Gozitan dialects
{{Short description|Dialect of Maltese}}
{{refimprove|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Gozitan
| nativename = {{lang|mt-MT|Għawdxi}}
| pronunciation = [/ˈaːw.t͡ʃɪ/]
| states = Malta
| region = Gozo
| speakers = About 32,000
| ref =
| refname =
| familycolor = Afro-Asiatic
| fam2 = Semitic
| fam3 = West Semitic
| fam4 = Central Semitic
| fam5 = Arabic
| fam6 = Maghrebi Arabic
| fam7 = Pre-HilalianMartine Vanhove, [https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00009708/document « 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
| fam8 = Sicilian Arabic
| fam9 = Maltese
| dia1 = Għarb
| dia2 = Xewkija
| dia3 = Żebbuġ
| dia4 = Nadur
| dia5 = Għajnsielem
| lingua = 12-AAC-cag
| glotto = gozo1238
| script = Latin (Maltese alphabet)
| isoexception = dialect
| map = Location_Gozo_Malta.svg
| mapcaption = Gozo Island, Malta
}}
The Gozitan dialects are rural dialects of Maltese spoken in the island of Gozo. The vowel shift of *ā (phonologically a) to o or u is their main differentiating trait. {{Cite journal |last1=Klimiuk |first1=Maciej |last2=Lipnicka |first2=Maria |date=2022 |editor-last=Cohen |editor-first=Yoram |title=The Gozitan Dialect of Xewkija: Three Recorded Dialogues and Some Preliminary Remarks |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1350843539 |journal=Telling of Olden Kings |series=The IOS Annual |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |volume= |issue=22 |pages=146–147 |isbn=978-90-04-52679-2 |oclc=1350843539 |via=The Wikipedia Library}}
Vocabulary
Comparison of some words in Standard Maltese and in the Gozitan dialects:{{Cite web |title=Il-Malti Kontra L-Għawdxi – Is-Sbuħija Tad-Djalett |url=https://www.gwida.mt/mt/il-malti-kontra-l-ghawdxi-is-sbuhija-tad-djalett |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=www.gwida.mt |date=26 January 2019 |language=mt}}
| class="wikitable" | ||
| English | Maltese | Gozitan |
|---|---|---|
| pills | pilloli | pinuri |
| shy | staħa | regħex |
| biscuit | biskuttel | fettul |
| mattress | saqqu | mitraħ |
| Gozo | Għawdex | Għawdix |
| dizzy | sturdament | mejt |
| bunch of | għanqud | xenxul |
| small table | tavolina | mejdina |
| internal hall door | antiporta | boxxla |
| to spoil someone | fsied | ħajm |
| silver foil | fidda | smontor |
| Yes | iva | ijwa |
See also
References
Further reading
- Aquilina, Joseph, and B.S.J. Isserlin. 1981. A Survey of Contemporary Dialectal Maltese. Volume I: Gozo. Leeds: B.S.J. Isserlin.
- Farrugia, Ruben. 2021. ‘The Acoustic Vowel Space of Gozitan Naduri and Sannati Dialects’. In Semitic Dialects and Dialectology: Fieldwork—Community—Change, edited by Maciej Klimiuk, 197–211. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing.
- [https://www.gwida.mt/mt/il-malti-kontra-l-ghawdxi-is-sbuhija-tad-djalett Gwida] Il-Malti Kontra L-Għawdxi – Is-Sbuħija Tad-Djalett.
- Klimiuk, Maciej. 2021. ‘Language Questionnaire for Gozo, Malta’. Folia Orientalia 58: 111–89
- Klimiuk, Maciej. 2022. ‘Vowel Length in Maltese Dialects of Gozo’. In Semitic Dialects and Dialectology: Fieldwork—Community—Change, edited by Maciej Klimiuk, 213–27. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing.
- Klimiuk, Maciej, and Ruben Farrugia. 2022. ‘A Text in the Maltese Dialect of Sannat (Gozo) with Grammatical Remarks’. In Semitic Dialects and Dialectology: Fieldwork—Community—Change, edited by Maciej Klimiuk, 381–96. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing.
- Klimiuk, Maciej, and Maria Lipnicka. 2019. ‘Dialectology in Practice: Notes from Fieldwork in Gozo’. In Arabic Dialectology: Methodology and Field Research, edited by Werner Arnold and Maciej Klimiuk, 23–32. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
- Klimiuk, Maciej, and Maria Lipnicka. 2022a. ‘Fishing and Cyclone Cutting: A Text from the Area of Għasri within the Dialect Continuum of Gozo (Malta)’. Mediterranean Language Review 29: 19–52.
- Klimiuk, Maciej, and Maria Lipnicka. 2022b. ‘The Gozitan Dialect of Xewkija: Three Recorded Dialogues and Some Preliminary Remarks’. The Israel Oriental Studies Annual 22: 145–77.
- Lipnicka, Maria. 2022. ‘Pausal Diphthongisation in Gozitan Dialects Compared to Zaḥlé, Lebanon’. In Semitic Dialects and Dialectology: Fieldwork—Community—Change, edited by Maciej Klimiuk, 229–41. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing.
{{Maltese dialects}}
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