Publication documents efforts to standardise Maltese

L-ewwel mitt sena tal-Għaqda tal-Kittieba tal-Malti

by Daniel Attard

published by Heritage Malta, 2024

Although it had been spoken for over a thousand years, Maltese always faced a problem when it came to transcription. Medieval notaries used their knowledge of Romance language and orthography to write it down, but the Semitic nature of the language kept presenting major difficulties in how to write such ‘alien’ sounds.

Notable efforts were made by De Soldanis and Vassalli, among others, but their use of ‘strange’ characters provided a stumbling block for authors, not to mention potential printers.

Moreover, the Language Question in which the vernacular was for long given the side, also played its part with Maltese being stamped as not having enough scope to become a proper literary vehicle. This lack of orthographic standardisation was definitely the main obstacle for the development of the language.

The story behind the efforts to set up the Għaqda tal-Kittieba tal-Malti which would be instrumental in setting up a standardised orthography and a grammar is told in an excellent well-researched publication L-ewwel mitt sena tal-Għaqda tal-Kittieba tal-Malti by a promising young graduate, Daniel Attard.

The 19th century had seen a boom in written Maltese mainly in newspapers and novels, mostly of a historical nature. These latter often had a strong nationalistic agenda, fuelled by the strong nationalistic movements in Europe which were brought over to the island by the Italian esuli. The lack of a standardised orthography, however, led to a degree of confusion capitalised upon by those who had political reasons to decry the language’s inherent limitations.

The early 20th century witnessed an increased awareness and use of the language with social and political changes appearing to accept it more, but it was the inclusion by Governor Lord Plumer in the draft of the 1920 constitution of the right for speakers to use Maltese in the legislative assembly that was to prove the catalyst for change.

The decision raised the hackles of the conservative section but it also served to spur a young 20-year-old budding author, Francesco Saverio Caruana, to call for a meeting of established authors and editors. Thirty-six authors quickly responded to his call and they met on a rainy Sunday, November 14, 1920, at 10.30am, in the quarters of the Unione Cattolica San Giuseppe in St Paul Str, Valletta.

Caruana’s aim was to establish an orthography and develop a grammar that would end the free-for-all in the writing of the language which in turn should facilitate the learning of the vernacular and the production of more literature. A steering committee was set up with Ġużè Muscat Azzopardi as president and Caruana himself as secretary.

The commission set up to decide on the alphabet, which was considered to be the first step before tackling the orthography, wisely stressed the importance and involvement of printers who after all would have had to find the proper types. Thus a problem arose because they did not have a ligature for the għajn and they had to accept separate g and ħ next to each other.

A major step forward was the publication of the Tagħrif fuq il-kitba Maltija which was generally well-received. Opposition was raised mainly in the English-language newspapers which insinuated that this was nothing but a clever ruse to eliminate either Italian or English.

While several authors accepted the Għaqda’s decisions, a few opposed the choice of certain letters (the ċ proved a bone in the throat for some, as it still does occasionally today, as did the use of w for u), while a few others were strongly opposed to the proposed changes.

Particularly opposed was Erin Serracino-Inglott who believed that the Għaqda was listing too strongly towards the English camp at the expense of Malta’s Italian heritage and was therefore only helping to add confusion to the language. Others who expressed strong reservations included Juan Mamo and Agostino Levanzin who expressed their reservations about the Għaqda’s decisions.

The next major round concerned the official acceptance of the Maltese language as written by the Għaqda; by 1926 almost no newspapers had adopted the new orthography. The other mission concerned proper teaching of the language in schools; without it would be a losing battle.

There were further obstacles to be overcome. Attard explains fairly the dilemma faced by Ninu Cremona who, although one of the driving forces behind this reform, was also officially employed as a government translator and editor and was caught between the devil and the big blue sea.

The Nationalist administration elected in 1932 removed the teaching of Maltese from schools and ordered that Maltese should be written with an Italian orthography. Cremona found himself right in the middle of this complex situation.

The quandary was resolved when the legislative assembly and the senate were dissolved in November 1933 as the Language Question had become an explosive political issue with the spread of Fascism and its open irredentist aspirations towards Malta.

The Letters Patent issued on August 16, 1934, declared Maltese the official language of the island with English and Italian. It was also declared that the orthography and the grammar of the Għaqda was to be the official way of writing the language. Ironically the political manoeuvring that had for so long conspired to keep Maltese down, now played its part to raise it to the status it deserved.