The Qormi dialect (Qormi dialect: Qurmi, Standard Maltese: Qormi) is a dialect of the Maltese language spoken by inhabitants of Qormi. It is affectionately known as it-Tuf, or in standard Maltese it-Taf, because of the difference in the Maltese word taf 'you know'.[2] The most distinctive feature of the Qormi dialect is its treatment of vowels.
| Qormi dialect | |
|---|---|
| Qurmi | |
| Region | Qormi and surrounding area |
| Maltese alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| IETF | mt-u-sd-mt43 |
 Qormi in Malta | |
Phonology
editThe Qormi dialect has the following vowels:[3]: 24
Short vowels
edit| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Open | a |
Long vowels
edit| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | ii | uu | |
| Mid | ee | oo | |
| Open | aa |
Vowels in the first syllables are the ones most often affected, but sometimes medial vowels are changed as well. Final vowels, on the other hand, are usually identical to those of the standard language.
The vowel A
editThe Maltese vowel a corresponds to the vowel /u/ in the Qormi dialect. If at the end of a word, it is realized as /o/.[4]
| English | Maltese | Qormi dialect |
|---|---|---|
| steeple (church tower) | kampnar | kampnur |
| seriousness | serjetà | serjetò |
| seminary | seminarju | seminurju |
| potato | patata | patuta |
| fog | ċpar | ċpur |
| house | dar | dur |
The vowel O
editThe vowel o in Maltese often corresponds to /u/ in the Qormi dialect.[4] For example:
| English | Maltese | Qormi dialect |
|---|---|---|
| we went | morna | murna |
| go (imperative 3rd pers. pl.) | morru | murru |
| spring coil | molla | mulla |
| car | karozza | karuzza |
| glue | kolla | kulla |
| postage stamp | bolla | bulla |
| St George | San Ġorġ | San Ġurġ |
This form happens to almost all words that have the vowel o in the first syllable, although there may be exceptions.
Vowels after Għ
editThe vowels after the għ change their sound as well.
- The syllable għi, instead of as /aj/, is pronounced as /ej/. For example, in the dialect, għid il-kbir 'Easter' is pronounced like ejd il-kbir instead of ajd il-kbir in the standard.
- The syllable għe, instead of with /e/, is pronounced with /a/. For example, in the dialect, qiegħed 'to stay' is pronounced like qijad instead of qijed in the standard.
- The syllable għu, instead of as /ow/, is pronounced as /ew/. For example, in the dialect, għuda 'piece of wood' is pronounced like ewda instead of owda in the standard.
Exceptions
editAlthough there may be exceptions, such as kollha 'all of it', which is pronounced like killha in the dialect, and meta 'when' like mita, one must note that the vowels are almost never lengthened, and their accent remains the normal Maltese one.
References
edit- ^ Martine Vanhove, « De quelques traits prehilaliens en maltais », in: Peuplement et arabisation au Maghreb cccidental : dialectologie et histoire, Casa Velazquez - Universidad de Zaragoza (1998), pp.97-108
- ^ Borg, Albert (2011). "Lectal variation in Maltese". Variation and Change. The Dynamics of Maltese in Space, Time and Society. Akademie Verlag. p. 9–31. doi:10.1524/9783050057200.9. ISBN 978-3-05-005720-0.
- ^ Hulst, Harry van der (2018). Asymmetries in vowel harmony: a representational account. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198813576.
- ^ a b Pascale, Natalie (2011). "Maltese dialects: the effects of globalization and Changing attitudes on Malta's linguistic diversity" (PDF). Omertaa: Journal of Applied Anthropology. ISSN 1784-3308. Retrieved 2 February 2024.