'Thousands of mistakes' in Maltese language spell check

The Maltese language spell check released some weeks ago and available on the Internet (http://linux.org.mt) for Linux Computer System is riddled with thousands of orthographical and grammatical mistakes.

Furthermore this 'service' is flawed by a number of Maltese language orthographical rules, several teachers and linguists confirmed.

The Internet and Linux spell check which claimed to be the first such application for the Maltese language came online last month after it had been announced that another spell check for Macintosh and Windows systems was being tested and proofread prior to release.

The Linux spell check was produced by Ramon Casha, who works as a computer programmer with a local computer firm. This is confirmed in his Website. The site claims that the Linux spell check contains around 840,000 words and explains that "this facility is an experimental one and may contain certain errors." It adds: "We give no guarantee about the accuracy of results."

Several educators told CCT News that this proviso in no way stops the spreading of violations of the orthography rules set by the Akkademja tal-Malti.

Contacted by CCT News, Mr Casha admitted that there were "some mistakes". While he would not quantify the number of errors, teachers and others who scoured the text found more than 80,000 words spelt incorrectly.

Many of the mistakes are due to non-adherence to the grammar structure related to ie in Maltese words. There are then other mistakes regarding the correct spelling involving the double w and the double j when these letters are used before or after consonants.

Other sets of mistakes indicate proofreading errors.

CCT News also contacted Karistu Abela, who earlier this year had confirmed to The Times that he was finalising work on a Maltese language system for Windows and Macintosh. He said that although his work is complete, he is reluctant to release it before a team from the Akkademja tal-Malti completes an exhaustive re-check of almost 500,000 words. The first proofreading has already been combed by a Maltese language expert.

Asked what was the most essential aspect of a spell checker Mr Abela replied: "it must be error-free". He added that he has not rushed his work because he feels a grave responsibility towards children and youngsters still learning how to write in Maltese. Once the vernacular media and the general public have a reliable and foolproof computerised spelling device, the ripple effect on good spelling will be enhanced.