Maltese pocket grammar

Abstract

The Alphabet

The transcriptions that are now used for the Maltese written language have been arranged by foreigners, whose ideas of the Maltese roots and their origin were extremely imperfect.

The first scribes tried to write Maltese words using the Italian characters - the least desirable for a Semitic transcription. For this purpose they used their personal sense of perspicacity and intelligence in capturing Maltese sounds and by appropriating the Italian alphabet, rendered chem without any claim at philologicaf knowledge or scientific system.

Result : 1. one cannot read Maltese correctly, the transcriptions not giving the pronunciation of the words ; 2. one cannot understand Maltese reading, the transcriptions having been made by people who were ignorant of the roots of this language.

Our first efforts should be directed towards giving the Maltese language a true transcription. The Maltese language, like all Semitic languages, is very rich in vowels.

Of the European alphabets the only one, which lends itself in any way for rendering the rich Semitic sounds, is the French alphabet... [Excerpt]