https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/1038 2026-06-17T09:07:14Z 2026-06-17T09:07:14Z Portelli, Sergio https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147208 2026-06-09T07:54:01Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: La traduzione di testi letterari dall’italiano al maltese Authors: Portelli, Sergio Abstract: Lo sviluppo della traduzione a Malta è profondamente intrecciata con la situazione linguistica isolana. Dopo secoli in cui l’italiano godette dello status di lingua ufficiale e di lingua di cultura, verso la fine dell’Ottocento perse tale preminenza a favore dell’inglese – la lingua dei dominatori coloniali – e del maltese, un vernacolo misto tra arabo, siciliano e italiano che nel 2004 è assurto a lingua ufficiale dell’Unione europea. La conoscenza diffusa dell’italiano e dell’inglese rende possibile ai maltesi di accedere alle opere letterarie italiane direttamente nella versione originale oppure nelle traduzioni inglesi già esistenti. Di conseguenza, la traduzione di tali testi non è strettamente necessaria nel contesto maltese. Tuttavia, già all’inizio del Novecento apparvero delle traduzioni di opere letterarie straniere, tra le quali diverse in lingua italiana, per diffondere il maltese scritto e permettere a chi non conosceva bene l’italiano e l’inglese di avere del materiale interessante da leggere. Agli inizi del nuovo secolo, nonostante la nascita dell’industria della traduzione verso il maltese dopo l’adesione all’UE abbinata allo sviluppo del settore editoriale isolano, le traduzioni letterarie dall’italiano al maltese non hanno registrato un incremento significativo. Le ricerche sulle traduzioni letterarie verso il maltese sono ancora agli inizi, compiute tramite la schedatura di opere registrate nei cataloghi bibliotecari principali di Malta. Di conseguenza, non si è ancora in grado di approfondire l’argomento con analisi dettagliate ed attendibili che possano tracciare una chiara linea di sviluppo e gli aspetti editoriali ad essa collegati. Di seguito si accenna brevemente al contesto linguistico e culturale di Malta, e si fornisce una panoramica della traduzione letteraria maltese riguardante i testi letterari italiani fino a tutto il 2024, con particolare riferimento all’ultimo decennio. L’attenzione si soffermerà sulla prosa e sulla poesia pubblicate in volume. Non sono incluse le traduzioni pubblicate nei periodici isolani, in quanto non sono state ancora catalogate.; The development of translation in Malta is closely intertwined with the island’s linguistic situation. After centuries during which Italian held the status of official and cultural language, by the late nineteenth century it lost this preeminence in favor of English – the language of the colonial rulers – and Maltese, a vernacular blending Arabic, Sicilian, and Italian, which in 2004 became an official language of the European Union. The widespread knowledge of Italian and English allows Maltese readers to access Italian literary works either in their original versions or in existing English translations. Consequently, translating these texts is not strictly necessary in the Maltese context. However, as early as the beginning of the twentieth century, translations of foreign literary works – including several from Italian – appeared, aiming to promote written Maltese and provide engaging reading material for those less proficient in Italian or English. At the start of the new century, despite the emergence of a translation industry into Maltese following Malta’s EU accession and the development of the local publishing sector, literary translations from Italian into Maltese did not experience significant growth. Research on literary translations into Maltese is still in its early stages and has been conducted mainly through cataloging works listed in Malta’s main library collections. As a result, it is not yet possible to carry out detailed and reliable analyses that could trace a clear developmental trajectory or the associated publishing aspects. The following sections briefly outline Malta’s linguistic and cultural context and provide an overview of Maltese literary translation of Italian texts up to 2024, with particular attention to the last decade. The focus is on prose and poetry published in book form. Translations published in local periodicals are not included, as they have not yet been cataloged.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Portelli, Sergio https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147126 2026-06-05T06:13:28Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: AI-based translation quality for low-resource languages : the case of Maltese Authors: Portelli, Sergio Abstract: Maltese is the national language of the Republic of Malta and shares its official language status with English. Despite being used by a small community mostly in oral communication and in a few formal domains, it became an official language of the European Union in 2004. In the last two decades, because of EU membership, translation requirements in Maltese have greatly increased. However, the relative scarcity of Maltese texts in many domains, especially in technical fields, has created a critical data deficiency for training large language models (LLMs). Hence, the quality of AI-driven translation for Maltese is generally perceived to be inadequate. However, to date, no studies have been made to assess translation quality related to the use of AI-based technologies for the Maltese language. To address this research gap, the present small-scale study evaluates the performance of two prominent AI-based translation tools, Google Translate and ChatGPT, on a 6000-word corpus of 20 texts translated from Italian into both Maltese and English. The raw output was systematically evaluated using an adapted DQF-MQM error typology template. The results show that in the case of Maltese, Google Translate made almost three times more errors with respect to English, while ChatGPT generated over seven times the errors for Maltese. The analysis concludes that despite the high status of Maltese in the EU’s multilingual setting, the limitations of Maltese as a low-resource language still persist, and a highly cautious approach must be taken by Maltese translators and post-editors when using AI-based tools for translation.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Spiteri Miggiani, Giselle https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/144695 2026-03-06T13:30:51Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Dubbing in the AI and streaming age : innovations and implications for translation training Authors: Spiteri Miggiani, Giselle Abstract: Recent developments in Media Localization, such as the shift to cloud-based ecosystems, have significantly impacted both professional practice and training environments (Bolaños- García-Escribano & Díaz-Cintas, 2020; Bolaños-García-Escribano, Díaz-Cintas & Massidda, 2021). The ongoing evolution of technology is reshaping industry demands and the job market, giving rise to new professional profiles that require specific skills and versatility (Bolaños García-Escribano, 2025). This chapter will explore practical training applications in a university context, focusing on three major shifts in translation for dubbing: the rise of standardized indirect translation workflows (Agulló Garcia et al., 2024; Pięta et al. 2023), the use of cloud dubbing tools for translation and adaptation (Chaume & De Los Reyes-Lozano, 2021; Spiteri Miggiani, 2023), and the emergence of AI dubbing technologies (Spiteri Miggiani, 2024). These trends drive new industry demands and necessitate specialized training. The paper will examine these changes through industry and academic perspectives, supported by systematic framework proposals and experimental research findings (Spiteri Miggiani, 2022; 2024; 2025).

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Colman, Amy https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/143312 2026-01-30T15:11:55Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: GenAI for speech writing in the training of Maltese conference interpreters for the European Union Authors: Colman, Amy Abstract: The present paper explores the potential of GenAI tools in generating speeches to prepare for the European Union’s interinstitutional accreditation test. A small-scale experimental empirical study was conducted in which interpreting students were instructed to annotate, critically assess and compare English and Maltese speeches generated by three GenAI tools, viz., Gemini, Copilot and ChatGPT, to be used for beginner consecutive interpretation practice. The GenAI tools were prompted to generate three English and three Maltese speeches modelled on those in the European Commission’s Speech Repository. The analysis focuses on compliance with the prompt, suitability for purpose and linguistic output quality. The results indicate that, upon initial analysis, the speeches in both languages satisfy many of the criteria in the prompt. However, more thorough scrutiny reveals that the speeches may prove challenging for trainees to interpret, primarily due to their poor argumentative structure, low factual density, lack of clear links and intent, and low terminological complexity. In addition, the speech topics are excessively simplistic, not well-researched and insufficiently nuanced. The differences between English, a high-resource language, and Maltese, a low-resource language, are minimal. The main discrepancy between the two is the higher number of linguistic errors in Maltese. Overall, the results indicate that the speeches in both languages require extensive post-editing to meet their intended use.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z