The Maltese spelling of English loan words which can sometimes make you flinch – such as erkraftkerjer (aircraft carrier) and ġekħemer (jackhammer) – will no longer be accepted.

However, the spelling of words which look similar to their original English and are therefore easier on the eye will be left up to the writer, so kompjuter and computer are both correct.

The National Council for the Maltese Language unveiled its final proposals for the spelling of English loan words yesterday, drafted after seven years of extensive research and consultation.

Committee secretary George Farrugia stressed that an English word or expression should only be used if a Maltese alternative does not exist.

That being said, not every word that may appear at first glance to be superfluous is necessarily so. A car’s body cannot be translated into ġisem, while a computer’s mouse cannot be converted to ġurdien. But some meanings and words can be extended or moulded: so flashcard becomes leħħa and selfie becomes stessu.

The spelling of words which look similar to their original English will be left up to the writer

Despite the rules, a number of question marks remain on the spelling of certain words. Various stakeholders yesterday discussed whether “he panicked” should become ippenikja or ippenikkja or even ippanikja or ippanikkja.

These and a few other minor issues are expected to be settled soon. The final decisions will be submitted to Education Minister Evarist Bartolo and ultimately published in the Government Gazette, probably towards the end of the year.

Mr Bartolo appealed to the seminar audience for calm and reason to prevail, stressing the importance of the art of convergence.

He expressed concern regarding the state of publishing houses and called for the need to support the local publishers of Maltese language books.

“I fear local publishers may be an endangered species. We need to find ways to strengthen the support for local publishing houses, or else we may face serious repercussions,” he said.

Some children may hear up to eight different languages being spoken in their classroom. Bilingualism, Mr Bartolo said, was important, but multilingualism even more so.