From Notary Dr M. A. Sammut

New rules for the spelling in Maltese have been recently promulgated, with a view to solve problems regarding variants. Some people are of the opinion that the new rules are controversial. To my understanding, these are the new rules, and we have to abide by them.

Yet, one should draw the public’s attention to prioritisation in the work related to the Maltese language. The problem-solving exercise relating to variants was presumably based on the premise that variants are a fundamental problem in urgent need of solution.

Yet, the opinion seems to be prevailing that the Maltese language faces other challenges, more pressing than variants.

One such challenge is the fact that there is a sizeable minority of Maltese who feel that their mother tongue is the English language, while still feeling to be fully-fledged Maltese.

The problem lies in the (real or perceived) ostracism of these people from mainstream Maltese society. I am of the opinion that the ostracism (if real) is uncompromisingly unfair.

This social phenomenon, which is so intimately related to our identity as a people, requires time and energy to be resolved. It could be argued that it is more of a priority than variants.

My impression is that many of those who militate in favour of the Maltese language view themselves as mere language teachers, and not as promoters of our national identity.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a body involved solely with the teaching of Maltese. But, to my mind, that such a view should guide those whom the State has entrusted to promote our language (and, by implication, our collective identity) is not a good sign.

I think that, all in all, too many exercises aimed at reducing so-called uncertainties in spelling will serve only to kindle the interest of Maltese language teachers, while discouraging all the others from investing intellectual energy into learning how to write the language properly, and thus use it in its written form.

The fact is that almost all Maltese (even those who claim their mother tongue to be English) can speak the Maltese language, but very few can write it properly, such as to avoid the humiliation of having some linguistic guru correcting their spelling mistakes. (The gurus – luckily there are only a few of them around – obviously revel in such activities, adding to the reluctance of many to invest their mental energies in mastering the language’s grammar and spelling rules.)

The reasons for this underuse of the Maltese language in its written form are, at least, two.

First, rules change virtually every decade, engendering an aura of fleeting temporariness surrounding Maltese grammar and thus frustrating genuine learning efforts.

Secondly, apart from MATSEC exams and the Law Courts, the language is rarely obligatorily used in its written form. This underuse serves as a deterrent for the intellectual efforts required to master its (admittedly complex) grammar. If demand for the written language were to increase, more people would exert themselves to write it properly.

I wish to avoid misunderstandings. I am not a linguist, and I am not particularly into linguistics.

I do love the Maltese language. Not with the love of an orientalist who has discovered an Araboid language imbibed with Indo-European traits. Or the love of a linguistic who looks at his subject with scientific eyes, vying with others to be the first to dissect it and understand its internal mechanisms.

I love our language with the love of someone who loves his country. I would love our distinctive language even if it were Gaelic, Sanskrit, Swahili, Inuit, Romansch or what have you.

For the simple reason that it is our language, the repository of the distillated memory of the common experiences of a small community living on a tiny rock which has attracted the attention of the dominant power of each successive epoch.

I therefore love the Maltese language not like a teacher who loves his subject, but as a citizen who wants his country to sit at the table of the great family of peoples and be equal to all the others. This love is nourished by the belief that there can be Unity in Diversity in Europe – a motto which cannot but be understood as implying equality between the peoples making up the European Union.

The Maltese language is still, by and large, the language of the workers. A few intellectuals have shown it can be used, gracefully and effectively, to convey even the more complex of thoughts. But the educated middle classes tend to eschew it, not wanting to be humiliated for not respecting its grammatical and spelling rules, which seem to be ever-fluctuating.

The Law Courts, however, provide a fulgid example of how the obligatory use of the Maltese language brings about a strong vehicle for the transmission of ideas and subtleties.

Religion has also proven this point, for a few hundred years now.

The massive translation exercise taking place at European level is another incontrovertible corroboration of this point.

The fact that the university has founded the Institute for Maltese Studies is further confirmation of the interest in understanding Maltese identity and its main standard-bearer, the Maltese language.

Logically, it follows from the results obtained at the Law Courts that the justifiable aspiration should be to expect efforts in trying to radically revolutionise the Public Service and have it function in the Maltese language. Once demand is augmented, the language will be used on a broader scale. Only then will efforts to solve variants and other such linguistic problems, be fully justified.

The Ghaqda tal-Malti – Università, of which I am president, has taken up the official invitation and written to the Prime Minister urging the use of the Maltese language at Mepa. We are sure that Dr Gonzi will give due consideration to our proposal.

In the meantime, I suspect that my frankness has not, and will not, endear me to the sultans of the Maltese language sultanate. Be that as it may. Like in many other spheres of human activity, undercurrents start when acquiescence stops, and then become torrential.

Individually, all of us stand to gain very little from a more widespread use of the Maltese language. As a people however, we stand to gain in our collective self-respect and self-confidence, and in the normalisation and effective decolonisation of our collective identity.

Mark A. Sammut

President

Ghaqda tal-Malti – Università