Beginning Maltese

Beginning Maltese .

Lydia Sciriha

MALTA UNIVERSITY PUBLISHERS Ltd.

2nd Edition 2004

scanned for uz-translations, 2009

CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS ......... ....... .......... ...... ..... ... ............... .. ....... .... .. ix NAME LIST ... .... .............. .... ...... .......... .. .. ......... ..... .... ....... .... ...... xi PREFACE .. .. .. ... ..... .... ... .. ... .... .... ..... ... .. .. ....... ..... .. ......... .... ..... .... xiii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..... .. ...... .. ... .. ..... .. ....... .. ... ... .. ... .. ... .. .... xvi INTRODUCTION Aims of the Course ; Structure of the Course .. .. .. .... .......... ... xvii LESSON ONE The Maltese Sound System Part I: The Consonants .... .. .. .... .. 1 LESSON TWO The Maltese Sound System Part 11 : The Vowels .. ................ .. 9 LESSON THREE The Maltese Sound System Part Ill : The Diphthongs ...... .... . 13 LESSON FOUR The Definite Article and Prepostions .. .. ........ .. .... .. .... .. ... .. .. .. .. . 17 LESSON FIVE The Verbs To Be and To Have .. .. .......... .. ........ ....... ... .. .. ......... 23 LESSON SIX Gender of Nouns and Adjectives .. ...... .. .. .. .... .. ... ........ ........ .... . 29 LESSON SEVEN The Plural ... .... ... .... .. .. ...... .. ............ .. .... .... ... .. ..... .. ..... .. ... .. ... ... .. . 37 LESSON EIGHT The Present Tense .... .. ............ .. .. ... ...... .. .. .... .... .. ...... .. ........ .. .. .. 45

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LESSON NINE The Negative ...... ......... .............. ...... ... ..... .. .......... ... ......... ...... ... 53 LESSON TEN The Future Tense ................. .. .......................................... ........ 57 LESSON ELEVEN The Pronom inal Suffixes ...................... ............................ .. .. .... 61 LESSON TWELVE Numbers and How to Tell the Time .. .. .. .. ...... .. .............. .. ........ 71

APPENDICES 1. Key to Exercises ............ .. ........ .. ...... ........ .. ...... .................. . 81 2. Verb List .... ...... .. .... .... ...... .. ...... .. .. ...... ......... ....... ................. 103 3. Vocabularies ............ .. ...... .................. ......... ....... ..... .... .. ...... 107

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PREFACE

Language is undeniably one of the most powerful indicators of a person 's identity and origins. Even though the population of the small island of Malta stands at a mere 400 ,000, the Maltese people are proud to speak Maltese , the indigenous language of Malta. Though Maltese had been spoken by the natives of Malta for centuries , for a long time it was considered to be 'the language of the kitchen ' by the educated Maltese who mainly spoke Italian or English . Mikiel Anton Vassalli was the first Maltese scholar who openly declared the importance of the Maltese language as a crucial vehicle in the pursuit of the islanders' nationalism. In 1796, he recognized the fact that Malta was in need of a 'lingua nazionale' that could not be Italian , the language that was then spoken and written by educated Maltese, but the indigenous language Maltese, then spoken by the majority of the islanders. Vassalli regarded these native speakers of the island's indigenous language as 'veri nazionali' (true nationals) even though according to him , the Maltese language was a hybrid language with several loanwords from other languages. Vassalli 's avant-garde attitude towards Maltese many years later, was praised by Dun Karm Psaila, Malta's national poet who wrote the poem 'Lil Mikiel Anton Vassalli ' (to Mikiel Anton Vassalli) , and subsequently dubbed Vassalli 'Missier I-ilsien Malti' (the father of the Maltese language) . Thus, Vassalli gave birth to a Maltese national conscience and many years later, Maltese acted as the surrogate for national identity and the fight for self-determination . Although during Vassalli 's time Maltese was spoken by the majority of the islanders, this indigenous language was xiii

regarded as a non-standard language and was thus perceived to be of an inferior status to the other languages, especially Italian that was then spoken in Malta. Until the 1920s the Maltese alphabet was not yet standardised and only in 1934 did Maltese supplant Italian to become the language of the administration together with English. In 1964, Malta became an Independent state within the Commonwealth and the Maltese Constitution decreed English and Maltese to be the official languages with Maltese also being the national language and the language of the courts. Section 75 of the Constitution deClares that 'every law will be enacted in Maltese and English and in the eventuality of conflict the Maltese and Engl ish texts , the Maltese text shall prevail'. In May 2004, Malta became a member of the European Union and Maltese was also accorded official language status within the European Union . In view of the fact that Maltese is not merely the official language of Malta, but is also one of the official languages within the European Union, now more than ever before, some Europeans might wish to add Maltese to their linguistic repertoire and thus this course would enable them to do so. This course is also intended for the thousands of second generation of Maltese migrants in North America, Australia and England, for whom Maltese is their parents' native tongue. Maltese language retention is high only among the first generation of migrants. Unfortunately, the percentages drop dramatically by the second and third generation , as evidenced by the quantitative sociolinguistic studies carried out among the Maltese communities in Australia and Canada. Sadly so, most second and third generations of Maltese migrants do not even have an incipient knowledge of Maltese. xiv

This Maltese audio course for beginners is primarily intended either for individuals who wish to add an official EU language in their linguistiq repertoire , or for second and third generations of Maltese' migrants who , for different reasons , have been denied or have not taken up the opportunity to learn the language of their parents and grandparents and who would still like to learn Malte.se, at their own pace , at home. It is also meant for those foreigners who are living and working or studying in Malta and for whom it is important, at least to understand the language. Although most Maltese are fluent in English , yet they do tend to lapse into Maltes-e quite often when in the company of other natives, even in the presence of foreigners. Though this is often done quite unwittingly, unfortunately the foreigner often feels uncomfortable and left out. It is mostly for this reason that some foreigners want to learn Maltese as this will enable them to integrate with the Maltese community. Hopefully, the student who completes this beginners' course will not only be able to communicate at the basic level in this language , but also find the course to serve as an impetus for him to continue with the study of the Maltese language and culture. University of Malta

Lydia Sciriha May 2004

xv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

For several years , this course was piloted with the help of a number of foreign students at the University of Malta, as well as some foreigners working in Malta and who felt the need to learn Maltese. The diversity of their native languages is noteworthy. In fact, students whose first languages are English, French , German , Italian , Greek, Spanish , Danish, Swedish, Japanese, Chinese, Sinhalese and Arabic have a.1I successfully completed this course and have also provided me with important feedback on the course content. I wish to thank all these students especially Nimal Parawahera , Kuniko Fujiwara, Haneen Radie , Stephanie Anzinger, Helen Dekkers, Anne and Vincent Fean .

Languages , like human beings , belong to families by virtue of their genetic relationships . Maltese belongs to the Semitic language family. Other languages such as English and German belong to the Germanic group , whi le Latin , French , Italian , Portuguese and Spanish are members of the Romance language family. As members of their particular families , languages display similarities with other languages in the ir own language group. Thus , as a member of the Sem itic language family, Maltese displays greater similarities with those languages in the same group , such as Arabic , rather than with Germanic and Romance languages . But unlike Arabic , Maltese is written in Roman script.

I would also like to thank Professor Edward Fenech , my brother Mario Sciriha and Ms. Romina Sah Frendo for helping me to edit the original text.

In fact , Maltese , which is basically Arabic in structure , word formation and vocabulary, is undoubtedly the most striking living heritage of one of Malta's numerous colonisers , the Arabs (870-1090). Subsequent rulers in Malta's chequered history, namely, the Normans (10901266) ; the Angevins (1266-1283) ; the Aragonese (12831410) ; the Castilians (1412-1530) ; the Order of St John (1530-1798) ; the French (1798-1800) and the British (1800-1964) , mainly spoke Italian , Spanish , Portuguese , French and English . Inevitably so , an indelible mark was left on the Maltese lexicon which is replete with loanwords derived from the diverse linguistic backgrounds of these rulers .

I am also indebted to Professor Mario Vassallo for his and technical support, especially in the final stages of this work. ~ncouragement

Finally, I gratefullyacknowleged the support cA Professor Robert Ghirlando, Ms Tita Bonnici , Mr Reginald Bartolo and Mr Kenneth Mizzi.

Aims of the Course

This course is intended for foreigners as well as second and third generations of Maltese migrants living in countries such as the United Kingdom , Australia , Canada and the United States of America . It does not presuppose xvi

xvi i

any knowledge whatsoever of the language, but it does expect the student to have the determination and grit to learn the language. The basic theoretical framework for this' course has been derived from studies of first language acquisition , whereby the child, who is exposed to the language through his parents or his caregivers, is first able to understand the language, before he is in a position to utter meaningful words . Comprehension always precedes production in language acquisition and it is thus to be expected that understanding a language , presupposes a lower level of competence than speaking the language. Moreover when the child does start to speak his mother language shortly after his first birthday, he does not do so by uttering five or six word sentences! Rather, the child first starts with one word sentences which are predominantly made up of nouns and then gradually builds up the sentences into larger components by means of adjectives, pronouns , verbs and adverbs. Thus , the sentences gradually become significantly more complex grammatically and structurally than the one or two word sentences. Thus, just as the child first comprehends his native language , the primary goal of this course is for the st~de~t to first comprehend Maltese , and by doing so , thiS will give him enough confidence to eventually speak the language . However, the following caveat is in order. Though the course will give the student enough expertise to enable him to understand and to read Maltese , as well as to construct and speak Simple sentences in this target language , the student should not expect to become a verbal geyser in Maltese by merely following these basic . lessons in this beginners' course . xviii

Structure of the Course

The course is structured in such a way that the student is not overburdened with too many grammatical rules, though , needless to say, some general rules regarding word formation, verb conjugation , and the structure of the sentence are given. Particular attention has been paid to explain grammatical rules in a simple manner so that the student will not give up after a couple of lessons. Maltese, like other languages in the world , is neither a difficult nor is it an easy language. In view of th is fact, it is the refore important that the student embarks on each lesson with a positive attitude and dedicates sufficient time for study. The compact discs which accompany this course book are provided for the student to enable him to listen to Maltese as it is spoken by native speakers of the language, and also to give him the opportunity to practise the language. The vocabulary, which is an integral part of each lesson , is also to be found on the accompanying compact discs. As this course stresses the interactive approach , for each word or expression given on the compact discs, the student will first hear the English word , followed by the Maltese translation . To obtain the full benefit from the compact discs, following each Maltese word or expression , there is a pause which will give him sufficient time to repeat the same word or expression . This is followed by a confirmation so that the student will be able to check his pronunciation right away. In this regard , it is fitting to emphasise that memory plays an important part in language learning and it is strongly recommended that he goes over the given vocabulary in each lesson as often as possible. The student should devise different strategies to grab each available opportunity to listen to the vocabulary on the compact discs, even if he is solely listening and repeating the vocabulary for just a few minutes, such as while driving the car, jogging , or doing xix

some manual tasks which do not require a lot of concentration. Language research has consistently shown that immersing oneself in the language by listening as often as possible to the audio material, is one of the best ways to remember the vocabulary. It is important to note that since the course relies heavily on the vocabulary which supplements each lesson, there are a number of exercises at the end of each lesson to help the student revise the lesson and to jog his memory of the vocabulary in the previous lessons. As the vocabulary of the preceding lesson builds on the next one , it is thus advisable for the student to first learn the vocabulary in the preceding lesson before embarking on to the next, and thus avoid ending up frustrated and demoralised when attempting the end of lesson exercises . A key to the exercises is found in one of the appendices of this course book.

THE MALTESE CON SONANTS

The sound system of Maltese is made up of consonants , vowels and diphthongs. Most of these sounds are natural, which means that these sounds are found in the sound inventories of many of the world 's languages. Like most languages, the Maltese sound system also incorporates sounds which are not considered to be as natural as others. Thus , for example , the sound [m) as in mum is more natural than the sound [h) as in the underlined part of the English word hair. THE INTER NATIONAL PHONETIC ALPH ABET

In Maltese, there is at times a discrepancy in the way a sound is written (orthography) and the way it is actually pronounced because the Maltese alphabet is not an entirely phonetiC one . On account of this fact, and in order to overcome the problem of mispronuncing written words in the text, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) which symbolises the sounds in languages is used. In the IPA, the phonetic spelling is a way of writing a word so that one symbol always represents one sound. Of note is the fact , that most of the symbols in the phonetic alphabet are represented in the same way as the orthographic letters in the word. Thus, for example , the first sound of the first letter of the Maltese word belt town is identically represented as [b) in IPA. It should be noted that all IPA symbols are placed within square brackets. However, there are other symbols which are differently represented. The following orthographic letters of Maltese are represented in the same way as those of IPA. xx

1

Orthographic Letter b d f

SECTION A

Word List

IPA Qag Qog flower girl yellow ~ing lamb man no Qlane ring .Qun ten

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[b] [d] [f] [g]

j k I m n p r s t v w

[k] [I] [m] [n] [p] [r] [s] [t] [v] ~ine [w] .'t{ater

U]

Maltese consonants in initial position of the word.

B [b)

a sea a door

baliar bieb

C [t ] a key a chocolate

cavetta cikkulata

D [d)

a house

dar dan

this F [f]

The following orthographic letters in Maltese differ from IPA

c 9 1'1

h gli q

x z Z

[t ) (church) [dz) (justice) [h) (hair) [) (unpronounced as in heir) [] (unpronounced as in dough) [?) (as in bollie as found in Cockney dialect) [ ) (shoe) [ts] (bits) [z) (?;ebra)

a flower a family

fjura familja

G [g) thank you an island

grazzi gzira

G [dz] gurdien gnien

a mouse a garden

GH [ ] unpronounced tomorrow a bird

gliada gliasfur

H [ ] unpronounced hekk thus; so huwa he

2

3

T [t]

H [h]

a loaf of bread

nobza nalib

milk

V [v]

J [j]

I

vazun vapur

a dog a room

widna wicc

no a dress

xemx xita

a day

jum jiena

sun rain

Z [t5]

M [m] mara mejda

an ear a face

X[ ]

L [I] le libsa

a vase a ship W [w]

K [k] kelb kamra

a girl a boy

tifla tifel

a woman a table

zija ziju

a grandfather a grandmother

zarbun zunzana

i

N [n] nannu nanna

an aunt an uncle

[z]

a pair of shoes a wasp

P [p]

a cheesecake

pastizz periklu

danger

a [1] a cat a heart

qattus qalb

R [r]

a man a head

ragel ras

S [5] sodda siggu

4

a bed a chair 5

The following exercises test your identification of the Maltese consonants. Exercise One tests your identification of gig ; h/fl; z/z; c and gfl.

Exercise One SECTION B

Match the underlined Maltese consonantal sound by underlining its equivalent in the English example as in the following: Gurdien a mouse (garden ; gem) Qikkulata a chocolate (cave; chair) Now try these yourself: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11 . 12.

Zun~ana a wasp (zebra; hits) Qavetta a key (cake; cheese) Zija an aunt (zero; bits) .G.nien a garden (justice; golf) .!1obza a loaf of bread (horse ; heir) Gflasfur a bird (dough; ghost) Grazzi thank you (job; good) tiuwa he (hair; heir) .!1alib milk (ham ; honest) Ziju an uncle (zodiac; kits) Qzira an island (juice; gold) Zarbun a pair of shoes (zodiac; kits)

Exercise Two 1. Which two consonants are not sounded in Maltese?

2. Give four Maltese consonants which differ from IPA?

Word List pultruna curkett dak fenek galletti na gurnata gflaref hanut jew karrotta laringa missier nies patata qamar rih sena tieqa warda xitla zokkor zball

an armchair a ring that a rabbit a biscuit a day a wise man a shop or a carrot an orange a father/dad people a potato a moon wind a year a window a rose a plant sugar a mistake

hija cena dejjem vaganza gallarija gakketta gflax hu Jannar karrozza langasa malajr nar basla qawl ritratt sikkina tabib wied xaghar zalza zejt

she supper/dinner always a holiday a balcony a jacket because a brother January a car a pear soon a fire an onion a proverb a photo a knife a doctor a valley hair tomato sauce oil

3. Give eight Maltese consonants which are identical with IPA?

6

7

Try these exercises:

Exercise Three Match the underlined Maltese consonantal sound by underlining its sound equivalent in the English example: 1. Zokkor sugar (bits; zenith) 2. Qurkett a ring (cane ; child) 3. Zejt oil (zebra ; hits) 4 . Gallarija a balcony (girl ; just) 5. t!.anut a shop (hour; house) 6. Gnax because (ghost; though) 7. Xagnar hair (shoe ; xenophobia) 8. Gurnata a day (goal ; job) 9. t!.u a brother (heir; hair) 10. Jew or (judge; yellow)

Lesson Two The Maltese Sound System Part 11: The Vowels

THE MALTESE VOWELS

Maltese has six orthographic symbols a, e, i, 0, u, and ie for the vowels . The first five symbols can be either long or short , whereas the digraph ie is long. Usually vowels which are followed by one consonant are long , while those vowels which precede more than one consonant are short. The Maltese vowels are represented in a simplified way by means of IPA symbols as shown in the following examples with the vowels in question.

SECTION A Exercise Four

Word List

Express in Maltese: A bird ; I; a dog ; a woman ; a girl ; an aunt; a cheesecake ; a car; a pear; an orange ; a grandfather; danger; an armchair; a chair; a door; now; supper; a rabbit ; a feast; tomorrow; because ; a dress; no; a table; quickly; a grandmother; an uncle ; a heart; a bed ; a head ; a year; a ship; a holiday.

A [a] anmar arja

red air

ezempju hen a

E le] an example happiness

I [i] ilma id ienor iebes ont omm ukoll but

8

water a hand lE [i] another hard

0[0] a sister

a mother/mummy U [u] also a Docket

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Exercise Three

Now try this exercise :

Express in English:

Exercise One Match the underlined Maltese vowel with its sound equivalent in the English example as in the following:

e.g. Zunzgna a wasp (hat; grch) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

isfar; sema; kiesafl ; iva; kif; pranzu ; barmil ; pupa; luminata; but; arja; posta; ilma; presepju ; dundjan ; hena.

Exercise Four

Aflmar red (father; pat) Qmm mother/mum (on ; work) i d hand (ship ; sheep) Ukoll also (butcher; cut) .Elf one thousand (sell ; neat) Bieb a door (sheet; hit) ilma water (bill ; heat)

Express in Maltese:

a key; a door; this; a house; a flower; a ring ; a chocolate; a day; a bird; because; a brother; I; milk; an island ; thank you ; a car; a father; a cat; a man/husband ; an uncle; a boy .

SECTION B Word List barmil medicina kif kiesafl roza sema pupa isfar

a bucket a medicine how cold pink a sky a doll yellow

pranzu presepju iva posta gobon dundjan luminata uniformi

a lunch a Christmas crib yes mail cheese a turkey a lemonade a uniform

Now try these exercises :

Exercise Two Match the underlined Maltese vowel with its sound equivalent in the English example.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 10

LMminata a lemonade (put; boot) Kif how (lick; leak) Gnien a garden (it; seat) RQza pink (over; cot) M~dicina medicine (let; seat) Arja air (car; black) 11

THE MALTESE DIPHTHONGS

A diphthong is represented as either: (a) a sequence of two vowels; or (b) a combination of a vowel followed by one of the semivowels j or w. Maltese has seven diphthongs: [aj) ; [ej]; [aw]; [ew) ; [owl ; [ij]; [iw) with the last diphthong hardly ever found in Maltese words . Of particular note is the fact that in writing, the digraph gJi may be followed by all the vowels except by the digraph ie. As has already been noted in the first lesson, the digraph gJi has no particular sound . However, when the gJi is followed by either the vowels i, or u, the resulting pronunciations are the diphthongs raj] or [ej] and [awl or [owl respectively as shown in the following examples : e.g. tiegill mine e.g miegflu with him The underlined part of tiegill mine is pronounced as either the diphthong raj] or the diphthong [ej] ; while that of miegflu is pronounced as either of the two diphthongs [awl or [ow].

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Now try this exercise :

Exercise One SECTION A Word List

bajda tieglii

[AJ] [aj] an egg mine

tieglii bejt

[EJ] [ei] mine a roof

Match the underlined Maltese diphthongs with their English sound equivalents as in the following example:

Beil

roof

(paid; tide)

1. Tieglli mine 2. Qawsalla a rainbow 3. Miegli u with him 4. Kewkba a star 5. Tieglli mine

SECTION B Word List

[AW] [awl a rainbow with him

qawsalla miegliu

[OWl [owl with him wood

(nice; bit) (now; show) (know; dice) (sew; eye) (day; low)

dgliajsa fejn hawn sewda

a boat where here black

dija liamrija lilewwa tiegliu

a light, brightness soil sweetness his

miegliu gliuda

[EW] [ew] an almond a star

lewza kewkba

[IJ] [ij] mija lumija

one hundred

a lemon

Exercise Two Express in English: Gnien ; hu/huwa; Jannar; kamra ; kelb; gliasfur; gurdien ; fjura ; dan ; 6ikkulata; liu ; gliax; jiena; zejt; xemx ; wied ; zarbun ; siggu ; mejda; sodda; tifla; xagliar; sikkina; widna; xita; nannu ; qalb ; zokko r; zunzana.

[IW] [iw] liwja

a bend

Exercise Three Express in Maltese: Yes; happiness ; a supper; a medicine ; how; yellow; example; red ; a lemonade; an egg ; mine ; his; where ; a boat; wood ; a hundred ; brightness; a star; a rainbow .

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15

Lesson Four The Definite Article and Prepositions

DEFINITENESS

In Maltese, definiteness is shown by placing the definite article 1_ or iI- (if the word which follows the article starts with a consonant) in front of both nouns and adjectives as in the . following examples: I-arja I-afldar il-baliar

the air the green (object) the sea

il-mejda il-laringa il-marid

the table the orange the sick (man)

Moreover, when preceded by words which begin with c, d, n, r, s, t, x, z and Z, the definite article is assimilated with these sounds as in the following examples : ic-cavetta id-dar in-nanna ir-ragel is-sikkina it-tifel ix-xemx iz-ziju iz-zarbun

the the the the the the the the the

key house grandmother man knife boy sun uncle pair of shoes

INDEFINITENESS

Indefiniteness in Maltese is unmarked, since the absence of the definite article 1- implies the indefiniteness of the noun or adjective as in the following examples : I-arja il-Iumija il-kelb id-dar I-ikrah is-sabili

the the the the the the

air lemon dog house ugly (person) beautiful

arja lumija kelb dar ikrah sabili

air a lemon a dog a house ugly beautiful

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pi

PREPOSITIONS AND THE DEFINITE ARTICLE

The most commonly used prepositions in Maltese are:

quddiem wara Iidejn lejn fuq tant fejn bejn minn lil bnal gnal ta' ma' fi bi

in front of behind near towards on under where between from to like for of with in with

ta'+ id-dar = tad -dar gnal + ir-ragel = gnar-ragel bflal + in-nanna = bnan-nanna bi + is-sikkina = bis-sikkina ma' + it-tifel = mat-tifel fi + ix-xita = fix-xita bi + iz-zokkor = biz-zokkor fi + iz-zejt = fiz-zejt

to the girl of the chocolate/ made of chocolate of the house; the house's for the man like the grandmother with the knife with the boy in the rain with sugar in the oil

The definite article is not linked with the other prepositions , namely quddiem, wara, fuq, tant, Mejn, fejn and bejn. Thus :

When the prepositions 1iI, bnal, gnal, ta', ma', fi and bi (but not the other prepositions) immed iately precede the definite article, they are linked to the definite article , thus forming one word as in the following examples:

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S

IiI + it-tifla = lit-tifla ta' + ic-Cikkulata = tat-Cikkulata

CONTRACTIONS OF PREPOSITIONS

lil + iI-kelb = lill-kelb bnal + iI-banar = bnall-banar gnal + il-kelb = gnall-kelb ta' + iI-qattus = tal-qattus ma' + iI-mara = mal-mara fi + iI-gnien = fil-gnien bi + iI-fjura = bil-fjura

Also, the preposition which is joined to the definite article , assimilates with the following word which starts with C, d, r, n, , t , x, z and z as in the following examples:

to the dog like the sea for the dog of the cat (the eat's) with the woman/ wife in the garden with the flower

in front of the woman behind the door under the ring near the sea towards the house between the people

quddiem iI-mara wara I-bieb tant it-tu rkett Iidejn il-banar lejn id-dar bejn in-n ies

SECTION A Word List bi ma' ta' bejn Iidejn quddiem

with with of between near in front

fi gnal bnal tant lejn wara

in for like under towards behind

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Now try these exercises: SECTION B Exercise One

Word List

First insert the definite article, then translate into English. e.g. bejt

u izda filwaqt gnaldaqstant marid

il-bejt (the roof)

Vazun ; mejda; siggu; gnien ; zunzana; baliar; cavetta; dgliajsa; fjura ; isfar; alimar; gnasfur; nanut; nar; ragel ; xemx ; zokkor; zejt; widna; tifla; sodda. Exercise Two

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Cardinal Numbers

In-Numri Kardinali 1 2 3 4

3. What happens to those prepositions which are linked to the definite article when the following words start with C, d, n, r, s, t, x, Z, and z?

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

it-Tnejn it-Tlieta I-Erbgna il-t=lamis il-Gimglia is-Sibt il-t=ladd

1. Which prepositions can be linked to the definite article to form one word?

2. Which prepositions cannot be linked to the definite article?

The days of the week

II-Granet tal-gimgna

Answer the following questions

wiened tnejn tlieta erbglia

In-Numri Ordinali I-ewwel it-tieni it-tielet ir-raba' il-names is-sitt

first second third fourth fifth sixth

and but while consequently sick

5 6 7 8

namsa sitta sebglia tmienja

9 10 11 12

disglia gliaxra Iidax tnax

Ordinal Numbers is-se ba' it-tmien id-disa' I-gnaxar il-Iidax it-tnax

seventh eighth ninth tenth eleventh twelfth

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Exercise Three Express in Maltese:

Lesson Five

For a holiday; on the lemon; under the key; between the people; with the aunt; on the chair; of the boy; like a rainbow; in the car; for the husband; behind the vase; in front of the uncle; between the bed and the chair; of a girl ; the dog and the cat; the boy's pocket; Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

The Verbs To Be and To Have

PRONOUNS AND VERBS

Exercise Four

The personal pronouns in Maltese are :

Express in English:

jiena inti (sing) huwa hija anna intom (pi) huma

Ftdejn is-siggu ta' Marija; tant il-mejda; fil-karrozza tal-mara; ma' Joe ; lejn il-bieb; bejn il-qattus u I-kelb; fiI-familja ta' Carmen ; gnal tifel ; fiI-but tal-missier; I-ewwel qattus; namsa u gnaxra; ittielet ragel; I-gnaxar mara.

Exercise Five

I you (sing) he she we you (pi) they

The conju gated form of the verb To Be is as follows :

Write these in Maltese:

=2 3 + 4 = 7;

e.g . 1 + 1

wiened u wiened

(i) (ii) 1 + 2 + 6 = 9; (iii) 5 + 7 = 12; (iv) 8 + 3 = 11 ; (v) 10 + 2 = 12.

= tnejn

To Be jiena inti (sing) huwa hija anna intom (pi) huma

I am you are he is she is we are you are they are

The above paradigm of the conjugated verb to be shows that the personal pronouns in Maltese also have a verbal function whe n followed by a noun or an adjective as in the following examples : hija mara sabina huwa marid

she i.s. a beautiful woman he i.s. sick

The verb To Have, an irregular functional verb , is conjugated in the following way:

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To Have jiena gfiandi inti gfiandek (sing) huwa gfiandu hija gfiandha afina gfiandna intom gfiandkom (pi) huma gfiandhom

ASKING QUESTIONS

I have you have he has she has we have you have they have

Of particular note is the fact that, unlike English , the subject pronouns in Maltese may be omitted since the verbal forms are recognised by their endings. This notwithstanding , the pronouns are inserted when : (i) two subjects are in contrast in a sentence: e.g. (a)

Huma gfiandhom gnien filwaqt li hija gfiandha karozza. They have a garden while she has a car.

instead of: e.g. (b) * Gfiandhom gnien filwaqt Ii gfiandha karozza. (They) have a garden while (she) has a car. (* hypothetical sentence) (ii) for emphasis: e.g. (a)

Hija gfiandha qattus. She has a cat.

instead of:

In Maltese the following words are used to ask questions: kem m ? min? gfialfejn? fejn? kif? xi? minn fejn?

how much/how many? who? why? where? how? what? from where?

As has been noted earlier, it is common for Maltese speakers to omit the personal pronouns as in the following examples: Kemm gfiandek zokkor? Min huma? Gfialfejn hija hawn? Fejn intom? Kif int? X'gfiandu r-ragel?

How much sugar do you have? Who are they? Why is she here? Where are you? (pi) How are you? (sing) What does the husband have?

Of note is the fact that the Maltese particle in prefixes the pronouns hu (inhu), hija (inhija) and huma (inhuma) when these follow either kif how or xi what as below:

What is he? X'inhu? Kif inhija? How is she? Kif inhuma? How are they?

e.g. (b) Gfiandha qattus. (She) has a cat. (iii) when the second subject in a sentence is preceded by the word anki or ukoll also/even: e.g. (a) Marija gfiandha qattus u anki jiena gfiandi wiefied . Maria has a cat and even I have one (cat) . instead of: e.g.

* Marija gfiandha qattus u ankilukoll gfiandi wiefied. Maria has a cat and even I have one (cat). (*hypothetical sentence)

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SECTION A

SECTION B

Word List kemm? min? minn glialfejn? xi? kamra tas-sodda kamra tal-pranzu sal ott k6ina kugin xejn ilium ftit bank flus razzett kampanja papra kaxxa pipa tajjeb

how much/ how many? who? from why? what? a bedroom a dining room a sitting room a kitchen a cousin nothing today a little a bank money a farm countryside a duck a box a pipe good/ well

Exercise One Express in English

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

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Marija gliandha dar fil -kampanja. Mario gliandu qattus, kelb u papra fil-gnien tiegliu . L-omm u I-missier huma fuq il-bejt tan-nanna. It-tifla ta' Carmen gliandha kaxxa kbira talit is-sodda. II-pipa tan -nannu hija fuq il-mejda fil-kCina. Ir-ragel ta' Marija gliandu ragun . Kif int ilium? Tajjeb, grazzi. Min huwa dak it-tifel? II-kugin ta' Francesco. Fejn huwa Mark? Huwa fis-salott ma' Mario.

Word List Ix-xhur tas-sena

The months of the year

Jannar Frar Marzu April Mejju Gunju Lulju Awissu Settembru Ottubru Novembru Di6embru

January February March April May June July August September October November December

Espressjonijiet ta' Kuljum

Everyday Expressions

I-gliodwa t-tajba il-wara nofs in-nhar it-tajjeb il-Iejl it-tajjeb x'hemm? kif int? tajjeb hekk u hekk sanna narak is-sliem jekk jogligbok

good morning good afternoon good night hello (how are things?) how are you? fine/ well so-so good bye see you peace be with you please

Common Expressions with the Verb To Have

Gnandi I-guli . Gliandi I-gliatx. Gliandi ragun. Gliandi tort. Gliandha sena. Gliandi x'naglimel.

I am hungry. I am thirsty. I am right. I am wrong. She is one year old. I am busy.

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Exercise Two Express in Maltese:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11 .

12. 13.

The boy is behind the chair. The dog is on the roof. Carmen and Francesco have a dog and a cat in the farm . What is the matter with Sean (What does Sean have)? Nothing. I am hungry and they are thirsty. We are wrong and you (singular) are right. Where is Maria? She is in the dining room. Who is Francis? He is the son of George and Simone and the cousin of Francesco . What does the mother have on the chair? She has an orange and a lemon . How much money do you have in the bank? A little. The months of the year are January, February, March, April , May, JU+le, July, August, September, October, November and December. The days of the week are seven : Monday, Tuesday , Wednesday, Thursday, Friday , Saturday and Sunday. Mario: Hello, good morning Mark, how are you? Mark: Fine thanks, and you? Mario: Well thanks. Mark: Goodbye Mario. Mario: Peace be with you Mark. Mark: See you!

Lesson Six Gender of Nouns and Adjectives

In Maltese, both nouns and adjectives are marked for gender. It is thus important to know the gender of the nouns so that the adjectives will agree in gender with the nouns they descri be . Now let us first look at the gender formation of nouns. GENDER OF NOUNS

In Maltese, nouns are either masculine or feminine . Nouns which refer to males are masculine and those which refer to females are feminine as in the following examples: Masculine il-missier iz-ziju

the father the uncle

Feminine I-omm iz-zija

the mother the aunt

For animate objects, most feminine nouns are usually derived from masculine nouns by adding the suffix a. Thus: Masculine it-tabib il-kelb

the doctor the dog

Feminine it-tabiba il-kelba

the doctor the bitch

In th~ case of inanimate objects, most feminine nouns usually end In the vowel a, whereas masculine nouns usually end in a consonant or in the vowel u. Masculine ii-iarbun is-siggu

the shoe the chair

Feminine is-sigra il-libsa

the tree the dress

However, there are exceptions to the above rules such as when : (a) some masculine nouns end in the vowel a and (b) some feminine nouns end in a consonant:

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29

Masculine Alia ilma is-sema

God the water the sky

Feminine id-dar il-qalb I-omm

(i) the house the heart the mother

GENDER OF ADJECTIVES

Describing words which are known as adjectives, tell you what a thing is like (small, heavy, large) . In Maltese, adjectives can be either masculine or feminine depending on the gender of the noun . Thus, an adjective is assigned a masculine gender if it describes a masculine noun , whereas it is given the feminine form if it qualifies a feminine noun , as is shown in the examples below: tifel zgnir tifla zgnira

a small/young boy a small/ young girl

it-tifel iz-zgnir it-tifla z-zgnira

the boy the small/young (the small/young boy) the girl the small/young (the small/young girl)

by adding the vowel a to the masculine adjective which ends in a consonant; e.g. zgnir (masculine), zgnira (feminine) small;

(ii) by addi ng ja to the masculine adjective which ends in the vowel i; e.g. mistni (m) , mistnija (f) shy. The following are examples of masculine adjectives which end in a consonant or in the vowel i, together with the feminine adjectives wh ich are derived from the masculine adjectives by adding the suffixes ja or the vowel a to the masculine adjective : Masculine nadif qasir qawwi raM .

clean short fat/sturdy a villager

Feminine nadifa qasira qawwija ranlija

SECTION A From the above examples one notes that: (i)

the position of the adjective in Maltese is one which follows the noun ; e.g. tifel zgnir a boy small/young (a small/young boy)

(ii) Definiteness is shown by affixing the definite article to both the noun and the adjective ; e.g. It-tifel iz-zgnir the boy the young (the young boy). Occasionally, the definite article is affixed only to the noun ; e.g . il-Kotba Mqaddsa The Sacred Scripture. As regards the gender of nouns, at the outset of this lesson it was noted that as a rule , masculine nouns end in a consonant or in the vowel u, whereas those which are feminine end in the vowel a. Adjectives follow a similar pattern. Those adjectives which describe masculine nouns usually end in a consonant or in the vowel i. Just like feminine nouns, feminine adjectives are derived from masculine adjectives in the following ways :

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Word List From this lesson onwards the word list shows the gender of the noun and adjective. Alia (m) nabib (m) najjat (m) gnalliem (m) dentist (m) avukat (m) nutar (m) bennej (m) perit (m) spizjar (m) kittieb (m) flixkun (m) ranal (m) ilsien (m)

God friend tailor teacher dentist lawyer notary stone mason an architect a pharmacist a writer a bottle a village a language/ tongue

a a a a a a a

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Exercise Two platt (m) problema (f) belt (f) gflarus (m) lampa (f) librerija (f) tazza (f) kikkra (f) kuccarina (f) imgflarfa (f) kamra tal-banju (f) sanna (f) pjazza (f)

a a a a a a a a a a a

plate problem town groom lamp library glass cup teaspoon spoon bathroom health/ strength a (village) square

Express in Maltese and say whether the noun is either masculine or feminine: e.g . the ear il-widna (f) the sun ; the oil ; the glass; the square ; the lemon ; the church ; the house ; the fire; the town ; the dress; the lamp; the post; the milk; the bookcase/library; the spoon ; the plate .

Exercise Three Express in Maltese and then derive the feminine from the following masculine nouns: e.g. the friend (m) il-flabib, il-flabiba The dentist; the · dog ; the doctor; the tailor; the teacher; the notary; the tom-cat; the architect; the writer; the pharmacist.

Exercise One Mark the nouns which are masculine as M and those which are feminine as F stating the reason for your choice.

SECTION B Word list

The following example will show you how to go about working the exercise : II-Iampa

the lamp

1. il-mara 2. il-kelba 3. is-siggu 4. il-problema 5. il-wicc 6. I-ilma 7. is-sema 8. I-avukat 9. il-flajjat 10. Alia 11. il-qawsalla 12. I-isptar 13. il-tabiba

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F/ends in the vowel a

the woman the bitch the chair the problem the face the water the sky the lawyer the tailor God the rainbow the hospital the doctor

ferflan (m) imdejjaq (m) i:gflir (m) kbir (m) twil (m) qasir (m) sabifl (m) ikrah (m) rqiq (m) sinjur (m) fqir (m) kwiet (m) imqareb (m) bjond (m) ismar (m)

happy sad small/young big tall short beautiful/handsome ugly thin rich/ wealthy poor quiet naughty/ mischievous fair dark

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gliazzien (m) biezel (m) nadif (m) malimug (m) qadim (m) xiii (m) gdid (m) barrani (m) glioli (m) baxx (m) dliuli (m) liazin (m) ktieb (m)

lazy active/ industrious clean dirty old (inanimate object) old (person) new foreigner high low affable bad book

Nazzjonalitajiet

Nationalities

Malti (m) Gliawdxi (m) Ingliz (m) Amerikan (m) Awstraljan (m) Kanadiz (m) Spanjol (m) Taljan (m) Grieg (m) Franciz (m) Tork (m) Ciprijott (m) Gappuniz (m) Germaniz (m) Gliarbi (m)

Maltese Gozitan English American Australian Canadian Spanish Italian Greek French Turk Cypriot Japanese German Arab

exercise Five Express in Maltese:

The small girl ; the shy man ; the quiet girl ; the handsome man ; the dirty dog; the good book; the rich family .

Exercise Six Put in the feminine and then translate into English:

Taljan ; mis~li i ; tifel ; Tork; ~alti ; FranCiz; Kanad iz; Gliawdxi; Awstaljan ; Ciprijott; Grieg ; Germaniz; Gliarbi.

Exercise Seven Express in English:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Ir-ragel ta' Marija hu olixon u twi l. Min huma Marija u Francis? It-tfal ta' Joe. Sean huwa t-tifel iz-zgliir tal-familja Fenech . Mario hu twil u sabili bliaz-ziju ta' Marija. Mark u Mario gliandhom il-guli u I-gliatx. Ir-ragel ix-xiii u I-mara x-xilia gliandhom ragun. Carmen Marija gliandha sena biss u hija olit Francesco. Id-dar is-sabilia gliandha kamra tal-pranzu kb ira , kamra tas-sodda, kCina zgliira, kamra tal-banju u gnien kbir. 9. It-tifla I-Maltija u t-tifel il-Gappuniz huma fid-dar iz-zgliira tar-ragel il-fqir. 10. Kemm gliandhom flus ir-ragel u I-mara tar-razzett il-qadim? Ftit.

Exercise Eight Express in Maltese:

Exercise Four Express in Maltese

A short man ; a quiet boy; a beautiful sky; a fat woman ; a big house; a sick bitch ; a poor woman ; a small car; a short boy; an industrious woman ; a dark girl ; a dirty kitchen ; a clean bathroom ; a lazy cousin . 34

1. The Greek (f), the Italian (m), the German (f) and the Maltese (m) are in the sitting room with other people. 2. In the village there is a big square and a small tree . 3. The language of the American boy is (the) English . 4. Joe is a wealthy man but is generous with the poor boy.

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5. The beautiful woman has a lazy husband and an industrious daughter. 6 . The tall Canadian is blond, affable and happy. 7. Maria's problem (the problem of Maria) is new. 8 . In the library there is an old lamp and a dirty cup. 9. The old hospital is small but clean . 10. The bride and the groom are here.

In Maltese, both nouns and adjectives are assigned the plural form for which no gender distinction occurs. There are two kinds of plural: (a) the Sound or External Plural is formed by the addition of suffixes such as -i, -ijiet, -iet, -ien , to the masculine and feminine form of the nouns and / or adjectives . NOUNS

Most nouns are assigned the plural by affixing the suffixes: -i, -ien, -ijiet, and -iet. platt bieb missier sptar omm *siggu *nannu/a *Uajla

platti bibien missirijiet sptarijiet ommijiet siggijiet nanniet tfajliet

plates doors fathers hospitals mothers chairs grandparents young adolescent females

*Nouns ending in a vowel drop this vowel when affixing the plural suffix. The plural of nouns which indicate parts of the body which go in pairs such as hands, arms, ears, and legs, is formed by affixing the suffix -ejn to the end of the singular noun. id gliajn rigel widna spalla

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idejn gliajnejn riglejn widnejn spallejn

hands eyes legs ears shoulders

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The suffix -ajn is affixed to the singular form instead of -ejn in the case of nouns which end in gfl or fl: gewnan gwinnajn driegn dirgnajn

wings arms

ADJECTIVES Of particular note is the fact that adjectives generally take th e suffixes -in, -n, -i, and not the other suffixes. Adjectives ending in a consonant are assigned plurality by affixing the suffix -in : fernan imdejjaq manmug tajjeb rieqed gflazzien kiesan

fernanin imdejqin manmugin tajbin reqdin gnazzenin kesnin

happy unhappy dirty good sleepy lazy silly

Adjectives ending in the vowel i form their plural by adding the suffix -n : Malti Gnawdxi Sqalli dliuli barrani

Maltin Gliawdxin Sqallin dliulin barranin

Maltese Gozitans Sicilians affable foreigners

Adjectives ending in a consonant form their plural by adding the suffix -i : Franciz Ingliz Taljan Spanjol

Francizi Inglizi Taljani Spanjoli

French English Italian Spanish

(b) the Broken or Internal Plural is formed by changing the internal structure of the word itself. It should be noted that the change in the structure of the word occurs only with regard to the vowels of the particular word. The sequence of the consonants of the noun or adjective is never changed . The following examples show the formation of broken or internal plurals:

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bejt furketta rag el kitla fene k qalb zejt

bjut frieket rgiel ktieli fniek qlub zjut

roofs forks men/husbands kettles rabbits hearts oils

Unfortunately, as is evident from the above examples , there are no quick and easy rules which govern the formation of the broken plu rals of nouns and adjectives. It is thus advisable to memorise the plural forms of the nouns and adjectives in question together with their singular forms .

SECTION A Word List From this lesson onwards the Word List gives the plural form of the nouns and adjectives. tifel tifla mara ragel tfajla missier omm genitur ziju zija kugin kugina flu oflt barrani furketta mgflarfa sikkina kuccarina sieq

tfal tfal nisa rgiel tfajliet missirijiet ommijiet genituri zijiet zijiet kugini kugini aliwa aliwa barranin frieket mgliaref skieken kuccari ni saqajn

boys girls women men young adolescent females fathers mothers parents uncles aunts male cousins female cousins brothers sisters foreigners forks spoons knives teaspoons feet

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rigel gliajn spalla widna 'gewnali rkobba id saba' dliuli gliaqli nadif twil kwiet kbir kburi liazin sliun sinjur qadim xiii sabili malimug tajjeb ferlian qasir gliazzien giddieb zgflir gnien ziemel limar dar qattus kelb razzett bandiera

riglejn gliajnejn spallejn widnejn gwinliajn rkobbtejn idejn swaba' dliulin gliaqlin ndaf twal kwieti kbar kburin liziena slian sinjuri qodma xjuli sbieli malimugin tajbin ferlianin qosra gliazzenin giddibin zgflar gonna zwiemel limir djar qtates klieb rziezet bnadar

legs eyes shoulders ears wings knees hands fingers affable wise/ prudent clean tall quiet big proud bad hot rich old (inanimate objects) old (persons) beautiful/handsome dirty good happy short lazy liars small gardens horses donkeys houses cats dogs farms flags

exercise One First put into the plural and then translate into English as in the following example: happy mothers ommijiet ferlianin e.g. omm ferliana

Tifel malimug ; mara nadifa; nannu xiii ; ragel twil ; tifla gliaqlija; furketta qadima; kuccarina nadifa; spalla kbira ; widna zgliira; tifla gnazziena; Malti gliaqli ; missier kwiet; ragel tajjeb.

Exercise Two Put these sentences into the plural and then translate into English:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Iz-ziju hu fil-gnfen iz-zgliir mat-tifla I-kwieta. In-nanna u n-nannu huma fid-dar taz-ziju. Iz-ziemel u I-limar huma fir-razzett il-kbir tan-nannu . II-qattus u I-kelb huma fuq il-bjut tar-ralilin . II-bandiera tal-pajjiz gliandha ftit kuluri.

SECTION B Word List sptar siggu mejda kamra kcina knisja ralial iejt libsa qalziet dublett flokk glekk klassi poeta

sptarijiet siggijiet mwejjed kmamar kcejjen knejjes rliula zjut Ibiesi qliezet dbielet flokkijiet glekkijiet klassijiet poeti

hospitals chairs tables rooms kitchens churches vii/ages oils dresses trousers skirts sweaters jackets classes poets

'----

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professur avukat perit gflalliem nutar spizjar tabib student problema Taljan FranCiz Malti Gflawdxi Giprijott Grieg Tork Germaniz Gappuniz Kanadiz Amerikan studjuz flobza ilsien bejt qalb ras kitla

professuri avukati periti gflalliema nutara spizjara tobba studenti problemi Taljani Fran6izi Maltin Gflawdxin Giprijotti Griegi Torok Germanizi Gappunizi Kanadizi Amerikani studjuzi flobziet ilsna bjut qlub irjus ktieli

professors lawyers architects teachers notaries pharmacists doctors students problems Italians French Maltese Gozitans Cypriots Greeks Turks Germans Japanese Canadians Americans scholars loaves of bread languages/ tongues roofs hearts heads kettles

6.

In the farm there are horses, donkeys, big cats and small

dogs. On the tables there are forks , knives and spoons. 7. The villagers have rabbits and dogs in the square . 8. The churches in Malta are old but beautiful.

9.

Exercise Three Express in Maltese:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

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The grandfather is with an old woman in the big house. The boy and the girl are on the chai r. The wise uncle is on the small bed . Carnival and Easter are big feasts . The horses and the donkeys are in the big garden with children.

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REGULAR VERBS

Maltese verbs are made up of stems such as XT ARA - to buy or GHAMEL - to do. In order to conjugate the verbs in the present tense, one must first derive the imperative from each stem. The imperative has two persons: the second person singular (ixtri! - buy!) ; and the second person plural (ixtru! - buy!) . It is best to memorise the two persons of the imperative of the verb stems to be able to conjugate the verbs in the present tense. CONJUGATION OF VERBS

Maltese verbs are conjugated by means of adding the prefixes n (1 st person singular), t (2nd person singular) , j (3rd person singular masculine) , t (3rd person singular feminine ) to the singular form of the imperative. The plural prefixes n (1 st person plural) , t (2nd person plural) , j (3rd person plural) are added to the plural form of the imperative as shown in the following conjugated verbs :

XTARA to buy ixtril ixtru!

(2nd person singular) buy! (2nd person plural) buy!

jiena inti huwa hija

nixtri tixtri jixtri tixtri

I buy you (sing) buy he buys she buys

anna intom huma

nixtru tixtru jixtru

we buy you (pI) buy they buy

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Exercise Three

xtara ixtri! (sing) ; ixtru! (pi)

to buy buy!

lagnab ilgnab! (sing) ; ilagnbu! (pi)

to play play!

e.g. Anna (fehem) nifhmu .

ta agnti! (sing) ; agntu! (pi)

to give give!

5. Intom (sajjar). 6. Jiena (xtara). 7. Huma (Iagnab). 8. Marija u Mario (ta) . 9 . It-tfal (fehem). 10. Inti (kiteb) . 11 . II-kelb (gera) .

fehem ifhem! (sing) ; ifhmu! (pi)

to understand understand!

put the correct form of the verb in the present tense as in the following example:

1. Huwa (nadem). 2. Hija (nabb). 3. Inti (seraq) . 4. Anna (Iibes) .

12. In-nisa (pogga) . 13. Intom (gnamel).

SECTION B Exercise One

Translate into Maltese and conjugate the following verbs in the present tense: to wash ; to love; to work; to do/to make; to give ; to understand ; to sweep; to buy. Exercise Two

Insert the correct pronoun and then translate into English. 1. . ..... taqra nafna kotba. 2. .. .. .. niifnu fiI-pjazza . 3. .. .... jagnmlu nafna storbju . 4 . .. .... nixtri nafna laring . 5. . .... . jnobb is-sigar kbar. 6. .. .... tpoggi s-siggijiet fil-kamra tal-banju. 7. .. .. .. nafldmu kuljum. 8. . ... .. nsajjar kull nhar ta' Sibt. 9. .. .... jisraq nafna flus . 10. . .... . nagntu nafna laring u langas . 11 . . .... . jnobbu I-klieb u I-qtates. 12. .. .... nifhmu I-Iezzjoni tal-Malti.

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Word List kiesan (m), kiesna (f) , kesnin (pi) flaxix frotta (f), frott (pi) flelwa (f), nelu (pi) stagun (m) , staguni (pi) xahar (m), xhur (pi) numru (m), numri (pi) flafna dan (m), din (f) , dawn (pi) dak (m), dik (f), dawk (pi) gardinar (m), gardinara (pi) eiami (m), eiamijiet (pi) lezzjoni (m) , lezzjonijiet (pi) futbol difficli (m & f, Sing & pi) flimkien hemmhekk storbju Milied Ghid laringa (f), laring (pi) ittra (f) , ittri (pi) karrotta (f) , karrotti (pi) langasa (f) , langas (pi)

cold vegetables fruits sweets seasons months numbers much; a lot of; many this/these that/those gardeners examinations lessons football difficult together there noise Christmas Easter oranges letters carrots · pears

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11

Exercise Five II-kuluri

the colours

Express in Maltese:

anmar (m), namra (f), nomor (pi) alldar (m), nadra (f) , nodor (pi) iswed (m), sewda (f) , suwed (pi) abjad (m) , bajda (f) , bojod (pi) isfar (m) , safra (f), sofor (pi) iknal (m) , kanla (f), konol (pi) griz (m) , griza (f), grizi (pi) kannella (m & f, sing & pi) roza (m & f, sing & pi)

red green black white yellow blue gray brown pink

L-istaguni

the seasons

ir-rebbiegna (f) is-sajf (m) il-narifa (f) ix-xitwa (f)

spring summer autumn winter

1. . 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Exercise Four Express in English:

1. L-istaguni tas-sena huma erbgna: ir-rebbiegna, is-sajf, il-liarifa u x-xitwa . 2. II-kuluri li nnobb huma tmienja: I-iswed, I-alldar, il-kannella, ir-roza, I-iknal , I-abjad, il-griz u I-isfar. 3. II-bandiera Taljana hija liadra, bajda u namra. 4. II-libsa I-namra hija manmuga . 5. It-tife I in-nadif hu qawwi. 6. Mara Griega hija mara sabina. 7. Ix-xin I-gnaref huwa lidejn il-mara I-mistnija. 8. Is-sigra I-kbira hija sabina nafna. 9. Simone tnobb gnien kbir bil-fjuri. 10. Filwaqt li Mario hu t-tifel il-kbir tal-familja Borg, Maria hija t-tifla z-zgliira tal-familja Fenech .

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Every week the boy reads a book. Mary cooks dinner for the boys. Simone's husband is very sturdy and tall. Every day the children eat a lot of sweets. The pretty girl wears the red dress. I love Christmas and Easter. I have a brown dog and a black tom-cat. The four seasons are: spring , summer, autumn and winter. Every evening Maria and Joe dance together. They have a large house and a beautiful garden . Every Monday, Mark buys oranges , carrots and pears. Every month Carmen washes the old chair in the kitchen.

Exercise Six Express in Maltese:

1. The Maltese flag is white and red . 2. Francesco Pio and Carmen are in the grandfather's garden (in the garden of the grandfather) . 3. Wh ile December is a cold month , July is very warm . 4. Sean is a quiet boy and is also shy. 5. A Canadian student is studious and wise . 6. Francis has a big car while I have a small dog and a big tabby cat. 7. The mother and the father are hungry and thirsty. 8. The boy and the girl are right.

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Lesson Nine The Negative Not is translated by the word rna (rn' only before a vowel , silent h or gli). This is followed by the conjugated verb to which is affixed x to the end of the verb. Ma always occupies the same pJace in the sentence as the English word not and it always grecedes the verb. Thus :

I spend; we buy;

e.g. Jien nonfoq e.g. Alina nixtru

jien rna nonfoqx alina ma nixtrux

I do not spend We do not buy

NEGATIVE FORMS

The following are the negative forms of the verbs To Be and To Have. Of note is the fact that a verb ending in the vowel a, has this vowel changed to ie when the negative suffix x is attached to it. Verb To Be jiena inti huwa hija

lam you are he is she is

rn'iniex rn'intix m'huwiex m'hijiex

I am not you (sing) are not he is not she is not

alina intom huma

we are you are they are

rn'aliniex m'intomx m'humiex

we are not you (pI) are not they are not

Verb To Have jiena inti huwa hija

gliandi gliandek gliandu gliandha

I have you have he has she has

alina gliandna we have intom gliandkom you have huma gliandhom they have

m'gliandix m'gliandekx m'gliandux m'gliandhiex

I do not have you (sing) do not have he does not have she does not have

m'gliandniex m'gliandkomx m'gliandhomx

we do not have you (pI) do not have they do not have

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SECTION A Word list storja (f) , stejjer (pi) filgliaxija wara nofs in-nhar

stories in the evening in the afternoon

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11 .

~

mar mur! (sing); morru! (pi)

to go go!

Exercise Two

wiegeb wiegeb! (sing) ; wiegbu! (pi)

to answer answer!

Put in the correct form of the verb and then translate into English:

gidem igdem! (sing) ; igdmu! (pi)

to bite bite!

e.g. Alina (kiteb) iUra lill-mara ta' Mario. Alina niktbu iUra lill-mara ta' Mario. We write a letter to Mario's wife.

acceUa acceUa! (sing); acceUaw! (pi)

to accept accept!

fetali iftali! (sing) ; iftliu! (pi)

to open open!

Now try these exercises:

Exercise One Put the right part of the verb in those sentences for which the verb stem is given in brackets and put into the negative. Afterwards translate into English: e.g. II-Milied u I-Gliid (gliamel) lil liafna nies ferlianin II-Milied u I-Gliid ma jaglimlux lil liafna nies ferlianin . Christmas and Easter do not make a lot of people happy. 1. Hija gliandha tifla u tifel. 2 . . Alina (gera) lejn il-baliar. 3. Jiena mara bjonda u twila.

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Huwa gliandu dar sabilia bi gnien kbir. Hija spizjara anzjana u gliarfa. Hu ma nisa tajbin . Inti gliandek liafna guli u gliatx. It-tfal (fehem) I-Iezzjoni tal-Malti. Marija u Mario huma fil-kamra tal-pranzu mat-tfal. Pierre (xtara) liafna froU u lielu gliat-tifel ta' Marija. It-tfal (gliamel) liafna storbju meta huma (Iagliab) I-futbol fit-triq .

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Inti (zifen) tajjeb liafna. Huma (liabb) lill-qtates u I-klieb. Marija (xtara) libsa twila. It-tfal (gera) fir-razzeU tan-nanniet. Jiena (kiteb) ktieb dwar I-istorja ta' Malta. II-missier (liadem) fl-glialqa tan-nannu . In-nisa (sajjar) kuljum gliall-familji. Carmen (nefaq) liafna flus fil-kotba ta' I-iskola. Huwa (liasel) lit-tifel il-malimug. Mark (kines) I-art tad-dar il-kbira fil-kampanja .

Exercise Three Express in Maltese: 1. The Maltese flag is not yellow and green , but white and red. 2. Francesco Pio u Carmen are not here but at their friends ' farm house. 3. Wh ile July is not a cold month, January is not hot but very cold. 4. Francis is a friendly and studious boy.

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5. A German student is not always studious.

6. 7. S. 9.

Francis does not have a big car like Sean . The son and the daughter are not hungry and thirsty. The small children are not right. The lesson is difficult and Maria does not understand the teacher. 10. The old men in the square love the cheesecakes and the sweets. Exercise Four Express in Maltese: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. S.

The man does not steal watches. Maltese people do not spend a lot of money. Joe sweeps his bedroom in the afternoon . Maria and Carmen do not play football , but they play tennis. The gardener does not give water to the trees in the garden. The two boys do not understand the lesson. In Malta we do not have a long winter. The Maltese language is not difficult.

In Maltese, futurity is conveyed by means of the particle sejjer (m), sejra (f) , sejrin (pi) . This particle carries the meaning of shall and precedes the conjugated form of the present tense of verbs as shown in the following examples: Carmen sejra tixtri I-Iiaxix gliada. Carmen will buy the vegetables tomorrow. Francis u Sean sejrin jalislu I-platti wara I-pranzu . Francis and Sean will wash the plates after lunch. To BE AND To HAVE The future of the verbs To Be and To Have is as follows: To Have

To Be jiena nkun inti tkun huwa jkun hija tkun

I shall be jiena jkolli you (sing) will be inti jkollok he will be huwa jkollu she will be hija jkollha

alina nkunu we shall be intom tkunu you (pi) will be huma jkunu they will be

I shall have you (sing) will have he will have she will have

alinajkollna we shall have intom ikollkom you (pi) will have huma jkollhom they will have

The future forms of the verbs to be and to have may also be followed by the present tense of the conjugated verb as in following examples: Gliada huma jkollhom jixtru Iiafna frott gliat-tifla I-marida. Tomorrow they will have to buy a lot of fruit for the sick girl. II-gimglia d-dielila jiena ser inkun nizfen fil-kamra tal-pranzu ma'Mark. Next week, I shall be dancing in the dining room with Mark.

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SECTION A Word List Common Expressions denoting the Future: is-sena d-dielila sena olira il-gimglia d-dielila fil-gimgliat li gejjin ix-xahar id-dieliel fix-xhur li gejjin fi ftit sigliat olira fil-granet li gejjin fis-snin Ii gejjin fi ftit minuti olira fi ftit sekondi olira it-Tnejn li gej dalwaqt

next year next year next week in the weeks to come next month in the months to come in the next few hours in the next few days in the years to come in the next few minutes in the next few seconds next Monday soon

Now try these exercises:

Exercise One Express in Maltese: 1. In the next few days Mark will give a lesson at the University. 2. She will write a letter to the boy in the next few hours. 3. Soon I shall give the book and the dress to a girl. 4. They will buy vegetables and fruit from the farmhouse. 5. We shall wash the dirty clothes next week. 6. I shall read the important book next month. 7. Mario shall work a lot next year. 8. Joe and Mario will have to cook the dinner for the family. 9. The children will be dancing in the garden in the afternoon. 10. The boys will have to understand the Maltese lessor;l soon.

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Exercise Two Express in Maltese: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Maria will not put the forks on the table. John will not work in the months to come. The small girl will not steal the doll. The children will not play with the dog. I shall read the book in the next few days. The mother and father will cook the meal in the evening .

Exercise Three Put the right part of the verb with these persons and then put into the future :

e.g.

Anna (gnen) Anna sejrin ngninu .

1. Huwa (wiegeb). 2. Jiena (mar). 3. In-nisa (zifen). 4. Anna (gnazel) . 5. Intom (a66etta). 6. Inti. (gnen) : 7. Hija (qam) . 8. Intom (wasal). 9 . Hija (gnazel). 10. It-tlfla (pogga).

pronouns are words used in place of nouns. Maltese has pronominal suffixes which can be attached to nouns, verbs and some of the prepositions:

Exercise Four Express in Maltese:

1. -Mary will not wash the dirty clothes next week. 2. We will not accept the beautiful watch . 3. Joe does not help Maria in the evening. 4 . You (sing) and the boy will have to go near the church . 5. The children will have to work a lot next summer. 6. Maria will answer Joe's letter in the afternoon . 7. Pierre will buy the car next week. 8. I shall have to give the food to the small children . 9. The dog will bite the little boy's hand soon. 10. The husband will have to wake up the boy. 11 . Maria and Mario will work on an important project next year. 12. We shall be at home in the next few minutes.

-i -ja

-ek/ok

-k

-u -h -ha -na -korn -horn

1st pers. sing 1st pers. sing (when joined to a vowel ending) 2nd pers. sing (when joined to a vowel ending) 3rd pers. sing masc. (when joined to a vowel ending) 3rd pers. sing fem 1st pers. pi 2nd pers pi 3rd pers . pi

-ni

-ek/ok -k -u -h -ha -na -kom -horn

PRONOMINAL SUFFIXES WITH PREPOSITIONS

Some prepositions in Maltese can either stand alone or can have a pronominal suffix attached to them as shown in the following examples: Lejn towards It-tifel jigri lejn I-omm.

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It-tifel jigri lejha.

The boy runs towards the mother. The boy runs towards her.

Fuq on/ upon Marija sejra tmur fuq il-bejt gnada. Marija sejra tmur fuqu gnada.

Maria will go on the roof tomorrow. Maria will go on it tomorrow.

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t"fdejn near/by the side of Pierre jgliix M ejn it-tabib Abela. Pierre jgliix Iidejh. Fost among Joe huwa I-kbir fost Iiafna tfal. Joe huwa I-kbir fosthom . Bhallike II-fjura hija sabilia bhat-tifla . II-fjura hija sabilia bhalha. Minghajr without Marija hija minghajr ir-ragel. Marija hija minghajru . Taht under/beneath II-kelb huwa taht is-sodda. II-kelb huwa tahtha.

Pierre lives near Or Abela. Pierre lives near him. Joe is the oldest among many siblings. Joe is the oldest among them. The flower is as beautiful as the girl. The flower is as beautiful as her (the girl). Maria is without the husband. Maria is without him. The dog is under the bed. The dog is under it (the bed).

Bi with (this preposition can also be linked with the definite article 1-) With money one can make BiI-flus taglimel triq fil -banar. (construct) a road in the sea (one can do anything if one has money). With them (money) one can Bihom taglimel triq fil-banar. make (construct) a road in the sea. Ghand at the place of/ to Huma jagnmlu I-pastizzi ghand il-nbieb. They make cheesecakes at their friends ' (houses) . Huma jaglimlu I-pastizzi ghandhom. They make cheesecakes at their friends ' (houses) .

prepositions and their pronominal suffixes as these are very often used in Maltese. Ma' Mieglii Miegnek Miegliu Magnha Maglina Maglikom Magnhom

With with with with with with with with

me you (sing) him her us you (pI) them

Mario jmur I-iskola ma' Joe. Mario jmur I-iskola miegliu . Ta'

Of

Tieglii Tiegnek Tiegnu Tagliha Taglina Tagnkom Tagnhom

mine yours (sing) his hers ours yours (pI) theirs

Mario goes to school with Joe. Mario goes to school with him.

Fil-gnien ta' Marija hemm nafna fjuri sbieli . In Maria 's garden there are a lot of beautiful flowers. FiI-gnien tagnha hemm nafna fjuri sbien . In her garden there are a lot of beautiful flowers. PRONOMINAL SUFFI XES WITH NOUNS

In Maltese there are some nouns to which may be added the pronominal suffixes. These nouns usually refer to parts of the bOdy (head , ear, mouth) and to relationships such as close relatives. However, there are also a few other nouns which may have the suffix attached to them .

The prepositions ma' with and ta' of are given below with the affixation of the pronominal suffixes. It is best to learn these

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Nouns denoting Parts of the Body Rasu hija kbira nafna. Gnajnek gnandha infezzjoni . Idi hija zgnira.

His head is very big. Your (sing) eye has an infection. My hand is small.

Nouns denoting Relatives Missieri jnobb I-Gnid u I-Milied . My father loves Easter and Christmas. Huna u ontna huma fernanin . Our brother and our sister are happy. Ommi gnandha pacenzja kbira. Our mother is very patient. Other Nouns Xognolhom hu diffiCli nafna. Darna hija zgnira izda nadifa. Hajtu hija mimlija dwejjaq.

Their work is very difficult. Our house is small but clean. His life is full of sorrow.

SECTION A

Word List infezzjoni (f) , infezzjon ijiet (pi) fuq fost mingnajr gnand pacenzja (f) xognol (m) , xognlijiet (pi) najja (f) skola (f) , skejjel (pi) tal-naxix (m & f) tal-nobz (m & f) tal-pastizzi (m & f) tal-nelu (m & f) Provid enza (f) tramuntana (f) nofs in-nhar (m) Ivant (m)

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infections on among without at the house of/ at patience works life schools the green-grocer the bread vendor the cheesecakes seller the c onfectioner Providence north south east

punent (m) gnalqa (f), gnelieqi (pi) specjali (m & f, sing & pi) mhux biss il-nin

west fields special not only the time

Now try these exercises:

Exercise One First translate the following words and then attach the pronominal suffixes to the following prepositions and nouns as shown in the following: Mingnajr

Without

Mingnajri Mingnajrek Mingliajru Mingnajrha Mingnajrna Mingnajrkom Mingnajrhom

without me without you (sing) without him without her without us without you (pi) without them

On ; like; under; with ; of; head ; eye ; hand ; house ; sister; mother; father.

Exercise Two Express in Maltese: 1. Joe runs towards the house with Maria's dog . 2. The teacher will go to school with them (the children) . 3. Our dresses are red like Maria's. Ours (dresses) are like hers. 4. The old man lives by the sea. His son lives with him. 5. The dog goes on the black box. The dog goes on it (the box) . 6. The girl will have the book with her.

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Exercise Three ~

Express in English:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Joe jigri d-dar mal-kelb tiegni. L-gnalliema sejra tmur I-iskola magnhom . II-libsa tagnha hija namra bnal tat-tfa!. Ix-xin jgnix Mejn il-banar mal-mara tiegnu u mat-tfal ta' ontu . It-tifla sejra jkollha I-ktieb magnha . AgM I-ktieb liI Joe. In-nisa sejrin ikunu mingnajr flus dalwaqt. II-Malti gnandu nafna kliem Taljan u Inglii.

SECTION B Word Ust nandikappat (m) nandikappati (pi) kumpanija (f) fil-fatt daqs ckejken (m), ckejkna (f), ckejknin (pi) kapitali (f) gnalkemm iiiejjed qaddis patrun (m) barra atmosfera (f) tiijin (pi) fortunatament sfortunatament favorit (m), favorita (f), favoriti (pi) murtal (m), murtali (pi) Mura (f) biex temp kullimkien liaga paci poplu kulnadd noss (m), nsejjes (pi) bionn (m), bionnijiet (pi) kif ukoll

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handicapped company in fact size small/young capital .although too much patron saint outside atmosphere decorations fortunately unfortunately favourite . petards greenery in order to weather everywhere thing peace people everyone s'ounds needs as well

mar mur! (sing); morru! (pi)

to go go!

gawda gawdil (sing); gawdu! (pi)

to enjoy enjoy!

qaleb aqlebl (sing); aqilbul (pi)

to turnlchange turn/change!

seta' ista'! (sing); istgnu! (pi)

to be able be able!

qal gnid! (sing) ; gnidul (pi)

to say say!

daqq doqql (sing); doqqu! (pi)

to play (an instrument) play!

gab gib! (sing); gibu! (pi)

to bring bring!

naseb anseb! (sing); ansbu! (pi)

to think think!

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Exercise Four First express in English and then answer in Maltese the questions set:

Ir-Rebbiegfla f'Malta Wielied mill-istaguni tas-sena huwa r-rebbieglia u glial Iiafna Maltin dan huwa I-istagun favorit taglihom . F'dan I-istagun it-tfal gliandhom il-vaganzi ta' I-Gliid u glialhekk gliandhom il-Iiin kollu biex igawdu n-natura meta jmorru f'xi glialqa biex jaraw il-Iidura u I-fjuri bil-kuluri sbieli taglihom blial : alimar, isfar, alidar, iklial , abjad u kannella. Sfortunatament, I-istagun tar-rebbieglia mhux twil f'Malta gliax wara x-xahar ta' April , it-temp jinbidel , u I-arja tislion u malajr jigi s-sajf . (a) Liema stagun huwa I-favorit ta' Iiafna Maltin? (b) Liema vaganzi jkollhom it-tfal fir-rebbieglia? (c) Kif igawdu n-natura I-Maltin?

Exercise Five First translate into English and then answer in Maltese the questions set:

II-Knejjes Maltin Malta gliandha Iiafna knejjes kbar u sbieli. Fil-faU, gliad-daqs tagliha, tista' tgliid Ii f'kull ralial hemm knisja sabilia u li gliandha storja twila.

Sfortunatament, f'dawn il-festi jkun hem m wisq storbju mhux tal-banda li ddoqq marci ferrielia , iida tal-murtali qawwija Ii jinstemgliu tista' tgliid minn kullimkien. Glialkemm hi Iiaga sabilia li wielied igawdi I-festa tal-patrun tar-ralial tiegliu , imma hemm bionn wielied jiftakar Ii mhux kulliadd iliobb il-murtali qawwija. Ix-xjuli u I-morda gliandhom bionn il-paCi u I-kwiet u nafna drabi t-tfal igliar jibigliu mill-Iisejjes tal-murtali. Gnalihom , il-murtali huma tal-biia' u mhux ta' ferli. (a) X'jaglimel il-festa tar-ralial sabilia? (b) X'hemm fil-festi li jdejqu lit-tfal u lix-xjuli?

Exercise Six Express in English:

Id-Oar tal-Providenza Ir-ralial igliir u kwiet tas-Siggiewi huwa fin-nofs in-nhar tal-giira ta' Malta. Hafna nies jafu b'dan ir-ralial glial dawn ir-ragunijiet: (i) is-Siggiewi gliandu Iiafna glielieqi u sigar kbar u glialhekk, il-Maltin imorru hemmhekk biex igawdu n-natura; (ii) f'dan ir-ralial hemm post specjali - id-Oar tal-Providenza. Fiha jgliixu nies li gliandhom bionnijiet specjali. Hemm bionn Iiafna flus glial din id-dar. II-poplu Malti hu wielied generui u qalbu tajba. Glialdaqstant, il-Maltin jaglitu Iiafna flus. lida n-nies jaglitu mhux biss il-flus , imma wkoll il-Iiin taglihom billi jgliinu lill-Iiandikappati bil-kumpanija tagnhom .

Fost il-knejjes sbieli gliandna I-katidral fiI-belt qadima u kwieta ta' I-Imdina, kif ukoll il-knisja ta' San Gwann fiI-belt kapitali ta' Malta, Valletta. II-poplu Malti hu wielied li jliobb iiejjen il-knejjes tiegliu , glialkemm xi drabi naliseb li jiejnu ftit iiiejjed. Fis-sajf ikun hemm il-festi tradizzjonali tal-qaddis patrun talknisja tar-ralial jew tal-belt. F'jum il-festa, il-knisja jkollha Iiafna nies minn barra r-ralial biex igawdu I-atmosfera ferrielia kif ukoll it-tiijin .

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Lesson Twelve Numbers and How to Tell the Time NUMBERS The cardinal numbers in Maltese undergo some changes when they are followed by a noun. Although in Section B of Lesson Four the numbers from 1 to 12 were listed, yet no explanation was given as regards the changes these numbers undergo when followed by a noun. The following cardinal numbers (1-20) do not precede nouns. THE CARDINAL NUMBERS 1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10

wielied tnejn tlieta erbglia liamsa sitta sebglia tmienja disglia gliaxra

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

lidax tnax tlettax erbatax limistax sittax sbatax tmintax dsatax glioxrin

Some of the cardinal numbers undergo minor changes when followed by a noun . Moreover, all the nouns following the numbers (2-10) are in the plural as in the following examples: A monosyllabic noun . 1 wielied (m) , walida (f)

2. iewgt 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

tlett erbat liamest sitt sebat tmint disat gliaxart

A polysyllabic noun wielied (m) , walida (f)

iewg tliet erba' liames sitt seba' tmien disa' gliaxar

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The numbers 11-19 remain the same when followed by either a monosyllabic and/or polysyllabic nouns. It is also important to note that: (i) the number is followed by -iI and (ii) the noun which follows is in the singular and nO.t in the plural as for the numbers 2-10: e.g. lidax-il sigra (sing) e.g. names siggijiet (pi)

eleven trees five chairs

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

eleven women twelve boys thirteen dogs fourteen houses fifteen beds sixteen men seventeen tables eighteen armchairs nineteen gardens

lidax-il mara tnax-il tifel tlettax-il kelb erbatax-il dar nmistax-il sodda sittax-il ragel sbatax-il mejda tmintax-il pultruna dsatax-il gnien

The following are other commonly used cardinal numbers:

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 101 72

gnoxrin wiened u gnoxrin tnejn u gnoxrin tlieta u gnoxrin erbgna u gnoxrin namsa u gnoxrin sitta u gnoxrin sebgna u gnoxrin tmienja u glioxrin disgna u glioxrin tletin wiened u tletin erbgnin namsin sittin sebgnin tmenin disgliin mija mija u wielied

102 103 1000 1,000,000 500,000 250,000

mija u tnejn mija u tlieta elf miljun nofs miljun (half a million) kwart ta' miljun (a quarter of a million)

To sum up it is important to note that : (i)

From 2-10 the noun that follows is in the plural; e.g. sitt iqtates 6 cats

(ii)

From 11-19 the noun that follows is in the singular; e.g . tnax-il gnien 12 gardens

(iii) From 20-101 the noun that follows is in the singular; e.g . namsa u liamsin mara 55 women (iv) From 102-110 the noun that follows is in the plural ; e.g . mija u tliet siggijiet 103 chairs (v) From 111-119 the noun that follows is in the singular; e.g . mija u tmintax-il tifel 118 boys How

TO T ELL THE TIME

Once you know the cardinal numbers it is not at all difficult to learn how to go about telling the time in Maltese . In response to the question X'hin huwa? What time is it? (What is the time?), the answer may be for example: is-sitta six o'clock. The first thing that one should notice about the Maltese answer is that there is no equivalent for the English word o'clock. Knowing the numbers from 1 to 60 will enable you to tell the time . is-sieglia is-saglitejn it-tlieta I-erbglia il-liamsa is-sitta is-sebgna

one o'clock two o'clock three o'clock four o'clock five o'clock six o'clock seven o'clock

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it-tmienja id-disgna I-gnaxra il-Max nofs in-nhar nofs il-Iejl

eight o'clock nine o'clock ten o'clock eleven o'clock noon; mid-day twelve o'clock; midnight

From the above it is evident that the only numbers which differ from the cardinal numbers are: is-siegna one o'clock; is-sagntejn two o'clock; nofs in-nhar noon; nofs il-Iejl midnight. In Maltese for times before noon we say filgnodu (in the morning) ; for times after noon , we say wara nofs in-nhar (in the afternoon) and we say filgnaxija when it is after 6 p.m . 1 a.m. e.g. is-siegna ta' filgnodu e.g is-sagntejn ta' wara nofs in-nhar 2 p.m. 12.00 noon e.g . nofs in-nhar 24.00 midnight e.g. nofs il-Iejl past ten minutes e.g. I-gnaxra u gnaxra ten o'clock (to. 10) ten minutes to e.g . I-gnaxra neqsin gnaxra ten o'clock (9.50)

Learn this table: Sittin sekonda jagnmlu minuta Sittin minuta jagnmlu siegna Erbgna u gnoxrin siegna jagnmlu gurnata Sebat ijiem jagnmlu gimgna Erba' gimgnat jagnmlu xahar Tnax-il xahar jagnmlu sena

60 seconds make a minute 60 minutes make an hour 24 hours make a day

7 days make a week 4 weeks make one month 12 months make one yea r

SECTION A

Word List gnoxrin tletin erbgnin namsin sittin sebgnin tmenin disgnin mija elf (m) , eluf (pi) miljun (m), miljuni (pi) nofs miljun kwart ta' miljun

twenty thirty forty fifty sixty seventy eighty ninety hundred thousands millions half a million a quarter of a million

~

~

kiber ikber! (sing) ; ikbru! (pi)

to grow up grow up!

studja studja! (sing) ; studjaw! (pi)

to study study!

gnallem to teach gnallem! (sing); gnallmu! (pi) teach! kien kun! (sing) ; kunu! (pi)

to be become!

emmen to believe emmen! (sing); emmnu! (pi) believe!

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investa investi! (sing); investu ! (pi)

to invest invest!

nesa insa! (sing); insew! (pi)

to forget forget!

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organizza organizza! (sing); organizzaw! (pi)

to organise organise!

biegli bigli! (sing) ; bigliu! (pi)

to sell se//!

Exercise One Express in Maltese: 75 chairs; 121 dogs; 5 tomatoes ; 7 tables; half a kilo zucchini; a kilo oranges; 18 cats; 45 pounds (currency) ; half a million pounds ; one quarter of a million Italians; 103 rabbits .

Exercise Two Express in Maltese: 1. Carmen and Charles have two children , while Maria and Joe have seven . 2. There are five trees near the old tree in the small villag e. 3. The grocer does not have a kilo oranges and half a kilo pears . 4. The two women go to (the) church . 5. The confectioner has a lot of sugared almonds and chocolate . 6. There are three tailors , eleven teachers, nine architects, two pharmacists and a doctor in the large village. 7. I shall go to the old woman next week.

SECTION B Word List sekonda (f) , sekondi (pi) minuta (f) , minuti (pi) sieglia (f) , sigliat (pi) gurnata (f) , granet (pi) filgliodu nofs il-Iejl

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seconds minutes hours days (in the) morning midnight

nofs in-nhar il-Iiin x'liin huwa u kwart u nofs bringiela (f) , bringiel (pi) neqsin kilo (m), kilojiet (pi) nofs kilo metru (m), metri (pi) tuiiana baj da (f), bajd (pi) tadama (f) , tadam (pi) miljun (m) , miljuni (pi) qargliabaglilija (f) , qargliabaglili (pi) faio la (sing & pi) Iijara (f), Iijar (pi) lira (f) , liri (pi) madwar fakulta (f) , fakultajiet (pi) ixxu.rtjat (m) , ixxurtjata (f) , ixxurtjati (pi) dedlkat (m) , dedikata (f) , dedikati (pi) dipendenti indipendenti genitu r (m & f) , genituri (pi) investiment (m) , investimenti (pi) edukazzjoni (f) tajjeb/alijar/I-alijar 'il quddiem popol azzjoni maq rut (m) , imqaret (pi) bionn it-Ual tat-Ual b'hekk emigrazzjoni (f) lingwa (f), lingwi (pi)

noon/twelve o'clock the time what is the time ? quarter past half past aubergines to (the hour) kilo/s half a kilo metres one dozen eggs tomatoes millions marrows beans cucumbers pounds (currency) about faculties lucky dedicated dependent independent parents investments education good/better/best in front of population date slices need the grand-children in this way emigration languages

n

Exercise Three Answer in Maltese the following questions as in the following example:

e.g. How many minutes are there in half an hour? Tletin minuta. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

How How How How How How

many many many many many many

months are there in one year? days are there in a week? minutes are there in a quarter of an hour? hours are there in one day? minutes are there in half an hour? months are there in two years?

Exercise Four Write the time in Maltese:

e.g. 5.45 a.m.

is-sitta neqsin kwart ta' filgflOdu

4.00 pm ; 9.00 pm ; 2.00 am ; 3.30 pm; 6.15 pm; 11 .30 pm ; 1.30 pm; 7.50 am .

Exercise Five Express in English:

L-Universita. ta' Malta

gnax I-Universita hi b'xejn u I-istudenti gnandhom stipendju kull xahar biex jixtru I-kotba u biex ma jkunux dipendenti fuq il-genituri tagnhom . II-poplu Malti jinvesti nafna flus fuq dawn iz-zgnazagn gnax jemmen li I-investiment fl -edukazzjoni hu I-aqwa investiment f' pajjiz li jnares 'il quddiem!

Exercise Six Express in English:

L-Emigrazzjoni II-popolazzjoni ta' Malta u tal-gzira ta' fldejha, Gnawdex, hi ta' anqas minn nofs miljun . Gnaldaqstant, hem m nafna Maltin u Gnawdxin li jgnixu I-Awstalja, I-Amerika, il-Kanada u I-Ingilterra. Gnalkemm dawn I-emigranti ma jgnixux f'pajjizhom , izda huma qatt majinsew lil Malta. L-emigranti huma kburin bil-kultura Maltija u gnalhekk jorganizzaw festi tradizzjonali Maltin bnall- Karnival , il-festa ta' San Pawl , il-Milied u I-Gnid. L-attivitajiet kulturali Maltin huma importanti biex izommu I-kultura najja, izda hemm bzonn li I-lingwa Maltija jitkellmuha mhux biss ix-xjun izda wkoll it-tfal tagnhom u t-tfal tat-tfal. B'hekk, il-kultura Maltija tkun b'sannitha, gnax hija I-lingwa Maltija dik Ii tagntina I-identita tagnna.

L-Universita ta' Malta gnandha erba' mitt sena. Hija waflda mill-eqdem universitajiet fiI-Commonwealth. L-Universita tikber minn sena gnal onra . Tnax-il sena ilu kien hem m biss madwar tmien mitt student jistudja, filwaqt li issa hemm xi namest elef student. Hemm numru kbir ta' studenti nisa Ii jistudjaw il-mediCina, il-farmaCija, ix-xjenza, u hemm ukoll dawk li jistudjaw biex isiru inginiera. II-fakultajiet ta' I-Arti, ta' I-Edukazzjoni u tal-Ligi huma kbar u I-istudenti f'dawn il-fakultajiet jistudjaw nafna gnax hem m kompetizzjoni kbira. L-istudenti Maltin u Gnawdxin huma xxurtjati nafna mhux biss gnax gnandhom professuri bravi biex jgnallmuhom , izda wkoll

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KEY TO EXERCISES LESSON ONE Exercise One 1. Zunzana 2. Qavetta 3. Zija 4. Gnien 5. jjobza 6. Gflasfur 7 . Grazzi 8. tiuwa 9. jjalib 10. Ziju 11 . tiena 12. Gzira 13. Zarbun

~ebra

cheese bi~

lustice borse dough good beir bam ki~

bonour gold ~odiac

Exercise Two 1. Gfl ; h. 2. C; g; fl ; q; x; z; z 3. b; d; f; g; j; k; I; m; n; p; r; s; t; v; w.

Exercise Three 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10

Zokkor Qurkett Zejt Gallarija jjanut Gflax Xagflar turnata jju Jew

bits child ~ebra

girl bouse though shoe lob bair t ellow

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Exercise Four

Exercise Four

Gnasfur a bird; jiena I; mara a woman/wife; tifla a girl; pastizz a cheesecake; karozza a car; langasa a pear, nannu a grandfather periklu danger; pultruna an armchair, siggu a chair, bieb a door, issa now; pranzu lunch; fenek a rabbit, festa a feast, gnada tomorrow, gnax because; libsa a dress; le no; mejda a table; malajr soon/quickly, nanna a grandmother, ziju an uncle; qalb a heart, sodda a bed; ras a head; sena a year, ritratt a photo; vaganza a holiday.

Cavetta a key, bieb a door, dan this; fjura a flower, 6urkett a ring; Cikkulata a chocolate; gurnata a day, gnasfur a bird; gnax because; nu brother, nalib milk; giira an island; grazzi thank you; karozza a car, missier a father, qattus a cat; ragel a man/ husband; ziju an uncle; tifel a boy/son.

LESSON THREE Exercise One

LESSON TWO

1. Tieg)}i

Exercise One

Qawsalla MiegflU Kewkba TiegDi

nice nQw know sew day

1. 6nmar 2. Qmm 3. Id 4. Ukoll 5. .Elf

father Qn sheep bytcher s~11

Exercise Two

6. B~b 7 . Ilma

sheet bill

A garden gnien; he hu/huwa; January Jannar, a room kamra ; a dog kelb; a bird gflasfur, a mouse gurdien; a flower fjura ; this dan; a chocolate cikkulata; a brother flu; because gflax; I jiena; oil iejt, sun xemx; valley wied; shoe iarbuna ; a chair siggu; a table mejda; bed sodda; a girl/daughter titla; hair xagflar, a knife sikkina; an ear widna; rain xita; a grandfather nannu; a heart qalb; sugar zokkor, a wasp iuniana.

Exercise Two 1. Lyminata 2. Kif 3. Gn~n 4. RQza

pyt leak seat Qver

5. M~diCina 6. 6rja

car

I~t

Exercise Three Yellow isfar, sky sema; cold kiesafl; yes iva; how kit, lunch pranzu; bucket/pail barmil; doll pupa; lemonade luminata ; pocket but, air arja; post posta; water ilma; crib presepju; turkey dundjan; happiness hena.

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2. 3. 4. 5.

Exercise Three Iva yes; fern happiness; pranzu lunch ; medi6ina a medicine; kif how, isfar yellow, eiempju example; anmar I red; luminata a lemonade; bajda an egg; tiegni mine; tiegnu his; fejn where; dgnajsa a boat, gnuda a wood; mija a hundred; dija brightness; kewkba a star, qawsalla a rainbow.

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LESSON FOUR

Exercise Five

Exercise One

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

A vase vaiun; a table mejda; a chair siggu; a garden gnien; a wasp iuniana ; a sea banar, a key cavetta; a boat dgflajsa ; a flower fjura ; yellow isfa r, red anmar, a bird gnasfur, a shop nanut, a fire nar, a man/husband ragel; sugar zokkor, oil iejt, an ear widna; a girl/daughter titla ; a bed sodda.

tlieta u erbglia = sebglia wielied u tnejn u sitta = disglia Iiamsa u sebglia = tnax tmienja u tlieta = Iidax gliaxra u tnejn = tnax

LESSON FIVE Exercise Two 1. Blial ; glial; ta'; ma'; fi ; bi ; fuq . 2. Quddiem ; wara; talit; Iidejn; lejn . 3. The definite article assimilates itself with these sounds .

Exercise Three Glial vaganza for a holiday, fuq il-Iumija on the lemon ; talit ic-cavetta under the key, bejn in-nies between/among the people; maz-zija with the aunt, fuq is-siggu on the chair, tat-tifel of the boy/the boy's; blial qawsalla like a rainbo w, fil-karozza in the car, gliar-ragel for the man/husband; wara I-vazun behind the vase; quddiem iz-ziju in front of the uncle; bejn is-sodda u s-siggu between the bed and the chair, ta' tifla of a girl/daughter or a girl's/ a daughter's; iI-kelb u I-q~ttus the dog and the cat, il-but tat-tifel the boy's pocket, il-Gimglia, is-Sibt, iH,add u t-Tnejn Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Exercise Four Near Maria's chair ndejn is-siggu ta ' Marija; under the table tant il-mejda; in the woman 's/wife's car fil-karozza tal-mara ; with Joe ma ' Joe; towards the door lejn il-bieb; between the cat and the dog bejn il-qattus u I-kelb; in Carmen's family fil-familja ta ' Carmen; for a boy/son gnal tifel; in the father's pocket fil-but tal-missier; the first cat I-ewwel qattus; 5 and 10 namsa u gnaxra ; 1 and 6 wiened u sitta; the third man/husband it-tielet ragel; the tenth woman I-gnaxar mara.

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Exercise One 1. Maria has a house in the countryside . 2. Mario has a cat, a dog and a duck in his garden . 3 . The mother and the father are on the grandmother's roof. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Carmen 's daughter has a big box under the bed . The grandfather's pipe is on the kitchen table. Maria's husband is right. How are you today? Fine thank you . Who is that boy? He is Francesco's cousin. Where is Mark? He is in Mario's sitting room.

Exercise Two 1. It-tifel hu wara s-siggu . 2. II-kelb hu fuq il-bejt. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

C,a rmen u Francesco gnandhom kelb u qattus fir-razzett. X gliandu Sean? Xejn. Jiena gliandi I-guli u huma gliandhom I-gliatx. Anna gliandna tort u inti gnandek ragun. F~jn hi Marija? Hija fil-kamra tal-pranzu mat-tifel ta ' Mark. Mm hu Francis? Hu t-tifel ta' George u Simone u I-kugin ta' Francesco u Carmen . 9. X'gliandha I-om m fuq is-siggu? Gliandha laringa u lumija. 10. Kemm gliandek flus fiI-bank? Ftit. 11. I~-xhu r tas~sena huma: Jannar, Frar, Marzu, April , Mejju, GunJu , LulJu , Awissu , Settembru , Ottubru Novembru u ' Dicembru .

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12. II-granet tal-gimgna huma sebgna: it-Tnejn , it-Tlieta, I-Erbgna, il-l9amis, il-Gimgna, is-Sibt u 1-l9add. 13. Mario: X'hemm , I-gnodwa t-tajba, Mark. Kif int? Mark: Tajjeb grazzi u int? Mario: Hekk u hekk, bnal xin . Mark: Sanna Mario. Mario: Is-sliem Mark. Mark: Narak!

LESSON SIX

8. 9. 10. 11 . 12. 13.

The woman/wife The bitch The chair The problem The face The wate r The sky The lawyer The tailor God The rainbow The hospital The doctor (f)

F/a F/a M/u F/a M/consonant M/exception M/exception M/consonant M/consonant M/exception F/a M/consonant F/a

Exercise Two Ix-xemx (f) the sun; iz-zejt (m) oil; it-tazza (f) the glass; ilpjazza (f) the square; il-Iumija (f) the lemon; il-knisja (f) the church; id-dar (f) the house; in-nar (m) the fire; il-belt (f) the town ; il-libsa (f) the dress; iI-lampa (f) the lamp; il-nalib (m) the milk; il-librerija (f) the bookcase/ library, I-imgnarfa (f) the spoon; il-platt (m) the plate.

Exercise Three Id-dentist (m) dentist id-dentista; il-kelb (m) the dog il-kelba; it-tabib (m) the doctor it-tabiba; il-najjat (m) tailor il-najjata;

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Exercise Four Ragel qasir a short man; tifel kwiet a quiet boy; sema sabin a beautiful sky, mara noxna a fat woman; karozza zgliira a small car, tifel qasir a short boy, mara biezla an industrious womantifla samra a dark girl; kcina malimuga a dirty kitchen; kamr~ tal-banju nadifa a clean bathroom; kugin gliazzien a lazy cousin.

Exercise Five

Exercise One 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6 7.

I-gnalliem (m) the teacher I-gnalliema; il-qattus (m) the tom-cat il-qattusa ; il-perit (m) the architect il-perit; il-kittieb (m) the writer il-kittieba; I-ispizjar (m) the pharmacist I-ispizjara.

It-tifl.a z-zgliira the small girl; it-tifel iI-mistlii the shy boy, it-tifla I-kwleta the quiet girl; ir-ragel is-sabili the handsome manil-k~lb il-mali~ug the dirty dog; the good orange il-Iaring~ t-tajba; II-famllJa s-sinjura the wealthy family.

Exercise Six Talja~.~

Italian; mistliija shy, tifla girl; Torka Turk; Maltija Maltese; French; Kanadi~a Canadian; Gliawdxija Gozitan; ~ wstralJana Australian; Ciprijotta Cypriot, Griega Greek; Germaniza German; Gliarbija Arab. Fra nclz~

Exercise Seven 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Maria's husband is fat and tall. Who are Maria and Francis? They are Joe's children . Sean is the young son of the Fenech family . Mario is tall and handsome like Maria's uncle. Mark and Mario are hungry and thirsty. The old man and th e tall woman are right. Carmen Maria is only one year old and is Francesco's sister. The beautiful house has a big dining room , a bedroom, a small kitchen, a bathroom and a big garden . 9. The Maltese girl and the Japanese boy are in the poor man's small house. 10. How much money do the woman and the man of the poor family have? A little.

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Exercise Eight 1. II-Griega, it-Taljan , il-Germaniza u I-Malti huma fis-salott

2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

7. 8. 9.

10.

ma' nies onra . Fir-ranal hemm pjazza kbira u sigra zgliira. L-ilsien tat-tifel I-Amerikan hu I-Ingliz. Joe hu ragel gliani imma hu generuz mat-tifel il-fqir. II-mara s-sabina gliandha ragel gnazzien u tifla biezla. II-Kanadiz it-twil hu bjond , dnuli u fernan . II-problema ta' Marija hija gdida. Fil-librerija hemm lampa kbira u tazza malimuga. L-isptar il-qadim hu zgliir izda nadif. L-gliarus u I-gnarusa huma hawn .

LESSON SEVEN Exercise One Tfal manmugin dirty children; nisa ndaf clean women; nanniet xjun old grandparents; rgiel twal tall men; tfal gnaqlin wise children; frieket qodma old forks ; kuccarini ndaf clean teaspoons; spallejn kbar big shoulders; widnejn zgnar small ears; tfal gnazzenin lazy children; Maltin gnaqlin wise Maltese; missirijiet kwieti quiet fathers; rgiel tajbin good men.

Exercise Three 1. In-nannu hu ma' mara xina fid-dar il-kbira. 2. It-tifel u t-tifla huma fuq is-siggu . 3. Iz-ziju I-gnaref hu fuq is-sodda z-zgnira. 4. II-Karnival u I-Gnid huma festi kbar. 5. Iz-zwiemel u I-nmir huma fil-gnien il-kbir mat-tfa!. 6. Fir-ra~zett ~emm zwiemel , nmir, qtates kbar u klieb zgnar. 7. Fuq 1-lmweJjed hem m frieket , skieken u mgnaref. 8. Ir-raflliala gliandhom fniek u klieb fiI-pjazza . 9. II-knejjes f'Malta huma qodma izda sbien .

LESSON EIGHT Exercise One Tansel to wash ~iena nansel , inti tansel , huwa jansel , hija talisel , anna nanslu , Into m tanslu , huma janslu .

t=tabb to love ~iena nliobb , inti tnobb, huwa jliobb , hija tliobb , alina nnobbu ,

Intom tnobbu, huma jnobbu. t=tadem to work

Exercise Two

1. Iz-zijiet huma fil-gonna z-zgnar mat-tfal il-kwieti. The uncles

Jien nandem , inti tandem , huwa jalidem , hija tandem , alina nalidmu , intom tandmu , huma jandmu .

and the aunts are in the small gardens with the quiet children. 2. In-nanniet huma fid-djar taz-zijiet. The grandparents are in the uncles' and aunts ' houses. 3. Iz-zwiemel u I-nmir huma fl-irziezet il-kbar tan-nanniet. The horses and the donkeys are in the grandparents' big farmhouses.

4. II-qtates u I-klieb huma fuq il-bjut tar-ranlin. The cats and dogs are on the villagers ' roofs.

Gnamel to do/to make Jiena naglimel , inti tagnmel , huwa jagnmel , hija tagnmel , alina nagnmlu , intom tagnml u, huma jaglimlu. Ta to give ~iena nagnti , inti tagliti , huwa jagnti , hija tagliti , anna nagntu , Into m tagntu , huma jagntu .

5. II-bnadar tal-pajjizi gnandhom nafna kuluri. The countries ' flags have many colours.

90

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Fehem to understand Jiena nifhem, inti tifhem , huwa jifhem , hija tifhem , afma nifhmu, intom tifhmu , huma jifhmu . Kines to sweep Jiena niknes , inti tiknes , huwa jiknes , hija tiknes, alina nikinsu, intom tikinsu , huma jikinsu. Xtara to buy Jiena nixtri, inti tixtri , huwa jixtri , hija tixtri , alina nixtru, intom tixtru, huma jixtru.

Exercise Four 1. The seasons of the year are four: spring, summer, autumn, winter. 2. T~e colours that I love/like are eight: black, green , brown , pink, blue , white , gray and yellow. 3. The Italian flag is green , white and red. 4. The red dress is dirty. 5. The clean boy is sturdy. 6. A Greek woman is a beautiful woman . 7. The wise old man is near the shy woman. 8. The big tree is very beautiful. 9. Simone loves a big garden with flowers. 10. While Mario is the eldest son of the Borg family, Maria is the youngest daughter of the Fenech family .

Exercise Two 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Hija taqra Iiafna kotba. She reads many/a lot of books. Alina nizfnu fiI-pjazza. We dance in the square. Huma jaglimlu Iiafna storbju . They make a lot of noise. Jiena nixtri Iiafna laring. I buy many oranges. Huwa jliobb is-sigar il-kbar. He loves the big trees. Hija tpoggi s-siggijiet fiI-kamra tal-banju. She puts the chairs in the bathroom. 7. Alina nalidmu kuljum . We work every day. 8. Jiena nsajjar kull nhar ta' Sibt. I cook every Saturday. 9. Huwa jisraq Iiafna flus . He steals a lot of money. 10. Alina naglitu Iiafna laring u langas. We give a lot of oranges and pears. 11. Huma jnobbu I-klieb u I-qtates. They love the dogs and the cats. 12. Alina nifhmu I-Iezzjoni tal-Malti . We understand the Maltese lesson.

Exercise Three 1. Huwa jalidem (liadem) . 2. Hija tIiobb (liabb) . 3. Inti tisraq (seraq) . 4. Alina nilbsu (Iibes). 5. Intom issajru (sajjar) . 6. Jiena nixtri (xtara). 7. Huma jilaglibu (Iagliab). 8. Marija u Mario jaglitu (ta). 9. It-tfal jifhmu (fehem). 10. II-kelb jigri (gera). 12. In-nisa jpoggu (pogga). 13. Intom taglimlu (gliamel) .

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Exercise Five 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

9. 10. 11 . 12.

Kul l gimglia t-tifel jaqra ktieb. Marija ssajjar pranzu gliat-tfal. Ir-rag el ta' Simone hu qawwi Iiafna u twil. Kuljum, it-tfal jieklu Iiafna Iielu. It-tifla s-sabilia tilbes il-libsa I-Iiamra. Jiena nliobb il-Milied u I-Gliid. Jiena gliandi kelb kannella u qattus iswed. L-erb~' staguni huma: ir-rebbieglia, is-sajf, il-Iiarifa u x-xitwa. Kull fllgliaxija , Marija u Joe jizfnu flimkien . Huma gliandhom dar kbira bi gnien sabili . Kull nhar ta' Tnejn , Mark jixtri laring , karrotti , u langas. Kull xahar Carmen talisel is-siggu I-qadim fil-kcina .

Exercise Six 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

II-bandiera Maltija hija bajda u Iiamra. F~ancesco Pio u Carmen huma fil -gni en tan-nannu. Fllwaqt Ii Dicembru huwa xahar kiesali , Lulju hu sliun Iiafna. Sean huwa tifel kwiet u wkoll mistlii . Student Kanadiz huwa studjuz u gliaref. ~ra~cis gliandu karozza kbira, filwaqt li jiena gliandi kelb zglilr u qattusa kbira. 7. L-~mm u I~missier gliandhom il-guli u I-gliatx. 8. It-tlfel u t-tlfla gliandhom ragun .

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LESSON NINE Exercise One

2 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

10. 11 .

Hija m'gliandhiex tifla u tifel. She does not have a son and a daughter. Alina ma nigrux lejn il-baliar. We do not run towards the sea. Jiena m'iniex mara bjonda u twila. I am not a blond and tall woman . Huwa m'gliandux dar sabilia bi gnien kbir. He does not have a beautiful house with a big garden. Hija m'hijiex spizjara anzjana u gliarfa. She is not an elderly and wise pharmacist. M'humiex nisa tajbin. They are not good women . Inti m'gliandekx liafna guli u gliatx. You are not very hungry and thirsty. . . It-tfal ma fehmux il-Iezzjoni tal-Malti. The children dId not understand the Maltese lesson. Marija u Mario m'humiex fil-kamra tal-pranzu mat-tfal. Maria and Mario are not in the dining room with the children. Pierre ma jixtrix liafna laring u langas. Pierre does not buy a lot of fruit and sweets. It-tfal ma jaglimlux liafna storbju meta huma jilaglibu I-futbol fit-triq. The children do not make a lot of noise when they play football in the street.

Exercise Two 1. Inti tizfen tajjeb liafna. You dance very well. 2. Huma jliobbu lill-qtates u I-klieb. They love the cats and the dogs. 3. It-tfal jigru fir-razzett tan-nanniet. The children run in the grandparents' farmhouse. 4. Marija tixtri libsa twila. Maria buys a long dress. 5. Jiena nikteb ktieb dwar I-istorja ta' Malta. I write a book on the history of Malta. . 6. II-missier jalidem fil-glialqa tan-nannu. The father works In the grandfather's field. 7. In-nisa jsajru kuljum gliall-familji. The women cook every day for the families.

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8. Carmen tonfoq liafna flus fil-kotba ta' I-iskola. Carmen spends a lot of money on school books. 9. Huwa jalisel lit-tifel il-malimug . He washes the dirty boy. 10. Mark jiknes I-art tad-dar il-kbira fil-kampanja . Mark sweeps the floor of the big house in the countryside.

Exercise Three Express in Maltese:

1. II-bandiera Maltija m'hijiex safra u liadra, izda bajda u liam ra. 2. Francesco Pio u Carmen m'humiex hawn izda fir-razzett tal -li bieb. 3. Filwaqt li Lulju m'hux xahar kiesali , Jannar m'hux sliun izda kiesali liafna. 4. Francis huwa tife l biezel u studjuz. 5. Student German iz m'huwiex dejjem kwiet. 6. Francis m'gliandux karozza kbira blial Sean . 7. It-tifel u t-tifla ta' Mario m'humiex bil-guli u bil-gliatx. 8. It-tfal iz-zgliar m'gliandhomx ragun . 9. Glialkemm il-Iezzjoni m'hijiex diffiCli, Marija ma tifhemx I-glialliem . 10. Ix-xjuli fil-pjazza jliobbu I-pastizzi u I-lielu.

Exercise Four 1. Ir-ragel ma jisraqx arloggi. 2. II-Maltin ma jonfqux liafna flus. 3. Joe ji knes il-gnien wara nofs in-nhar. 4. Marija and Carmen ma jilaglibux futbol , imma huma jilaglibu tennis . 5. II-gardinar ma jaglitix ilma lis-sigar fil-gnien . 6. It-tfal ma jifhmux il-Iezzjoni. 7. F'Malta ma jkollniex xitwa twila. 8. II-lingwa Maltija m'hijiex diffi61i.

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LESSON TEN Exercise One Express in Maltese: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Fi ftit granet onra Mark ser jagnti lezzjoni fl-universita. Hija sejra tikteb ittra lit-tifel fi ftit sign~t onr~ .. Dalwaqt jiena sejra nagnti I-ktieb u 1-lIbsa III tlfla. Huma sejrin jixtru I-naxix u I-frott mir-razzett. . Anna sejrin nanslu I-nwejjeg il-manmugin il-gi~gna d-dlenla. Jiena sejjer naqra ktieb importanti x-xahar Id-dlenel. Mario sejjer jafldem nafna s-sena d-dienla. .. Joe u Mario ikollhom isajru I-pranzu gnall-familJa. It-tfal serjin jizfnu fil-gnien wara nofs in-nhar. It-tfal sejrin jifhmu I-Iezzjoni tal-Malti dalwaqt.

Exercise Two 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Marija m'hijiex sejra tpoggi I-frieket fuq il-mejda. John m'huwiex sejjer jafldem fix-xhur Ii gejjin. It-tifla z-zgnira m'hijiex sejra tisraq il-pupa. It-tfal m'humiex sejrin jilagnbu mal-kelb . Jiena sejra naqra I-ktieb fi ftit granet onra. L-omm u I-missier ser ikollhom isajru I-ikla filgnaxija.

Exercise Three 1. Huwa sejjer iwiegeb. 2. Jiena sejjer immur. 3. In-nisa sejrin jizfnu. 4. Anna sejrin nagnzlu . 5. Intom s~j~in taccetta,,:,: 6. I~tl sejjer tgnin . 7. Hija sejra tqum. 8. Intom seJnn taslu. 9. HIJa seJra tagnzel. 10. It-tifla sejra tpoggi.

Exercise Four 1. Marija m'hijiex sejra tansel il-nwejjeg il-manmugin il-gimgna d-dienla. 2. Anna m'anniex sejrin naccettaw I-arlogg is-sabin . 3. Joe ma jgninx lil Marija filgnaxija. 4. Inti u t-tifel ikollkom tmorru fldejn il-knisja. 5. It-tfal sejrin ikollhom jafldmu nafna fis-sajf Ii gej.

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6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

Marija sejra twiegeb I-ittra ta' Joe wara nofs in-nhar. Pierre sejjer jixtri I-karozza I-gimgna Ii gejja. Jiena sejjer ikolli nagnti I-ikel lit-tfal iz-zgnar. II-kelb sejjer jigdem I-id tat-tifel iz-zgnir dalwaqt. Ir-ragel ikollu jqajjem it-tife\. Marija u Mario sejrin jandmu fuq progett importanti s-sena d-dienla. 12. Anna sejrin inkunu fid-dar fil-ftit minuti Ii gejjin.

LESSON ELEVEN Exercise One Fuq on

Bnallike

Tant under

fuqi on me fuqek on you (sing) fuqu on him fuqha on her fuqna on us fuqkom on you (pI) fuqhom on them

bnali like me bnalek like you (sing) bnalu like him bnalha like her bnalna like us bnalkom like you (pI) bnalhom like them

tanti under me talitek under you (sing) tantu under him tantha under her tantna under us tantkom under you (pI) tanthom under them

Ma' with

Ta' of

Ras head

miegni with me miegliek with you (sing) miegnu with him magnha with her magnna with us maglikom with you (pi) magnhom with them

tiegni mine

rasi my head

tieghek yours (sing) rasek your head (sing) tiegnu his rasu his head tagnha hers rasha her head tagnna ours rasna our head taghkom yours (pi) tagnhom theirs

raskom your head (pI) rashom their head

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Gflajn eye

Id hand

Oar house

gnajni my eye gnajnek your eye (sing) gnajnu his eye gnajnha her eye gnajnna our eye gnajnkom your eye (pI) gnajnhom their eye

idi my hand idek your hand (sing) idu his hand idha her hand idna our hand idkom your hand (pI) idhom their hand

dari my house darek your house (sing) daru his house darha her house darna our house darkom your house (pI) darhom their house

Oht sister

Omm mother

Missier father

onti my sister ontok your sister (sing) ontu his sister ontha her sister ontna our sister ontkom your sister (pI) onthom their sister

ommi my mother ommok your mother (sing) ommu his mother ommha her mother ommna our mother ommkom your mother (pI) ommhom their mother

missieri my father missierek your father (sing) missieru his father missierha her father missierna our father missierkom your father (pI) missierhom their father

Exercise Four Spring in Malta One of the seasons of the year is spring and for many Maltese this is their favourite season .

Exercise Two 1. Joe jigri lejn id-dar mal-kelb ta' Marija. 2. L-gnalliem sejjer imu r I-iskola maglihom. , .. 3. L-ilbiesi taglina huma liomor blial dawk ta ManIa. Huma .., blial tagliha. . , 4. Ir-ragel ix-xiii jgliix lidejn iI-baliar. IHlfel tIe.gliu Ig lilxhmlegliu . 5. II-kelb imur fuq il-kaxxa s-sewda. II-kelb Imur f uq a. 6. It-tifla sejra jkollha I-ktieb magliha.

Exercise Three 1. Joe runs home with his dog. 2. The teacher will go to school with them. 3. Her dress is red like the children 's.

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4. The old man lives near the sea with his wife and his sister's children. 5. The girl will have her own book. 6. Give the book to Joe. 7. The women will soon be without money. 8. Maltese has many Italian and English words .

During this season , the children have their Easter holidays and thus have all the time to enjoy nature when they go in some field to see the greenery and the flowers with their beautiful colours like: red , yellow, green, blue, white and brown. Unfortunately, spring is not a long season in Malta because after the month of April , the climate changes and it becomes hot and soon there is summer. (a) L-istagun favorit tal-Maltin huwa r-rebbieglia. (b) Fir-rebbieglia, it-tfal ikollhom il-vaganzi ta' I-Gliid. (c) II-Maltin igawdu n-natura billi jmorru f'xi glialqa mimlija fjuri b'liafna kuluri . Exercise Five Maltese Churches Malta has many big and beautiful churches. In fact , for its size , one can say that in in every village there is a beautiful church with a long history. Among the beautiful churches , we have the cathedral in the old and quiet city of Mdina, as well as the church of St John in Vall etta, the capital city of Malta The Maltese love decorating their churches, although , at times , I think that they overdecorate.

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In summer the traditional feasts of the patron saint of the village or city are held . On the feast day , the church attracts a lot of people from outside the village who enjoy the happy atmosphere as well as the decorations. Unfortunately, these feasts are too noisy not because of the band which plays joyful marches , but rather because of the powerful petards which are heard , from practically everywhere. Although it is a good thing for one to enjoy his village patron saint's feast , yet it is important to remember that not everyone enjoys the powerful petards. The old and the sick people need peace and quiet, and very often small children are afraid of the noises of the petards. For them, these petards instill fear and not happiness. (a) In-nies jiefldu gost bit-tizjin tal-knisja u tar-ranal , kif ukoll bil-banda li ddoqq il-marci. (b) Hafna tfal u xjun ma jnobbux il-nsejjes li jagnmlu I-murtali fiI-festa.

LESSON TWELVE Exercise One Hams~ u sebgnin fenek ; mija wiened u gnoxrin kelb ; names ta~amle~ ; sebat imwejjed; nofs kilo qargnabagnli; kilo laring ; t~l.ntax-11 qattus; namsa u erbgnin lira; nofs miljun lira; kwart ta'

mllJun Taljani ; mija u tliet siggijiet.

Exercise Two 1. Carmen u Charles gnandhom zewgt itfal , filwaqt Ii Marija u Joe gnandhom sebgna. 2. Hemm names sigriet fldejn is-sigra I-qadima fir-ranal iz-zgnir. 3. ~al.-naxix .m 'gnandux kilo laring u nofs kilo langas. 4. Iz-zewg nlsa jmorru I-knisja. 5. Tal-nelu gnandu nafna perlini u Cikkulata. 6. Hemm tliet najjata, fldax-iI gnalliem , disa' periti , zewg spizjara u tabib fir-ranal il-kbir. 7. Jiena sejra mmur gnand in-nisa x-xjun il-gimgna d-dienla.

Exercise Six The House of Providence The small and quiet village of Siggiewi is in the south of the island of Malta. A lot of people know about this village for these reasons: (i) Siggiewi has a lot of fields and big trees and thus, the Maltese go there in order to enjoy nature ; (ii) in this village there is a special place - The House of Providence. People with special needs live in this house . A lot of money is needed to run this house. The Maltese people are generous and kind hearted. Thus, the Maltese donate a lot of money. Yet it is not only money that people give , but they also give their time by keeping company to these handicapped people.

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Exercise Three 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Hemm Hemm Hemm Hemm Hemm Hemm

tnax-il xahar f'sena . seba' granet f'gimgna . nmistax-il minuta fi kwarta ta' siegna. erbgna u gnoxrin siegna f'gurnata. tletin minuta f'nofs siegna. erbgna u gnoxrin xahar f'sentejn.

Exercise Four L-erbgna ta' wara nofs in-nhar; id-disgna ta' filgnaxija; issagntejn ta' filgnodu ; it-tlieta u nofs ta' wara nofs in-nhar; is-sitta u kwart ta' filgnaxija ; il-fldax u nofs ta' filgnaxija ; is-siegna u nofs ta' wara nofs in-nhar; it-tmienja neqsin gnaxra ta' filgnodu.

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Exercise Five

VERB LIST The University of Malta

The University of Malta is four hundred years old . It is one of the oldest universities in the Commonwealth .

The following is a list of verbs stems together with their imperative forms :

The University grows from one yearto another. Twelve years ago there were only about eight hundred students, while now there are five thousand students. There are many female students who study medicine, pharmacy, science and there are those who study to become engineers.

To Accept Accept!

accetta accetta! (sing); accettaw! (pi)

To Arrive Arrive!

wasal asal! (sing) ; aslu! (pi)

To Be Able Be Able!

seta' ista'! (sing); istgliu! (pi)

To Become Become!

sar sir! (sing); siru! (pi)

To Believe Believe!

em men emmen! (sing) ; emmnu! (pi)

To Bite Bite !

gidem igdem! (sing) ; igdmu (pi)

To Bring Bring !

gab gib! (sing); gibu (pi)

To Buy Buy!

xtara ixtri! (sing); ixtru! (pi)

To Cook Cook!

sajjar sajjar! (sing); sajru! (pi)

To Do Do!

gliamel aglimel! (sing) ; aglimlu! (pi)

To Dance Dance!

zifen izfen! (sing); izfnu! (pi)

To Dress Dress!

libes IIbes! (sing); ilbsu (pi)

To Enjoy Enjoy!

gawda gawdi! (sing) ; gawdu ! (pi)

To Feel Feel!

liass lioss! (sing); liossu! (pi)

The faculties of Arts, Education and Law are big and the students in these faculties study hard because they face a stiff competition . Maltese and Gozitan students are very lucky not only because they have good professors teaching them, but also because there are no tuition fees and the students are given a monthly stipend so as to buy books. In this way they will not be dependent on their parents. The Maltese invest a lot of money on these young people because they believe that investing in education is the best investment for a country that looks to the future. Exercise Six Emigration The population of Malta and that of its neighbouring island, Gozo, is less than half a million people , yet there are many Maltese and Gozitans who live in Australia , America, Canada and the United Kingdom. Although these emigrants do not live in their countries, yet they never forget Malta. The emigrants are proud of the Maltese culture and thus organise traditional Maltese feasts like Carnival , 8t. Paul's feast, Christmas and Easter. The Maltese cultural activities are important because they keep the Maltese culture alive, however, it is necessary for the Maltese language to be spoken not only by the elderly but also by their children and their grandchildren. In this way, the Maltese culture will be strong, because it is the Maltese language that gives us our identity as Maltese.

02

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04

To Find Find!

sab sib! (sing); sibu! (pi)

To Forget Forget!

nesa insa! (sing) ; insew! (pi)

To Give Give!

ta agliti! (sing) ; aglitu! (pi)

ToGa Go!

mar mur! (sing) ; morru! (pi)

To Grow Up Grow Up!

kiber ikber! (sing); ikbru! (pi)

To Invest Invest!

investa · investi! (sing) ; investu! (pi)

To Love Love!

liabb liobb! (sing) ; liobbu! (pi)

To Make Make!

gliamel aglimel! (sing); aglimlu! (pi)

To Open Open !

fetali iftali! (sing); iftliu! (pi)

To Organise Organize!

organizza organizza! (sing); organizzaw! (pi)

To Play (games) Play!

lagliab ilgliab! (sing) ; ilaglibu! (pi)

To Play (music) Play!

daqq doqq! (sing) ; doqqu! (pi)

To Read Read!

qara aqra! (sing); aqraw! (pi)

To Run Run!

gera igri! (sing) ; igru! (pi)

To Say Say!

qal gliid! (sing) ; gliidu! (pi)

To See See!

ra ara! (sing) ; araw! (pi)

To Sell Sell!

biegli bigli! (sing); bigliu! (pi)

To Sit Down Sit Down!

pogga poggi! (sing) ; poggu! (pi)

To Spend Spend !

nefaq onfoq! (sing) ; onfqu! (pi)

To Steal Steal !

seraq israq! (sing); isirqu! (pi)

To Study Study!

studja studja! (sing) ; studjaw! (pi)

To Sweep Sweep!

kines iknes! (sing); ikinsu! (pi)

To Think Think!

liaseb aliseb! (sing) ; alisbu! (pi)

To Turn Turn!

qaleb aqleb! (sing) ; aqilbu! (pi)

To Understand Understand!

fehem ifhem! (sing); ifhmu! (pi)

To Wake Up Wake Up!

qam qum! (sing) ; qumu! (pi)

To Wash Wash!

liasel alisel! (sing); alislu! (pi)

To Work Work!

liadem alidem! (sing); alidmu! (pi)

To Write Write!

kiteb ikteb! (sing) ; iktbu! (pi)

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MALTESE - ENGLISH WORD LIST A abjad (m), bajda (f) , bojod (pi) white accetta to accept afidar (m), fiadra (f) , fiodor (pi) green afimar (m), fiamra (f), fiomor (pi) red Alia (m) God April (m) April ara to see arja (f) air atmosfera (f) atmosphere avukat (m) , avukatessa (f) , avukati (pi) lawyer Awissu (m) August

B b'hekk in this way bafiar (m), ibfira (pi) sea bajda (f) , bajd (pi) egg bandiera (f) , bnadar (pi) flag bank (m) , banek (pi) bank barmil (m) , bramel (pi) bucket barra outside barrani (m) , barranija (f) , barranin (pi) foreigner basla (f) , basal (pi) onion baxx (m) , baxxa (f) , baxxi (pi) low bejn between bejt (m) , bjut (pi) roof belt (f) , bliet (pi) city bennej (m) , bennejja (pi) mason bfial like bi with bieiel (m) , bieila (f) , biilin (pi) industrious/ busy

bieb (m) , bibien (pi) door biegfi to sell biex in order to biss only bjond (m) , bjonda (f), bjondi (pi) blond bringiela (m) , bringiel (pi) aubergine but (m) , bwiet (pi) pocket bionn (m) , bionnijet (pi) need

c cavetta (f) , cwievet (pi) key cena (f) dinner cikkulata (f) , cikkulati (pi) chocolate curkett (m) , crieket (pi) ring

o dak (m) , dik (f) , dawk (pi) that dawk (pi) those dan (m) , din (f) this dawn these daqq to play (music) dar (f) , djar (pi) house dedikat (m) , dedikata (f) , dedikati (pi) dedicated dejjem always dentist (m) , dentista (f) , dentisti (pi) dentist Dicembru (m) December disgfia nine disgfiin ninety dgfiajsa (f) , dgfiajjes (pi) boat dfiuli (m) , dfiulija (f) , dfiulin (pi) affable/ friendly diffiCli (m & f, sing & pi) difficult

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dija (f) glow/ray dipendenti (m & f, sing & pi) dependent driegfi (m) , dirgfiajn (pi) arm dsatax nineteen dublett (m) , dbielet (pi) skirt dundjan (m) , dundjani (pi) turkey

E edukazzjoni (f) education elf (m) , eluf (pi) thousand emmen to believe erbatax fourteen erbgfia four Erbgfia (f) Wednes day erbgfiin forty ezami (m) , ezamijiet (pi) examination ezempju (m) , ezempji (pi) example

F fazola (f sing & pi) bean fakulta (f) , fakultajiet (pi) facu lty familja (f) , familji (pi) family favorit (m) , favorita (f) , favoriti (pi) favo urite fehem to understand fejn where fenek (m) , fenka (f) , fniek (pi) rabbit fernan (m) , fernana (f) , fernanin (pi) happy festa (f) , festi (pi) feast fetan to open fi in filgfiaxija in th e evening

filgfiodu in the morning filwaqt while fjura (f) , fjuri (pi) flower flimkien toge th er flixkun (m), fliexken (pi) bottle flokk (m) , flokkijiet (pi) swea ter flus (pi) money fortunatament fortunately fost among frotta (f), frott (pi) fruit fqir (m) , fqira (f) , fqar (pi) poor Frar (m) February ftit a little fubol (m) football fuq on furketta (f) , frieket (pi) fork

gawda to enjoy giddieb (m) , giddieba (f), giddibin (pi) liar gidem to bite grazzi thank you griz (m) , griza (f), grizi (pi) gray gzira (f) , gzejjer (pi) island

Gt=t gfiada tomorrow gfiaref (m) , gfiarfa (f) , gfiorrief (pi) wise gfiasfur (m) , gfiasafar (pi) bird gfiaxra ten gfioxrin twenty

G

H

gab to bring gdid (m), gdida (t), godda (pi) new generuz (m) , generuza (f) , generuzi (pi) generous genitur (m & f) , genituri (pi) parent gewnan (m) , gwienan (pi), gwinnajn (pi) wing Gimgna (f) Friday glekk (m) , glekkijiet (pi) jacket gnien (m) , gonna (pi) garden gobon (m) , gobna (f) , gobniet (pi) cheese gun (m) hunger Gunju (m) June gurdien (m) , gurdiena (f) , grieden (pi) mouse gurnata (f) , granet (pi) day

hawn here hekk so; thus hemmhekk over there hena (m) happiness hekk u hekk so-so hija (f) she; she is huwa (m) he; he is

G gallarija (f) , gallariji (pi) balcony gallettina (f), gallettini (pi) biscuit

Ftamis (m) Thursday fiamsa five fiamsin fifty fiandikappat (m) , fiandikappata (f) handicapped fiandikappati (pi) handicapped fianut (m) , fiwienet (pi) shop fiarifa (f) autumn fiaseb to think fiasel to wash fiass to feel fiaxix (m) vegetable fidax eleven fidejn near fidura (f) greenery fielwa (f) , fielwin (pi) nice; sweet fiin (m), fiinijiet (pi) time fijara (f) , fijar (pi) cucumber filewwa (f) sweetness nmar (m) , nmara (f) , nmir (pi) donkey nmistax fifteen nobza (f), nobz (pi ) loaf of bread nu (m) , anwa (pi) brother nwejjeg (pi) clothes

t=t naga (f) thing nazin (m) , nazina (f) , nziena (pi) bad nabb to love Ftadd (m) Sunday nadem to work nafna a lot of najja (f) , najjiet (pi) life najjat (m), najjata (f), najjatin (pi) tailor nalib (m) milk namrija (f) soil

izda however id (m) , idejn (pi) hand ienor (m) , onrajn (pi) another iebes (m), iebsa (f) , ibsin (pi) hard iknal (m), kanla (t), konol (pi) blue ikrah (m) , kerha (f) , koroh (pi) ugly ilium today ilma (m) , ilmijiet (pi) water imdejjaq (m ), imdejqa (f) , imdejqin (pi) sad

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importanti (m & f, sing & pi) important imqareb (m) , imqarba (f), imqarbin (pi) naughty indipendenti (m & f, sing & pi) independent investa to invest investiment (m), investimenti (pi) investment isfar (m), safra (t), sofor (pi) yellow ismar (m) , samra (f), somor (pi) dark iswed (m) , sewda (f), suwed (pi) black ittra (m) , ittri (pi) letter iva yes ixxurtjat (m) , ixxurtjata (f), ixxurtjati (pi) lucky

J Jannar (m) January jekk if jewor jiena I; I am jum (m) , jiem (pi) day

K kCina (f), kcejjen (pi) kitchen kampanja (f) , kampanji (pi) countryside kamra (f), kmamar (pi) room kamra tal-banju (f), kmamar tal-banju (pi) bathroom kamra tal-pranzu (f) , kmamar tal-pranzu (pi) dining room kamra tas-sodda (f) , kmamar tas-sodda (pi) bedroom kannella (m & f, sing & pi) brown

kapitali (f sing & pi) capital karrotta (f), karrotti (pi) carrot karrozza (f) , karrozzi (pi) car kaxxa (f) , kaxxi (pi) box kburi (m) , kburija (f), kburin (pi) proud kelb (m), kelba (f) , klieb (pi) dog kemm? how much? how many? kewkba (f), kwiekeb (pi) star kiber to grow up kien to be kiesafl (m) , kiesfla (f) , kesflin (pi) cold kif? how kif ukoll as well kikkra (f) , kikkri (pi) cup kilo (m), kilojiet (pi) kilo kines to sweep kiteb to write kitla (f), ktieli (pi) kettle kittieb (m) , kittieba (f) , kittieba (pi) writer klassi (f) , klassijiet (pi) class knisja (f) , knejjes (pi) church ktieb (m), kotba (pi) book kugin (m) , kugina (f) , kugini (pi) cousin kuccarina (f), kuccarini (pi) teaspoon kulfladd everybody kullimkien everywhere kwiet (m) , kwieta (f), kwieti (pi) quiet

L lagflab to play lampa (f) , lampi (pi) lamp langasa (f) , langas (pi) pear laringa (f), laring(pl) orange le no

lejl (m) night lejn towards lezzjoni (f) , lezzjonijiet (pi) lesson librerija (f) , libreriji (pi) library; bookcase libsa (f) , ilbiesi (pi) dress lira (f) , liri (pi) pound (currency) liwja (f), liwjiet (pi) bend Lulju (m) , July luminata (f) , luminati (pi) lemonade

M ma' with maflmug (m), maflmuga (f), maflmugin (pi) dirty madwar around magflha with her magflhom with them magflkom with you (pi) magflna with us malajr soon; quickly mar to go mara (f) , nisa (pi) woman marid (m), marida (f) , morda (pi) sick maqrut (m), imqaret (pi) date cake Marzu (m) March mediCina (t), medicini (pi) medicine mejda (f) , mwejjed (pi) table meta when metru (m), metri (pi) metre Mejju (m) May mgflarfa (f) , mgflaref (pi) spoon mhux not miegflek with you (sing) miegfli with me miegflu with him mija (f), mijiet (pi) hundred Milied (m) Christmas

miljun (m) , miljuni (pi) million min who mingflajr without minn from minuta (f), minuti (pi) minute missier (m) , missirijiet (pi) father mistfli (m), mistflija (f) , mistflijin (pi) shy

N nadif (m) , nadifa (f), nodfa (pi) clean nannu (m) , nanna (f) , nanniet (pi) grandparent nar (m) , nirien (pi) fire nefaq to spend neqsin to (the hour) nesa to forget nies (pi) , people nofs half nofs il-Iejl (m) midnight nofs in-nhar (m) midday Novembru (m) November numru (m) , numri (pi) number nutar (m), nutara (f & pi) notary

0 oflt (f) , aflwa (pi) sister omm (f) , ommijiet (pi) mother organizza to organize ottubru (m) October

p pacenzja (f) patience paCi (f) peace papra (f) , papri (pi) duck

111

pastizz (m), pastizzi (pi) Maltese cheesecake patata (f sing & pi) potato periklu (m) , perikli (pi) danger perit (m & f) , periti (pi) architect pipa (f) , pi pi (pi) pipe pjazza (f) , pjazez (pi) village square platt (m), platti (pi) plate pogga to sit down poeta (m) , poetessa (f) , poeti (pi) poet poplu (m) , popli (pi) people popolazzjoni (f) , popolazzjonijiet (pi) population posta (f) , posta (pi) mail pranzu (m) , pranzi (pi) lunch presepju (m) , presepji (pi) crib progett (m), progetti (pi) project problema (f), problemi (pi) problem professur (m & f) , professuri (pi) professor Providenza (f) Providence pultruna (f), pultun i (pi) armchair pupa (f) , pupi (pi) doll

a qaddis (m), qaddisa (f) , qaddisin (pi) saint qaddis patrun (m) , qaddisa patruna (f) patron saint qaddisin patruni (pi) patron saints qadim (m) , qadima (f) , qodma (pi) old (inanimate objects) qal to say

qalb (f) , qlub (pi) heart qaleb to turn qalziet (m) , qliezet (pi) trousers qam to wake up qamar (m), qmura (pi) moon qara to read qargnabagnalija (f), qargnabagnli (pi) marrow qasir (m) , qasira (f), qosra (pi) short qattus (m), qattusa (f) , qtates (pi) cat qawsalla (f), qawsalli (pi) rainbow qawwi (m) , qawwija (f) , qawwijin (pi) sturdy; fat quddiem in front of

R ra to see ragel (m), rgiel (pi) man ragun (m) , ragunijiet (pi) reason ralial (m), rliula (pi) village ras (f) , rjus (pi) head razzett (m), rziezet (pi) farmhouse rigel (m), rig lej n (pi) leg rebbieglia (f) spring rili (m), irjieli (pi) wind ritratt (m), ritratti (pi) photo roza (f sing & pi) pink rqiq (m) , rqiqa (f), rqaq (pi) thin

S sliun (m) , sliuna (f) , slian (pi) warm salilia (f) health sab to find

sabin (m) , sabina (f) , sbien (pi) beautiful; handsome sajf (m) summer sajjar to cook salott (m), salotti (pi) sitting room sar to become sebgna seven sejjer shall leave sekonda (f), sekondi (pi) second sebgnin seventy sena (f), snin (pi) year seraq to steal seta' to be able Settembru (m) September sfortunatament unfortunately Sibt (m) Saturday siggu (m) , siggijiet (pi) chair sigra (f), sigar (pi) tree siegna (f) , signat (pi) hour sieq (f) , saqajn (pi) foot sikkina (f) , skieken (pi) knife sinjur (m) , sinjura (f) , sinjuri (pi) Mr sinjur (m) , sinjura (f) , sinjuri (pi) wealthy; rich sitta six sittax sixteen sittin sixty skola (f) , skejje l (pi) school sodda (f) , sodod (pi) bed spal la (f) , spallejn , spalel (pi) shoulder specjali (m sing & pi) special spizjar (m) , spizjara (f) , spizjara (pi) pharmacist sptar (m) , sptarijiet (pi) hospital stagun (m) , staguni (pi) season storbju (m & pi) noise storja (f) , stejjer (pi) story student (m) , studenta (f) , studenti (pi) student studja to study studjuz (m) , studjuza (f) , studjuzi (pi) studious

T ta' of tant under tabib (m), tabiba (f) , tobba (pi) doCtor tagnha hers tagnhom theirs tagnkom (pi) yours tagnna ours tajjeb good tal-naxix (m) green-grocer tal-nelu (m) confectioner tal-pastizzi (m) cheescake vendor tazza (f) , tazzi (pi) glass temp (m) weather tfajjel (m), tfaj la (f) , tfal (pi) small child tfal tat-tfal (pi) grandchildren tiegliek (sing) yours ferlian in (pi) happy tieglii mine tiegliu his tieqa (f) , twieqi (pi) window tifel (m) , tfal (pi) boy tifla (f) , tfal (pi) girl tizjin (m) festoons; decorations tlettax thirteen tletin thirty tlieta three Tlieta (f) Tuesday tmenin eighty tmienja eight tnax twelve tnejn two Tnejn (m) Monday tort (m) wrong twil (m) , twila (f), twal (pi) tall

113

v vazun (m) , vazuni (pi) vase vaganza (f), vaganzi (pi) holiday vapur (m), vapuri (pi) ship

w wara after warda (f), ward (pi) rose wasal to arrive wicc (m), ucun (pi) face widna (f) , widnejn (pi) ear wied (m), widien (pi) val/ey wiened (m), waflda (f) one

x xagnar (m) hair xahar (m), xhur (pi) month xejn nothing xemx (f) sun xi some xin (m), xina (f) , xjun (pi) old man

xita (f) rain xitla (f), xtieli (pi) plant xitwa (f) winter xognol (m) , xognlijiet (pi) work xtara to buy

ENGLISH - MALTESE WORD LIST A

i zarbun (m), zraben (pi) a pair of shoes zunzana (f & sing) , zunzanl znazan (pi) wasp zball (m), zbalji (pi) mistake zejjed too much zejt (m) , zjut (pi) oil ziemel (m), zwiemel (pi) horse zifen to dance

z zalza (f) , zlazi (pi) sauce zija (f), zijiet (pi) aunt ziju (m) , zijiet (pi) uncle zokkor (m) sugar

accept (to accept) a66etta affable dfwli (m), dfwlija (f), dnulin (pi) after wara afternoon wara nofs in-nhar (m) air arja (f) always dejjem among fost another ienor (m), onra (f), onrajn (pi) April April (m) architect perit (m & f), periti (pi) arm driegn (m), dirgnajn (pi) armchair pultruna (f), pultruni (pi) around madwar arrive (to arrive) wasal as well kif ukol/ atmosphere atmosfera (f), atmosferi (pi) aubergine bringiela (f), bringiel (pI) August Awissu (m) aunt zija (sing), zijiet (pi)

B bad natin (m), natina (f), fliiena (pI) balcony gal/arija (f), gal/ariji (pi) bank bank (m), bankijiet (pi) bathroom kamra (f) tal-banju, kmamar (pi) tal-banju be (to be) kien bean fatola (f sing & pI) beautiful sabin (m), sabifla (f), sbien (pi) become (to become) sar

bed sodda (f), sodod (pi) bedroom kamra tas-sodda (f), kmarar tas-sodda (pi) believe (to believe) emmen bend (n) liwja (f) between bejn bird gnasfur (m), gnasafar (pi) biscuit gal/ettina (f), gal/ettini (pi) bite (to bite) gidem black iswed (m), sewda (f), suwed (pi) blond bjond (m), bjonda (f), bjondi (pi) blue iknal (m), kaflla (f), konol (pi) boat dgnajsa (f), dgnajjes (pi) book ktieb (m), kotba (pi) bookcase librerija (f), libreriji (pI) bottle flixkun (m), fliexken (pi) box kaxxa (f), kaxxi (pi), kaxex (pi) boy tifel (m), tfal (pi) bread nobta (f), nobtiet (pi) bring (to bring) gab brother nu (m), anwa (pi) brown kannel/a (m & f, sing &pi) bucket barmil (m), bramel (pi) buy (to buy) xtara

c capital kapitali (m sing & pi) car karrozza (f), karrozzi (pi) carrot karrotta (f), karrotti (pi) cat qattus (m) , qattusa (f), qtates (pi)

115

chair siggu (m), siggijiet (pI) cheese gobon (m), gobna (f), gobniet (pI) cheesecake (Maltese) pastizz (m), pastizzi (pI) cheesecake vendor tal-pastizzi (m) child (small child) tfajjel (m), tfajla (f), tfal (pI) chocolate cikkulata (f), cikkulati (pI) Christmas Milied (m) church knisja (f), knejjes (pi) city belt (f), bliet (pi) class klassi (m), klassijiet (pI) clean nadif (m), nadifa (f), ndaf (pi) clothes nwejjeg (pi), ilbiesi cold (adj) kiesan (m), kiesna (f), kesnin (pi) colour kulur (m), kuluri (pi) confectioner tal-nelu (m) cook (to cook) sajjar countryside kampanja (f) cousin kugin (m), kugina (f), kugini (pi) crib (a Christmas crib) presepju (m), presepji (pI) cucumber njara (f), fljar (pi) cup kikkra (f), kikkri (pI)

D dance (to dance) iifen danger periklu (m), perikli (pi) dark ismar (m), samra (f), somor (pi) datecake maqrut (m), imqaret (pi) day gurnata (f), granet (pi), jum (m), jiem (pi) December Dicembru (m) decorations tiijin (m)

dedicated dedikat (m), dedikata (f), dedikati (pI) dentist dentist (m), dentista (f), dentisti (pI) dependent dipendenti (m & pI) difficult diffi6li (m sing & pI) dining room kamra tal-pranzu (f), kmamar tal-pranzu (pI) dinner cena (f) dinner pranzu (m), pranzijiet (pi) do (to do) gnamel doctor tabib (m), tabiba (f), tobba (pi) dog kelb (m), klieb (pI) doll pupu (m), pupa (f), pupi (pi) donkey nmar (m), nmara (f), nmir (pi) door bieb (m), bibien (pi) dress libsa (f), ilbiesi (pI) dress (to dress) libes duck papra (f), papri (pi)

E ear widna (f), widnejn (pi) education edukazzjoni (f sing & pI) egg bajda (m), bajd, bajdiet (pi) eight tmienja eighteen tmintax eighty tmenin eleven ndax enjoy (to enjoy) gawda evening (in the evening) filgnaxija everybody kulf1add everywhere kullimkien examination eiami (m), eiamijiet (pI) example eiempju (m), eiempji (pi)

F face wicc (m), ucun (pi) faculty fakulta (f), fakultajiet (pi)

family familja (f), familji (pI) farmhou se razzett (m), rziezet (pI) father missier (m), missirijiet (pI) favourite favorit (m), favorita (f), favoriti (pI) feast festa (f), festi (pI) February Frar (m) feel (to feel ) nass festoons tiijin (m) fifteen nmistax fifty namsin find (to find) sab fire nar (m), nirien (pI) five namsa flag bandiera (f), bnadar (pi) flower fjura (m), fjuri (pi) foot sieq (m), saqajn (pi) football futbol (m) foreigner barrani (m), barranija (f), barranin (pi) forget (to forget) nesa fork furketta (f), frieket (pi) fortunately fortunatament forty erbgnin four erbgna fourteen erbatax Friday il-Gimgna (f) friendly dnuli (m), dnulija (f), dnulin (pi) from minn front (in front of) quddiem fruit frotta (f), frott (pi)

G garden gnien (m), gonna (pi) generous generui (m), generuia (f), generuii (pi) girl tifla (f), tfal (pi) glass tazza (f), tazzi (pi) glow dija (f) go (to go) mar

God Alia (m) good tajjeb (m), tajba (f), tajbin (pI) good afternoon il-wara nofs in-nhar it-tajjeb (m) good morning l-gflOdwa ttajba (f) good night il-Iejl it-tajjeb (m) good-bye sanna grandfather nannu (m), nanniet (pI) grandmother nanna (f), nanniet (pi) green afldar (m), nadra (f), nodor (pI) greenery ndura (f sing) green-grocer tal-naxix (m) grandchildren tfal tat-tfal (pi) grow (to grow) kiber

H hair xagnar (pi) half nofs hand id (m), idejn (pi) handsome sabin (m), sbien (pi) handicapped nandikappat (m & f), nandikappati (pi) happiness hena (f) happy fernan (m), fernana (f), fernanin (pi) hard iebes (m), iebsa (f), ibsin (pi) have (to have) gnandu he huwa head ras (f), rjus (pi) health sanna (f) heart qalb (f), qlub (pI) hello x'hemm here hawn hers tagflha his tiegnu

117

holiday vaganza (m), vaganzi (pi) hospital sptar (m), sptarijiet (pi) hour siegna (f), signat (pi) house dar (f), djar (pi) how kif how much kemm however iida hundred mija (f), mijiet (pi) hunger gun

I jiena if jekk important importanti (m sing & pi) in fi in order to biex in this way b'hekk independent indipendenti (m, sing & pi) industrious bieiel (m), bieila (f), biilin (pi) invest (to invest) investa investment investiment (m), investimenti (pi) island giira (f), giejjer (pi)

kilo kilo (m), kilojiet (pi) kitchen k6ina (f), k6ejjen (pi) knife sikkina (f), skieken (pi)

L lamp lampa (f), lampi (pi) lawyer avukat (m), avukatessa (f), avukati (pI) leg rigel (m), riglejn (pi) lemonade luminata (f), luminati (pi) lesson lezzjoni (f), lezzjonijiet (pi) letter ittra (f), ittri (pi) liar giddieb (m), giddieba (f), giddibin (pi) library librerija (f), libreriji (pi) life najja (f), najjiet (pi) like bfJal little (a little of) ftit a loaf of bread nobia (f), nobiiet (pi) lot (a lot of) nafna love (to love) nabb low baxx (m), baxxa (f), baxxi (pi) lucky ixxurtjat (m), ixxurtjata (f), ixxurtjati (pI)

M J jacket glekk (m), glekkijiet (pI) January Jannar (m) July Lu!ju (m) June Gunju (m)

K kettle kit/a (f), ktieli (pi) key 6avetta (f), 6wievet (pi)

mail posta (f) man ragel (m), rgiel (pi) March Marzu (m) marrow qargnabagnalija (f), qargnabagnli (pi) mason bennej (m), 'bennejja (pi) May Mejju (m) medicine medi6ina (f), medi6ini (pi) metre metru (m), metri (pi) midday nofs in-nhar (m)

midnight nofs il-Iejl (m) milk nalib (m) million mi!jun (m), mi!juni (pI) mine tiegni minute minuta (f), minuti (pI) miss sinjorina (f), sinjorini (pi) Monday it-Tnejn (m) money f/us (pi) month xahar (m), xhur (pi) moon qamar (m), qmura (pi) morning (in the morning) filgnodu mother omm (f), ommijiet (pi) mouse gurdien (m), grieden (pi) Mr sinjur (m), sinjuri (pi) Mrs sinjura (f), sinjuri (pi) much iejjed

old (inanimate object) qadim (m), qadima (f), qodma (pi) old (person) xin (m), xina (f), xjun (pI) on fuq one wiened (m), waflda (f) onion basla (f), basal (pi) only biss open (to open) fetan or Jew orange laringa (f), la ring (pi) organise (to organ ise) organizza ours tagnna outside barra over there hemmhekk

N

P

naughty mqareb (m), mqarba (f), mqarbin (pi) need bionn new gdid (m), gdida (f), godda (pi) nice nelu (m), nelwa (f), nelwin (pI) night lejl (m) nine disgna nineteen dsatax ninety disgnin no le noise storbju (m) not mhux notary nutar (m), nutara (f), nutara (pi) nothing xejn November Novembru (m) number numru (m), numri (pi)

parent genitur (m), genituri (pi) patience pa6enzja (f) patron sai nt qaddis patrun (m), qaddisin patruni (pi) peace pa6i (f) pear langasa (f), langas (pi) people nies (pI) people poplu (m), popli (pi) pharmacist spiijar (m), spiijara (f, sing & pi) photo ritratt (m), ritratti (pi) pink roia (f, sing & pi) pipe pipa (f), pipi (pi) plant pjanta (f), pjanti (pi) plate platt (m), platti (pi) play (to play games) lagnab play (to play music) daqq please il'1kk ioqngbok pocket poet

October of

poor fqir (m), fqar (pi) popu lation popolazzjoni (m), popolazzjonijiet (pi) potato patata (f, sing & pi) pound (currency) lira (f), liri (pI) problem problema (f), problemi (pI) professor professur (m & f), professuri (pi) project progett (m), progetti (pi) proud kburi (m), kburija (f) , kburin (pi) Providence Providenza (f)

a quiet kwiet (m), kwieta (f), kwieti (pI)

R rabbit fenek (m), fenka (f), fniek (pi) rain xita (f) rainbow qawsalla (f), qawsa/li (pi) read (to read) qara reason raguni (f), ragunijiet (pi) red afimar (m) , fiamra (f), fiomor (pi) rich sinjur (m), sinjura (f), sinjuri (pi) ring 6urkett (m), 6rieket (pi) roof bejt (m), bjut (pi) room kamra (f), kmamar (pi) rose warda (f), ward (pi)

s sad mdejjaq (m), mdejqa (f), mdejqin (pi)

saint qaddis (m), qaddisa (f), qaddisin (pi) Saturday is-Sibt (m) sauce zalza (f), zlazi (pi) say (to say) qal school skola (f) skejjel (pi) sea bafiar (m), ibfira (pi) season stagun (m), staguni (pi) second sekonda (f), sekondi (pi) see (to see) ra see you narak sell (to sell) biegfi September Settembru (m) seven sebgfia seventeen sbatax seventy sebgfiin shall sejjer (m), sejra (f), sejrin (pI) she/she is hija ship vapur (m), vapuri (pi) shop fianut (m), fiwienet (pi) short qasir (m), qasira (f), qosra (pi) shoulder spalla (f), spallejn (pi) shy mistfii (m), mistfiija (f), mistfiijin (pi) sick marid (m), marida (f), morda (pI) sister ofit (f), afiwa (pi) sit down (to sit down) pogga six sitta sixteen sittax sixty sittin skirt dublett (m), dbielet (pi) small igfiir (m), igfiira (f), igfiar (pi) so hekk so-so hekk u hekk sofa sufan (m), sufanijiet (pi) soil fiamrija (f, sing) some xi special spe6jaJi (m, sing & pi) spend (to spend) nefaq spoon mgfiarfa (f), mgfiaref (pi)

star kewkba (f), kwiekeb (pi) steal (to steal) seraq story storja (f), stejjer (pi) student student (m), studenta (f), studenti (pi) studious studjui (m), studjuia (f), studjuii (pi) study (to study) studja sturdy qawwi (m), qawwija (f), qawwijin (pi) sugar zokkor (m) sun xemx (f), xmux (pi) Sunday il-Hadd sweater flokk (m), flokkijiet (pi) sweep (to sweep) kines sweetness filewwa (f), filewwiet (pi)

T table mejda (f), mwejjed (pi) tailor fiajjat (m), fiajjata (f & pi) tall twil (m), twila (f), twal (pi) teaspoon ku66arina (f), ku66arini ten gfiaxra (f) thank you grazzi that dak (m), dik (f) those dawk (pi) the 1theirs tagfihom there hem m thin rqiq (m), rqiqa (f), rqaq (pi) thing fiaga (f) think (to think) fiaseb thirteen tlettax thirty tie tin this dan (m), dawn (pi) thousand elf (m), eluf (pi) three tJieta Thursday il-Hamis (m) to (the hour) neqsin today ilium (m) together flimkien

tomorrow gfiada (f) towards lejn tree sigra (f), sigar (pI) trouser qalziet (m), qliezet (pi) Tuesday it- TJieta (f) turkey dundjan (m), dundjani (pi) turn (to turn) qaleb twelve tnax twenty gfioxrin two tnejn

u ugly ikrah (m), kerha (f), koroh (pi) uncle ziju (m), zijiet (pi) under tafit understand (to understand) fehem unfortunately sfortunatament

v valley wied (m), widien (pi) vase vaiun (m), vaiuni (pi) vegetable fiaxix (m) village rafial (m), rfiula (pi) village square pjazza (f), pjazez (pi)

w wake (to wake up) qam warm sfiun (m), sfiuna (t), sfian (pi) wash (to wash) fiasel wasp iuniana (t & sing), iunian / inaian (pi) water ilma (m), ilmijiet (pi) way (in this way) hekk

121

wealthy sinjur (m), sinjura (f) , sinjuri (pi) Wednesday I-Erbgna (f) when meta where fejn while filwaqt white abjad (m), bajda (f), bojod (pI) who min window tieqa (f), twieqi (pi) wing gewnan (m), gwinnajn (pi) wise gnaref (m), gnarfa (f), gnorrief (pi) with ma ' with her magMa with him miegnu with me miegni

122

with them magMom with us magnna with you (sing) miegnek with you (pi) magnkom without mingnajr woman mara (f), nisa (pI) work xognol (m), xognlijiet (pi) work (to work) nadem write (to write) kiteb wrong tort

y yellow isfar (m), safra (f), sofor (pi) yes iva