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Maltese in the SEA-EU University Alliance
The Department of Maltese played an active role in two major international events at the Valletta Campus, organised by SEA-EU, the alliance of universities from coastal cities, by organising three language interactive sessions and a lecture on the development of the Maltese language.
During the international week dedicated to Equity and Inclusion held in February 2026, Department lecturers Kirsty Azzopardi and Justine Somerville led a "Maltese Language Crash Course." After providing a general overview of the language by sharing linguistic and cultural facts, the alphabet, and basic vocabulary, participants practised pronouns and country names by introducing themselves. Given the week's theme, the lecturers highlighted expressions, idioms, and proverbs centered on unity and friendship. The session concluded with a themed song, allowing participants to further appreciate the unique sounds and rhythms of Maltese.
The "Maltese Language Crash Course" returned in April during Multilingualism Week. In addition to the previous activities, this session focused on idioms and proverbs specifically related to language and the tongue. During the same week, lecturer Dwayne Ellul hosted a "Maltese Language Café" in which participants focused on spoken Maltese, introducing themselves and exchanging greetings, and then turned to food and favourite dishes. Participants also discussed the similarities they observed between Maltese and the languages they knew.
For the April events, the Department also invited Prof. Joseph M. Brincat, Senior Fellow at the University of Malta and author of Maltese and Other Languages (Midsea, 2021), to deliver a lecture about "Maltese in Multilingual Malta." Prof. Brincat provided a historical overview of written and spoken languages in Malta from the Temple period to the Byzantine era. He explained how a Maghrebi dialect, also spoken in Sicily until the Norman period, evolved over a millennium to keep pace with demographic and social progress through contact with Sicilian, Italian, and English. He further detailed the standardisation process over the last three centuries and the lexical stratigraphy of modern Maltese, referencing the current sociolinguistic situation as analysed in the 2021 report by the National Council for the Maltese Language, Il-Qag魔da tal-Ilsien Malti.
Prof. Godfrey Baldacchino, lead of the expert group on multilingualism, noted that international participants “greatly enjoyed the interventions regarding the Maltese language during the international Multilingualism week. What stood out most was the unique blend of Maltese from Siculo-Arabic, Italian, and English, and the reality that a living language is one that strives to welcome and integrate words from other tongues."
Ms Maria Grima Calleja from the SEA-EU office at the University of Malta thanked the Department for its participation in these International Weeks. “It is greatly appreciated and contributed significantly to the success of the weeks!"
The Department of Maltese congratulates colleagues from other departments who participated and thanks the SEA-EU Alliance leadership for these important initiatives. Special thanks to Prof. Godfrey Baldacchino for his energy, to Maria Grima Calleja for her coordination, and to Prof. Michael Spagnol for his contribution to SEA-EU on behalf of the Department.
[MT]
Il-Malti fl-alleanza tal-universitajiet SEA-EU
Permezz ta’ sessjonijiet interattivi u ta魔dita dwar l-i偶vilupp tal-Malti, id-Dipartiment tal-Malti 魔a sehem attiv f’偶ew摹 avvenimenti internazzjonali importanti fil-Valletta Campus u li 摹ew organizzati minn SEA-EU, l-alleanza ta’ universitajiet li jmissu mal-ba魔ar.
Fil-摹img魔a internazzjonali ta’ attivitajiet dwar l-Ekwità u l-Inklu偶joni li saret fi Frar tal-2026, il-letturi tad-Dipartiment Kirsty Azzopardi u Justine Somerville mexxew “Maltese Language Crash Course.” Wara li taw 魔arsa 摹enerali lejn il-Malti billi qasmu mal-parte膵ipanti ftit fatti lingwisti膵i u kulturali u daru l-alfabett u xi vokabolarju, il-letturi talbu lill-parte膵ipanti jipprattikaw il-pronomi u l-ismijiet tal-pajji偶i billi jintrodu膵u lilhom infushom u jg魔idu minn fejn 摹ejjin. Min魔abba l-摹img魔a ddedikata g魔all-inklu偶joni u l-ekwità, il-letturi semmew espressjonijiet, idjomi u qwiel li juru l-g魔aqda u l-魔biberija. Is-sessjoni ng魔alqet b’kanzunetta b’tema addattata biex il-parte膵ipanti japprezzaw i偶jed il-魔sejjes u r-ritmi tal-ilsien Malti.
Is-sessjoni interattiva tal-“Maltese Language Crash Course” li saret fil-摹img魔a ta’ attivitajiet dwar il-Multilingwi偶mu f’April tal-2026, minbarra l-attivitajiet li saru fi Frar, iffukat fuq espressjonijiet, idjomi u qwiel li jintrabtu mal-lingwa jew mal-ilsien. Fl-istess 摹img魔a tal-Multilingwi偶mu, il-lettur Dwayne Ellul mexxa “Language Café” tal-Malti li fih l-parte膵ipanti ffukaw fuq it-ta魔dit bil-Malti u kellhom l-opportunità jintrodu膵u ru魔hom ma' xulxin bil-Malti u jsellmu lil xulxin. Il-parte膵ipanti t魔addtu wkoll dwar l-ikel u l-platti favoriti tag魔hom u ddiskutew ix-xebh li raw bejn il-Malti u lingwi o魔ra li jafu.
G魔all-摹img魔a f’April, id-Dipartiment tal-Malti talab lill-Prof. Joseph M. Brincat, Senior Fellow fl-Università ta’ Malta u l-awtur tal-istorja lingwistika ta’ Malta, Maltese and Other Languages (Midsea, 2021), biex jag魔mel ta魔dita lill-parte膵ipanti fuq “Maltese in Multilingual Malta”. Il-Professur Brincat ta 魔arsa 魔afifa lejn il-lingwi miktuba u mitkellma f’Malta minn 偶mien it-Tempji sal-魔akma Bizantina, u spjega kif id-djalett Magrebin, li kien mitkellem ukoll fi Sqallija sa 偶mien in-Normanni, f’elf sena kiber biex i偶omm il-progress demografiku u so膵jali bil-kuntatt mal-Isqalli, mat-Taljan u mal-Ingli偶. Spjega l-pro膵ess tal-istandardizzazzjoni fl-a魔魔ar tliet sekli u l-istratigrafija lessikali tal-Malti tal-lum, u semma s-sitwazzjoni so膵jolingwistika pre偶enti kif tidher mill-anali偶i li g魔amel il-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti fl-2021, Il-Qag魔da tal-Ilsien Malti.
Il-Prof. Godfrey Baldacchino, li jmexxi l-grupp ta’ esperti fuq il-multilingwi偶mu, qal li l-parte膵ipanti internazzjonali “魔adu pja膵ir 魔afna bl-interventi li saru dwar l-ilsien Malti fil-臓img魔a Internazzjonali dwar il-Multilingwi偶mu. Na魔seb spikkat l-g魔a摹na tal-Malti mis-Sikulo G魔arbi, it-Taljan u l-Ingli偶. Spikka wkoll kif ilsien 魔aj huwa wie魔ed li jit魔abat 魔alli jilqa' u ja膵膵etta fi 魔danu kliem minn ilsna o魔ra.”
Is-Sa Maria Grima Calleja, mill-uffi膵膵ju tas-SEA-EU fl-Università ta’ Malta, irringrazzjat lid-Dipartiment g魔as-sehem tieg魔u f’dawn il-摹img魔at internazzjonali. "Apprezzajna 魔afna s-sehem tad-Dipartiment li g魔en 魔afna biex dawn il-摹img魔at ikunu su膵膵ess!"
Id-Dipartiment tal-Malti jifra魔 lill-kollegi f’dipartimenti o魔rajn li 魔adu sehem ukoll, u jirringrazzja lit-tmexxija tal-alleanza SEA-EU ta’ dawn l-inizjattivi importanti, lill-Prof. Godfrey Baldacchino tal-ener摹ija, lil Maria Grima Calleja tal-kordinazzjoni, u lill-Prof. Michael Spagnol tas-sehem tieg魔u fis-SEA-EU f’isem id-Dipartiment.
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