced by the corresponding English expression, but the verb chosen for this purpose is kiser, so that the whole expression in translation reads kiser ir-rekord. However, sometimes the difference is much greater. In literary Maltese, an English verb may have to be replaced by a prepositional verb, while in journalistic Maltese, the same verb may be replaced by another verb. Thus, for example, while in literary Maltese, the English verb 'to doubt' in the idiomatic expression 'to doubt something' is replaced by iddubita minn, in the journalistic language it is repaced simply by a verb iddubita without any additional preposition, e.g. qatt rna ddubita 1-integritd tieg1m 'he never doubted his integrity' H 14.1.31-33 :2. 4.422 In journalistic Maltese, we find many English prepositional verbs translated literally, with the result that the preposition chosen in the Maltese idiomatic expression does not correspond to the one used in the literary language. Thus, for example, the preposition 'on' was translated literally as fuq in the expression kien fuq zjara 'he was on a visit' 0 2.3.13-14:21 (instead of literary Maltese kien qed izur). The use of the prepositionfuq 'on' is quite widespread in the newspapers, even when the verb itself is not expressed, as in the headline il-gvernatur fuq btalaf'Ma/ta 'the governor on a holiday in Malta' 0 2.1.7-10:24, or when the verb is translated freely, as in jinsab fuq vaganza 'he is on a holiday' 0 2.2.40:13; H 9.2.44-45:27. Although many examples can be quoted here, we are selecting just a few: tit/aq fuq tour 'she goes on a tour' N 2.4.77-78:1; mar fuq btala 'he went on a holiday' H 6.1.54:14; jinsabu Malta fuq taiba tai-Gvern 'they are in Malta at the request of the Government' 0 1.1-2.7-8:17; ihalli Malta fuq kors fl-lngilterra 'he leaves Malta on a course in England' 0 5.3.22-24:16. The preposition which is normally used in literary Maltese in these examples is ghal, literally 'to'. Occasionally, this occurs in the newspapers, as in jinsab Malta ghal bta/a qasira 'he is in Malta for a short holiday' H 16.5.52-53:24, and similarly in tinsab Malta gha/1-bta/a 'she is in Malta for a holiday' 0 3.1.39-40:16. 4.423 The translation of the English idiomatic expression is full when all the words involved in it are replaced by Semitic and Romance Maltese and by English modified loan-words. This is what happens frequently in the newspapers, e.g. ir-responsabbilitd li jgorru 'the responsibility that they carry' 0 15.4.9-10 :2; and spara fuq rage/ 'he

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

145

fired on a man' 0 2.4.41-42:3. In literary Maltese, these would be replaced by ir-responsabbilta li jkol/hom and spara ghat rage/ respectively. 4.424 The translation of the English idiomatic expression is partial when either the preposition following the verb, or some other word connected with the idiomatic phrase remains untranslated, e.g. johorgu on strike 'they go on strike' N 2.4.65-66:14; se jmorru fuq tour 'they are going on a tour' M 16.2.50:1, nehduhomfor granted 'we take them for granted' M 8.2.14 :22, jinsab Malta fuq exchange visit 'he is in Malta on an exchange visit' N l2.l.l3-l4 :2, tqieghdu fuq alert 'they were put on the alert' N 3.4.51-52:22. 4.43

PHRASEOLOGICAL CALQUES

4.430 Journalistic Maltese was influenced by both Italian and English in its phraseological expressions, sayings and proverbs. Here, we deal with these aspects under two headings, being the modified phraseological calques, and the unmodified borrowings. 4.431 Modified phraseological calques found in the newspapers were borrowed mainly from Italian. Such borrowings from this language may be classified under two sub-headings, being (a) lexically modified calques, e.g. kolonja tas-sajf 'summer camp for foreign students' 0 3.l.l4-l5:27, from Italian 'colonia d'estate', and (b) phonologically modified calques, e.g. /avuri forzati 'forced labour' N 1.2.24: I, from Italian 'lavori forzati'. 4.4311 Lexically modified calques generally tend to have at least a Semitic Maltese preposition, the most common being the word ta' 'of, which serves as an equivalent to the Italian preposition 'di', e.g. kolp ta' stat 'coup d'etat' N 3.3-5.3:14, from Italian 'colpo di stato', impediment ta' partenza 'debarred from leaving the country' M 1.3. 14-15:27, from Italian 'impedimenta di partenza', stat ta' emergenza 'state of emergency' M 5.1-2.17:6, from Italian 'stato d'emergenza'. There are also other lexical calques which have more Italian words replaced with Semitic Maltese, e.g. gublew tal-jidda 'silver jubilee' N 4.1-2.55:2 from Italian 'giubileo d'argento'; hafnaparoli ufatti xejn 'a talker but not a doer' N 5.2-3.6:4 from Italian 'parole si e fatti no'; ma tghoddx u hija bla effett 'nul and void' M 9.4.8-9:2 from Italian 'nulla e senza effetto'; altru minn paroli biss 'not just empty words',

146

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

literally 'far from words alone', from Italian 'altro che non parole soltanto'. 4.34111 Phonologically modified calques retain the words occurring in Italian, but these undergo some change in phonology and orthography. Such calques are so common that some of them have also been accepted in literary Maltese. This happens when the phrase cannot be otherwise translated, e.g. materja prima 'raw material' 0 2.4.45 :4; M 1.1.33:4; N 1.2.13:4, from Italian 'materia prima', prima k/assi 'first class' M 6.2.3-4:24, from Italian 'prima classe', prezz medju 'average price' 0 4.2.53-54:15, from Italian 'prezzo medio', eta medja 'middle age' 0 15.1-3.11 :11, from Italian 'eta media'. When the phraseological calque can be replaced by a Maltese expression, or can otherwise be partially translated by Semitic or time-honoured Romance Maltese, it may occur both in the newspapers and in the spoken language, but not necessarily in literary Maltese. Thus, the calque bona vo/onta 'good will' 0 14.1.28:14 occurs both in spoken Maltese and in the newspapers, but in literary Maltese it is replaced by the Semitic expression rieda tajba, which occasionally figures as well in the press, as in M 8.3.26 :2. The calque maggor parti 'greater part' M 15.5.33: I can also be replaced by i/-parti 1-kbira in literary Maltese. 4.43112 As an effect of cross-fertilization, noticed also above, we find occasional calques of hybrid formation, e.g. secondo ordni 'second (religious) order' 0 8.4.52 :8, derived from Italtian 'secondo ordine' -where the first word is unmodified Italian, but the second adjusted to Romance Maltese. 4.4312 There are also some modified phraseological calques borrowed from English. Thus, the proverb 'people in glass-houses should not throw stones' appears in the journalistic language as min g1wndu dar tal-figieg ma jwaddabx gebe/ N 5.3-4.16:30. Then, the phrase 'the mentally handicapped' was translated by means of words of Italian derivation as i/-menta/ment inkapai:itati M 12.4.8-9 :2, but with the same syntactic structure found in English. 4.432 Unmodified phraseological borrowings occurring in the newspapers are directly derived either from Italian or from English. No other language has had any effect in this particular field. In the following analysis, we will deal first with Italian phraseological borrowings, and later with English phraseological borrowings.

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL ASPECTS

147

4.4321 The Italian phraseological borrowings may be divided under two sub-headings, being (a) idioms or idiomatic phrases; and (b) proverbs and proverbial sayings. 4.43211 Italian idioms or idiomatic expressions which occur in the newspapers figure as well in spoken Maltese, but they are unlikely to be accepted at the literary level. The following directly borrowed expressions can serve as examples: punti di partenza 'points of departure' N 4.2.21 :28; di ottima fattura 'of the best quality' M 6.2.38-39:27; mezza asta 'half mast' N 8.4.14:6; pezzi grossi 'the big heads' M 7.2.35:24; doppia faccia 'two-faced' 0 8.4.55:9; mezz'etd 'middle age' 0 2.4.43:3; minestra riscaldata 'second-hand material', literally 'reheated soup', M 7.1.72:10. 4.43212 Italian unmodified proverbs occur very rarely in the newspapers, and they are rare also in spoken Maltese. As an example, we can quote the proverb non sempre Pasqua 'life is not always a game', literally 'it is not always Easter', N 8.3.71-73:27. In literary Maltese, Italian unmodified proverbs are not, as a rule, employed. 4.4322 The English unmodified phraseological borrowings may also be divided under two sub-headings, being (a) idioms or idiomatic phrases, and (b) proverbs or proverbial expressions. 4.43221 English unmodified idioms or idiomatic phrases are common in the newspaper language because of the impact of spoken Maltese. At the literary level, such phrases are normally translated or replaced by Maltese idioms. The following English phrases and idioms can serve as examples: standard of living 0 6.2.77:18; as such M 7.3.24:28; turning point N 7.5.42:13; alone and unaided N 4.4.59-60:11; straws in the wind M 8.3.52:21; a necessary evil N 8.5.45:24. 4.43222 English proverbs or proverbial expressions have also found a place in the newspapers, just as they do in the spoken language. Literary Maltese does not favour such a practice, and therefore, English borrowings of this type would be replaced either by a Maltese proverb or proverbial expression, or alternatively by a literal translation. As examples of the journalistic use of such borrowings, we can quote the following: charity begins at home N 5.1.81-82:29; to work hard and play hard N 4.4.42-43:15. Under this same heading, we can add that certain sayings are being used as political slogans (or even as social principles), such as equal pay for equal work N 8.4.6-7:11.

5. 5.1

STYLE

PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS

5.10 As under other aspects, so in style journalistic Maltese draws on both the literary and the spoken language. It is only natural, however, that since the journalistic language makes use of the written medium, it must participate to a certain extent in the stylistic restraints occurring in the literary language. Thus, for example, one would hardly expect to find any equivalents for incomplete utterances and odd words in the newspapers. Such features are quite normal in the spoken language where the speaker can support them by gestures. Besides, by observing his hearers's or hearers' immediate reactions, he can also decide whether such incomplete utterances prove to be sufficient 'triggers' to impart the required message. The journalist, like any other writer, lacks such paralinguistic means and, therefore, he is bound to be more explicit and clear in conveying his message. Due to such linguistic restraints, the influence of spoken Maltese on the journalistic language in matters of syntax is thus limited. 5.11 In this chapter, we are limiting our investigation to those stylistic aspects which are of primary concern to the journalistic language. However, notwithstanding the fact that here we are interested only in style as it appears in the newspapers, we are bound on occasion to work partially on common ground with the spoken and the literary language. In doing so, however, we shall try not to get involved more than is necessary in non-journalistic material. 5.12 Style, in the sense we are taking it here, is the manner of expressing thought by means of words, grammar and syntax. 1 The term manner in this definition is a key-word, because it underlines the essential function of style. It also implies that style is concerned with choice at different levels of language, so that style in a given text can be the result of (a) choice at the lexical level, (b) choice at the morphological level, (c) choice at the syntactic level, or (d) a combination of these levels. 1 P. Guirand, and P. Kuents, in their anthology La Stylistique, Paris, 1970, p. 3, say, "Le style est Ia maniere de faire et, sur le plan du langage qui est seul ici en cause, c'est le moyen d'exprimer Ia pensee par le moyen de mots et constructions". See also pp. 4-15 for other definitions.

STYLE

5.2

149

GENERAL DESCRIPTION oF THE JouRNALISTIC GENRES

5.20 Just as in literature one may speak of literary genres 2 with the aim of establishing certain categories in prose and poetry, so in journalism, as an independent branch of language, one can talk of journalistic genres. Each of these genres should have a particular purpose of communication, and somewhat distinct stylistic use of the language itself-although certain trends may of course occur in more than one genre. 5.21 In the present survey, we are restricting our study to what appear to be the essential four journalistic genres. 3 These are (a) the news report; (b) the editorial; (c) the article; and finally (d) the advertisement. 5.22 The four main journalistic genres are distinguished by their aims. One of them, the news report, tries to inform the reader; one, the editorial, tries to sway his beliefs and emotions; the third, the article, tries to instruct him; and the fourth, the advertisement, tries to induce him buy something or entertain himself. It is clear that these different aims will affect detailed style.

5.3

THE FoRM OF THE JouRNALISTIC GENRES

In this section, we will consider each of the four journalistic genres in matters concerning form. This will in particular involve a consideration of such aspects as conciseness (including the average length of each genre), as well as the distribution of material peculiar to each genre.

5.31

THE NEWS REPORT GENRE

The news report is the informative genre. It aims in fact at giving information to the reader about past, present and future events of general interest. While remote events are admittedly sometimes mentioned, they generally serve as background information, and simply shed more light on the more important news items of contemporary or forthcoming events. 2 Guiraud, and Kuents, op. cit., p. 71, comment, "La notion de 'genre' litteraire ... jouait un role considerable dans Ia rhetorique classique. Cette notion avait ete obliteree par une vision de Ia litterature qui mettait au premier plan Ia personnalite psychologique du createur. Elle surgit a nouveau aujourd'hui et apparait comme un relais indispensable de !'analyse stylistique". 3 We are naturally concerned here only with the journalistic genres as such, and not with further stylistic peculiarities of individual authors.

150

STYLE

5.310 The intrinsic characteristic element of the news report is, therefore, the general information normally given about human activity in different fields. This brings with it certain restraints on the form in which this genre has to be presented. It goes without saying that this type of writing is given in prose, as in the other three journalistic genres. The main features of the news report may be summed up as (a) conciseness, (b) simplicity, and (c) clarity. 5.311

CoNCISENEss

The news report genre is, with the exception of the advertisement, the shortest of all journalistic types of writings. This is because its scope is very restricted in most cases, although news reports from Parliament form a clear exception. Conciseness is also necessary for an extrinsic reason, namely the need to allow a great variety of news items to be included in the same issue of the newspaper concerned. With the aim of establishing the average length of the news report genre, the present writer has examined all the reports beginning on page one of 1st August, 1973, issue of each newspaper under review. This gave a total of 15 news reports (five from each newspaper), containing 5720 words in all. The parliamentary news report studied here has a total of 2468 words, and is fairly representative of such reports. The average number of words in the news report genre is 375. However, if we put aside the parliamentary report, the average number of the normal news reports would go down to 225 words. 4

4 The following chart gives the individual number of words occurring in the news reports beginning on page one in the I st August, 1973, issues. In counting the words in these, as well as in the subsequent, texts, we have taken the orthographic word as the unit. However, as in other studies we are interested in the individual entries of the parts of speech, we have always counted the definite articles and the prepositions as separate words, whether they occur on their own, or whether they are affixed.

Frequency Distribution of Words occurring in the News Report

No. of News Report

2

4

Totals

Average

226 253

Orizzont Hajj a Nazzjon

361 523 2468

327 272 327

242 267 209

103 175 126

97 30 93

1130 1267 3223

645

Totals

3352

926

718

404

220

5620

375

STYLE

151

Considering the average number of words in the news reports of the individual daily newspapers, we notice that these are in the following descending order: In-Nazzjon Tag1ma, with an average of 645 words; 1/-Hajja, with 253 words; and L-Orizzont, with 226 words. 5.312

SIMPLICITY

The news report tends to be written in a simple style. Flowery language, which is sometimes encountered in literary Maltese, is alien to this type of writing. The need for brevity, however, sometimes militates against simplicity of style, for example when several relative or subordinate clauses are used to compress what would otherwise be separate sentences. 5.313

CLARITY

The news report requires that facts be reported in an organised fashion so that unity is attained throughout the whole test. Key sentences are of major importance, as they give the first and main information in the report. Quite often key-words lead to an internal structure of chaining. Thus, we note quite often that the first key-word in the paragraph gives new information; old information is then given as a background; later, additional old or new information is presented to the reader. 5.32

THE EDITORIAL GENRE

The editorial is the persuasive genre in matters of ideology in the newspaper writings. It aims in fact at persuading the readers how they should judge recent or forthcoming events, and leading them to form an opinion in favour of, or against, solutions which should be applied in the circumstances in question. In order to attain this, the editorial tries to excite interest in a subject of actuality, combats (or arouses!) existing prejudices, and puts foward new arguments in favour of the principles being maintained. 5.320 The intrinsic characteristic element of the editorial is persuasion, and the vindication of principles in different fields, as for example, in sociology, politics, economics and education. Therefore this type of writing differs greatly from the news report, which simply aims at narrating facts in a concise and orderly manner, but with no admitted

152

STYLE

evaluation. Conciseness is also necessary here, but the orderly presentation of material follows a more logical pattern. 5.321

CoNCISENEss

The editorial genre in the Maltese newspapers is as a rule longer than the news report genre, but shorter than the article genre. With the aim of establishing the average number of words in the editorial, the present writer has examined the first five editorials of the August, 1973, issues of each of the three daily newspapers. This gave a total of 15 editorials, containing 6726 words in all. The average number of words, therefore, occurring in the editorial genre in Maltese newspapers, is 448. 5 In matters of length in the editorial, the Maltese newspapers are in the following descending order: In-Nazzjon Tag1ma, with an average of 465 words; Il-Hajja, with 452 words; and L-Orizzont, with 427 words. On considering the length of the other editorials, we can say that the order which resulted from this survey is fairly correct. One may add that, while L-Orizzont and Il-Hajja keep approximately to the same length in their editorials, ln-Nazzjon Tag1ma differs greatly from one editorial to another, as one can see in the editorial of lst August, 1973, with 359 words, and in that of 6th August, 1973, with 707 words. 5.322 As to presentation or arrangement of material, the editorial genre in the Maltese newspapers is generally divided into four unequal parts. These are (a) introduction, (b) statement of the problem, (c) proposed proof or solution, and finally (d) concluding section. This distribution of material is followed in all the three newspapers under survey, with, occasionally, some minor changes in detail. 5.3221 Of these four parts, the introduction has an important function in the editorial structure. It aims at attracting the attention of the 5 The following chart gives the individual number of words occurring in the first five editorials, dated 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th August, 1973.

Frequency Distribution of' Words occurring in the Editorials No. of News Report Orizzont Hajj a Nazzjon Totals

4

2

Totals

Average

394 459 359

394 423 403

444 515 369

449 438 488

458 426 707

2139 2261 2326

428 452 465

1212

1220

1328

1375

1591

6726

448

STYLE

153

reader by creating suspense or curiosity about the subject to be discussed. This is done, for example, by general and somewhat vague hints in the first key sentence, and by adding information which captivates the interest of the reader, in order to prepare him for what the editorial has to say. 5.3222 The statement of the problem, or narration, has also an important share in the general scheme of the editorial. In it, the editor presents a brief account of the facts with which he is dealing, and thus predisposes his reader to accept the arguments which he has to present later in the proof or confirmation. 5.3223 Proof is the central part of the editorial. In it we find all the main arguments that the editor may think of in favour of the case he is trying to present to the public. Normally, arguments are presented in ascending order, so that the weakest come first, and the strongest points come later. This device gives the proof or confirmation a build-up into a climax, and leads naturally to the required conclusion. In some editorials, the proof is followed by a 'refutation'. This is done when the editor thinks that there is some argument he must combat. The aim of this section, therefore, is to answer or discredit such a possible argument. Otherwise, this part does not figure in the editorial at all, as it would be redundant. 5.3224 The conclusion of the editorial has also its share in the overall scheme of this genre. It helps by summing up the main points, and by underlining some strong argument adduced earlier in the same text. This concluding section serves also to maintain the aesthetic structure of the whole editorial, and thus it contributes to its harmony. 5.33

THE ARTICLE GENRE

The article, or feature writing, in the newspapers is the instructive genre. It aims in fact at instructing the reader on a given topic at a considerable length and depth. It is quite distinct from the news report genre which aims at offering simple reports about events without much elaboration and detail on the subject matter. This does not exclude the fact that some news items may be mentioned and even discussed in the article, as the occasion arises. However, the article genre is closer to the editorial genre because, although it is mainly instructive, it participates also in containing the persuasive element occurring there. As to

154

STYLE

extrinsic value, the article carries less weight than the editorial, which is the voice of the editor or the editorial board of the newspaper. The intrinsic characteristic of the article genre is, therefore, the instruction of the reader in different subject matters. The scope here is much wider than that of the editorial. A subject matter which is deemed not of general interest or even not deep enough for an editorial, may be treated in an article catering for a less wide public. 5.331 As to the length of the article, we can say that it must, of course, be concise, so as to fit in the limited space available in the Maltese newspapers, 6 although, compared to the other journalistic genres, the article is the longest form of writing in the newspapers. With the aim of establishing the average number of words occurring in the article genre, the present writer examined the first five articles of the August, 1973, issues of L-Orizzont page 5, 1/-Hajja page 8, and ln-Nazzjon Taghna page 4. This gave a total of 15 articles, with 12766 words in all. Therefore, the average number of words occurring in the article genre in Maltese newspapers is 851, which differs greatly from 448 words in the editorial, and from 375 in the news report. This is because the article is the most developed in its instructive and illustrative material among the journalitic genres. 7 When we compare the articles in matters of length in each newspaper, we find that while L-Orizzont and ll-Hajja have practically the same number of words (911 and 919 respectively), In-Nazzjon Taghna contains only 79% of that number. As to the arrangement of material, the article has only one essential part. This is the narration or statement of facts and other relevant information about the subject being treated. Sometimes, however, an 6 As we noted earlier (see above in 0.50) all the Maltese newspapers, whether daily or weekly, are 'tabloids', measuring approximately II inches by 16 inches. 7 The following chart gives the number of entries occurring in the first five articles of the August, 1973, issues of L-Orizzont p. 5, 1/-ltajja p. 8, and In-Nazzjon Tagfma p. 4.

Frequency Distribution of Words occurring in the Articles No. of Article Orizzont Hajj a Nazzjon Totals

2

4

Totals

Average

993 495 621

493 1062 629

924 1026 646

1172 858 887

972 1155 832

4554 4596 3615

911 919 723

2109

2184

2596

2917

2959

12765

851

STYLE

155

optional introductory part, and perhaps also an optional concluding section, are also added. Besides the articles of purely informative type, there are also others which contain a certain amount of persuasive elements, over and above the narrative part. When this happens, another section becomes obligatory. This is the proof or confirmation and, as in the case of the editorial, this will contain arguments in favour of the main assumptions. Although some of the articles deal with technical and scientific items, such as medicine, economics and atomic energy, the treatment is always 'informative' and not scientific, as it would have been the case had the articles been written by specialists for highly technical journals. The aim of the writers of journalistic articles is that of giving general information on the subject in a popular fashion.

5.34

THE ADVERTISEMENT GENRE

Another form of writing in the newspapers is that of advertisements, and this can be reasonably labelled as the advertisement genre. It differs in fact from all other journalistic genres both in form and content under various aspects, and is fairly widely represented in all daily newspapers. Its purpose is mainly that of exciting the interest of the readers in the advertised objects, and· to persuade them into buying such things. 8 We can say that the intrinsic characteristic of the advertisement genre is, therefore, persuasion. In a way the editorial genre tends also to persuade, but that is a different type of persuasion. There, it is a vindication of principles generally forming part of a pre-established policy. In the advertisement genre, one tries to persuade the reader that the object being advertised is good, useful, and financially obtainable. In the Maltese newspapers, we find two different types of advertisements: (a) the normal advertisement; and (b) the classified advertisement. The normal advertisement occupies generally a big

8 J. Pearson, and G. Turner, in their book The Persuasion Industry, London, 1966, p. 251, regard advertising as the persuasion industry and say that it consumed around £500 million a year in the sixties in the U.K., or roughly 2% of the national income. At the same time it employed over 200,000 individuals. In Malta, the situation is very different. Advertisements are written and sent to the newspapers by employees of the advertising firm itself, and not, as a rule, through agencies.

156

STYLE

space, independently of the number of words occurring in it. On the other hand, the classified advertisement occupies a relatively small space, and the number of words in it is always very limited. Here, we are concerned with advertisements which occur in Maltese in the three daily newspapers being reviewed in the present survey. We can, however, say that the Maltese newspapers, including the daily papers, publish also other advertisements, whose text is in Enlgish. Other languages do not figure in contemporary newspapers, though in the pre-war period it was still customary to have advertisements also in Italian. 5.341

LENGTH OF ADVERTISEMENTS

As to length, the advertisement genre is certainly the shortest. But even within the same genre, length differs from advertisement to advertisement. If we take into consideration the extrinsic form, we can make a useful distinction between the normal commercial advertisement, which is technically called 'display advertisement', 9 and the classified advertisement. 10 Since it seemed a priori that these two classes would have different lengths, a survey was carried out on fifteen display advertisements on their own, and fifteen classified advertisements, again on their own. The thirty advertisements together gave a total of 1618 words, ofwhich 1110 occurred in the display advertisements, and 508 in the classified advertisements. Therefore, the average number of words in the display advertisement in this sampling was 74, while that of the classified advertisement was 34. When we compare the three newspapers in matters of entries in the display advertisements, we find that L-Orizzont has more than double the number of words in 11-Hajja, while that of In-Nazzjon Taghna is approximately half way between the other two newspapers. 11 9 The display advertisement is that which is laid out with a variety of type faces and sizes, and is at times illustrated. See F. Jefkins, Advertising Made Simple, London, 1973, p. 200. 10 The classified advertisement is that which appears under classified headings, and is usually in small print and in words run on. When an advertisement in the classified section is not merely run on, but set out and possibly illustrated, it is called 'display classified' or 'semi-display'. For our purpose, this latter type is studied together with the classified advertisements. See Jefkins, op. cit .. foe. cit. 11 As to the display advertisement, the survey was carried out on the texts indicated in the following list: 0 3.4-5.67-86: I; 0 7.1-3.34-53: I; 0 7.4-5.31-42: I; 0 11.4-5.30-37: I; 0 5.1-3.48-62:2; "4.3-5.53-59:1; "7.4-5.36-46:1; "8.1-2.59-68:1;" 10.5.36-44:2; H 10.4-5.19-28:2; N 4.4.57-60:1; N 6.4-5.47-62:1; N 8.1-2.61-68:1; N 2.1-2.64-81 :2;

157

STYLE

5.3412 As to the classified advertisements, we can say that approximately they have the same number of entries, although some exceptions exist, especially in one case in which one advertisement has 93 words. Due to this very high number, the percentage of In-Nazzjon Tag1ma, in which it occurred, went up to 41; otherwise, it would have been 28. The average percentage of L-Orizzont is 29, and that of Il-llajja is 32Y 5.4

STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE CoNTENT oF THE JouRNALISTIC GENRES

We have seen earlier (see above in 5.12) that style is the manner of expressing thought by means of words, grammar and syntax. Therefore, we are bound to look at style on three different levels of language. Thus, we will examine the lexical component so that we may establish

N 5.3-5.17-41 :4. The individual number of entries which resulted from the survey is given in the following chart. Frequency Distribution of Words occurring in the Display Advertisements

No. of Advertisement

2

4

Totals

Average

Orizzont Haija Nazzjon

173 32 17

109 61 98

51

55

31

34 28 100

149 59 113

516 235 359

103 47 72

Totals

222

268

137

162

321

1110

74

12 The number of words in the classified advertisement is more important to the advertiser than that of the display advertisement, because there payment is made against the number of words used, and not against the space occupied, or rather 'sold out', as in the case of the display. The following list contains references to the classified advertisements studied for the present survey: 0 11.1.2-5: I ; 0 11.1.6-12: I ; 0 11.1.13-19: I ; 0 11.1.20-22 :I; 0 11.1.23-27 :I; tt 11.1.3-9 :I; tt 11.1.10-17 :I; tt 11.1.18-22:1; tt 11.1.23-29: I; tt 11.1.30-36: I; N 3.1.52-27: I; N 3.1.58-64: I; N 3.1.65-69: I; N 3.4. 38-46:3; N 3.4.47-64:3. The individual number of words occurring in these classified advertisements is given in the following chart.

Frequency Distribution of Words occurring in the Classified Advertisements

No. of Advertisement

4

2

Totals

Average

Orizzont Haija Nazzjon

17 32 21

37 39

22

39 23 22

16 32 45

34 36 93

143 162 203

29 32 41

Totals

70

98

84

93

163

508

34

158

STYLE

relevant stylistic trends regarding words as dictionary entries. We will also examine the morphological component so as to set up the main stylistic trends regarding words in morphological relations, that is, as related parts of speech. Finally, we will examine the syntactic component so as to find out and establish the principal stylistic trends regarding words in combination as they figure in syntax. 13 Style necessarily involves choice in the manner of expressing thought at different levels of language. 14 Thus, style occurs wherever the language has optional variants, independent of whether the option is used consciously or unconsciously. As the genre itself can be one of the factors contributing to choice in style, it was considered useful to keep the four journalistic genres apart in the present analysis.

5.41

STYLE AND VocABULARY IN THE JouRNALISTIC GENRES

The choice of the lexical material in each genre is influenced by the purpose of the genre itself. Thus, for example, the news report genre aims at giving an adequate coverage to local and foreign events. Since the main points of the news are generally already known to the reader beforehand, through the radio and television, the purpose of presenting something fresh to the public is attained linguistically by means of words which are likely to excite curiosity and sensation, with a stress of the negative aspect of life. On the other hand, to take another extreme case, in the advertisement genre, the purpose is that of attracting the attention of prospective customers and of persuading them to take the necessary steps to buy the advertised object. The linguistic means for attaining this purpose are found in words denoting positive aspects linked with the offer, so that no negative or derogative words may figure here. In the following survey, we will try to establish the main stylistic trends of each journalistic genre arising out of choice in vocabulary. 13 R.A. Sayee, in his Style in French Prose, Oxford, 1953, p. 4, said that for a good stylistic analysis "It would be possible to take as a basis the four conventional divisions of phonetics, accidence (or morphology), vocabulary (or semantics), and syntax". The present analysis agrees partially with this suggestion. Phonetics, however, was not dealt with, because here we are concerned with the (written) journalistic language, and, as Sayee said (toe. cit.), it "is probably of less importance for prose than for poetry and the results obtained from it tend to be speculative". 14 SeeS. Ullman, Language and Style, Oxford, 1966, pp. 132-153.

STYLE

159

Occasionally, some stylistic trend, such as the use of unmodified English loan-words, may occur in more than one genre, but even so, its employment should agree with the purpose of the relevant genre. 5.411

STYLE AND VocABULARY IN THE NEws REPORT GENRE

The stylistic aspects of the lexical material used in the news report reflects the sensationalism by which it tries to attract its readers. Thus, floods are always 'great' gnargnar kbar 'great floods' M 5.3-5.26:13, and a criminal attempt is always 'violent' attentat vjolenti 'violent attempt' 0 3.2.34:4; M 3.4.58-59:4; N 12.1.35:4_15 When the news themselves are not sensational, the news reporter makes use both of his immagination and of his linguistic ability in choosing adequate words so as to excite emotion or curiosity in the reader, even to the extent of saying that a tragedy could have happened when there were, in fact, no sensational events. The main stylistic features of the news report genre in matters of its lexical aspects may therefore be summed up under four headings. These are (a) the use of violent or negative words, (b) positive hyperbolic words, (c) English unmodified loan-words likely to create a "sensation" in the Maltese text, and, finally, (d) words tending to excite curiosity in the readers. Each of these items will be treated separately below. 5.4111

VIOLENT oR NEGATIVE WoRDS

Words denoting violent or negative aspects of human activity seem to be more welcome in the news report genre than words connected with the normal way of living. Similarly, news reports tend to be more involved in human deviations and in nature's catastrophes than in social order and harmony in nature. In this way, a special type of vocabulary is being constantly used in news reporting. This can be illustrated by some frequently found words in this type of writing, such 15 This trend towards sensationalism in the news report is, of course, not restricted to Maltese newspapers. Thus, for example, R. Georgin, in his L 'Inflation du Style, Paris, 1963, p. 63, commented on the French press, saying, "La presse aime, en tout cas elle emploie les epithetes toutes faites en recherchant surtout celles qui sont violentes, provocantes meme. Pour elle, un crime est toujours odieux, un desordre toujours indescriptible ou inextricable, une frayeur toujours indicible ... un accident toujours dramatique, tragique ou spectaculaire".

160

STYLE

as korruzzjoni 'corruption' 0 3.1.41-42:4; M 3.4-5.41 :4; N l.l-5.4:3; massakru 'massacre' 0 2.3-5.2:13; M 5.1-3.34:11; N 3.4-5.3:6; sfidui:ja 'mistrust' 0 2.5.16:2; M l.l-2.5:2; N l.l-5.5:2; strajk 'strike' 0 16.2-5. 12 :14; M 5.1.24: I; N l.l-5.5 :7; gharghar 'floods' M 5.3-5.26:13; N 3.3-4. 24:16. At times, certain details are elaborated to the extent of sounding unpleasant, or even repulsive, as in the case of imut b 'ghonqu mhanxar bil-hgieg tal-windscreen 'a man dies with his neck slashed against the windscreen' 0 l.l-3.18-19 :6. Note, for example, the word imut 'dies' in the above text; it could easily be replaced by a euphemism, such as ihalli hajtu 'loses his life'. 16 The word mhanxar 'slashed' is more blunt and violent. Such a detail was totally omitted by the other two daily newspapers. Press reports tend to add more emphasis to the neutral aspects of certain nouns by qualifying them with adjectives. Here are some examples: hruq kbir 'a great fire' N 3.2.15 :4; xeni kbar ta' paniku 'great scenes of panic' M 5.2.20:4; wiehed (sic, for literary Maltese wahda) mill-aghar disgrazzji 'one of the worst accidents' M 5.1.19-20:4. 5.4112

POSITIVE HYPERBOLIC WORDS

When positive aspects are treated in the news report genre, they likewise tend to be hyperbolically good. A simple drink at the Law Courts is called a 'feast', festa bix-xampanja fil-Qorti 'a feast of champagne at the Law Courts' 0 1.2-5.5-6:8. Similarly, some good achievement is called a 'record' under one aspect or another. This can be seen in the following texts: rekords godda 'new records' 0 1.4-5. 7 :4; rekord ta' esportazzjoni 'a record in exports' 0 1.1.5-6:8; rekord ghat-turiimu 'a record for tourism' 0 3.1-3.2:9; rekord gdid (in sports) 'a new record' 0 13.2-3.16:11; it-turiimu f'Lulju jikser kull rekord 'July was a record for tourism' M 1.1-3.23:8; it-trakkijiet jiksru r-records 'the trucks made new records' N 3.2-3.56:10; mixja spazjali record 'a record walk in the space' N 3.5.2-4 :8. Another hyperbolic phrase in our time is found in the example il-hajja tkompli torhos 'prices reach new depths'1 7 0 16.1-2.31:4.

16 17

Literally, 11la/li hajtu means 'he leaves his life'. Literally, 'life is becoming cheaper'.

STYLE

5.4113

161

ENGLISH UNMODIFIED LoAN-WORDS FOR STYLISTIC REASONS

English unmodified loan-words occur sometimes in the news reports for stylistic reasons. This implies a choice in vocabulary on the part of the reporter. It implies a selection of the borrowed English word and a rejection of the Maltese equivalent for the sake of the emphasis obtained by using English terms, or because of some special connotation of the English word in the Maltese usage. Thus, for example, in 0 3.1.42-44:2 we read irid kollox 'Made in Malta' 'he wants everything made in Malta'. Stylistically, this is different from the plain language version which is found later in the same news report irid kollox mag1lmul Malta 'he wants everything made in Malta' 0 3.1.50-52:2. In the first version, the English words 'Made in Malta', when placed in the Maltese context, have the connotation that the man in question wants everything labelled with such words, while in the second version, it is simply understood that the man simply wants everything made in Malta. Another example is it-'Top Ten' tal-Majja 'the 'top ten' of the Mafia' 0 9.4-5.15:8. These two English words 'top ten' are in reality a term borrowed from the field of music, and therefore they carry this connotation in the above Maltese context, which can be compared with the plain Maltese form 1-aktar g1laxra mfittxija 'the most wanted ten people' 0 9.4-5.17:8, which occurs later in the same news report. 5.4114

WoRDS ExciTING CuRIOSITY

Another way of creating sensation in news reports, especially in the headlines, is by means of words which by their own nature, or through metaphor or ambiguity are likely to excite curiosity. This, again, implies a choice on the part of the reporter, favouring as a rule the non-literal words over literal ones. This stylistic form is frequently employed in the newspapers, but a few examples should be enough to show its use: meta /-art belg1let mara 'when the ground swallowed up a woman' 0 9.5.43-45: l; rage/ imfittex mi/1-pu/izija ja1lrab mi/1-isptar wara 1labta 'a man wanted by the police runs away from hospital after a crash' 0 1.2-4.37-38:3; note that the ambiguity here is due to the illogical presentation of facts, as this report really continued the information that 'a man had a car crash; he was taken to hospital but, when the police wanted to interview him because of the damages he made to Government property, he went on the run'; other examples are: tinqabad 1luta stramba 'a strange fish is caught' 0 4.3-4.2:8;

I62

STYLE

bewsa tiswa nofs imnie1ler 'a kiss costs half a nose' M 5.1.22-23:7; inCident stramb 'a strange accident' M l.l-2.I9-20 :9; minflok jisparaw jg1lajtu 'bum' 'soldiers shout 'bang' instead of shooting' M 5.4-5.3-4:9; bidwi veterinarju u qaiquijorqduflimkien 'a farmer, a veterinary-surgeon and a pig sleep together' M 7.4-5.2-3: II, where jorqdu was chosen instead of jilluppjaw irwie11hom 'get anaesthetised'; mar g1lat-tieg bil-manetti 'a man went handcuffed for his wedding' N 3.4-5.24: I8; '/-animal' arrestat mi/1-pu/izija 'the animal was arrested by the police' N 3.I-2.32 :30.

5.412

STYLE AND VocABULARY IN THE EDITORIAL GENRE

The choice of the lexical material in the editorial genre is conditioned by its purpose. Of all four journalistic genres, the editorial carries most weight, as it expresses the policy of the editor or the editorial board. 18 The editorial, therefore, is apt to be highly subjective, and tends to follow the lines of a pre-established ideology. The main distinctive feature tends to be its sentimentalism, and this is likely to affect its lexical stylistic material. The presentation will be likely to involve (a) lexical material dealing with social and political problems; (b) stylistic choice of English loan-words specially used with the intent of creating emotion, and, finally; (c) bombastic or sarcastic Maltese neologisms. Each of these items will be treated below on its own. 5.4121

SociAL AND PouncAL VocABULARY

Due to the fact that, as we saw above (in 5.32), editorials aim at persuading the readers as to how they should judge contemporary events in subjects likely to excite emotion in the reader, the number of subject-matter registers in this genre is limited. The main editorial topics in fact deal either with social problems, or with political issues, or with a blend of socio-political elements. Recourse to sentimentalism can be seen in such contexts as the following sentence, selected from an editorial. 18 In Malta, the editorial always expresses the policy of the editor or the editorial board. There are no cases of editorials being written by an outside agency, as it happens, for example, in the United States in the case of several papers. It is clear from the interviews I had with the several editors that the editorial in the Maltese newspapers reflects always their pre-established individual policy, whether it is written by the editor himself, or, in his absence, by an assistant.

STYLE

Issa kull haddiem tat-trasport pubbliku mhux se jghix b'qalbu de.ijem ittaqtaq li jisbah filghodu u s-sid imur fuqu u jnewwillu fidu 1-karta tas-sensja. 0 5.4.68-71 :I.

163

Now every employee in the public transport will live free from the fear that the morrow may arrive and the employer go to meet him and hand over to him his notice of dismissal.

Recourse to irony, as a means of arousing sentiment, can be found in the following specimen. Bravu ghalina kemm gejna ta.ijeb! Issa jonqosna nisimghu li t-telf fit-tarzna spicca ghal kollox ghaliex il-haddiema tkeccew u t-tarzna ghalqet. N 4.4.61-63:15.

5.4122

Splendid! We have done really well! Now, all we need to hear is that the financial loss in the dockyard has been completely wiped out by all the workmen being given notice of dismissal and the dockyard being closed down.

ENGLISH UNMODIFIED LoAN-WoRDS UsED FOR STYLISTIC EMPHASIS

Sometimes, as in the other genres (see above in 5.4113, and below in 5.4134, 5.4144) unmodified English loan-words are used in the editorial genre not because a Maltese equivalent is lacking, but because the English loan-word is felt to be stylistically more effective m the Maltese text. This can be seen in the following examples. Ma tantx ghandha bionn xi 'performance' ohra. N 4.4.25:2 Qed ifattar u jghaffeg wahdu, kif jghidu (sic) 1-Ingliii 'alone and unaided'. N 4.4.58-60:11

Surely, she does not need another performance. He is doing whatever his mind tells him, as the English say "alone and unaided".

In the above examples, the loan-word performance could be replaced by wirja or reCta, while the phrase alone and unaided could be substituted by wahdu gha/ ko//ox. Stylistically, however, these Maltese equivalents are less effective. 5.4123

BoMBASTIC OR SARCASTIC MALTESE NEoLOGISMS

Editors make use also of new coinings to overstress some point, even to the extent of sounding bombastic in certain cases. The prefixes super 'super; more than', and ex 'ex; formerly', are very much in

164

STYLE

vogue in the texts being surveyed here. The former carries with it, as a rule, a bombastic effect, while the latter is quite often used sarcastically, e.g. super-esagerati 'over-exaggerated' 0 5.4.67:4; exmexxej ta' l-ex-part it 'ex-leader of the ex-party' 0 5.4.21-22 :6; li/1-exGvern 'to the former Government' 0 5.4.64 :7. 5.413

STYLE AND VocABULARY IN THE ARTICLE GENRE

The choice of the lexical material of the article genre is similarly to a certain extent affected by its purpose. Under this aspect, we can divide the article genre into two classes. One is the purely instructive type, which aims at being objective. The other is the persuasive type, and contributes to the furtherance of a pre-established policy. This latter is thus very subjective. In the Maltese newspapers, the instructive type of the article genre has a wider range of subject-matter registers than the persuasive type, which is generally restricted to those subjectmatters which are open to political discussions, such as economics and social problems. Notwithstanding the fact that the instructive type of the article genre has a wider vocabulary than the persuasive type, they both agree substantially in the stylistic choice of their vocabulary. In matters of style, the article genre is influenced by the literary Maltese language, foreign languages, especially English and Italian, and spoken Maltese. As to the influence of literary Maltese, we note both the occurrence of (a) some neologisms, and (b) some archaisms. As to English and Italian influences, we find instances of (c) stylistic calques and (d) direct borrowings of foreign words or phrases. Finally, as to the spoken Maltese language, we note (e)~some colloquialisms used for stylistic effects and, occasionally, (t) some malapropisms. 5.4131

NEOLOGISMS

Writers of journalistic articles tend to make some limited use of neologisms, created on old, but still existing, roots. Thus the word hlusija was coined on the verb 11eles 'to set free' so as to mean 'redemption; recovering of land from the sea', as in the following text: 11-kummerc - omm il-hlusija Olandii:a - biddel ta' taht fuq id-dehra tas-soejeta. 0 5.3.23-26:9

Commerce - the mother of land reclamation of Holland - changed completely the face of society.

STYLE

165

Another example is the word imliemah, which was coined on the verb lemah 'to catch a glimpse of; to perceive', and which was used in the sense of 'resemblances; aspects'. As in the case of the exam pie giver. above, it is difficult to get the meaning of such coined word without its context. For this reason, we give the whole sentence in which it occurs: L-ilsir kien ilsir tant li rna kellux 1-icken imlieman ta' 1-umanita, ghaliex il-hajja u 1-mewt kienu fidejn sidhom. 0 5.3.59-62:5

The slave was maltreated so much that he had not even the least indications of humanity, because life and death were in the hands of their (sic) master.

The more common neologisms in the article genre are those words which are coined on foreign, especially English, vocabulary. Verbs are apparently the best candidates for such coinings. Thus, for example, the English verb 'to tackle' becomes ittakilja 'he tackled (a problem)', as in the following sentence: Wiehed rna jistax jinsa kif fi :lmienhom huma ittakiljaw il-qaghad. 0 5.1.13-14:3

One cannot forget how during their administration they used to tackle the problem of unemployment.

The Maltese neologism ittakilja 'to tackle' is commonly used in clerical circles. In the literary language it would normally be replaced by expressions such as hall if-problema 'to solve a problem', sab soluzzjoni 'to find a solution', waqaf ghad-diffikulta 'to face a difficulty', ipprova jsib it-tarf'to try to find the end', and similar expressions. 5.4132

ARCHAISMS

Although archaisms are not in vogue in contemporary journalistic writings, and perhaps not even in literary Maltese, one cannot fail to detect some examples in the article genre. Thus, in 0 5.1.12:9 we read fdawk 1-iimna mbieghda 'in those distant times'. The word iimna is the archaic form for the more modern plural iminijiet, and simply means 'times'; in the first half of this century it was used m literary Maltese in the sense of 'seasons'. Another example is the word lgiem 'reins', generally occurring in the expression bla lgiem 'uncontrollable'. The modern word for lgiem is riedni, from Italian 'redini'. In the spoken language, the phrase bla kontroll, from Italian 'senza controllo', generally replaces the expression bla lgiem, but both may occur in literary Maltese.

166 5.4133

STYLE CALQUES

The style of the article genre is also affected by calques, which are rather very frequent due to the fact that most feature writers are well versed in English and Italian. Some calques mark a certain amount of stylistic affectation. Thus for example, the verb beda 'to begin' is replaced by ta bidu gha/, literally 'to give a beginning to', under the influence of the Italian idiom dare inizio a, as in the following sentence: Franza tat bidu ghat programm ta' provi nukleari fl-atmosfera fuq il-g:.i:ira ta' Mururoa fil-Pacifiku. M 8.2.5-7:2

France began her programme of nuclear proofs in the atmosphere on the island of Mururoa in the Pacific.

Foreign words and expressions sometimes give rise to awkward Maltese when they are used as calques in the newspapers. Such is, for example, the word-for-word translation of the English verb 'to share with', meaning 'to have in common', which in Maltese would be qasam ma ', as in the text : Fl-istorja kontemporanja, ghamilna habta konna naqsmu delegat apostoliku rna' 1-Ingilterra u !-Bermuda. M 7.2.62:24

In contemporary history, we used to share for some time one apostolic delegate together with England and Bermuda.

The first meaning of the verb qasam is to 'divide into two; to break'; hence it functions awkwardly in the above text. One possible version of the same sentence in literary Maltese would be: "Fl-istorja kontemporanja, ghamilna zmien b'delegat apostoliku wiehed flimkien rna' 1-Ingilterra u !-Bermuda". 5.4134

ENGLISH UNMODIFIED LoAN-WoRDS AND LoAN PHRASES

Foreign words and expressions figure quite often in the article genre without any change at all, in the majority of cases not because Maltese equivalents would not be available, but because they carry with them some stylistic effects in the Maltese text. As an example of an unmodified loan-word used for stylistic purposes, we can quote the word shame occurring in N 4.1-2.28 :4. In the same context, this loanword could be replaced by at least two Maltese equivalents. One is the Semitic word isthu 'be ashamed', or by the Romance Maltese word vergonja 'shame'. Although as dictionary entries, these three words have

STYLE

167

the 'same' meaning, the English word is 'felt' to be strong enough, but less offensive than the other two; and in the political context, as above, the English loan-word shame is normally used for etiquette reasons. Generally speaking, when foreign words and expressions are inserted into the Maltese text for stylistic purposes, the resulting language is felt by Maltese speakers to be more vigorous and expressive. This applies in the following two examples: Ghamel bicca xoghol 1-aktar ghaqlija meta lill-gumalisti tahom il- 'before and after treatment' fuq ix-xtut, biex jaraw kif ihallihom il-Gvem u kif ihalluhom in-nies. M 7.4.51-57:3

He did a very wise thing when he gave the journalists the 'before and after treatment' on the seashores, to let them see for themselves how the beaches are left by the Government and how they are left by the public.

Dik il-bicca xoghol rna tantx kien hareg biha 'with flying colours'.

He did not really come out of that difficulty 'with flying colours'.

M 7.3.31-34:17

5.4135

COLLOQUIALISMS

The article genre makes use also of colloquial words and expressions, which give the appearance of informal and familiar writing. Thus, for example, while in standard Maltese one says qarraq 'to deceive', in colloquial usage one says qela, literally 'to fry'. Similarly, the standard Maltese noun qerq 'deceit' is replaced by qalja, literally, 'an act of frying', in the colloquial form. These colloquial usages are exemplified below. Jippruvaw jaqlu 1-proxxmu biex jahtfu s-sold.

They try to deceive their neighbours to get hold of the penny.

lida 1-qalja hi, li m'ghandu 1-ebda pjan.

But the problem is that he has no plan.

M 7.1.30-32:1

N 4.1.19-21 :22

As an example of colloquial expression in the article genre, we can mention the verbal phrase jigi jaqa' u jqum 'he does not bother', which is never used in good society. It was employed in an article because it is much more expressive than the literary Maltese equivalent rna jhabbilx rasu 'he does not care', as one can see in the following text: Fi hwejjeg ta' armi u ta' armati m'hemmx cajt. Jekk Malta qatt tigi

In matters of firearms and armies one cannot take any risk. If ever Malta

168

STYLE

bi:onnhom, tkun tridhom lejali u efficjenti, u tigi taqa' u tqum ikunux puliti jew mhumiex. 11 7.5.20-27:3

needs her soldiers, she will want them loyal and efficient, and she could not care less whether they come from the higher classes or not.

For the same stylistic reasons, even baby talk figures at times in the article genre. Thus, for example, the baby-word Cicca, from Sicilian cilccia, 'to sit' occurs instead of the adult words qag11ad bil-qieg11da in the text below. Its use emphasises the sarcastic calmness desired by the writer. Allura imissna qbadna !-flus u Ciccejna bi kwietna. N 8.2.23-26:27

5.4136

Had it been so, we should have grasped the money and sat down calmly.

MALAPROPISMS

The colloquial influence on the style of the article genre is such that even malapropisms figure there occasionally. Thus, for example, in making use of English unmodified loan-words, the term air mistress was used instead of air hostess in M 8.2.61 :4. Similar changes take place also in the Maltese vocabulary. The word hekk 'thus' is a good example, because it is rather frequently misused for jekk 'if, as in the following sentence: Setghu forsi qalulna waqt dik it-taparsi glieda li hekk dawn rna jaghtuniex il-miljuni kienu se' jtuhomna (sic) huma? N 8.2.17-22:27

Could they perhaps tell us during that feigned quarrel whether these people did not give us the millions (in question), they themselves would have given them to us?

Another word which is sometimes misused is the rather archaic verb arra 'to repent; feel sorry' which occurs only in conjunction with the pronominal suffix, as in arralu 'he repented; he felt sorry'. Sometimes it is mixed up with the verb g11arraq 'to submerge; make someone get drowned', as in the following sentence: lmmajgharraqlu u jispicca hazin. 11 I 0.1.25-26:3

But he will feel regret for having done so, and he will come to an unfortunate ending.

Another common example is the word 11anqa 'a hoarse voice', which occurs quite often instead of the word na"hqa 'braying', as in 11anqa fix-xag11ri 'braying in the wilderness' N 11.5.10:18, meaning 'a voice in the wilderness'.

STYLE 5.414

169

STYLE AND VocABULARY IN THE ADVERTISEMENT GENRE

The style of the advertisement genre is influenced both by literary and spoken Maltese, and by foreign languages. Due to its intrinsic nature, and under the influence of literary and spoken Maltese, the advertisement genre chooses (a) general positive words, such as 1-ornos u 1-isban giti 'the cheapest and the best tours' 0 3.4-5.67:1, which are regarded as evocative, and intended to respond to human needs and stimulate desire. In creative advertising, the choice of words or expressions, such as jlimkien gnad-dawl ta' qamar 'get-together in the moonlight' N 5.4-5.54:6, show (b) 'precious' language tendencies. Furthermore, due to the influences of foreign languages, this genre makes use of (c) calques, as in ktieli ta' 1-elettriku 'electric kettles' 11 8.4-5.50:1, and of (d) direct borrowings, as in /-open air bar magenb il-banar 'the open air bar by the sea' 0 2.1-3.22-23:2. In this manner, it tries to sound exotic and to arouse desire in order to obtain the required response. 5.4141

UsE oF GENERAL PosiTIVE WoRDS

The every day language provides most of the vocabulary needed in the advertisement genre so as to show the consumer that the advertised object has really attractive and satisfying qualities. Thus, travel is always at a low cost and in all comfort: ivvjaggaw bl-irhis u bil-kumdita 'travel at a low cost and in comfort' 117.4.36-37:1; and ferry-boats for picnics are always luxurious: gurnata Kemmuna fuq lanei: lussuii 'a day at Comino on luxurious ferry-boats' N 2.1-2.73-74:1. 5.4142

«PRECIOUS» LANGUAGE

In creative advertisements, the choice of words is such that it tends to over-refinement in style. Thus, while in standard Maltese one would say ikla bii-ifin gnall-beran bil-lejl 'an evening dinner with dancing', this is replaced by dinner dancing tant il-kwiekeb 'dinner dancing under the stars' 0 7.1-3.40:1 in an advertisement. 5.4143

CALQUES

Calques are at times used in the advertisement genre for stylistic reasons. Thus, for example, while in colloquial speech the English term washing machine is normally used, it is sometimes presented in its literal translation in the advertisement genre, such as il-makna tal-1wsil tenodlok

STYLE

170

nasla ta 'familja kbira 'the washing machine takes the laundry of a big family' 0 7.4-5.33-34:1. 5.4144

DIRECT BoRROWINGS

Direct borrowings, like open air bar given above (see 5.414), are employed in the advertisement genre, not because they cannot be translated, at least partially, but because they 'sound' more exotic and attractive in their original form. Thus, for example, the direct borrowing open air bar can be replaced by nanut tax-xorb gna/1-beran or nanut tax-xorb gna/1-arja aperta, but both translation equivalents are stylistically less attractive, if not to say pedantic. Occasionally, commonly accepted Maltese phrases of foreign derivation revert to their language of origin simply for stylistic reasons, as in the case of gna/1-frisk 'in the shade' which was rephrased as a/ fresco in the following text selected from an advertisement: ike/ j'nofsinhar u fil-gnaxija 'alfresco' servutfit-terrazzin 'lunches and dinners served in the shade on the terrace' 0 7.1-3.39:1. 5.4145

GENERAL CoNCLUSION CoNCERNING THE LEXICAL STYLISTIC AsPECTS oF THE JouRNALISTIC GENRES

From the above findings, we can say that the lexical stylistic material of the journalistic genres is largely determined by the nature of each individual genre. We saw accordingly that sensationalism is characteristic of the news report, and this is attained mainly by means of selected vocabulary containing words denoting violence or some negative aspect of social activity or disturbance within nature, positive hyperbolic words, English unmodified loan-words likely to create sensations in the Maltese text, and finally words exciting curiosity. The editorial tends towards sentimentalism and human pity. Thus, its subject-matters are restricted to those which tend to deal with social problems of the working class, as well as with political issues. The sentimentalistic trend of the editorial is also encouraged by means of recourse to irony, bombastic and sarcastic neologisms, and to English unmodified loan-words likely to create emotion. As to the article genre, we saw that it may be either instructive or persuasive in purpose, and that, when it is persuasive, it follows some pre-established ideology. As a rule, sensationalism and sentimentalism have no share in this genre. Whatever the type of the article, it merely tends to contain informative material, and in matters of

STYLE

171

style, it makes use of neologisms, archaisms, calques, English unmodified loan-words and loan-phrases, colloquialisms, and occasionally some malapropisms. Finally, the advertisement genre is generally persuasive or informative, and makes use of positive words stimulating interest, as well as rather exotic calques and unmodified loan-words, mainly from English or Italian. 5.42

STYLE AND MoRPHOLOGY IN THE JouRNALISTIC GENRES

The morphological material of the four journalistic genres 1s influenced stylistically by the journalistic language, which accepts as 'good' not only the 'correct' morphology found in the literary language, but also the sub-standard morphological forms which occur in spoken and in colloquial Maltese. Needless to say, therefore, the journalistic genres contain more stylistic variants than the literary language itself. In our present study, each genre was investigated on its own. However, morphological fluidity was seen to occur indiscriminately in every journalistic genre; this is true particularly for such features as (a) agreement and disagreement between nouns and their qualifying adjectives, and between subjects and predicates. It applies as well to (b) redundant use, or absence of, the definite article. 5.421

STYLE AND MoRPHOLOGY CoMMON TO ALL FouR JouRNALISTIC GENRES

So as to avoid repetition, it seems best to treat the morphological stylistic material which is common to all four genres under a single heading, but to analyse the frequency distribution of the parts of speech within each journalistic genre under individual headings (see below in 5.422). For the sake of greater clarity and distinctiveness, whenever an example is given below, it is referred back to its individual genre. 5.42))

AGREEMENT IN GENDER BETWEEN NOUNS AND THEIR QUALIFYING ADJECTIVES

Some nouns in Maltese have one gender in the standard form, and another in the sub-standard usage. In the journalistic genres, both forms are generally accepted (due to literary Maltese influence on the one hand, and spoken and colloquial Maltese on the other). This

172

STYLE

can be seen in the following examples, selected from news reports: poggew gnata gdida (instead of the literary Maltese usage poggew gnata gdid) 'they placed a new thermic shield' N 3.5.12-13 :8; wiened mi/1agnar disgrazzji (for literary Maltese wanda mi/1-agnar disgrazzji) 'one of the worst tragedies' M 5.1.19-20:4. The following example occurs in an article: b 'hekk ikollhom certu awtonomija (for literary Maltese b 'hekk ikollhom certa awtonomija) 'thus they will have a certain autonomy' M 8.4.54-55:7. 5.4212

AGREEMENT IN GENDER BETWEEN SuBJECT AND VERBAL PREDICATE

Through the influence of spoken and colloquial Maltese, some nouns, as we have seen above (in the preceding paragraph), change their gender, with the effect that if they happen to be the subject of the verb in the predicate (whether in the main sentence or in a subordinate clause), the verb agrees with the gender of the sub-standard form. The following examples occur in articles: jekk Gnawdex issir naga wanda rna' Malta jigrilha dak li kien jigri Iii Malta kieku ntegrat rna' 1-/ngliterra (which in literary Maltese should readjekk Gnawdex isir naga wanda rna' Malta jigrilu dak li kien jigri Iii Malta kieku ntegrat rna' 1-Ingilterra 'if Gozo becomes part of Malta, it would have the same experience that Malta would have had if it integrated with England' M 7.2.41-45:17; il-biia' ggib il-biia' (for literary Maltese il-biia 'jgib il-biia) 'fear begets fear' N 4.3.18-19:1. Besides the above trend in the journalistic genres, which, after all, occurs only for the sake of agreement in gender between verb and mistakenly assumed gender of the subject, there is also another trend which accepts complete disagreement between the subject and the verb. This can be seen in the sentence given below, occurring in an advertisement: qiegned jintwera kummiedja sabina (for literary Maltese qiegnda tintwera kummiedja sabina) 'a nice comedy is being shown' N 6.4-5.47-48:1. Disagreement between subject and verb is sometimes encouraged in the journalistic genres by means of syntactic interpolations between them. This can be seen in the following sentence, selected from an editorial: Fi imien meta d-delinkwenza qed tixtered dejjem iijed il-ntiega ta' post fejn ii-ignaiagn tagnna jkunu jistgnu jirriformaw irwiehhom u jitnejjew gna/1-najja adulta, ku/1 rna jmur qed jikber (the last word of which, in literary Maltese, should be tikber because the subject is il-ntiega 'the need') 'At a time when delinquency is becoming more widespread,

STYLE

173

the need for a place where our youths may reform themselves and prepare seriously for their adult life, is becoming a more urgent matter as the time goes by' M 8.1.64-67 :24. When the personal pronoun replaces the verb 'to be' in Maltese it agrees quite often with the predicate, and not with the subject. This can be exemplified by a quotation from an editorial: ma rridux ninsew li c-Cina hu nazzjon xih (for literary Maltese ma rridux ninsew li c-Cina hi nazzjon xih) 'we should not ignore the fact that China is an old country' N 4.4.26:4. There are other instances in which the agreement occurs not between the subject and the verb, but between the verb and another noun in the sentence, as in the following example occurring in an editorial: x 'inhija r-rimedju ghal din il-problema? (for literary Maltese x 'inhu r-rimedju ghal din il-problema) 'what is the remedy for this problem?' M 8.1.31 :4. 5.4213

AGREEMENT IN NuMBER BETWEEN NouN AND ADJECTIVE

Due to semantic interference, some collective nouns are at times considered as plural in the journalistic genres. This is the result of a similar trend in the spoken language. This can be noticed in the following examples occurring in the news report genre, although the use is not limited to that genre only: ghodda an tiki (for literary Malteseghodda antika or ghododantiki) 'old instruments' M 2.1.12-13:15; dawn il-kliem (for literary Maltese dan il-kliem or dawn il-kelmiet) 'these words' 0 4.5.27-28:15. 5.4214

AGREEMENT IN NuMBER BETWEEN SuBJECT AND VERB

Owing to some other word or words in the same sentence, the verb does not always agree with its subject in the journalistic genres. The same practice occurs again in the spoken language where substandard forms are common. The following is to be found in an article: ma kienx jaf fejn kienet rasha u fejn kienet saqajha (for literary Maltese ma kienx jaf fejn kienet rasha u fejn kienu saqajha) 'he did not know where its head was and where its feet were (literally, 'was')' 117.3.5-6:11. As in the case of gender, so in number, when the verb 'to be' is replaced in Maltese by the personal pronoun, this quite often agrees with the predicate and not with the subject, as one can see from the

174

STYLE

following example taken from an editorial: waflda mi/1-problemi fundament ali huma certi pretensjonijiet tal-11addiema (for literary Maltese waflda mi/1-problemi fundamentali gejja minn certi pretensjonijiet tal11addiema) 'one of the fundamental problems are certain pretensions of workmen' M 1.8.4-6:4. 5.4215

REDUNDANT UsE oF THE DEFINITE ARTICLE

The first of two nouns in a construct state does not take the definite article in the literary language, but in the journalistic genres it occurs with or without the article. The sub-standard use of the definite article can be seen in the following example selected from an editorial: sewwasew fl-gfleluq it-flames xhur (for the literary form sewwasew feg11/uq it-flames xhur) 'exactly at the close of the five months' M 8.1.6 :22. Such redundant use of the definite article is sometimes due to euphony, as in the case of /ill-art twelidna (for literary Maltese Iii art twelidna) 'to our motherland', which occurs in an article in N 4.1-2.15-16:14. Since the final I of the preposition Iii, in this example, precedes the initial vowel a of art, it becomes a long consonant in the spoken language, and thus it passes over to the journalistic language as /ill-, making the final /look as if it were a real definite article. The definite article is sometimes used redundantly in the journalistic genres due to assimilation, as in the case of mill-liema 11ajja (for literary Maltese minn liema 11ajja) 'from which sort of life', occurring in an article in N 4.3.38 :7, and in gflan-Napli (for literary Maltese gflal Napli) 'to Naples', which figures in an advertisement in 0 3.4-5.83: I. In these and other similar examples, the journalistic spelling would make us believe that we are dealing here with genuine uses of the definite article. In reality, however, the appearance of a redundant definite article in such cases is the result of assimilation occurring in colloquial speech. 5.4216

ABSENCE OF THE DEFINITE ARTICLE

In cases when the pronunciation does not indicate clearly that a definite article exists, the journalistic genres tend to treat the use of the article as optional, with the effect that sometimes it is written, and sometimes it is left out completely, even though literary Maltese requires it. The absence of the definite article in a place where the standard usage demands it, can be seen in the example jinsabu dejjem

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175

ghat bejgh (for literary Maltese jinsabu dejjem ghal/-bejgh) 'they are always ready for sale', occurring in an advertisement in 0 5.1-2.86: I. 5.4217

AGREEMENT IN TENSE BETWEEN VERBS IN PARALLEL SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES

Verbs occurring in parallel syntactic structures, as in the case of clauses conjoined by either u 'and' or jew 'or', normally agree in tense in the literary language. On the other hand, the trend in the journalistic genres would make us believe that such agreement is optional. The following sentence, occurring in an editorial, shows that agreement in tense between verbs in parallel syntactic structures is not obligatory in the newspaper language: min jaqra fuqhom jew ghamel kuntatti maghhom jista' jghid kemm qed ikunu kapai:i jigbdu ighaiagh u koppji miiiewgin lejhom (which sentence in literary Maltese would start with min qarafuqhom) 'he who reads about them or who made contacts with them may say how successful they are in attracting youths and married couples towards them' M 8.1.23-25:6. The trend of disagreement in tense in such cases occurs also in the spoken language. 5.4218

UsE oF DIRECT INSTEAD OF INDIRECT PRoNOMINAL SuFFIXES

The indirect pronominal suffixes are always introduced by I in literary Maltese. However, in the journalistic genres, this I is sometimes eliminated when it is preceded and followed by another consonant, as in the case of kienu se' jtuhomna (for literary Maltese kienu se jtuhomlna, or, better still, jaghtuhomlna) 'they were going to give them to us', occurring in an article inN 8.2.21-22:27. This form is due to the influence of spoken Maltese, which tends to eliminate the I between two consonants, to the effect that, as in this case, there will be no marker to show that the pronoun is in fact indirect. As in the case of ghaii/na (for literary Maltese ghaili/na) 'he chose for us', which occurs in an article inN 11.3.7-9:7, the I of the indirect pronominal suffix is sometimes eliminated if the last radical of the verb is also an /. Therefore, the above example can be considered as the actual realisation of a hypothetical form *ghaiil/na, although standard Maltese requires the form ghaili/na in spite of the fact that the verb ends in I as third radical. The newspaper form ghaiilna is very ambiguous, because, when it is taken out of context, it can mean 'we chose', or 'he chose us', or 'he chose for us'. This form is certainly the effect of the actual pronunciation in colloquial speech.

176 5.422

STYLE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF THE PARTS OF SPEECH OCCURRING IN THE JOURNALISTIC GENRES

As our investigation into the frequency of the parts of speech has shown particular trends for each journalistic genre, we are keeping these genres apart in the following section. The statistical details which we are giving, while excessively dry and dull in themselves, can nevertheless be quite illuminating for the analysis of style and syntax with which we deal later (see below in 5.43). Statistical methods 19 such as these certainly have their limitations, but, at the same time they provide results which are not 'impressionistic' and which shed light on the various types of the journalistic writings. The following analysis is based on the same texts examined earlier in the previous chapter (see above in 4.3), where we were mainly interested in establishing the frequency distribution of words according to the language of origin. Here, however, our interest lies in the frequency distribution of the parts of speech, irrespective of the source language. The method followed here is that of presenting the frequency distribution for each journalistic genre; as a second step, the results are discussed in the light of corresponding figures in both literary and spoken Maltese; later, the more important trends for each individual genre are examined; and, finally, under a separate heading (see below in 5.4225), an overall picture of the frequency distribution of the parts of speech in the journalistic genres, in literary Maltese and in spoken Maltese is given and discussed. 5.4221

THE PARTS OF SPEECH IN THE NEWS REPORT GENRE

The overall distribution of the parts of speech in the news report genre 20 is given here in percentages in descending order: nouns 30.43%; definite articles 15.9%; verbs 14.97%; prepositions 12.3%; pronouns 8.77%; adverbs 7.43%; adjectives 5.7%; conjunctions 2.4%; particles 2.1%. 19 For statistical methods in this field, see, for example, G. U. Yule, The Statistical Study of Literary Vocabulary, Cambridge, 1944; J. Miles, Style and Proportion: The Language of Prose and Poetry, Boston, 1967; C. B. Williams, Style and Vocabulary: Numerical Studies, London, 1970. 20 This analysis was carried on the first I000 words occurring on page one of each of the three newspapers, in the issue dated 1st August, 1973.

177

STYLE

The percentage of nouns occurring in the news report is much higher than that of literary Maltese (23.17%), 21 and than that of spoken Maltese (23.53%). 22 The percentage of the definite article i!; also higher than that of literary Maltese (13.77%), and that of spoken Maltese (12.07%). The percentage of verbs, however, is far below that of literary Maltese (18.17%), and even more so in the case of spoken Maltese (20.57%). The percentage of prepositions is lower than that literary Maltese (13.73%), and higher than that of spoken Maltese (10.5%). However, the percentage of pronouns does not differ substantially from that of literary Maltese (8.47%) and from that of the spoken language (8. 7%). The percentage of the adverb is close to that of the literary language (8.6%), but it is less than half than that of spoken Maltese (15.53%). The percentage of the adjectives is lower than that of literary Maltese (6.6%), where more 'flowery' language occurs, but it is higher than that of spoken Maltese (4.33%). As to the percentage of conjunctions, it is less than half than that of literary Maltese (4.93%), but it is slightly higher than that of the spoken language ( 1.97%). Finally, as to the particles, it is less than that of literary Maltese (2.56%), and lower still than that of the spoken language (2.8%). The most striking percentage of the news report genre is that of nouns. It is in fact much higher than that of the editorial, the article, 21 For references, see note 15 to Chapter 4. The result of this investigation into the individual frequency distribution of the three samples from literary Maltese is given below. The abbreviations Bl, G, An stand for Bla ltabi (by G. Galea), 1/-Gagga (by F. Sammut), and Antologija (by C. Psaila).

Chart showing the Frequency Distribution of the Parts of Speech in Literary Maltese

81 G An

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

Conj

Part

23.4 21.5 24.6

15.6 12.9 12.8

16.7 22.9 14.9

15.1 12.5 13.6

8.6 8.6 8.2

8.7 9.3 7.8

5.7 4.1 10.0

4.8 4.6 5.4

1.4 3.6 2.7

22 For references, see note 16 to Chapter 4. The result of the investigation on the spoken Maltese texts is given below. The abbreviations A, B, Care used in the same way as they were used in Chapter 4, note 16, to indicate the three samples from free talks.

Chart showing the Frequency Distribution of the Parts of Speech in Spoken Maltese

A 8

c

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

21.3 26.2 23.1

13.2 11.8 11.2

20.0 21.5 20.2

11.3 9.4 10.8

9.3 8.0 8.8

13.9 13.6 19.1

Adj 4.5 5.4 3.1

Conj

Part

2.2 1.3 2.4

4.3 2.8 1.3

178

STYLE

literary Maltese, and spoken Maltese. This is partially due to the fact that the press reports give many personal names and qualify them by the offices held by the individuals (e.g. il-kurunell Ta/jan X. Y.Z. millMinisteru Ta/jan tad-Difiia 'the Italian colonel from the Italian Ministry of Defence, Mr. X.Y.Z.' 0 l.l-2.60-61 :1). Besides, news reports mention many boards, unions and societies with titles generally abounding in nouns, and include also many place-names connected with the information given. The percentage of definite articles is also high, but this is understandable, as the percentage of nouns and that of adjectives (36.13% in all) are more than double the percentage of the definite articles. Another interesting item in the news report genre is the percentage of verbs, which is lower than those of the editorial, the article genre, literary and spoken Maltese. The cause behind this fact is not that (with the exception of occasional nominal sentences) there are sentences without a finite verb, as in the case of many advertisements. On the contrary, finite verbs occur regularly in this genre, but the percentage goes down due to the fact that such verbs are generally preceded and followed by many nouns in the same sentence. Another striking percentage is that of conjunctions, as this is the lowest of all journalistic genres. The reason is that this genre prefers linking syntactic units by means of relative and subordinate clauses (see below in 5.431) to conjoining them by means of conjunctions, which is typical of the editorial (see below in 5.4324 and in 5.4325), and the article genre (see below in 5.4332). As to the frequencies of the parts of speech in each individual newspaper, 23 we note that while the percentages of nouns and articles are approximately the same in the three daily newspapers, the percentages of other parts of speech differ slightly. Thus, the verb is somewhat more frequent in ln-Nazzjon Tag1ma and Il-llajja than 23 The individual frequency distribution of the parts of speech in the news report genre occurring in the first 1000 words of the news reports on page I, in the I st August, 1973, issues is given in the following chart.

Chart showing the Frequency Distribution of the Parts of Speech in the News Report Genre

Orizzont Hajj a Nazzjon

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

Conj

Part

30.0 29.6 31.7

15.7 16.4 15.6

12.3 15.9 16.7

13.7 12.3 10.9

8.0 9.0 9.3

6.6 7.9 7.8

7.9 5.0 4.2

3.1 1.8 2.3

2.7 2.1 1.5

179

STYLE

L-Orizzont. The reason is that in L-Orizzont nouns are often qualified (e.g. ii-Prim Ministru s-Sur X. Y.Z. 'the Prime Minister Mr. X.Y.Z.' 0 1.1-2.11 :I), while in the other newspapers they tend to remain unqualified. It is the same in the case of the percentage of adjectives in L-Orizzont, which is nearly double that of In-Nazzjon Tag1ma and one and three-fifths of 1/-Hajja.

5.4222

THE PARTS OF SPEECH IN THE EDITORIAL GENRE

The overall frequency distribution of the parts of speech in this, resulting from the survey on the editorial samples, 24 is given here in percentages in descending order: nouns 24.8%; verbs 16.13%; definite articles 14.67%; prepositions 12.63%; pronouns 9.47%; adverbs 9.1%; adjectives 7.67%; conjunctions 3.33%; particles 2.2%. The percentage of nouns here is lightly higher than in literary Maltese (23.17%), and than in spoken Maltese (23.53%). The percentage of the definite articles is also slightly higher than that of literary Maltese (13.77%), and higher still than that of spoken Maltese (12.07%). The percentage of verbs, however, is lower than that of literary Maltese (18.17%), and much lower than that of spoken Maltese (20.57%). The percentage of prepositions is slightly lower than that of literary Maltese (13.73%), but higher than that of spoken Maltese (10.5%). The percentage of pronouns is slightly higher than that of literary Maltese (8.47%), and that of spoken Maltese (8. 7%). The percentage of adverbs is slightly higher that that of literary Maltese (8.6%), but far below that of spoken Maltese ( 15.53%). The percentage of adjectives is slightly higher than that of literary Maltese (6.6%), but it is nearly double that of the spoken language (4.33%). The percentage of conjunctions is slightly lower than that of literary Maltese (4.93%),

24 The survey regarding the frequency distribution of the parts of speech occurring in the editorial genre was carried out on the first I000 words found in the first three editorials of the August, 1973, issues. The individual frequency distribution of the parts of speech in each newspaper is given in the following chart.

Chart showing the Frequency Distribution of the Parts of Speech in the Editorial Genre

Orizzont Hajj a Nazzjon

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

25.8 24.6 24.0

16.5 14.0 13.5

14.8 14.8 18.8

15.3 14.1 8.5

8.7 10.1 9.6

9.5 8.6 9.2

5.5 8.7 8.8

Conj 2.4 2.5 5.1

Part 1.5 2.6 2.5

180

STYLE

and slightly higher than that of spoken Maltese (1.97%). Finally, the percentage of the particles is slightly lower than that of literary Maltese (2.56%), and lower still than that of spoken Maltese (2.8%). We will now procede to discuss the more important trends in this genre. The highest percentage noted above in the frequency distribution of the parts of speech in the editorial is that of nouns, which, however, is less than in the news report. The main reason why there are less nouns in the editorial is the fact that, in this genre, proper nouns are not frequently qualified by syntactic structures which contain other nouns as in the case of the news report. As a rule, the editorial develops, to a certain extent, one main topic and, thus, it does not need frequent qualifying syntactic devices. On the other hand, it gives more prominence to verbs, since they are very important if the editorial has to reach its aim of persuasion. The frequency of verbs in this genre is in fact higher than that of the news report, and is linked with the fact that complex sentences are more frequent in the editorial (see below in 5.432) than in the news report. As to the definite article category, it is interesting to note that, despite the differences in percentages, there is approximately one definite article for every two nouns or adjectives, as in the case of the news report genre. In matters of the frequency of verbs in relation to nouns, however, there is approximately one verb for every two nouns in the news report genre, while there are two verbs for every three nouns in the editorial genre. Comparison of the percentages of the individual newspapers shows no striking difference between them, except, perhaps, that Il-Hajja tends to make more use of pronouns, and employs fewer adverbs; L-Orizzont shows a more limited use of adjectives; while In-Nazzjon Tag1ma employs fewer prepositions, but more conjunctions. As in the case of the news report genre, the noun has the greatest importance among the other parts of speech in the editorial genre. 25 This assertion is supported by the high number of entries, and by the fact that the noun figures in many syntactic structures, such as in the capacity of subject, direct or indirect object, and in prepositional phrases. See, for example, the following sentence picked at random from an editorial: , Note that R. A. Sayee, in his Style in French Prose, Oxford, 1953, p. II, came to the same conclusion while speaking of the grammatical categories in general. He said, "The noun is perhaps the most important constituent of vocabulary, though this will vary from writer to writer".

STYLE

L-ahhar laqgha tal-mexxejja talCommonwealth ['Ottawa laqqghet flimkien delegazzjonijiet minn 32 pajjii indipendenti. H 8.10-12:14

181

The last meeting of the leaders of the Commonwealth in Ottawa assembled together delegations from 32 independent countries.

The nouns are distributed as follows in the above sentence: one subject (laqgha 'meeting'), one direct object (delegazzjonijiet 'delegations'), and four nouns occurring in prepositional phrases (talmexxejja 'of the leaders', tal-Commonwealth 'of the Commonwealth', fOttawa 'in Ottawa', minn 32 pajjii 'from 32 countries'). It deserves to be noted that in this sentence there is only one verb as against six nouns. The verb, as the statistics themselves show, is second in importance in the editorial genre. The main factors contributing to this high percentage of the verb are the frequent subordinate clauses or co-ordinated sentences by means of relative pronouns or conjunctions, as well as the more common use of auxiliary verbs, and the more frequent use of 'connected' verbs, such as jibda jdahha/ 'he begins making an income' 0 5.3.44:29. All this happens because in the editorial genre there are more complex sentences than in the news report genre. This aspect will be resumed later (see below in 5.432) in more detail. The fact that the frequency of the definite article is lower in the editorial than it is in the news report genre is not at all astonishing. This happens because when the nouns and adjectives (on which the definite article depends) are added up together, they make up 36.13% in the news report genre, while they make up only 32.47% in the editorial genre. Furthermore, the higher percentages of pronouns, adverbs and conjunctions in the editorial genre contribute, at least partially, to a greater number of verbs and to a more complex structure in the syntax of the editorial genre. 5.4223

THE PARTS OF SPEECH IN THE ARTICLE GENRE

The overall distribution of the parts of speech in percentages which resulted from this survey 26 is given here in descending order: nouns

26 The survey dealing with the parts of speech of the article genre is based on a sampling consisting of the first 1000 words occurring in L-Orizzont, p. 5, 1st and 2nd August, 1973; 11-Hajja, p. 8, 1st and 2nd August, 1973; and ln-Nazzjon Taghna, p. 4,

182

STYLE

22.4%; verbs 17.9%; definite articles 14.77%; prepositions 12.13%; pronouns 11.73%; adverbs 6.57%; adjectives 6.5%; conjunctions 5.27%; particles 2. 73%. When we compare the percentages of the parts of speech of the article genre to those of literary Maltese, as well as to those of the spoken language, we come to the following observations. The percentage of nouns is slightly lower than that of literary Maltese (23.17%) and that of spoken Maltese (23.53%). The percentage of the definite articles is higher than that of literary Maltese (13.77%), and higher still than that of spoken Maltese (12.07%). The percentage of the verbs is, however, lower than that of literary Maltese (18.17%), and still lower than that of spoken Maltese (20.57%). The percentage of the prepositions is lower than that ofliterary Maltese (13.73%), but higher than that of the spoken language (10.5%). The percentage of pronouns is much higher than that of literary (8.47%) and spoken (8.7%) Maltese. The percentage of adverbs is much lower than that of literary Maltese (8.6%) and that of spoken Maltese (15.53%). However, the percentage of adjectives is nearly the same as that of literary Maltese (6.6%), while it is higher than that of the spoken language (4.33%). Furthermore, the percentage of conjunctions is higher than that of literary Maltese (4.93%), and more than double that of spoken Maltese (1.97~,-;,). Finally, the percentage of the particles is practically the same as in literary Maltese (2.56%), and in spoken Maltese (2.8~{,). The noun category is the most frequently employed of all parts of speech in the article genre, as in all other genres. However, in this genre, it is less important than in the other genres, (it has in fact the lowest percentage in all four genres). On the other hand, verbs, pronouns, conjunctions and particles are more prominent here (see below in 5.433) than in any other journalistic type of writing. Coordinations by means of conjunctions, and the use of the negative, are more typical of this than of any other genre. 1st and 3rd August, 1973. The individual frequency distribution which followed from this survey is given in the chart below. Chart showing the Frequency Distribution olthe Parts ol Speech in the Article Genre

Orizzont Hajj a Nazzjon

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

Conj

Part

22.3 24.4 20.5

14.3 16.8 13.2

14.4 16.1 23.2

13.4 12.9 10.1

12.9 10.2 12.1

6.1 6.9 6.7

9.5 6.1 3.9

4.5 5.3 6.0

2.6 1.3 4.3

183

STYLE

By comparing the three newspapers together, we find that L-Orizzont has the biggest number of prepositions, pronouns and adjectives; II- Hajja has the biggest number of nouns, definite articles, and adverbs; while, In-Nazzjon Tag1ma has the greatest number of verbs, conjunctions and particles. However, these differences are on the whole very slight. The parts of speech which are more prominent in the article genre are the adjectives in L-Orizzont (which tends to qualify nouns more than the other newspapers), the nouns in 11-Hajja (which tends to have more complex sentences than the rest), and the verbs in In-Nazzjon Tag1ma (which tends to have less complex sentences than the other two newspapers). 5.4224

THE PARTS OF SPEECH IN THE ADVERTISEMENT GENRE

In our survey of the advertisement genre, the two main types of advertisement-the display and the classified- 27 have been kept apart as it seemed a priori possible that the frequency of the parts of speech might differ from one type to the other. However, the 'display classified' advertisement (to use the terminology of the advertising industry) 28 was included with the classified, and not with the display advertisement, as it is linguistically much closer to the former than to the latter type. In studying the frequency of the parts of speech of the display advertisement, the survey was carried out on l 000 words in each daily newspaper. The samples, thus, involved a great number of display advertisements. 29 The frequency distribution of the parts of speech which resulted from this survey is given in the following list in descending order: nouns 46.76%; prepositions 16.56%; definite article 14.86%; verbs 8.83%; adjectives 5.23%; conjunctions 3.16%; adverbs 2.16%; pronouns 1.93%; particles 0.46%. 27 See above, notes 9-10. See above, note 10. 29 For the list of references to the display advertisements studied here, see note 12 to Chapter 4. As to the individual frequency distribution, see the chart below. 27

28

Chart showing the Frequency Distribution ol the Parts of Speech in the Display Advertisements

Orizzont Maija Nazzjon

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

Conj

Part

50.1 45.6 44.6

14.6 16.4 13.6

9.3 8.7 8.5

15.3 17.1 17.3

2.2 1.5 2.1

1.7 1.7 3.1

3.0 5.5 7.2

3.6 3.3 2.6

0.2 0.2 1.0

184

STYLE

As to the classified advertisement, the survey was carried out on three other samples of 1000 words each selected from the daily newspapers. Again, in these samples, many advertisements had to be examined to make up the required number of words. 30 The frequency of the parts of speech resulting from the survey on the classified advertisements is given here in descending order: nouns 49.1%; prepositions 16.97%; definite articles 13.5%; adjectives 7.43%; verbs 6.57%; conjunctions 3.2%; adverbs 2.23%; pronouns 0.8%; particles 0.2%. When we compare the above figures with those of the display advertisements, it becomes clear that, although the percentages themselves somewhat differ, the order of the grammatical categories is the same, with the exception of the verb which in the display advertisement precedes the adjective, while here, in the classified advertisement, it follows it. This difference in the order of frequencies is quite illuminating, because it points out a radical distinction between the two types of advertisements. The sentences of the display advertisement are normally finite, and as such have a subject and a verb; while those of the classified advertisement are quite often non-finite, in that the verb is often missing. The reason behind this is that in the display advertisement, the space is 'bought', and any number of words can go in that space; in the classified, however, payment is made as against every word that occurs in the advertisement. If we combine the percentages obtained in the display advertisements with that obtained in the classified advertisements, we get the overall frequency of the advertisement genre. The result is the following: nouns47.92%; prepositions 16.78%; definite articles 14.17%; verbs 7.7%; adjectives 6.33%; conjunctions 3.19%; adverbs 2.2%; pronouns 1.37%; particles 0.34%. The very high percentage of nouns in the advertisement genre is not at all astonishing. Advertisements contain many headings and sub-headings which abound in nouns, but not in verbs. Nouns, on the 3 ° For the list of references to the classified advertisements studied here, see note 14 to Chapter 4. The individual frequency distribution of the parts of speech occurring in these samples is given in the following chart.

Chart showing the Frequency Distribution of the Parts of Speech in the Classified Advertisements

Orizzont Ha.ija Nazzjon

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

Conj

Part

54.7 45.9 46.7

12.8 13.4 14.3

4.9 8.4 6.4

14.8 18.3 17.8

0.3 0.7 1.4

1.3 3.2 2.2

7.8 7.3 7.2

3.4 2.6 3.6

0.0 0.2 0.4

STYLE

185

other hand, wherever they occur, are quite often accompanied either by prepositions, or by the definite article, or by both, and this brings up the percentage of these two grammatical categories. Verbs, as we have seen above, occur more frequently in the display advertisements than in the classified. On the other hand, adjectives, employed with the aim of suggesting that the objects advertised have good and satisfying qualities, are more frequent in the classified advertisments as they can compensate for the imposed conciseness. Conjunctions are rarely used, and when a conjunction occurs in the advertisement, it is generally u 'and'. Adverbs and pronouns are also very rare. Particles, such as the negative rna 'not', figure only exceptionally, and when they do, they are employed to emphasise that the object advertised does not have the defect or drawback usually associated with it. 5.4225

CoMPARATIVE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF THE PARTS OF SPEECH IN THE JouRNALISTIC GENRES, LITERARY MALTESE AND SPOKEN MALTESE

So as to give an overall picture of the frequency distribution of the parts of speech in each individual journalistic genre, we offer below a chart containing the corresponding frequencies for every grammatical category. This chart should throw some light on points of comparison and contrast between the news report, the editorial, the article and the advertisement genres, as well as between these and literary and spoken Maltese. Comparative Chart showing the Frequency Distribution of the Parts of Speech in the Journalistic Genres, Literary Maltese, and Spoken Maltese

News Report Editorial Article Advertisement Lit. Maltese Spok. Maltese

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

30.43 24.8 22.4 47.92 23.17 23.53

15.9 14.67 14.77 14.17 13.77 12.o7

14.97 16.13 17.9 7.7 18.77 20.57

12.3 12.63 12.13 16.78 13.73 10.5

8.77 9.47 11.73 1.37 8.47 8.7

7.43 9.1 6.57 2.2 8.6 15.53

5.7 7.67 6.5 6.33 6.6 4.33

Conj · Part 2.4 3.33 5.27 3.19 4.93 1.97

2.1 2.2 2.73 0.34 2.56 2.8

The above comparative frequencies are quite illuminating. The nouns occur with the highest frequency in the advertisement, amounting to nearly half of the number of words used there. This is quite understandable, as the advertisement is mainly concerned with objects to be sold. Nouns are still very frequent in the news report, which is concerned with facts, persons and things, and, to a lesser extent,

186

STYLE

with related actions. In relation to literary and spoken Maltese, the frequency of nouns in the editorial is a little higher, while that of the nouns in the article genre is a little lower. The definite article is least frequent in spoken Maltese, a little more frequent in literary Maltese, somewhat more frequent again in the advertisement, the editorial and the article, and more frequent still in the news report. This means that definiteness is more strongly represented in the news report which tends to incorporate new (and therefore indefinite) information within a background of old (and therefore definite) and well known facts. This tendency is also strongly felt in the other genres, but it is less so in literary Maltese, and even more so in spoken Maltese. Verbs are very limited in the advertisement genre, where incomplete sentences are the norm; they occur with much higher frequency in the news report, followed, in ascending order, by the editorial, the article, literary Maltese, and spoken Maltese. The typical genre for the use of prepositions is the advertisement, where prepositional phrases are very common. In the other genres, the frequency of prepositions is surely less, but the differences are very small. In relation to the other types of Maltese, the frequency of prepositions in the news report, the editorial and the article is less than that of literary Maltese, but more than that in spoken Maltese. Pronouns occur mostly in the article, which is normally written in the first person; they are very rare in the advertisement; while in the other types of Maltese they are fairly strongly represented. Adverbs occur most frequently in spoken Maltese, especially those denoting time, place and sequence; they are very weakly represented in the advertisement; while they occur fairly frequently in the other types of Maltese. Adjectives occur mainly in the editorial which is the persuasion genre. They are strongly represented in literary Maltese, the article genre and the advertisement. They are less frequent in the news report, and least of all in spoken Maltese. Conjunctions occur mainly in the article, followed by literary Maltese, the editorial, and the advertisement; they are less frequent in the news reports, and still less in spoken Maltese. As to the particles, they are practically the same in all types of Maltese, with the exception of the advertisement, where they are very rare due to the fact that rna 'not', (since it is a negative and the advertisement prefers to dwell on positive aspects), hardly ever occurs. We are now ready to compare the frequency distribution within the journalistic language as a whole with that of literary Maltese, and that of spoken Maltese. We offer our data in the following chart.

187

STYLE

Comparative Chart showing the Frequency Distribution of Journalistic Maltese, Literary Maltese, and Spoken Maltese

Journal. Maltese Lit. Maltese Spoken Maltese

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

Adj

31.39 23.17 23.53

14.88 13.77 12.07

14.18 18.17 20.57

13.46 13.73 10.5

7.84 8.47 8.7

6.32 8.6 15.53

6.55 6.6 4.33

Conj 3.55 4.93 1.97

Part 1.84 2.56 2.8

The above chart does not need much discussion. It points out clearly that journalistic Maltese, in matters of frequency distribution concerning the parts of speech, and therefore in matters of syntax in general, is completely distinct both from literary and from spoken Maltese. These findings are quite important. We have, in earlier parts of this study, attempted to demonstrate the separate existence of the journalistic type of Maltese, which is neither literary, nor spoken, nor even half-way type between the two. We supported our arguments on grounds of phonetics and spellings, morphology and lexis, the use of idiom, calques and syntax. It is instructive to find that the impersonal argument of a statistical analysis of stylistic usages in matters of parts of speech clearly supports our main thesis about the separate existence of journalistic Maltese, for, not only do the figures given for journalistic, literary, and spoken Maltese differ systematically, but it is also not true (as a glance at the figures will show) that journalistic Maltese presents something like an average between spoken and literary Maltese. This is true in particular for the noun, difinite article, verb, preposition, pronoun, adverb, and conjunction categories. In the percentage of the adjective and particle categories, the journalistic language is nearer to the literary than to the spoken language. All in all, we can say that the percentages of the nouns, definite articles and prepositions occurring in the journalistic language are higher than those for both literary and spoken Maltese; the percentages of the verbs, pronouns, adverbs and particles are lower than those for both literary and spoken Maltese; and the percentages of the adjectives and conjunctions occurring in the journalistic language are in between those of literary and spoken Maltese, but they are nearer to literary than to spoken Maltese. It is clear, therefore, that journalistic Maltese does not overlap with either literary or spoken Maltese, nor does it go half way in between these two types of language; on the contrary, it has a system of its own.

188

STYLE

5.43

STYLE AND SYNTAX IN THE JouRNALISTIC GENRES

We will now see what light the statistics offerred above (in 5.422), combined with more statistics given below (in 5.431, 5.432, 5.433, 5.434) regarding the sentence length, can shed on the stylistic peculiarities of each journalistic genre in matters of syntax. In the following study, we have taken into consideration those frequency distributions which were more strikingly contrasting with corresponding frequencies in the other genres. Thus, for example, the very high percentage of nouns (47.92%) and the very low percentage of verbs (7.7%), occurring in the advertisement genre, throws light on the fact that the main stylistic trend in this type of writing is that of employing many phrases and clauses, often to the exclusion of finite sentences: hence the telegram-like syntactic structures to which we referred below (in 5.4342). In order to establish the average length of the sentence in each journalistic genre, we have studied the number of words occurring in the first ten sentences of each genre, in the lst August, 1973, issue of each newspaper. As to the classified advertisements in the case of In-Nazzjon Tag1ma, we had to examine some examples from the 2nd August, 1973, issue so as to make up the total number of ten sentences required for the sample. 5.431

STYLE AND SYNTAX IN THE NEWS REPORT

The news report has the longest sentence on an average in the journalistic writings. The average number of words in the three newspapers taken together is 28 per sentence. 31 However, sentence length differs from newspaper to newspaper. The highest average is 34 31 The samples on which sentence length was tested were taken from the following texts: 0 1.3-5.7-11 :I; 0 1.3.12-23:1; 0 1.4.12-23:1; 0 1.5.12-35:1; tt 1.3-4.7-11 :I; tt 1.3.12-52: I; tt 1.4.12-30: I; N 1.1. 7-47: I; N 1.2.8-16: I. The number of words occurring in each of the ten sentences in each newspaper is given in the following chart.

Chart showing the Numher of Words

occurring in ten sentences in the News Report Genre

2

Orizzont Hajj a Nazzjon Totals

4

6

7

9

10

Totals

Average

36 49 36

24 39 24

35 51 27

38 47 18

22 10 7

13 28 28

14 37 19

36 18 49

16 28 18

28 28 23

262 335 249

26 34 25

121

87

113

103

39

69

70

103

62

79

846

28

STYLE

189

per sentence in II- Hajja; next comes that of L-Orizzont with 26 words per sentence; and this is followed closely by In-Nazzjon Tag1ma with 25 words per sentence. The first key sentence of the news report is very long in all the newspapers, not only in the texts which were analysed here, but also elsewhere. In our samples, the first sentence in Il-Hajja contains 49 words, while that of L-Orizzont and that of In-Nazzjon Tag1ma contain 36 words each. Despite the sentence length in the news report, we have noticed earlier (in 5.4221) that conjunctions are very rarely used in this genre. Their frequency is just 2.4%. Therefore, they do not permit many co-ordinations, nor can they be the cause of many long sentences. However, the syntactic structures occurring in this type of writing is far from being simple. The fact that, with the exception of the advertisement genre, the news report has the shortest text among the journalistic genres, makes for complexity, rather than for simplicity. Because of lack of space, the news reporter tends to shorten his text by making liberal use of dependent clauses. This is, perhaps, the most characteristic element in the stylistic aspect of syntax in the news report genre. The main dependent clauses which are used frequently in the press reports are two, being the relative clause, and the subordinate clause. These two types of clauses will be treated individually. 5.4311

THE RELATIVE CLAUSE

Relative clauses in Maltese newspapers are introduced by the relative pronoun li 'which, who, that', and, exceptionally, by the relative pronoun il/i, which has the same meaning. In literary Maltese, the latter form illi occurs mainly in poetry so as to meet the metre requirements. In the spoken language, li is the most common form, but illi figures as well, mainly after a word ending in a consonant, or after a pause. Such relative clauses help in transforming independent sentences into dependent clauses, and thus affect the stylistic choice in matters of syntax. In the news report genre, relative pronouns generally occur frequently (four or five times) in the very first sentence of the report, so much so that a long concatenation made up of the main sentence and several dependant clauses nearly always occurs at the head of the press reports. In other positions within the report itself, relative pronouns are far less frequent. The syntactic structure of the first sentence of the news report is

190

STYLE

such that the subject is normally at the head of the sentence; then follow most of the relative clauses; then comes the verb and predicate of the main sentence; and finally just one or two relative clauses. Semantically speaking, this syntactic structure is generally divided into two parts: the first part, which includes the subject and the correlated relative clauses, makes reference to old, or rather, known events; the second part, which comprises the predicate, including the verb, and the remaining relative clauses, gives the new information. Thus, the semantic process is such that the statement of the sentence passes from the known to the unknown. The following sentence exemplifies the syntactic structure and the semantic process normally present in the first sentence of the news report. The relative pronouns, which mark the presence of relative clauses, are italicized in the following examples. L-lmhallef /i ppresieda fil-guri tazzagh:i:ugh li nstab hati /i ghamel ferita gravi /i kkagunat il-mewt fi :i:mien 40 jum, irCieva invilops (sic) li fih kien hemm ritratt. Ml.4.50-60:1

The judge presiding over the trial by jury for the youth who was found guilty of having inflicted a grave wound which caused death within 40 days, received an envelope in which there was a photo.

The following sentence can serve as another example of concatenation by means of relative clauses. Over and above the use of the dependent clauses, it contains a specimen of indirect reported speech, which is frequently found in the news reports. L-ghan tieghu, qalu 1-imke]en, huwa /i jghaqqdu 1-grupp /i huwa se jmexxi qabel 1-elezzjonijiet parlamentari nazzjonali /i jmiss, /i huma mistennija /i jsiru ll-1974. 0 2.1.8-14:7

5.4312

His aim, said the sources, is that of enforcing the group that he is going to lead before the next national parliamentary elections which are supposed to take place in 1974.

THE SuBORDINATE CLAUSE

Subordinate clauses, such as those beginning with jekk 'if, ghaliex 'because', meta 'when', are also very common in the news report genre. They help the system of concatenation occurring between the main sentence and its dependent clauses just as in the case of the relative pronouns, and thus contribute towards conciseness, as opposed to length in fully independent main sentences. The use of subordinate clauses thus again involves choice in the syntactic structures.

STYLE

191

The following sentence may be taken as an example illustrating this system of concatenation. Words introducing subordinate clauses are italicized. Jekk jirnexxilu jikseb 1-istess immunita bhal dik tal-President, huwa jkun irid 1-ewwel Jig! ccensurat, imbag1rad mghoddi guri. N 3.2.27-31 :3

If he succeeds in gammg the same immunity as that of the President, he would have to be impeached in the first place, and then he could be brought before a jury.

Quite often, subordinate clauses occur side by side with relative clauses. This occurs, again, mainly in the first sentence of the press report. A nice stylistic touch may result when this mixture is used in the right proportions: indeed, such balanced use generally occurs in the literary language. In the news report genre, nevertheless, the main aim is not refinement of style, but the practical advantage in the way of conciseness following from such usage. The sentence which follows below exemplifies the use of mixed dependent clauses. II-Gvern, fil-progett li se jaghmel fiiMarsa, se jiehu hsieb /i jibni postijiet godda ghal dawk li se jintlaqtu g1raliex biex dan il-progett isehh se jkun hemm b:i:onn li jitwaqqghulhom djarhom. 0 1.3-4.7-9:1

The Government, in the project which will be realised in Marsa, is undertaking the building of new houses for those who will be affected, because the fulfilment of this project requires the demolition of some premises in the area concerned.

Although in theory one is free to make use of an indefinite number of dependent clauses, nevertheless we find that the number is statistically limited to five when we examine the actual usages in the news report genre. 32 Such clauses may be either all relative, or all subordinate, or even a blend of both types, as we have seen in the above example. 5.432

STYLE AND SYNTAX IN THE EDITORIAL

The overall average length of the sentence in the editorial is slightly shorter than that of the news report. While, as we have seen above (in 5.431), there are 28 words per sentence in the news report, there

32 See below for similar considerations regarding the article genre, especially the third example in 5.4334, which contains a record number of eight relative clauses.

192

STYLE

are 27 words per sentence in the editorial. 33 This difference does not look very striking. However, we should note that it is the result of two big individual averages, namely 32 and 29 words per sentence in L-Orizzont and 11-!fajja respectively, and one small individual average with just 20 words per sentence in the editorial of In-Nazzjon Tag1ma. This is not at all surprising. On the contrary, it explains why L-Orizzont and 11-!fajja have 14.8% of the words in the editorial which are verbs, while In-Nazzjon Tag1ma has 18.8% (see above in 5.4222). In other words, this means that the shorter the sentence, the greater is the number of verbs in texts of equal length. Notwithstanding the fact that there is a difference between the number of entries of verbs in the Maltese newspapers regarding the editorial genre, we have seen earlier (in 5.4222) that the frequency of the verb is higher in this genre than that of the news report. The syntactic reason behind these percentages is the presence of more complex sentences in the editorial in general. While in the news report, complex sentences occur mainly in the first key sentence, in the editorial they occur all along the text. While on the one hand, one cannot ignore the fact that the editorial is longer than the news report, and as such stands a better chance in matters of presentation of material, on the other hand, one has to admit that the complexity of the editorial gives this genre a higher stylistic standard than that reached at in the news report genre. For the same reason, the style of the editorial is very near to that of the literary language when considered syntactically. In our survey regarding the complexity of the editorial genre, we will limit our study to the following six aspects: (a) dependent clauses, including both the relative and the subordinate clauses; (b) co-ordinated 33 This is based on an analysis of the first ten sentences of the editorials of the three newspapers in the I st August, 1973, issue, including the following texts: 0 5.4.24-62: I; H 8.1.5-36:1; N 4.4.11-37:1. The number of words occurring in every sentence studied here is given in the following chart.

Chart showing the Number o( Words occurring in ten sentences in the News Report Genre

2

4

6

7

9

10

Totals

Average

Orizzont Hajj a Nazzjon

67 25 7

44 32 10

20 45 16

30 7 12

25 15 26

27 13 25

51 37 24

21 46 30

14 20 36

21 50 22

320 290 208

32 29 20

Totals

99

86

81

49

66

65

112

97

70

93

818

27

STYLE

193

nouns, adjectives and prepositional phrases; (c) the auxiliary verb and connected verbs; (d) co-ordinated relative clauses; (e) co-ordinated sentences; and, finally (f) complex sentences as a whole, including blends of the above aspects. 5.4321

RELATIVE AND SuBORDINATE CLAUSES

The use of dependent clauses, whether relative or subordinate, is a common feature of the editorial style, and is widespread in all three newspapers under review. Such a structure contrasts sharply with the style of the spoken language where simplicity (i.e. the use of co-ordinated short sentences rather than the relative and sub-ordinate clauses) is the norm. Meanwhile, however, this trend links the editorial with the literary language, and helps it towards attaining a more 'respectable' syntactic aspect than that it would have had if it were based solely on the every-day speech. The use of many relative and subordinate clauses is quite often skilfully used in the editorial. However, sometimes it leads to loss of clarity, or at least to cumbersome structures. The following sentence is typical of the editorial, and shows how long a sentence could become through the excessive employment of dependent clauses at the expense of clarity. We note, for example, that the subject and the predicate are separated by 46 morphological words. Here, again, words introducing relative or subordinate clauses are italicized. 11-Pjan ta' Zvilupp 1973/80, imfassal miii-Gvern, u li 1-linji generali tieghu gew imxandra din il-gimgha, filwaqt li jahseb b'mod 1-aktar serju ghalli:.i:vilupp ekonomiku tal-pajji:.i: - :.i:vilupp /i ghandujwassalna biex nilhqu indipendenza ekonomika u allura rna' din indipendenza shiha ghal pajji:.i:najahseb ukoll b'mod 1-aktar serju biex dan 1-i:.i:vilupp ekonomiku jirrifletti fi :.i:vilupp soejali kbir tas-soejeta Maltija. 0 5.4.41-49:30

5.4322

The Development Plan 1973/80 drawn by the Government, whose outlines were published this week, while it takes into serious consideration the economic development of the country - a development which should enable us to reach economic independence and therefore, together with it, a full independence for our country - takes also care in a most serious way that this economical development reflects itself in a great social development in the Maltese society.

Co-ORDINATED NouNs, ADJECTIVES AND PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

Co-ordination between nouns, adjectives and prepositional phrases has a big share in the structure of sentences in the editorial genre.

194

STYLE

Partially, it contributes to the high frequency of nouns, adjectives and prepositions. Co-ordination contributes also towards complexity or even over-complexity amounting to clumsiness in the type of sentences characteristic of the editorial genre. The following sentence, which contains no less than five linkages of this type, is typical of the sentence involving co-ordination in the editorial. Co-ordinated nouns, adjectives and prepositional phrases are italicized in the following text. L-istess rakkomandazzjoni tghid li 1-awtoritajiet u 1-ghal/iema ghandhom jirrikonoxxu 1-importanza tas-sehem ta' 1-ghal/iema, permezz ta' 1-organizzazzjonijiet taghhom u mezzi ohra, fpassi mfassla biex itejbu 1-kwa/ita tas-servizz ta' 1-edukazzjoni, fit-tiftix edukattiv, u 1-izvi/upp u t-tixrid ta' metodi godda u ahjar. 118.1.13-18:11

5.4323

The same recommendation says that the authorities and the teachers should acknowledge the importance of the teachers' contribution, by means of their organisations and other means, so that they could, in an orderly manner, achieve better quality in the service of education, by means of educational research, and the development and wider use of new and better methods.

THE AuxiLIARY VERB AND CoNNECTED VERBS

We have seen earlier (in 5.4222 and in 5.432) that verbs have a higher frequency in the editorial than in the news report. This is due to the fact that in the editorial genre, auxiliary verbs and connected verbs 34 are used quite frequently. Under this aspect, the literary genre has been influenced by the literary language which tries to make more use of the flowery style so as to look more 'impressive'. This practice, therefore, suits the editorial genre as it follows a serious type of writing, and calls for a fairly elaborated style. In the literary language, the auxiliary verb par excellence is the verb kien 'to be'. It also occurs quite often in the journalistic language, as in the following example taken at random from an editorial. Min kien jittama ghadu jittama. 118.1.13-14:21

He who was hopeful is still hoping now.

34 The Maltese connected verbs, such asjista' jahdem 'he can work' N 4.4.54-55:28, and tixtieq tifred 'she wishes to divide' N 4.4.15 :23, correspond to two types of verbs in English, as the translations show. The first one involves one of the verbs 'can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, etc.', plus a verb with no preposition in between; the other involves a main verb, plus another verb preceded by the preposition to.

STYLE

195

We find also in the literary language another auxiliary verb, the verb gie 'literally, to come', but it is used there with great caution, because in standard Maltese, it is regarded, as E. Sutcliffe says, "as condemned by competent opinion". 3 5 In the journalistic language, however, this auxiliary verb is commonly used, even in the editorials. This gives scope for more variety in the journalistic type of Maltese. The following sentence, extracted from an editorial exemplifies the use of both types of auxiliary verbs. Din ir-rifonna tat-tarzna giet rakkomandata lill-Gvem mill-grupp ta' esperti FranCi:.i:i li huwa kien gab biex jaghmlu studju generali dwar it-tarzna. 0 5.4.55-57:16

This reform in the dockyard was recommended to the Government by the group of French experts whom they had brought here to make a general study about the dockyard.

Connected verbs are also used quite frequently in the editorial, whether they occur on their own, or accompanied by auxiliary verbs. As a rule, such structures are very natural, as in the example which follows. L-Ghadira mhix imfittxa biss minn min ikun irid imur iqatta' xi jum il-bahar, imma wkoll minn gruppi u familji li jkunu jridu jqattgnu xi gimgha jikkampjaw fxatt il-bahar. M 8.1.7-10:28

5.4324

The Ghadira is a favourite place not only for those who wish to spend a day at the seaside, but also for those groups and families who wish to spend a week camping near the sea.

Co-ORDINATED RELATIVE CLAUSES

When dealing above with style and syntax in the news report, we noticed that the relative clauses occurring there are generally chained in such a way that one relative clause issues directly from the noun or verb which precedes it immediately (see above in 5.431, where the following example is given: L-Imhallef li ppresieda fil-guri tai-iaghiugh li nstab /i ghamel ferita gravi li kkagunat etc.). Similarly, in the editorial genre there is a corresponding trend to connect relative clauses by means of a conjunction. This adds to the complexity and variety of syntactic structures in the editorial genre.

35 E. F. SutcliiTe, A Grammar of the Maltese Language, Malta, 1960, (1st published, London, 1936), p. 71.

196

STYLE

In the following sentence, which we are presenting to exemplify this trend in the editorial, we find two relative clauses connected by u 'and'. The relative pronoun /i 'who', however, occurs overtly only at the head of the first relative clause. Diga hawn employers li minn rajhom hadu 1-inizjattiva u nxurjaw lillhaddiema taghhom. 0 5.3.60-61 :3

There are already some employers who, out of their own free will, took the initiative and insured their employees.

The two relative clauses li minn rajhom fladu 1-inizjattiva 'who out of their own free will took the initiative' and nxurjaw lill-fladdiema tagflhom '(who) insured their employees' are appended to the same employers. The structure of relative clauses in the editorial genre is sometimes more complex. Thus, in the same way, one can observe connected relative clauses and chained relative clauses. This can be seen in the following example, in which, the first two relative clauses are appended to the same verb phrase huwa difficli 'it is difficult', while the third relative clause is chained to the second relative clause. The conjunction u 'and', therefore, connects only the first two clauses. Huwa diffidi li tiggeneralizza u tghid /i kull mara miiiewga m'ghandhiex tahdem. M 8.1.22-24:16

5.4325

It is difficult to generalise and say that every married woman should not get an employment.

Co-ORDINATED SENTENCES

Conjunctions are very common in the editorial genre, which in their usage and frequency is very close to the article genre. We have already seen above that they help in connecting relative clauses, but they function also as connectors between main sentences. Under this aspect, the editorial genre is influenced by the spoken language, where simple-co-ordinations by u 'and' are very common. Stylistically speaking, therefore, the use of conjunctions creates an aspect of naturalness in the editorial genre, as elsewhere. The following sentence exemplifies such a trend. Din il-figura hija rekord u kisret irrekord ta' qabel. 0 5.4.25-26:2

This figure is a record and it broke the previous record.

The simplicity of such co-ordinated sentences is sometimes partially impinged upon by means of other syntactic structures over and above

STYLE

197

the simple co-ordinated sentences. Thus, in the sentence given below, we note that the second conjoined sentence rna ghandniex ghalfejn narmu li/na nfusna 'we should not underestimate ourselves' is followed immediately by a subordinate clause meta nitqabblu mal-barrani 'when we compare ourselves with foreigners'. Ahna 1-Maltin ghandna hafna kwalitajiet sbieh u rna ghandniex ghalfejn narmu lilna nfusna meta nitqabblu mal-barrani. M 8.1.12-14:15

We Maltese have many good qualities and we should not underestimate ourselves when we compare ourselves with foreigners.

Furthermore, there is a trend, shared by the editorial, the article and, to a certain extent, the news report genre, whereby conjoined sentences are split in print, so that the conjunction preceding a conjoined sentence may follow a full-stop, and is, in this case, written with a capital letter. Such artificial splitting is done for stylistic purposes, as it gives greater impact and stress to what appears to be a new thought by giving every conjoined sentence the appearance of an independent sentence. 36 Thus, more emphasis is in particular given to conjoined sentences beginning with a conjunction, such as u 'and', ghaliex 'because', imma 'but'. This typographic 'trick' can be seen in the following sentences. lr-raguni tista' ddum rna titla' fwicc 1-ilma. Imma ttanbar ilium u tambar ghada, fl-ahhar jinfetah mohh u jasal biex jara r-raguni. N4.4.11-14:1

5.4326

Reason may take some time to become evident, but if one affirms one thing today, and reaffirms it to-morrow, the mind will become finally enlightened and begins to reason.

COMPLEX SENTENCES

Long and complex sentences may occur anywhere in the editorial. Such types of sentences are, as a matter of fact, typical of this genre. A single sentence, in the wide sense of the word, can be actually made up of several intricate syntactic structures, sometimes even to the extent that what is said may sound cumbersome, or even bombastic. Such sentences occur frequently in all the three Maltese daily newspapers. The following sentence may serve as an example.

36 This split-sentence style can be seen frequently used in the English popular newspapers, e.g. "He is moved. But in exchange he gets the job of running half the nation's state industry". The Sun, 12th June, 1975, p. 2, col. 5, lines 13-17, in the editorial.

198

STYLE

Sai-l urn il-gurnata - sintendi jekk rna tkunx titjira b'ajruplan 'chartered' (jigifieri ajruplan mikri) - biex turist jigi mill-pajjii:i li semmejna u mill-pajjii:i 1-ohra kollha (barra mill-lngilterra, 1Italja u 1-Libja) jrid jaqbad ajruplan minn pajjii:u ghal Ruma jew inkella ghal Londra u minn Ruma jew minn Londra jaqbad ajruplan iehor ghal Malta. 0 5.4.37-43:10

Up to this day, provided, of course, it is not a chartered flight, that is a hired aeroplane, a tourist coming from the countries mentioned above and from all other countries, with the exception of England, Italy and Libya, must take an aeroplane from his country to Rome or London, and from Rome or London he takes another aeroplane to Malta.

This sentence is cumbersome because of the many deviations from the main subject. Compare it, for example, with the following simplified form of the same text which gives the essential message, and which we are offering in order to bring out the stylistic differences. Sai-l urn, kull turist li jigi Malta ftitjira normali jrid jghaddi minn Ruma, Londra jew ii-Libja.

Up to now, every tourist coming to Malta on a normal flight must pass through Rome, London or Libya.

Other complex sentences can be the result of the combination of several types of syntactic structures. Thus, the following sentence exemplifies the use of conjoined nouns and adjectives, relative clauses, prepositional phrases, the auxiliary verb, and connected verbs. 11-kawi:i u r-ragunijiet /i jwasslu gnaiiiedafll-prezzijiet, k(luko/1 min ghandu tort u min m'ghandux, m'huma 1-ebda konsolazzjoni ghal dik il-mara /i bilpaga minima u limitata li jkollha fidha, tkun trid tippjana kif se tlahhaq malbionnijiet gna/1-najja ta' kuljum talfamilja taghha. M 8.1.17-22:7.

5.433

The causes and reasons that lead to a rise in prices, irrespective of who is to blame and who is not, cannot create any consolation for that woman who with the minimum and limited wage that she has in hand, must try to plan how to cope with the necessities of daily life for her family.

STYLE AND SYNTAX IN THE ARTICLE GENRE

Sentences tend to be much shorter in the article genre than in the news report or the editorial. The average number of words based on the result of all three newspapers is 21 per sentence. 3 7 But, then, the

37 This average is based on the first ten sentences of an article chosen from each newspaper. The samples were taken from the following texts: 0 5.1-3.2-5: I; 0 5.1.6-49: I;

199

STYLE

number varies from one newspaper to another. While in the L-Orizzont the average is 26, in II-Hajja it is 20, while in In-Nazzjon Tag1ma it is 17. Although the sentence in the article is generally shorter than that of the news report and that of the editorial, complex sentences occur as well in this genre, and these are stylistically interesting. The statistical information regarding the frequency distribution of the parts of speech given earlier (in 5.4223) has shown that verbs, pronouns, conjunctions and particles have the highest percentage in this genre. The stylistic effects of these facts are dealt with below. In our stylistic investigation of the article genre, we are taking the following four aspects into consideration: (a) the use of personal, indefinite, and demonstrative pronouns; (b) conjunctions and coordinations; (c) the use of the negative form; and finally, (d) the use of complex syntactic structures in the sentence. Each item will be treated separately. 5.4331

PERSONAL, INDEFINITE, AND DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

We have seen earlier (in 5.4223) that the frequency of the pronouns went up from 8.77% in the news report genre to 9.47% in the editorial genre and to II. 73% in the article genre. This rise of frequency of the pronouns in the editorial genre over the news report genre was due to the frequent use of relative pronouns introducing relative clauses. The still higher frequency of the pronouns in the article genre, on the other hand, is due to frequent use of the personal pronouns, the indefinite pronouns, and the demonstrative pronouns.

1'1 8.2.4-38:1; 1'1 8.3.4-8:1; N 4.1-3.3-9:1; N 4.1.10-37:1. The following chart gives th.: number of words for every sentence. Chart showing the Numher of Words oaurring in ten sentences in the Article Genre

2

Orizzont Hajj a Nazzjon

29

Totals

3

4

6

17

27 22 14

25 18 19

21 27 26

23 31 7

32 2 17

53

63

62

74

61

51

8

9

10

Totals

Average

32 33 21

17 27 13

21 12 19

35 17 16

262 196 169

26 20 17

86

57

52

68

627

21

200 5.43311

STYLE THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS

The article genre expresses, as a rule, the personal opinion of the individual writer, even though it is sometimes geared to promote a definite policy of the newspaper in general. This is one of the reasons why the personal pronouns, especially the first person singular, are so much frequently used in the article genre. In many instances, the personal pronouns, according to the normal trend of Maltese in general, are not overtly expressed, since they are implied in the forms of the verbs. However, on many other occasions, they are fully expressed in the article genre because of their stylistic importance in generating the required emphasis on the person involved. Thus, for example, the use of the personal pronoun in the following sentence emphasises the personal and private opinion of the individual writer. Jiena nhoss illi 1-klabbs taghna jehtiegu 'coaching' professjonali. 0 5.1.72-78:1

5.43312

I think that our clubs need professional coaching.

THE INDEFINITE PRONOUNS

The indefinite pronouns are also frequently employed in the article genre. The reason behind this is that they tend to generalise, and are, thus, apt to act in such a way that the message is substantially given through them without offending anybody in particular. Therefore, the indefinite pronouns have a good share in what we may call 'journalistic etiquette', which is so important in the newspapers. Thus, in the following sentence, the writer of an article referred to certain clubs which were committing an illegal act, but he did this, without making a quite specific reference, by means of an impersonal pronoun. Uhudminn dawn il-kai:inijew ghaqdiet, specjalment dawk sportivi, kienu diga qed jorganizzaw dawn it-tombli blistess sistema. Dan kien illegali. 0 5.1.11-17:1

Some of these clubs or societies, especially those connected with sports, were already holding such tombolas on the same system. This was illegal.

At times, the indefinite pronoun is used in such a way as to generalise and thus create more consciousness in the public opinion, as, for example, in the case of kulhadd. 'everybody' in the following sentence. Kulhadd jista' jigi bi:onn il-protezzjoni ta' din ii-Qorti ewlenija tal-paijii:. N 4.3.22-24:4

Everybody may find himself in need of the protection of this supreme Court of this country.

STYLE

5.43313

201

THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

Demonstrative pronouns are also very frequently used in the article genre. They have quite often a stylistic function by helping to place greater emphasis on certain main nouns expressing facts mentioned in this type of writing. One should note that while, syntactically, relative pronouns can easily replace them, the emphasis in the sentence would not be the same. One can accordingly change the demonstrative pronoun dan 'this' to the relative pronoun li 'which' in the following example. Hafna jahsbu li Berna hija !-belt kapitali tal-Isvizzera, izda dan mhux minnu ghax 1-Isvizzera m'ghandhiex wahda. N 8.1.39-42 :3

Many think that Berne is the capital of Switzerland, but this is not true because Switzerland does not have a capital town.

Had the above sentence been written in the style of the news report or the editorial, the demonstrative pronoun would have been replaced by a relative pronoun as suggested above. The result would have been the following sentence. Hafnajahsbu li Berna hija !-belt kapitali tal-Isvizzera, /i mhux minnu, ghax 1-Isvizzera m'ghandhiex wahda.

Many think that Berne is the capital of Switzerland, which is not true, because Switzerland has no capital town.

In this reconstructed sentence, we note two main changes: the syntactic variety has been reduced, due to the replacement of the demonstrative pronoun by the more common relative pronoun, and the emphasis on the wrong concept that some people have that Berne is the capital of Switzerland has been lessened. These two points show that the use of the demonstrative pronoun in the article genre has a definite effect on style. 5.4332

CoNJUNCTIONs AND Co-oRDINATIONs

As we have seen earlier (in 5.4223), conjunctions are, relatively speaking, very common in the article genre. While their frequency was 2.4% in the news report genre, 3.19% in the advertisement genre, and 3.33% in the editorial genre, in the article genre it is 5.27%. As a result of this, co-ordinations between similar units, such as nouns, phrases, clauses and sentences, have a larger effect on the syntax of the article genre.

202

STYLE

The most common conjunction is u 'and'. It tends to join similar units together in a rather simple narrative style, without putting much emphasis on logical relationships and temporal priorities of facts. In the example which follows, it connects loosely three main sentences. Zurich hija 1-belt kapitali tal-kanton li jgib 1-istess isem u hija kif ghidna qabel 1-akbar belt 11- lsvizzera u hija maghrufa bhala centru ta' finanzi. N 8.4.22-27 :3

Zurich is the capital of the canton which bears the same name and, as we said before, it is the biggest city in Switzerland, and it is known as a financial centre.

The conjunction u 'and' is sometimes totally or partially omitted in some paratactic constructions, as in the case of juxtaposition of two or more similar units within the sentence. Thus, for example, in the sentence given below, we find three nouns in a series, the first two of which are connected only covertly, while the second and third nouns are connected overtly. L-ikel, il-lukandi u s-shopping huma gholjin. N 8.2.26-27 :3

Food, hotels and shopping are all very costly.

In the article genre, correlative conjunctions, such as mhux (hiss) ... imma 'not (only) ... but (also)', kemm ... kif (ukoll) 'both ... and', are also very common. The following sentence exemplifies their use. Dan mhux biss rna kienx kaz uniku, imma kien jirrifletti 1-qaghda fuq hafna vjaggi li jsiru ghat skop turistiku. 111.2.9-14:1

5.4333

This was not only far from being a unique case, but it reflected on the actual situation on several trips which are being organised for tourists.

UsE OF THE NEGATIVE

We have seen earlier (in 5.4223) that the percentage of the particles in the article genre is 2. 73. This is the highest percentage, because the corresponding percentage in the advertisement genre is 0.34%, in the news report it is 2.1 %, and in the editorial it is 2.2% (see above in 5.4225). This high frequency in the article genre is due mainly to the presence of the negative particle ma 'not'. The negative may of course occur in any type of genre, but the article genre is more open to its use. While in the advertisement mainly good qualities are mentioned, and in the news report and in the editorial only positive facts and arguments are generally given, in the

STYLE

203

article genre negative aspects are also commonly treated. In fact, in the article, the negative is generally used in sentences expressing the writer's personal wish or thought, in conditional sentences, and in some idiomatic phrases emphasising the negative element. 5.43331 The negative usage in the article genre serves quite often to give a personal, informal aspect to this sort of writing whenever a wish or an opinion is expressed. Style is, therefore, much affected in this way, as one can see in the following sentence. Ma nistax nimmagina pass aktar konkret u genwin minn dan. 0 5.1.34-36:1

I cannot imagine a more concrete and genuine step than this.

It is clear that the negative in this sentence was simply used for stylistic purposes. The writer, for example, could easily give a positive sentence instead, as in the case of the one suggested below. Dan hu 1-aktar pass konkret u genwin li seta' jittiehed.

This is the most concrete and genuine step that could be taken.

Substantially, this revised version gives the same message as the original sentence which is in the negative, but its style and impact are completely different. The original sentence was more personal, sentimental and colloquial; the suggested alternative version is more formal, more dogmatic, more authoritative, and complies, therefore, with the requirements of the editorial style. 5.43332 The negative is also used in conditional sentences for stylistic reasons. This can be seen in the following example where the negative aspect serves to excite more awareness of the dangers described in the text. Biss jekk dawn ii:-i:ewg problemi ma jkunux meghluba malajr jirriskjaw li jgibu maghhom i:ewg problemi kbar hafna. M 8.4.38-42 :4

But if these two problems are not solved immediately, they run the risk of creating two very great problems.

5.43333 Negative idiomatic phrases are also very typical of the article genre. They are not only very frequent, but also very varied. For the sake of illustration, we are listing some of them below. m'hemrnx dubju li M 7.3.40:3

there is no doubt that

204

STYLE

rna jfissirx Ji

it does not follow that

mhux il-kai:

it is not the case

m'hemmx ghalfejn 0 5.3.75:8 mhux bii:i:ejjed 0 5.3.9-10:1 hadd rna jixtieq li N 4.2.27-28:1 mhux ta' b'xejn tt 7.4.10:8 rna tkunx idea hai:ina li tt 7.2.16-17:8

there is no reason why

tt 8.2.46:7

tt 8.2.41 :7

5.4334

it is not enough nobody wishes that it goes without saying (literally, 'it is not for nothing') it would not be a bad idea that

CoMPLEX SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES

Although, on the whole, we cannot say that complexity is very frequent in the article genre, there are all the same some complex sentences in this type of writing. Thus, for example, in the following sentence, many interpolations occur between the subject ohrajn 'others' and the predicatejidhri/hom 'think', literally, 'it appears to them'. Ohrajn, mill-banda 1-ohra, meta jaraw is-servizz li jaghtihom tul 1-erbgha u ghoxrin siegha u fuq kollox meta jafu Ii m'huma qed ihallsu xejn biex ii:ommu t-T.V., jidhrilhom li dawn ir-riklami huma ragunati u gusti.

tt 8.2.26-34:3

Others, on the other hand, when they take into consideration the service that it gives them all along the twenty-four hours, and especially when they know that they are not contributing anything towards the maintenance of the T.V., think that these advertisements are reasonable and just.

As another example contammg complex syntactic structures, we reproduce the following sentence, in which one can find examples of subordinate and relative clauses, co-ordinated adverbs and co-ordinated sentences, as well as the use of correlative conjunctions, besides other syntactic elements. Conjunctions relative pronouns and words introducing subordinate clauses are italicized in this example. Fi i:mien meta iktar u iktar Maltin qed isiefru tkun haga tajba /i kemm dawk /i jorganizzaw il-vjaggi, kif uko/1 dawk /i jharsu Jejn safra bhala i:mien ta' mistrieh, /i rna jonqsux /i jaghmlu sew il-kalkoli taghhom qabel rna jmorru fuq

At a time when more and more Maltese are going for their holidays abroad, it would be desirable that both those who organise the tours, and those who hope to go abroad to have some rest, should not fail to have their calculations

205

STYLE

correct before going on a tour, and study carefully how to spend their money so as not to be disappointed.

VJagg u jqisu sewwa kif se jonfqu tlushom biex rna jkunux dii:appuntati. H 7.5.22-34 :I

Enumerations sometimes occur in the article genre and help to bring out clearly the main points under discussion. As a rule, the enumerated items have the same syntactic structure. By means of such enumerations, the following sentence contains the record number of eight relative clauses, six of which are enumerated in pairs. What is further interesting is the fact that the sentence begins immediately with a relative clause li 1-pop/u ... jistenna '(that) which the people expect', and that this is in apposition to a covert demonstrative pronoun dak 'that'. The whole text reads as follows. That which the people, who sincerely appreciate these efforts for the amelioration of life in Malta, expect, is (I) that the talks that are going to take place about transport discipline will be a success; (2) that everybody understands once and for all that every individual should always co-operate in everything so that beautiful Malta remains beautiful; and (3) that the tarmac, after being laid, is always kept in a good condition.

Li 1-poplu, /i japprezza sincerament dawn 1-isforzi ghat-titjib tal-hajja fMalta, jistenna, hu (I) li jirnexxu ttahdidiet /i se jsiru fuq id-dixxiplina tattrasport; (2) li kulhadd idahhalha rrasu darba ghal dejjem /i ghandu jikkopera dejjem u fkollox biex Malta sabiha tibqa' sabiha; u (3) /i wara /i jitqieghed it-tarmak, jini:amm dejjem rsura tajba. H 7.5.53-67 :3

5.434

STYLE AND SYNTAX IN THE ADVERTISEMENT GENRE

The overall average length of the sentence in the advertisement genre is ten words, both in the display and in the classified type. 38 38 The samples for the display advertisements were taken from the following texts: 0 3.4-5.67-86:1; H 4.3-5.53-59:1; H 7.4-5.36-46:1; H 8.1-2.59-66:1; N 2.1-2.71-81 :I. The number of words occurring in every sentence studied here is given in the following chart.

Chart showing the Number of Words occurring in ten Sentences in the Display Advertisements

2

3

4 12 20 2 34

Orizzont Haija Nazzjon

II 12 II

6 12 4

9

Totals

34

22

22

Totals Average

6

7

8

9

10

13 7 7

5 12 4

6 24 6

10 39

12 4

8

6 3 7

90 141 62

9 14 6

27

21

36

57

24

16

293

10

The samples for the classified advertisements were taken from the following texts:

206

STYLE

But length, again, varies from newspaper to newspaper. In the display advertisement, 1/-Hajja has the highest number (14 words per sentence); then comes L-Orizzont (with 9 words); followed by In-Nazzjon Tag1ma (with 6 words). As to the classified, the number of words for each newspaper does not vary very much: it is II in 1/-Hajja, 10 in L-Orizzont, and 9 in In-Nazzjon Tag1ma. The length of the sentence in the advertisement genre is roughly half that of the article, and one-third of that of the news report and that of the editorial. This reflects the difference in the syntax of the sentence in this genre as compared with the other journalistic genres. In the advertisement, in fact, simplicity is the norm. Quite often, instead of the normal complete sentence we find just clauses or phrases in this type of writing. This explains why pronouns are very rare (see above in 5.4224), nouns are very frequent, and verbs are of very limited occurrence when compared to the other genres. 39 The main features which mark the style of the advertisement genre are the following two: (a) the use of the imperative; and (b) the telegram-like structures of the advertisement. 5.4341

THE IMPERATIVE

Of all the journalistic genres, the advertisement stands out for its use of the imperative, because of its characteristic feature of persuasiveness and desire to provoke action. Many advertisements begin by attracting the attention of the reader by referring to some human aspect, e.g. A teacher with the required qualifications to teach P.E., mainly gymnastics.

Ghal/iema bi kwalifikazzjonijiet mehtiega biex tghallem ii-P.E. 1-iktar "Gymnastics".

11 10.4-5.22-23 :2

0 11.1.2-25:1; H 11.1.3-27:1; N 3.1.52-69:1; N 3.5.51-61:2. The number of words occurring in each of the ten sentences is given in the following chart. Chart showing the Numher ol Words occurring in ten Sentences in the Classified Advertisements 4

2

Orizzont Hajj a Nazzjon Totals

7 7 19

7

6

9

10

Totals

Average

7

2

9

6 13 10

101 110 93

10 II 9

18

29

304

10

7

19 21 9

21 10

7

II 13 5

10 9

II

24 10 20

16

49

36

28

54

29

26

2

10

8

39 For a comparative study of the frequency distribution of the parts of speech of the journalistic genres, and literary and spoken Maltese, see above in 5.4225.

STYLE

207

They generally continue by creating or fostering desire and by trying to convince the prospective customer, 40 showing that the object advertised is financially obtainable, or that the offer is somehow attractive, e.g. Salarju: Skond il-"Private Schools Wages Council".

Salary: According to the "Private Schools Wages Council".

Finally, they try to provoke action by closing with an order, e.g. Applika bil-miktub u agnti 1-informazzjoni mentiega !ill-Headmistress. 11 10.4-5.28-29:2

Apply in writing and give the required information to the Headmistress.

Since advertisements generally end with an order for action, the imperatives are frequently used in this genre. Such a usage is further exemplified below. Ghat (sic) bookings u informazzjonijiet ohra irrikorru XYZ.

For bookings and other information contact XYZ.

Ghat aktar dettalji staqsi ghall-Manager taghna.

For more details ask for our Manager.

0 3.4-5.85: I

N 1.4-5.38-40:3

Sometimes the imperative occurs at the head of the advertisement itself, as in the following example. lvvjagga bil-karozza ghat Sqallija. 11 7.4-5.36: I

5.4342

Travel with your car to Sicily.

TELEGRAM-LIKE SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES

One cannot say that the syntactic structures of the advertisements published in the Maltese newspapers are all in telegram style. Normally, however, all advertisements tend to be very short and compact, and the typical Maltese advertisement is made up of telegram-like syntactic structures. This is true both in the case of the display advertisement, and in the case of the classified advertisement. These types of syntactic structures lead mainly to (a) incomplete sentences (due to economy in the employment of finite verbs), (b) use of participles instead of finite 40 This explains why advertising is called the persuasion industry by J. Pearson, and G. Turner, in their book The Persuasion Industry, London, 1966.

208

STYLE

verbs, and (c) frequent use of independent clauses and phrases. The following example is typical of this style. L-orhos u 1-isbah giti organizzati minn XYZ. 0 3.4-5.67-68 :I

The cheapest and finest tours organised by XYZ.

Here we note an elaborate noun phrase 1-orfws u 1-isbah giti 'the cheapest and finest tours', a past participle organizzati 'organised', and a prepositional phrase minn XYZ 'by XYZ'.

5.435

GENERAL CoNCLUSIONS CoNCERNING STYLE AND SYNTAX IN THE JOURNALISTIC GENRES

From the above survey on style and syntax in the four journalistic genres, we established that the particular genre itself imposes certain syntactic usages and restraints. Thus, while the syntax of the journalistic language as a whole is very varied, the choice of the particular syntactic structures is limited and restricted by the choice of the individual journalistic genre. In the news report, we have seen that long and complex sentences, containing several relative and subordinate clauses, occur mainly in key sentences. Other sentences are normally shorter and relatively simpler. The editorial tends to have complex sentences throughout the text, but such sentences are separated from each other by means of shorter and simpler sentences, so as to regulate the otherwise clumsy appearance of too many long sentences. Another device intended to avoid such clumsiness is that of segmenting long sentences into clauses and phrases by putting a full-stop after the main syntactic unit, and by beginning the next syntactic unit (e.g. a subordinate clause) with a capital letter, without however changing the syntax. All in all, we noticed that the sentences of the editorial are very complex. They show frequent use of relative and subordinate clauses; co-ordinated nouns, adjectives, relative clauses, and main sentences; the auxiliary verb and several main verbs in succession (connected verbs); and also numerous prepositional phrases. Thirdly, the article genre has the shortest sentence when compared to the news report and the editorial. Segmenting of sentences as described above (in the editorial) also occurs here, but the practice is very limited so that it cannot be considered as a typical feature of the article. On the other hand, this genre is marked by the frequent use of personal, indefinite, and demonstrative pronouns; frequent co-ordi-

209

STYLE

nations between similar syntactic units (e.g. nouns, phrases); and, finally, the rather frequent use of the negative form. Fourthly, the advertisement makes use not only of short sentences, but also of isolated clauses and phrases. The imperative form is typical of this genre, which aims at persuading, or indeed at inciting, the reader to take immediate action. As to the average number of words in the journalistic genres, we saw that there are 28 words per sentence in the news report, 27 words in the editorial, 21 in the article, and 10 in the advertisement. We can say, therefore, that the average number of words per sentence in journalistic Maltese is 22 if we take into consideration all the four genres; if, however, we exclude the advertisement genre, which is a case on its own for this purpose, the overall average number of words per sentence would be 25. For the sake of comparison, we have examined samples of both literary 41 and spoken 42 Maltese. The average length per sentence 41 The samples for literary Maltese were taken from the following books: 0. Galea, Bla Habi (BI for short), Malta, 1972, pp. 9-10; F. Sammut, /1-Gagga (G for short), Malta, 1971, p. 21; C. Psaila, Antologija (An for short), Malta, 1963, pp. 1-2. The number of words occurring in the first ten sentences of these texts is given in the chart below.

Chart showing the Number of' Words occurring in the first ten Sentences of Literary Maltese Texts

2

4

6

8

9

10

Totals

Average

G

An

16 2 13

13 5 14

26 6 27

16 II 14

53 II 14

19 8 32

43 19 7

38 6

27 2 17

37 9 23

255 Ill 167

25 II 17

Totals

31

32

59

41

78

58

69

49

46

69

532

18

Bl

42 The samples for spoken Maltese were taken from tapes I and 2 of the 1969 set of the Malta-Leeds Dialect Survey, kindly put at my disposal by kind permission of Professor J. Aquilina and Dr. B.S. J. Isserlin. The samples were taken from a free talk between Professor J. Aquilina and Mr. Espedito Cassar (later referred to as sample A); another talk by Professor J. Aquilina and Mr. J. Attard (referred to as sample B); and a third talk by Professor J. Aquilina and Mrs. A. Attard (referred to below as sample C). The number of words occurring in the first ten sentences in the actual talks (i.e. excluding the preliminary information) is given in the following chart.

Chart showing the Number of Words occurring in the first ten Sentences of the Spoken Maltese Texts

2

4

A B

c

7 2 10

6 I 15

18

Totals

19

22

29

5

6

6 7

3

10

18

6

2

14

10

Totals

Average

6 I

6

57 38 67

6 4 7

12

12

162

7

8

9

4

4 12 4

10

20

210

STYLE

in the literary language is 18, while that of the spoken language is five. Therefore, journalistic Maltese does not occupy a half-way position between the literary and the spoken language, but it is distinct from both types of Maltese.

CONCLUSIONS 6.0 It is hoped that sufficient evidence has been presented in the preceding chapters to demonstrate that the Maltese journalistic language has indeed certain characteristic features which distinguish it from literary Maltese on the one hand, and from spoken Maltese on the other. Furthermore, while for the purpose of analysis, the three newspapers on which this study is based, that is L-Orizzont, Il-Hajja and In-Nazzjon Tag1ma, were investigated separately, yet the overall findings showed that, although they differed in detail in several respects, they followed substantially one general pattern of newspaper language in matters of phonology as reflected in their orthography, as well as in morphology, syntax, vocabulary and style. 6.1

PHONOLOGY AND ORTHOGRAPHY

In the first chapter, which deals briefly with some aspects of phonology and its impact upon the spelling of newspapers, our investigation showed that, while there is no major difference between the symbols used in the literary language and those occurring in the newspapers as far as vowels and diphthongs are concerned, there are nevertheless some differences of a lesser order. Stressed vowels occurring in final open syllable in loan-words carry a grave accent in literary Maltese, while in the newspapers they either carry such an accent (as is generally the case in In-Nazzjon Taghna), or an apostrophe (as normally happens in L-Orizzont and Il-Hajja), or even no sign at all for no apparent reason (which practice is common to all newspapers alike). As to consonants, there are likewise some slight variations between the symbols used in the standard orthography and those employed in the newspapers. These involve the phonemes /g/, /dz/, /tf/, /d3/, /z/. In fact, investigation into the orthography of the newspapers showed that journalistic trends in spelling are more or less systematised, and are distinct in many respects from the rules controling the orthographic system in the literary language. Many of such journalistic trends in matters of orthography regarding vowels, diphthongs and consonants are based on the phonology of spoken or colloquial Maltese, while just a few are cases of hypercorrectness.

212 6.2

CONCLUSIONS MoRPHOLOGY

In the second chapter, dealing with the morphology of the journalistic language, we learnt from our survey that the Maltese newspaper language has developed many morphological trends which vary from the normal usage in literary Maltese. As to verbs, there is indeed no substantial difference when they are of the Semitic stock, but there is a tendency of simplification in the verbs of Siculo-Italian and English derivation. Thus, the initial vowel -i occurring in the perfect tense of the literary language, is treated as a prosthetic vowel, and not as a vowel belonging to the stem; similarly, the ending -j, taken in the literary language by some stems of SiculoItalian and English origin (e.g. alloggja 'he lodged'; 1/andja 'he landed'), is eliminated (e.g. al/ogga, 1/anda); verbs of Siculo-Italian origin which in the literary language take the suffix -ixx (e.g. jassorbixxi 'he absorbs') tend to eliminate this ending in the journalistic language (e.g. jassorbi); another journalistic trend is the elimination of the doubling of consonants in initial position in Siculo-Italian and English stems (thus, iggustifikat 'justified' occurring in the literary language, becomes gustifikat in the newspaper); English past participles are at times borrowed and incorporated completely unchanged in the newspapers. In matters of nouns, we saw that new trends were encountered not only in nouns of Romance and English origin, but also, in those belonging to the Semitic Maltese stock. The main journalistic trends regarding the nouns are the following: (a) names of islands are feminine, even if they end in a consonant; (b) the dual is frequently used with a singular meaning, with the effect that adjectives and verbs accompanying it are also used in the singular; (c) the Romance plural in -i occurs occasionally with Semitic nouns which in literary Maltese take the broken plural; (d) some Romance loan nouns keep the same gender as in the source language in the literary usage, but change their gender in the journalistic language by becoming 'normalised' according to their ending; (e) some Romance loan nouns take the plural in -i in cases where the suffix -ijiet is customary in the literary language; (f) while English loan nouns make the plural in -ijiet most of the time, there are some others which make the plural in -s although they were adapted to the spelling of Maltese; (g) nouns formed on English verbs by means of the suffix -ar are much in use in the newspapers. Regarding adjectives, we noted that (a) in matters of comparison, the paraphrastic usage with words such as iktar 'more' placed before the

CONCLUSIONS

213

adjective often replaces the Semitic pattern of comparison VCCVC (e.g. iktar sabih instead of isbah); (b) the Romance superlative in -issimu is common in the journalistic language in the case of Romance adjectives; (c) English unmodified adjectives and English participles functioning in the same way as adjectives figure rather frequently in the newspapers. Regarding personal pronouns, we noted that the journalistic language admits the dialectal form intkom 'you, plural', besides the literary form intom. The investigation has also shown that while pronominal suffixes function fully when they are employed with verbs, they have restricted usages when they are used with nouns and prepositions. In the case of nouns, they function mainly when they are employed with nouns referring to parts of the body, kinship, and certain localities; in other cases, possessive pronouns are used instead, with the effect that the journalistic language is moving from an inflectional to an isolating type of language. Furthermore, pronominal suffixes can function only with Semitic prepositions. As to adverbs, we saw that phonological changes and accretions occur in Romance loan adverbs through the influence of the phonology of the corresponding English adverbs. In matters of prepositions, we noted that several Italian, Latin or English prepositions are being used in the newspapers because of directly borrowed expressions, but their morphological function is restricted to the places in which they occur within the context of the unmodified loan. Finally, as to conjunctions, the survey has shown that through the spoken language some Romance or hybrid (Romance and Semitic) conjunctions have entered the language of the newspapers, even though they are not easily accepted in literary Maltese. 6.3

SYNTAX

Our investigation into syntax showed that although the journalistic language cannot claim to be completely independent from literary Maltese in matters of syntactic usages, it has developed its own trends in this field under the influence of both spoken Maltese and foreign languages (especially English and Italian). Many of these special features concern definiteness and indefiniteness. In matters of definiteness, we noticed several journalistic trends: (a) definite nouns forming a sequence tend to share one definite article,

214

CONCLUSIONS

and this precedes the first noun in the sequence; (b) the adjective which acts as an attribute to a definite noun tends to lose its individual definite article, contrary to the rule in literary Maltese; (c) definiteness is expressed by means of pronominal suffixes with nouns only on restricted occasions, so that it can occur only with Semitic and Siculo-ltalian nouns referring generally to parts of the body, kinship and certain localities; (d) definiteness by means of the construct state is also limited to a few standardised expressions, mainly referring to parts of the body, certain times and localities. In matters of indefiniteness, we observed the following journalistic trends: (a) through language interference, the numerical wiened is being employed as a substitute for an indefinite article; (b) the indefinite determiner certu 'certain' is quite often used instead of the Semitic indefinite determiner xi 'some', which is against the literary practice; (c) indefiniteness is also expressed by the typically journalistic expressions hu mifhum 'it is understood', hu magnruf 'it is known', and other impersonal passive forms condemned in literary circles. Other special features belong to a number of different syntactic elements. As to comparison, we noticed that in the newspaper language the Romance adverb of comparison tant 'so' often replaces the Semitic adverb hekk 'so'. This replacement takes place, at least partially, due to the fact that hekk is sometimes ambiguous, as it can also mean 'thus; in such a way'. In order to express possibility, the journalistic language makes liberal use of Romance words such as possibbli 'possible' and forsi 'perhaps', as in the spoken language. The nominativus or casus pendens is often employed in the journalistic language in front of impersonal passive forms like sar magnruf 'it became known'. Double negation takes place in the press whenever words denoting negation, like xejn 'nothing', occur after the verb, or after the word, negated in the sentence (e.g. majixraqx b/-ebda mod 'it is not convenient in any way'). 6.4

LEXICAL AND PHRASEOLOGICAL AsPECTS

In chapter four, we dealt with three main aspects of the type of vocabulary found in the newspapers. In the first place, we dealt with the lexical material; later, we made a statistical analysis of the Semitic, Romance and English vocabulary in journalistic Maltese; and, finally,

CONCLUSIONS

215

we discussed the phraseological material. We keep to the same division also here. 6.41

LEXICAL MATERIAL

The lexical items which emerged from the texts which we analysed can be grouped under the following four headings: (a) semantic innovations; (b) morphological innovations; (c) modified loan-words; (d) unmodified loan-words. As to semantic innovations, we noted that there are two main trends in the journalistic language. One is that of translating literally from a foreign language and thus superimposing new meanings on the Maltese words (e.g. mnaien tal-friia 'cold stores'); and the other is that of extending, or narrowing, the meaning of already existing Maltese words (e.g. ras 'headline', originally 'head'). Regarding morphological innovations, we noticed that morphological re-structuring of archaic or currently used stems is less frequent in the journalistic language than in literary Maltese. However, the newspapers have contributed some typically journalistic words of this type, closely connected with news reporting (e.g. ntif 'hijacking'; ifjlowtjar 'floating'). As to modified loan-words, the journalistic language is under the influence of the spoken language in that it accepts most of the phonological and morphological changes that take place at that level. However, in matters of orthography, it follows the general literary rule of making use of the Maltese spelling for those loan-words which have been accepted through long usage. But, then, again in orthography, it goes beyond what is customary in literary Maltese by making use of the Maltese spelling for those recent loan-words which are used fairly frequently (e.g. kju 'queue'}, including, to a certain extent, sports terminology (e.g. 1wki 'hockey'). The journalistic language is also notorious for its hybrid orthographies in the same loan-word, so that sometimes the loan-word in its simplest form is written in the source language orthography, while its morphological increment is Maltese (e.g. teamijiet 'teams'); on other occasions, the loan-word is written according to the Maltese spelling, while the morphological increment is foreign (e.g. rawnds 'rounds'). In matters of unmodified loan-words, the journalistic language is clearly under the influence of the individual circles in which the loan-words of each semantic category are used. As to English loan-

216

CONCLUSIONS

words related to the civil service, there is the historical fact that during the late nineteenth century the British Government was advised 'to insist on all its employees being thoroughly acquainted with English and using it constantly, to the exclusion, as far as possible, of all other languages, in their official relations with the public'. 1 This policy was fully adopted, and thus left its influence in Government circles, including administration and education. However, due to other socio-cultural contacts, English had in fact a great impact on all semantic fields. It is only in the case of religious terminology that Romance languages contributed more loan-words than English (1.9% as against 0.5% of the total number of loan-words discussed). When dealing with general vocabulary, which cannot be ascribed to any particular circle, the Romance influence is also higher than that of English (5.3% as against 4.5%), but this is mainly due to the fact that many old Italian loan-words fit exactly into the phonology, orthography and morphology of Maltese, and as such are not the result of any recent development. All in all, we can say that the journalistic lexical items work according to a pattern. Recent loan-words are at first inserted in the newspapers texts as unmodified borrowings; as a second step, when the loan-words become frequently used or become time-honoured words, they are written according to the Maltese spelling. Occasionally, loan-words are replaced either by semantic innovations, or by morphological innovations. In the transition periods, the same word can appear under any one of the above mentioned headings (e.g. speedboat, spidbowt, dg11ajsa tal-giri, gerrejja, all meaning 'speedboat'). 6.42

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS oF THE SEMITIC,

RoMANCE AND ENGLISH

VocABULARY IN JouRNALISTIC MALTESE

We have also investigated the relative overall strength of the Semitic, Romance and English elements in the vocabulary occurring in the journalistic language as a whole. Our main findings were that the journalistic vocabulary contains the following elements in descending order: 72.92% Semitic, 20.69% modified Romance, 4.44% unmodified English, 1.65% unmodified Romance, and 0.3% modified English. For the sake of comparison, we have also examined samples from literary

1 Sir P. G. Julyan, Report on the Civil Establishment of Malta, London, 1879, p. 60, as quoted by J. Aquilina, in his Papers in Maltese Linguistics, p. 80, Malta, 1961.

CONCLUSIONS

217

and spoken Maltese, and this proved to be quite illuminating. Thus, for example, the literary and the spoken language have respectively 93.97% and 86.34% Semitic words, and 5.13% and 8.09% modified Romance loan-words. These figures show a big contrast to those of the journalistic language. The reason behind these statistics is that the journalistic language makes use of all the modified Romance words occurring in the spoken language, and adds many more to these from technical and more 'educated' terminology. This holds good also, though to a lesser extent, for the English vocabulary, especially the unmodified loan-words. 6.43

PHRASEOLOGICAL MATERIAL

As to the phraseological material, we noticed that, contrary to the rule in the literary language, journalistic Maltese borrows both modified and unmodified prepositional phrases (l'antica 'the old fashioned way' > It. all'antica; with flying colours), and makes use of several idiomatic calques, including literal translation of English idiomatic verbs (e.g. qasam ir-rekord 'to break the record'), as well as English prepositional verbs (e.g. kien fuq ijara 'he was on a visit'). Phraseological calques (e.g. kolp ta' stat 'coup d'etat') and phraseological (unmodified) borrowings (e.g. standard of living) are also quite common in the journalistic language. All in all, from this aspect of phraseology, journalistic Maltese is very distinct from the requirements of literary Maltese, especially when it comes to direct borrowings of phraseological material, and to literal translations of English idiomatic or prepositional verbs. If from the former aspect, it is affected by spoken Maltese, from the latter aspect it is under the direct influence of written texts in foreign languages, and the result is typically journalistic. 6.5

STYLE

In chapter five, we dealt with style in as much as it involves choice in the manner of expressing thought. For this purpose, we selected some distinctive features at the levels of vocabulary, morphology and syntax. As a first step, we established a set of journalistic genres. Basing our arguments on the importance and the distinctiveness of the purpose of the contributions to the press, we restricted our study to what appear to be the four essential journalistic genres: (a) the news report, (b) the editorial, (c) the article, and (d) the advertisement.

218

CONCLUSIONS

These journalistic genres are distinct from each other in their aims: the news report is the informative genre; the editorial is the persuasive genre in matters of ideology, and speaks with authority of subjects of actual interest; the article is the instructive genre; and the advertisement is the persuasive genre in matters of commercial contributions to the press. As to form, the news report is, with the exception of the advertisement genre, the shortest type of journalistic writing. It has no standard classification of its parts. Generally, the distribution is such that the first paragraph is made up of one or two sentences, containing most of the information, while the subsequent paragraphs contain more details without much elaboration in their presentation. The editorial genre is longer than the news report, but shorter than the article genre. The distribution of its parts is modelled on that of classical oratory. It has an introduction, a narration or statement of the problem, a proposed proof or solution, and a conclusion. Regarding the article genre, we saw that although it is short in the Maltese newspapers when compared to that found in many foreign journals, it is at the same time the longest type of writing when compared to the other genres in the Maltese press. As to the arrangement of material, the article genre has one essential part, corresponding to the narration or statement of the problem of the editorial genre. Sometimes an introduction and a conclusion also occur, but both seem to be optional elements in this type of writing. Finally, regarding advertisement genre, we noticed that there are two main types, being the display or normal type, and the classified. Both types are very short. They are by far the shortest of the journalistic genres. In matters of presentation, the display advertisement is laid out in a variety of type faces and sizes and is sometimes illustrated, while the classified is usually in small print and in words run on. It is only exceptionally that the classified advertisement is not run on, but set out, and possibly illustrated, under classified headings. In this case, it is called display classified. As to content, we saw that the style of each journalistic genre is best studied at the lexical, morphological and syntactic level. In matters of lexical material, every genre has its own stylistic features. Thus, we saw that the news report is characterised by the use of violent or negative words, of positive hyperbolic vocabulary, of English unmodified loan-words likely to create a 'sensation' in the Maltese text, and of other words tending to excite curiosity in the reader. The editorial, which is interested particularly in propagating views on

CONCLUSIONS

219

social and political subjects, shows a corresponding preference for bombastic and sarcastic neologisms, and, as in the case of the news report, for the use of English unmodified loan-words. The article genre, which aims at promoting and asserting the importance of instruction in an acceptable way, also shows varied tendencies in making use of Maltese neologisms and archaisms, as well as English unmodified words and phrases; but it stands out more for its addiction to calques and colloquialisms, employed to make the subjects look more natural to the reader, as well as for occasional malapropisms. Lastly, the advertisement, due to its intrinsic nature, selects 'positive' words, denoting good or even excellent qualities. In the case of creative advertisements, the choice of words is such that it tends to make use of exaggerated metaphors or 'precious' language. As in the case of other genres, the advertisement makes use also of calques and direct borrowings for stylistic reasons. In matters of morphology, we saw that the individual genres had little or no influence on the choice of the morphological variants: on the contrary, morphological fluidity was seen to occur indiscriminately in every journalistic genre. This applies particularly to such features as agreement and disagreement in gender and number between nouns and their qualifying adjectives, and between subjects and predicates. It applies as well to redundant use, or absence, of the definite article. When, on the other hand, we studied the frequency of the parts of speech of each individual genre, we found that the genre itself had some influence on the actual distribution. As to nouns, the highest percentage was 47.92 and this was, quite understandably, in the advertisement where objects for sale are quite often listed; then comes the news report with 30.43%, followed by the editorial with 24.8%, and, finally, the article genre with 22.4%. These can be compared with 23.17% in literary Maltese, and 23.53% in spoken Maltese, in our samples. Concerning the definite article, we saw that in the journalistic genres there is no striking difference, with 15.9% in the news report, 14.67% in the editorial, 14.77% in the article, and 14.17% in the advertisement. This compares with 13.77% in the literary language, and contrasts with 12.07% in the spoken language. This means that in spoken Maltese, definiteness is less prominent than in the written language, whether journalistic or literary. As to the frequencies of the definite article in journalistic and in literary Maltese, it follows that definiteness is limited up to a certain level (roughly 14.5% of all the entries), and beyond that all other nouns (and adjectives) tend to be indefinite.

220

CONCLUSIONS

Hence, indefiniteness seems to prevail when the number of nouns and adjectives is very high. The verb is strongly represented in the article genre with 17.9%, less strongly in the editorial with 16.13%, less again in the news report with 14.97%, and very weakly represented in the advertisement with 7.7%. In literary Maltese, the percentage is 18.17, while that of the spoken language is 20.57. This shows that the highest entries occur in the spoken language, where sentences are very short, and where the hearer often interrupts the speaker as soon as he hears the verb and guesses the rest of the message. The percentage of verbs in literary Maltese is very close to that of the article genre, which has the highest percentage of all journalistic genres. This implies more action and movement in the feature writing than in the editorial, in the news report, and even more so than in the advertisement where very often complete sentences are replaced by clauses or phrases. Regarding prepositions, we saw that the editorial, the news report and the article, with 12.63%, 12.3%, and 12.13% respectively, do not differ substantially, but there is a big contrast between them and the advertisement, which has 16.78%, due to the number of prepositional phrases so typical of this genre. In literary Maltese, the percentage of prepositions is 13.73, while that of the spoken language is 10.5. This shows that prepositional phrases are more common in the written than in the spoken medium. As to pronouns, the highest frequency is in the article with II. 73%, then comes that of the editorial with 9.47%, followed closely by the news report with 8. 77%. The lowest percentage is in the advertisement with 1.37. The very high percentage of pronouns in the article is linked with the nature of this genre, as the thoughts expressed are typically in the first person: hence the repetition of these two pronouns jien '1', anna 'we'. In literary Maltese, the percentage is 8.47, while in the spoken language it is 8. 7. These two percentages, therefore, are very close to that of the news report genre, which gives facts partly in the third person, and partly in the first. It is to be noted that facts given in the third person are quite often headed by a noun, and only later, if this has to be repeated, is this replaced by a pronoun. Adverbs are the highest in the editorial with 9.1 %, then comes the news report with 7.43%, followed closely by the article with 6. 57%; the advertisement has the lowest percentage with 2.2%. In the literary language, the percentage is 8.6, while in spoken Maltese, it is 15.53%. It is understandable that adverbs figure rarely in the advertisement.

CONCLUSIONS

221

Then, if we take into consideration the other percentages for the adverb, we find that there is a dichotomy separating the written Maltese (i.e. the news report, the editorial, the article and the literary language, with an average of 7.92%) from the spoken language (with an average of 15.53%). The high percentage of the spoken language is due to the narrative style in which adverbs such as issa 'now, therefore', sewwa 'well', uko/1 'also', kif'how', meta 'when', are very commonly used. As regards adjectives, we noted that the highest percentage occurs in the editorial with 7.67%, followed by the article with 6.5%, followed again closely by the advertisement with 6.33%, and, finally, by the news report with 5. 7%. Although the editorial stands out for its high percentage, and the news report for its low percentage of adjectives, they are not very distant from the general percentage of the article genre, which is 6.5. This is very near to 6.6% of literary Maltese, but it is somewhat distinct from 4.33% of the spoken language. Therefore, we can say that, while in the spoken language adjectives are rarely used, in the literary as well as in the journalistic language, due to a more conscious effort, they are somewhat more frequently employed. Regarding conjunctions, the highest percentage occurs in the article genre, where so many co-ordinations take place, with 5.27%; this is followed by the editorial with 3.33%, the advertisement with 3.19%, and the news report, which is noted for its relative clauses, with 2.4%. The percentage of the article genre is close to that of the literary language, which is 4.93%, while the percentage of the news report, which is the lowest, is near to that of the spoken language with 1.97%. As to particles, the highest percentage is again in the article genre with 2.73, followed by the editorial with 2.2%, the news report with 2.1%, and finally, the advertisement with just 0.34%. The corresponding percentage of the literary language is 2. 56, and as such it is fairly close to the article, the editorial and the news report. The advertisement has a very low percentage partly because the negative particle rna 'not' is hardly ever used. The average percentage of the journalistic language is 1.84, and this contrasts both with literary Maltese where it is 2.56%, and with spoken Maltese where it is 2.8%. The relatively high percentage in the spoken language is due mainly to the rather frequent use of the negative, so common in the colloquial and in the non-authoritative forms of speech. In matters of syntax, every journalistic genre has its own stylistic features. We saw that the news report is noted for its standardised

222

CONCLUSIONS

syntactic treatment of beginning the text with one or two long sentences, typically containing many relative or subordinate clauses, and of continuing the report by means of short, and, relatively speaking, simple, sentences. The editorial, on the other hand, is noted for its complex sentences. This involves frequent use of (a) subordinate clauses; (b) co-ordinated nouns, qualifying adjectives and prepositional phrases; (c) main verbs accompanied by the auxiliary or by other verbs; and (d) co-ordinated relative clauses and main sentences. Some sentences in the editorial are indeed very complex as they contain a blend of the above syntactic aspects. In the article genre, we noticed that the sentences are as a rule of medium length, but even so, complex syntactic structures figure in this genre as well. Partly because the article genre is written as a rule in the first person, it makes frequent use of personal pronouns. Indefinite and demonstrative pronouns, due mainly to generalising and distinctness, are also typical of this genre. Besides, while co-ordinations occur, as in the editorial, the negative form is very typical of this type of writing. Finally, we noted that in the advertisement genre, the main syntactic features are (a) the use of the imperative, and (b) the use of clauses and phrases instead of complete sentences. We studied also, by means of samples, the length of the sentence in the individual journalistic genres, and compared the result with a similar exercise in both literary and spoken Maltese. The news report, the editorial, and the article have 28, 27, and 21 words per sentence respectively. These are all higher than the average number of words per sentence in literary Maltese (18 words) and in the spoken language (5 words), according to the results which we acquired by means of other samples. On the other hand, the advertisement has I 0 words per sentence, and as such it is less than that in the literary language, and more than that in the spoken language. As to the length of the sentence, therefore, journalistic Maltese does not overlap with the system of either the literary or the spoken language: it has a system of its own. 6.51 It would be interesting to compare our findings on the percentual constitution of journalistic Maltese with corresponding information about journalistic language elsewhere, such as in the English newspapers published in the United Kingdom. This work, however, could not be done since the necessary groundwork on the English side, for example,

CONCLUSIONS

223

seems to be Jacking. Stylistic analysis has been applied to literary works, 2 including some religious writings, 3 but not to journalistic writing, so far as the author of this survey is aware. Random observations of the English press seem however to indicate that there are a number of parallels corresponding to the Maltese journalistic trends in matters of style, particularly in the more 'popular' newspapers, such as The Sun, the Daily Mirror, and the Yorkshire Evening Post. Some examples, illustrating common trends in Maltese and English journalistic writing, will make this clear. The news report in the English 'popular' newspapers makes use of (a) violent or negative words, e.g. horror killing (The Sun, 12th June, 1975, p. 2, col. I, line 31); soccer arrest (The Sun, 12th June, 1975, p. 7, col. 7, line 48); game of death (Daily Mirror, 12th June, 1975, p. I, cols. 5-6, lines 16-18); (b) positive hyperbolic words, e.g. the 'Grand Manner' death pact (The Sun, 12th June, 1975, p. 13, cols. 2-6, lines 1-2); (c) words exciting curiosity, e.g. Euro-hunt for 'cash in coffin' smugglers (The Sun, 12th June, 1975, p. 3, col. 7, lines 2-5). The advertisement, on the other hand, makes use of many positive, 'alluring words', especially adjectives, e.g. It's bigger than a Mini. It's faster than a Mini. It's also cheaper to run than a Mini. (The Sun, 12th June, 1975, p. 19, col. I, lines 2-5); the XYZ cuts your cost of living! (The Sun, 12th June, 1975, p. 20, col. I, line 2). The editorial as in the Maltese newspapers, deals mainly with social and political problems; it also tries to create emotion and make use of bombastic or sarcastic vocabulary, e.g. True, XYZ has been disciplined for his cheeky (and, we might add, justified) speeches. But it was only a smack with a velvet glove. (The Sun, 12th June, 1975, p. 2, cols. 5-6, lines 22-26). Note also in this example the typographic split-sentence trick which was discussed (in 5.4325), whereby the above sentence was divided into two parts in an artificial way, although syntactically it is one complex sentence. The article makes use of terminology borrowed from other fields, such as technical euphemisms, but readily gives a simple-sometimes blunt-explanation if they are not too clear, e.g. Some of the town's most graceful buildings will be

2 See for example, J. Miles, Style and Proportion-The Language ol Prose and Poetry, Boston, 1967; C. B. Williams, Style and Vocabulary: Numerical Studies, London, 1970. 3 See, for example, G. U. Yyle, The Statistical Study ol Literary Vocabulary, Cambridge, 1944, where the lmitatio Christi, commonly attributed to Thomas a Kempis, is compared to other works of religious or philosophical nature.

224

CONCLUSIONS

"not retained" i.e. pulled down. (Daily Mirror, p. 16, cols. 2-3, lines 86-88). Also, as in the Maltese article genre, long, complex, sentences occur occasionally in the English article, e.g. It is concerned with the hole in the ground where ordinary life was once lived: the crater where a Victorian wine lodge stood, the perimeter of corrugated-iron fencing that was a jumble of comfortable streets, the temporary car park that used to be a parade of shops. (Daily Mirror, 12th June, 1975, p. 16, cols. 2-3, lines 30-37). This example involves many syntactic structures, such as the use of the relative and subordinate clauses, which have been treated above (in 5.43) when dealing with the journalistic genres in matters of syntax in Maltese newspapers. Comparing the length of the sentence of the journalistic genres in the Maltese and in the English newspapers is also an illuminating exercise. But, since it seemed likely that the journalistic English might differ noticeably in style from one class of newspapers to another, samples were taken from two classes of newspapers which, by impressionistic conclusions, seemed to be extremes. These samples included, on the one hand, excerpts from The Sun, the Daily Mirror and the Yorkshire Evening Post which represent the 'popular' journalistic style of English, while, on the other hand, they covered passages from The Times newspaper to represent the 'grand style' in journalistic English. The average number of words per sentence in the news report according to the samples examined here, is 28 for both journalistic Maltese and the journalistic English 'grand style', 4 while it is 20 in English 'popular style'. 5 In the editorial, the average number of words is 27 per

4 The sample for the news report for the English 'grand style' was taken from The Times, 13th June, 1975, p. I, col. 4, lines 8-66. The number of words for the first ten sentences is given in the following chart.

Chart showing the Numher ol Words occurring in the .first ten Sentences olthe News Report in the 'grand style· of Journalistic English

2

19

48

6

4

10

8

II

24

26

39

9

10

Total

Average

39

51

275

28

5 The samples for the news report for the English 'popular style' were taken from the newspapers The Sun, 12th June, 1975, p. I, col. 4, lines 14-38; p. I, col. 5, lines 15-31; p. I, col. 6, lines 13-36; the Daily Mirror, 12th June, 1975, p. I, col. 4, lines 4-47; the Evening Post, 13th June, 1975, p. I, cots. 4-5, lines 13-16; p. I, col. 4,

225

CONCLUSIONS

sentence in Maltese, 23 in English 'grand style', 6 and 17 in English 'popular style'. 7 In the article, however, while the average number of words in Maltese is 21 per sentence, it is 37 in the English 'grand style', 8 and 22 (which is so close to that of Maltese) in the English lines 17-36; p. I, col. 5, lines 16-38. The number of words is given in the following chart. Chart showing the Number of Words occurring in the jirsttef} Sentences o{the NeK·s Report in the 'popular style' of Journalistic English 2

4

6

7

8

9

10

Totals Average

Sun

Mirror Post

13 18 22

32 17 19

28 20 24

12 25 27

30 18 10

23 20 20

17 15 II

22 20 18

9 16 18

36 19 27

222 188 196

22 19 20

Totals

53

68

72

64

58

63

43

60

43

82

606

20

6 The sample for the editorial for the English 'grand style' was taken from The Times, 13th June, 1975, p. 17, col. I, lines 4-42. The number of words per sentence is given in the following chart.

Chart showing the Number of Words occurring in the first ten Sentences of the Editorial in the 'grand Style' o,{ Journalistic English 2 25

9

22

4

5

6

26

20

15

36

8

9

10

30

16

30

Total Average 229

23

The samples for the editorial for the English 'popular style' were taken from The Sun, 12th June, 1975, p. 2, col. 5, lines 6-26; p. 2, col. 6, lines 6-17; the Daily Mirror, 12th June, 1975, p. 2, col. 6, lines 5-35; the Evening Post, 13th June, 1975, p. 6, col. I, lines 3-32. The number of words per sentence is given in the following chart. 7

Chart showing the Number of Words occurring in the first ten Sentences of the Editorial in the 'popular style' of Journalistic English 2

3

4

6

7

8

9

10

Totals Average

Sun

Mirror Post

16 18 23

13 II 31

II 12 17

21 33 7

6 17 10

15 6 28

10

5 9

10 15 25

23 22 14

18 28 22

143 167 186

14 17 19

Totals

57

55

40

61

33

49

24

50

59

68

496

17

8 The sample for the article genre for the English 'grand style' was taken from The Times, 13th June, 1975, p. 16, col. I, lines 5-82. The number of words per sentence is given in the following chart.

Chart showing the Number of Words occurring in the first ten Sentences of the Article Genre in the 'grand style' of Journalistic English 2 32

39

49

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Total

52

51

60

15

43

16

13

370

Average 37

226

CONCLUSIONS

'popular style'. 9 Lastly, in the advertisement genre, the average number of words per sentence is 10 in Maltese, 13 in the English 'grand style', 10 and 12 in the English 'popular style'. 11 The three types of language are 9 The samples for the article genre for the English 'popular style' were taken from The Sun, 12th June, 1975, p. 9, col. I, lines 3-38; the Daily Mirror, 12th June, 1975, p. 16, cols. 2-3, lines 6-17; p. 16, col. 2, lines 18-41; the Evening Post, 13th June, 1975, p. 6, col. 2, lines 7-69. The number of words per sentence is given in the following chart.

Chart showing the Number of Words occurring in the first ten Sentences of the Article Genre in the 'popular style' of Journalistic English

4

2

6

8

9

10

Totals Average

Sun Mirror Post

8 38 25

23 15

15 22 26

7 16 38

16 29 32

II

41

30 23 23

10 13 10

26 47 18

18 25 21

!51 247 249

15 25 25

Totals

71

49

63

61

77

62

76

33

91

64

647

22

II

10

10 The sample for the display advertisements was taken from The Times, 13th June, 1975, p. 3, col. 3, lines 52-60; p. 3, col. 4, lines 29-31. The sample for the classified advertisements was taken from The Times, 13th June, 1975, p. 30, col. 4, lines 3-51. The number of words in every sentence is given in the chart below.

Chart showing the Number of Words occurring in the .first ten Sentences of the Display and the Classified Advertisements in the 'grand style' Journalistic English

2

4

6

7

9

10

Totals Average

Display Classified

II

7

6 24

6 6

6 23

7 35

10 4

6 8

8 23

16

16 36

80 186

19

Totals

18

30

12

29

42

14

14

31

24

52

266

13

11 The samples for the display advertisements in the English 'popular style' were taken from The Sun, 12th June, 1975, p. 2, cols. 1-3, lines 39-50; the Daily Mirror, 12th June, 1975, p. 2, cols. 1-2, lines 46-49; p. 7, col. 5, lines 2-7; the Evening Post, 13th June, 1975, p. I, col. 7, lines 10-23. The number of words in every sentence is given in the following chart.

Chart showing the Number of Words occurring in the .first ten Sentences of the Display Advertisements in the 'popular style' Journalistic English

2 Sun Mirror Post

17 6 10

Totals

33

4

6

7

8

9

10

Totals Average

13 26 6

II 23

8

17 10 6

7 28

6 24 4

I

13

9 9 7

7 7

6 8 7

95 148 75

10 15 8

28

25

45

42

33

42

34

15

21

318

II

The samples for the classified advertisement in the English 'popular style' newspapers were taken from The Sun, 12th June, 1975 p. 24, col. 4, lines 3-28; the Daily Mirror,

227

CONCLUSIONS

thus behaving in approximately the same way regarding the length of the sentence only in the advertisement. Regarding the news report and the editorial, journalistic Maltese is closer to the 'grand style' of journalistic English than to the English 'popular style'; on the other hand, in matters of sentence length of the article genre, journalistic Maltese is closer to the 'popular style' of journalistic English than to the 'grand style' of newspaper English. In these observations, we have given no more than a bird's eye view of some of the stylistic features which are shared, partially or fully, by both Maltese and English newspapers. However, this should be enough to prove that there is ground to believe that a thorough investigation of this field should prove fruitful. A short study of older Maltese newspaper language is given later in Appendix 2, including some comparisons with the contemporary press and Maltese literature. 6.6

FINAL OBSERVATIONS

It is hoped that, in view of all that has been said above, we have succeeded in demonstrating not only that the language of Maltese newspapers has a character of its own, but also that a comparative study of the Maltese newspaper language and the language of newspapers being published in other countries would be an interesting and rewarding exercise.

12th June, 1975, p. 12, col. 2, lines 2-34; p. 12, col. 3, lines 19-29; the Evening Post, 13th June, 1975, p. 16, col. 3, lines 1-26. The number of words in every sentence is given in the chart below. Chart showing the Numher ol Words occurring in the .first len Sentences olthe Classified Advertisements in the 'popular style' Journalistic English 2

3

4

6

7

9

10

Totals

Average

Sun Mirror Post

4 14 15

4 13 5

6 16 II

10 20 4

19 14

7 23 7

17 II 12

2 16 10

15 21 22

6 15 8

76 168 108

8 17 II

Totals

33

22

33

34

38

37

40

28

58

29

352

12

APPENDICES

The following two appendices try, on the one hand, to throw some light on the standard pronunciation of contemporary Maltese, and, on the other, to analyse interesting aspects of a type of language of older Maltese newspapers. Appendix I tries to establish the segmental phonemes of standard Maltese as we know it today. This aspect of Maltese is not without interest to our subject, because, as we have seen in Chapter One, the orthography of the contemporary Maltese newspapers is based to a certain extent on the actual pronunciation of the standard language. Appendix 2 attempts to analyse some aspects of vocabulary and grammatical categories of older Maltese newspaper language. It also compares it with literary Maltese of the same period, as well as with present-day journalistic, literary and spoken Maltese.

AI. THE SEGMENTAL PHONEMES OF STANDARD MALTESE AI. I THE PHONEMIC VowELS AND CoNSONANTS IN MALTESE A 1.10 Since the study of the phonology of standard Maltese should help towards a better understanding of the journalistic phonology as reflected in the spelling of Maltese newspapers, some of its main aspects are discussed here. The method followed is that of establishing the phonemic vowels and consonants existing in the spoken language by means of minimal pairs or minimal sets. Once the phonemic status is established, a phonetic description is given for all these sounds. A 1.2 SYMBOLS The phonemic symbols used in this study are essentially based on those found in the International Phonetic Alphabet. According to the now accepted general practice, the symbols denoting segmental phonemes will be placed between two slanting lines, j /. When reference to allophonic or phonetic symbols is necessary, square brackets, [ ], will be used instead of the slanting lines.

THE SEGMENTAL PHONEMES OF STANDARD MALTESE

229

Vowel length is indicated both in the phonemic and in the phonetic transcription by means of the symbol: placed immediately after the vowel concerned, e.g. /ta :r/, [tha :r] tar 'he flew'. The segmental phonemes are dealt with below under two headings: (a) the vowels; and (b) the consonants. 1 While in the Maltese phonology, the phonemes /w/ and /j/ can function both as consonants and as glides, we deal with them only when discussing consonants, so as to avoid repetition. Al.21

THE VowELS

A.210 In Maltese there are five short vowels, five long vowels and six diphthongs. Each of these three sub-classes will be treated on its own. Al.211

THE SHORT VOWELS

The five short vowel phonemes occurring in standard Maltese are: /i/, /e/, fa/, fo/, /u/. Their phonemic status may be established by means of the minimal set and the minimal pair which follow. Phonemic Symbol

Transcription Orthographic Meaning Writing

/i/ /e/ /a/

/billa/ /bella/ /balla/ /bolla/ /bormaj /burma/

joj juj

billha bella' ball a bolla borma Burma

soak it he made someone swallow bomb postage stamp pot Burma

The phonetic description of the short vowels is given in the following list. [i] high, slightly lowered, front, slightly retracted, unrounded vowel [e] mid, slightly lowered, front, slightly retracted, unrounded vowel 1 See D. Abercrombie, Elements of General Phonetics, Edinburgh, 1967, pp. 38-41, regarding the description of the vowel and consonant categories. See also A. C. Gimson, An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English, Second Edition, London, 1973 (1st Edition 1962), pp. 27-41, for the treatment followed there in classifying and describing the vowels and consonants of English. As to the Maltese vowels and consonants, see J. Aquilina, The Structure of Maltese, Malta, 1959, Part I, pp. 1-141, see also D. Cohen, Etudes de Linguistique Semitique et Arahe, The Hague, Paris, 1970, Chapter VII, Le Systeme Phonologique du Maltais: Aspects synchroniques et diachroniques, pp. 126-149.

230

APPENDIX I

[a] [o] [u]

low, slightly raised, central, unrounded vowel mid, slightly lowered, back, slightly fronted, rounded vowel high, slightly lowered, back, slightly fronted, rounded vowel

Al.212

THE LONG VOWELS

The five long vowel phonemes occurring in standard Maltese are the following: /i :/, /e :/, /a:/, jo :f, fu :f. Their phonemic status may be proved by means of a minimal set in conjunction with a minimal pair. Phonemic Symbol

Transcription Orthographic Meaning Writing

/i :/ /a:/

/ti :ni/ /ta :ni/ /to :ni/ jtu :ni/ /de :r/ /da :r/

jo :/ ju :/

/e :/ /a:/

tini tani Toni tuni de her dar

give me, I st pers. sg. he gave me Anthony give me, 2nd pers. pl. he appeared he turned round

Long vowels in Maltese do not differ phonetically from short vowels in any regard other than length. Therefore, every individual phonetic description of the short vowels given above (in the previous paragraph) holds good also here, on condition that vowel length is included as an additional feature in every particular case. Since the difference between long and short vowels is so simple and so general, no particular description of the long vowels is attempted here. Al.213

THE DIPHTHONGS

In standard Maltese pronunciation, there are seven phonemic diphthongs. These are : fief, /iu/, jei/, feu/, /ai/, /au/, /oi/. The phonemic status of these diphthongs may be proved by means of the following minimal pairs. Phonemic Symbol

Transcription Orthographic Meaning Writing

/ie/ feu/ /iu/ /ei/ /ai/ /auf /ail

/bies/ /be us/ jliuja/ /Ieija/ jrai/ frau/ jbaija/ /boija/

foil

bies bews liwja lejja raghaj raw bajja bojja

he kissed kisses a curve towards me a shepherd they saw a bay a hangman

THE SEGMENTAL PHONEMES OF STANDARD MALTESE

231

Besides these phonemic diphthongs, there is also an important allophonic diphthong in standard Maltese pronunciation. This is the diphthong [uo] which is in complementary distribution, not with another diphthong, but with the long vowel [u :]. The allophone [uo] occurs before the pharyngal fricative [h] and the glottal stop (?], while the allophone [u :] occurs in all other positions, e.g. [huoh] huh 'his brother', [fuo?J fuq 'on', [mu :r] mur 'go', (?u :m] qum 'wake up'. As the frequency of the allophone [u :] is higher than that of [uo], the symbol fu :/ is used to express this phoneme incorporating the two allophonic sounds. The phonetic description of the above mentioned diphthongs, whether phonemic or allophonic, is given below. [ie]

starting from the high, fairly lowered, front, retracted region, and gliding towards the central region, unrounded throughout [iu] starting from the high, fairly lowered, front, retracted region, and gliding towards the high, fairly lowered, back, thus tending from an unrounded to a rounded position [ei] starting from the mid, slightly retracted region, and gliding towards the high, front, slightly retracted region, unrounded throughout [eu] starting from the mid, slightly lowered, front, slightly retracted region, and gliding towards the high, slightly lowered, back region, thus tending from an unrounded to a rounded position [ai] starting from the low, slightly raised, central region, and gliding towards the high, slightly lowered, front, slightly retracted region, unrounded throughout [au] starting from the low, slightly raised, central region, and gliding towards the high, slightly lowered, back region, thus tending from an unrounded to a rounded position [uo] starting from the high, slightly lowered, back region, and gliding towards the mid, back region, thus tending from slightly rounded to fairly rounded position [oi] starting from the mid, slightly lowered, back region, and gliding towards the high, front, slightly retracted region, thus tending from a rounded to an unrounded position Al.22

THE CoNSONANTS

Al.220 In standard Maltese there are 24 consonants having phonemic value. These are: /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, f?f, fts/, /dz/, ftf/, /d3/, /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, If/, 13/, /h/, /m/, /n/, /r/, /1/, /w/, fjf. They may be identified as phonemes by means of the following minimal pairs and minimal sets.

232

APPENDIX I

Phonemic Symbol

Transcription

Orthographic Writing

Meaning

/p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/

/pa :r/ jba:r/ jta:r/ /da :r/ /komma/ jgomma/ j?olla/ /holla/ flats tsar da :r/ /ladzdzarda :r I /tfa :r/ /d3a :r/ /fi: ni/ jvi:ni/ /sa :r/ /za :r/ /marru:f/ jmarru:3/ /ma:r/ /na :r/ /rema/ /lema/ /wasal/ /jasal/

par bar tar dar komma gomma qolla hollha 1-azzar dar 1-azzardar car gar fini vini sar zar marrux mar-rouge mar nar rem a lema wasal jasal

a pair a bar he flew he turned round a sleeve a rubber an amphora release it, 2nd pers. sg. the steel moved the risk clear a neighbour aim veins he became he visited they did not go with the face-rouge he went fire he threw away it glistened he arrived he arrives

f?/ /hi

/ts/ /dz/

/tf/

/d3/ /f/

/vi

/s/ /z/ If/

/3/ /m/ /n/ /r/ /1/

/W/ Iii

The phonetic description of the Maltese consonants is given below. [p] [b) [t] [d] [k] [g) (?] [ts] [dz] [tfl [d3] [f] [v] [s] [z]

rn

voiceless (henceforth vi for short), bi-labial, plosive voiced (henceforth vd for short), bi-labial, plosive vi dental or alveolar, depending on environment, plosive vd dental or alveolar, depending on environment, plosive vi velar, plosive vd velar, plosive glottal, plosive vi alveolar, affricate vd alveolar, affricate vi palato-alveolar, affricate vd palato-alveolar, affricate vi labio-dental, fricative vd labio-dental, fricative vi dental or alveolar, depending on environment, fricative vd dental or alveolar, depending on environment, fricative vi palato-alveolar, fricative

THE SEGMENTAL PHONEMES OF STANDARD MALTESE

[3] [h] [m] [n] [r] [J] [I]

[w]

m

233

vd palato-alveolar, fricative vi pharyngal, fricative bi-labial or labio-dental, depending on environment, nasal dental or alveolar, depending on environment, nasal post-alveolar, roll post-alveolar, flap dental or alveolar, depending on environment, lateral, nonfricative vd bi-labial, frictionless continuant vd palatal, frictionless continuant

A2.

A2.l

THE LANGUAGE OF OLDER MALTESE NEWSPAPERS

PRELIMINARIES

A2.l 0 The language of older Maltese newspapers has never so far been studied, and, therefore, a thorough treatment of this subject would require extensive research. This cannot be undertaken here, but even a modest study based on a very limited corpus may prove to be illuminating, especially in the light of what has been said in the preceding chapters about present-day Maltese. Due to the fact that the press in Malta had a long history, it appears prima facie likely that, corresponding to changes in the Maltese language in general, there should also have appeared changes in the language used in the press: so that in the old newspapers we might find several types of journalistic Maltese different from that used in our own days. We had therefore to decide how far back to extend our survey; but, as the oldest (weekly) newspaper in Malta, namely Lehen is-Sewwa, has now been already published for half a century, it was decided to examine some of its early issues. Earlier newspapers do indeed exist, but they do not offer the same continuous run over many years, and some indeed appeared only for a short period. In addition, research on the early period of the Maltese press would be faced with conditions quite different from those governing the main body of this study. An analytical investigation of this early stage of journalistic Maltese was not attempted here, though in itself it would be an interesting and valuable enterprise. It is obvious that in a brief appendix the detailed treatment undertaken in the main body of our study cannot be attempted here. Furthermore, even a cursory glance at the material contained in the earlier newspapers makes it clear that a comparison with modern journalistic Maltese is more fruitful and desirable in some aspects than in others. We therefore concentrate exclusively on a statistical analysis of the Semitic, Romance and English vocabulary, as well as the frequency distribution of the parts of speech, in 1929-1930 journalistic Maltese, except perhaps for a few passing remarks dealing with other aspects where this seemed indicated.

THE LANGUAGE OF OLDER MALTESE NEWSPAPERS A2.2

235

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS oF THE SEMITic, RoMANCE AND ENGLISH VocABULARY IN 1929-1930 JouRNALISTIC MALTESE

In Chapter 4 above (see in 4.3), we made a statistical investigation into the language of origin and the grammatical categories for every word occurring in several samples in the journalistic genres in the contemporary press. Since a similar analysis is likely to detect differences in the relative overall strength of lexical and grammatical constituent elements, it was decided to repeat the same exercise here, for the results should obviously be of interest. The samples for the news report, the editorial and the article genres were all taken from Lehen is-Sewwa, 24th August, 1929; as to the advertisement genre, samples were taken from this same issue, and from the issue of 4th January, 1930. Because of the fact that Lehen is-Sewwa contained no classified advertisements, we had to limit ourselves to the display advertisements of which there are many in these issues. When referring to the language of these older newspapers (and other issues of that time), the term pre-modern journalistic Maltese will be used. A2.21

THE NEWS REPORT

The result on the sample of the news report 1 is given in percentages in the following chart. For the sake of comparison, we are including also the corresponding percentages obtained from the samples of our own contemporary journalistic Maltese (referred to as Co in the Charts below). The title of the newspaper Lehen is-Sewwa with reference to the 1929-1930 issues, is abbreviated below as L; for other abbreviations, see above in 4.31. Chart showing the Class of the Language of Origin and the Grammatical Category of the Words in the Samples of the News Report Genre in Pre-modern and in Present-day Journalistic M a/lese

s RM

L Co L Co

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

15.5 10.0 14.0 15.53

16.8 15.9

9.4 12.77 1.1 2.17

17.4 12.3

6.2 8.77

Adv 3.4 6.46 0.2 0.97

Adj 4.7 1.67 1.2

3.93

Conj 3.5 2.37

Part Totals 0.6 2.03

77.5 72.27 16.5 22.6

1 The sample of 1000 words was taken from several reports, including many varied items of foreign and local news, occurring in Lehen is-Sewwa, 24th August, 1929, p. 10.

236 RU EM

APPENDIX 2

L

Co L

Co

5.2 1.27

Co

0.03 0.4 3.6

Total L Co

35.1 3D.43

EU

L

0.1

0.3

0.03 16.8 15.9

10.5 14.97

17.5 12.3

6.2 8.77

3.6 7.43

0.1

0.03

0.07

5.6 1.27 0.0 0.03 0.4 3.83

6.2 5.7

3.5 2.4

0.6 2.1

100.0 100.0

This chart shows that the pre-modern journalistic Maltese had more Semitic words than the present-day press, and vice versa, it had fewer Romance and fewer English words than in the news report of the journalistic language of today. In matters of the frequency distribution of the grammatical categories, the chart shows that 87.63% of the words in both pre-modern and present-day Maltese samples belong to the same parts of speech. The remaining 12.37% mark the particular tendencies of the pre-modern and present-day journalistic Maltese. When compared with our own contemporary Maltese, the pre-modern journalistic language made use of more nouns, definite articles, prepositions, adjectives and conjunctions. On the other hand, the pre-modern newspapers had fewer verbs, pronouns, adverbs and particles. By taking into consideration the positive aspect of the figures in the chart above, and by re-reading the sample made up from several news reports, it becomes clear that the fact behind these figures is that the pre-modern journalistic language made more use of prepositional phrases and co-ordinations between similar syntactic units. This ties in with the fact that more prepositions and more conjunctions were used in the newspapers of the 1930's. Because of the syntactic structures involved, more nouns, definite articles and adjectives were also used there. The sentence below exemplifies this usage. The orthography used here, and in the examples given later, is that used in the original text of the newspaper. It was only after the second World War that Lehen is-Sewwa changed completely to the modern orthography of Maltese. 11-Papa laka' .fudienza speciali /i/1ambaxxatur belgjan fil- Vatican u dana ta' /ill-Papa riga! mibghut mir-Re u mi/1-Gvern tai-Belgju fl-occaijoni taiGublew Sacerdotali tieghu. (Lehen isSewwa, 24th August, 1929, p. 10, col. 2, lines 48-51 ).

The Pope received in a special audience the Ambassador of Belgium at the Vatican and this Ambassador gave the Pope a present sent to him by the King and the Government of Belgium on the occasion of his jubilee to the Priesthood.

237

THE LANGUAGE OF OLDER MALTESE NEWSPAPERS

One can add here that, as in the case of udienza 'audience' above, Le11en is-Sewwa followed an orthographic system which in part favoured the Italian spelling in words of Romance origin. This explains why in the news report alone there are many more unmodified Romance (mainly Italian) loan-words than in the contemporary samples. A2.22

THE EDITORIAL

The result of the survey of the sample from the editorial 2 is given in the following chart, which includes the corresponding results for present-day editorial samples. The abbreviations are the same as above (in A2.21). Chart showing the Class of the Language of Origin and the Grammatical Category of the Words in the Samples of the Editorial Genre in Pre-Modern and in Present-day Journalistic Maltese

s RM RU EM EU

L Co L Co L Co L Co L Co

Total L Co

Noun

Art

Verb

Prep

Pron

Adv

8.7 8.2 4.6 13.93 1.4 0.97

10.8 22.3 14.67 13.7 1.0 2.43

10.0 12.53

11.8 9.47

8.4 7.2 2.3 1.77

0.27 1.7 1.43 16.4 24.8

0.1

0.4

10.9 23.7 14.67 16.13

0.2 0.1 0.3

0.03 0.2

10.5 12.0 12.63 9.47

0.2 0.1 10.9 9.1

Adj

1.3 3.67 0.7 4.0 0.1

Conj 8.2 3.26

Part Totals 5.1 2.2

86.6 74.9 8.6 22.2 1.7 1.1 0.0 0.27 3.1 1.53

5.1 2.2

100.0 100.0

O.o7

0.1

0.1

2.2 7.67

8.3 3.33

This chart shows that the editorial in the pre-modern journalistic language had more Semitic words than contemporary newspapers have now. The pre-modern editorial differs mainly in its tendency to make use of many verbs and many conjunctions, as the figures above show. Here, again, we note that the trend to use co-ordination is partly the cause of the high percentages of both verbs and conjunctions. This can be seen in the following text. 2 The sample for the editorial was taken from Lehen is-Sewwa, 24th August, 1929, pp. 1-2, incorporating the first 1000 words.

238

APPENDIX 2

Ahna rridu biss nakdu dmirna bla rna n1rarsu lejn hadd. U dan incomplu nag1rmluh bil-prudenza collha chif irid il-Papa, u bil-kawwa collha, chif imiss sa chemm hu u shabu jatu wi