Żejtun dialect

One of the dialects found in the Maltese language is the Żejtuni Dialect (Standard Maltese: Djalett taż-Żejtun or Żejtuni; Żejtun Maltese: Żejtewni). This dialect is used by many of the Żejtun inhabitants and in other settlements around this city like Marsaxlokk, that consists of about twelve thousand people.[1]

The following two words are an example, there are many more that make it into the list of vocabulary found in this Dialect.

For kite the Maltese word is tajra but in this dialect it is found as manuċċa.
For foggy weather the Maltese word is ċpar but in this dialect it is found as ċlambu.

All the vocal letters in this dialect possess a liquid versatility which allows the position, emphasis and tone of the vowels to change without any distinct rule; in some words the consonant letters are found to change as well. Such variations in the dialect are innate to native speakers.

The Vocal 'A'

The vowel 'A' in the Żejtun dialect is changed into 'U' or 'E'. Example:

English	Maltese	Żejtun Dialect
newspaper	gazzetta	gezzette
meat	laħam	leħem
fat	xaħam	xeħem
coal	faħam	feħem
water	ilma	ilme
burner	spiritiera	spiritiere
home	dar	dur

This form happens to roughly all of the words that end in the vowel ' A ', but when the sentence construction does not allow the vowel 'A' to transmute into 'E', such as in the Maltese equivalent of potato, i.e. ' patata ', a different vowel has to be used to elongate the syllable. Here, the word does not become petete but changes into ' Û ', becoming patûta.

The Vowel 'E'

The vowel 'E' changes into the vowels 'A' or also 'I'. Example:

English	Maltese	Żejtun Dialect
wild	selvaġġ	salvaġġ
seriousness	serjetà	sirjitu
seminary	seminarju	siminurju
when	meta	mite

The Vocal 'O'

The vocal ' O ' in this dialect changes into ' U ', however it demands an element of phonetical emphasis to differentiate this changed ' U from the previous one. In philology such emphasis requires an accent, hence ' Ù '. Example:

English	Maltese	Żejtun Dialect
school	skola	skùla
wheel	rota	rùta
pan	borma	bùrma
sack	xkora	xkùra
corner	rokna	rùkna
roll	romblu	rùmblu

This form occurs in many other words that have 'O' as their first vocal letter.

The Vocal 'U'

When the last vocal of the word is the U, it is changed into the vocal O with the consonant W with a muted-ending . Sometimes the U is changed into EW. Example:

English	Maltese	Żejtun Dialect
ship	vapur	vapowr
Mr.	sinjur	sinjowr
stick	bastun	bastown
vase	vażun	vażown
money	flus	flews
fish	ħut	ħewt
shop	ħanut	ħenewt

References

Pascale, Natalie (2020). Maltese Dialects: the Effects of Globalization and Changing Attitudes on Malta's Linguistic Diversity. Malta: omertaa. p. 14.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Pascale, Natalie (2020). Maltese Dialects: the Effects of Globalization and Changing Attitudes on Malta's Linguistic Diversity. Malta: omertaa. p. 14.