From Dr M. A. Sammut

The recent changes imposed by the decisions of the National Maltese Language Council will certainly have far-reaching consequences. Not only linguistic.

Let us consider one example of these consequences. There is a popular dictionary which costs, in its entirety, e335.40. This dictionary has now been rendered obsolete by many of the recent decisions. This obsoleteness will be exacerbated – as it were – by other decisions that might be taken in the future.

Assuming 10,000 people decide to buy a new edition of this dictionary incorporating the recent decisions, sales will amount to e3,354,000 (equivalent to almost Lm1.5 million).

Did the Maltese nation really need to have skond changed into skont, Awissu into Awwisu, amen into ammen, and ri¿q into risq?

Mark A. Sammut

VALLETTA