Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/96029
Title: Italian as Malta’s third language : proficiency, perceptions and public space visibility
Other Titles: International perspectives on bilingualism
Authors: Sciriha, Lydia
Keywords: Language and languages
Multilingualism -- Malta
Italian language -- Malta
Malta -- Relations -- Italy
Issue Date: 2016
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publisher
Citation: Sciriha, L. (2016). Italian as Malta’s third language : proficiency, perceptions and public space visibility. In L. Sciriha (Ed.), International perspectives on bilingualism (pp. 239-257). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publisher.
Abstract: Malta is not a big island. It has a total surface area of 246 square kilometres and its distance from the north-west to the south-west is about 27 kilometres. Its greatest width is 14 kilometres in an east-westerly direction. It is only 93 kilometres from Sicily and 288 kilometres from the North African mainland. Despite its small size, Malta’s strategic position at the centre of the Mediterranean Sea was coveted and fought-over by a long succession of rulers. Some of the more recent conquerors in Malta’s turbulent history who left an indelible mark on the languages which are spoken nowadays were the Arabs (870 – 1090), the Normans (1090 – 1266), the Aragonese (1283 – 1410), the Castilians (1412 – 1530), the Knights of St John (1530 – 1798), the French (1798 – 1800), and the British (1800 –1964). The expulsion of the Arabs by Count Roger the Norman in 1090, and the subsequent arrival of the Knights of the Order of St John in 1530 ensured that Malta came in contact with the Tuscan variety of Italian (later present-day Italian), which was used for administration, commerce, education and cultural purposes. This however, was not the only language spoken by the Order since the Knights hailed from different parts of Europe and French, Spanish, German and English were also spoken. Even so, Italian was the dominant language, despite the fact that the majority of the Knights were of French and Spanish origins. The position of Italian was further consolidated from the 17th century onwards; the geographic proximity to Italy encouraged Maltese intellectuals who spoke and wrote in Italian, to further their studies in Italy (Marshall 1971; Brincat 1992). In 1780 Italian became Malta’s official language. Italian still retained its important role during the brief French interlude. Both French and Italian were the languages of the law courts. However, the fate of Italian changed with the arrival of Malta’s last colonisers. The British, who were no different from previous rulers, did their best to enforce their language, even though they knew that it would neither be swift nor smooth as they were acutely aware of the “thoroughly Italianate culture” (Frendo 1979: 2) present in Malta. During British rule, the linguistic situation was that of diglossia without bilingualism (Fishman 1967), since Maltese intellectuals spoke and wrote in Italian while the overwhelming majority of illiterate Maltese spoke the indigenous language which according to Aquilina (1972: 29) “mhux minn dejjem kienet illingwa tal-koltura” (it was not always the language of culture). In fact, during the first decades of British rule the language situation present in Malta did not undergo major upheavals. Italian was retained as the language of the law courts. Moreover, educated Maltese who were mostly professionals continued using Italian. Though the British acknowledged Italian as a useful language in view of Malta’s close geographic proximity to Italy, yet they did not want Italian to dominate Malta’s linguistic scene. Maltese lawyers strongly opposed the introduction of English because, as Bianca Fiorentini (1966: 52) in her book Malta rifugio di esuli e focolare ardente di cospirazione durante il Risorgimento italiano, aptly remarks “l’atteggiamento ostile assunto dai legali maltesi verso l’inglese era dovuto principalmente a motivi di carattere economico” (the Maltese lawyers’ hostile attitude towards English was principally due to motives of an economic nature) and “Il cambiamento della lingua nelle procedure giudiziarie avrebbe messo l’amministrazione della giustizia a disposizione degli inglesi; e gli avvocati maltesi si sarebbero trovati nell’alternativa di sottomettersi o di rimanere tagliati fuori dalla loro professione” (The change of language in judicial proceedings would have placed the administration of justice under the control of the British, and the Maltese lawyers would have been faced with the option of either ceding or being forced out of their profession).
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/96029
ISBN: 9781443890120
Appears in Collections:Scholarly Works - FacArtEng

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