Two notes : Brighella and Thezan; the "Cantilena", Maltese and Sicilian proverbs

Abstract

In the first part of the article, the author discusses Don Giuseppe Zammit, who wrote under the pen-name Brighella. Zammit was a prolific writer in Italian, Latin but most importantly in Maltese. He mainly wrote in satirical newspapers such as Il Hatar, targeting the British powers in Malta. Zammit also uses this platform to highlight problems related to the Maltese alphabet to which he references the French linguist Thezan. In the second part of the article, the author compares and contrasts the influence that Maltese and Sicilian had on each other which can be clearly seen in the proverbs used by both islands - sometimes even referring to each other or historical events.