Reflexes of pausal forms in Maltese rural dialects?

Abstract

The past decade has seen the appearance of a number of publications on Maltese phonology, all, without exception, dealing with aspects of standard Maltese. The current neglect of non-urban speech forms is particularly regrettable in that the process of social modernization that was relatively gradual in the period leading up to World War II appears to have undergone intense acceleration over the past decade with the result that the dialect boundaries of rural Maltese are fast receding and will probably disappear within the next generation.