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Jien Qed Nisma' Sew, Jew?: Omofoni Komuni fil-Malti

Jien Qed Nisma' Sew, Jew?: Omofoni Komuni fil-Malti

OLS Community Manager Kris írta időpontban
Válaszok szám: 1

Hekk kif il-lingwi jevolvu u jinbidlu, insibu li xi kliem xi darba kienu distinti fil-ħoss, permezz tal-mogħdija taż-żmien u l-evoluzzjoni tal-lingwa, jibda jinstema' l-istess. Eżempju tipiku fil-lingwa Ingliża, biex nieħdu eżempju li aħna lkoll familjari miegħu, huma l-kliem “night” u “knight”. Huma jinstemgħu l-istess issa, imma l-ortografija tagħhom turina li għandhom storja differenti ta’ pronunzja.

F' din il-blog, se nesploraw lista ta’ omofoni bil-lingwa Maltija. Ejja ħa mmorru!

Dar (House) vs Dahar (Back) vs Dar (He Turned)

Sitwazzjoni komuni ħafna li kull min jitgħallem il-Malti żgur jiltaqa' magħha hija dik ta’ hawn fuq. Dawn it-tliet kelmiet kollha jintużaw f ’konversazzjonijiet kuljum imma kollha kemm huma għandhom tifsira differenti. Imma għala jinstemgħu l-istess? Fl-Għarbi, il-bażi tal-maġġoranza tal-ilsien Malti, dan il-kliem kollu għandu pronunzja distinta. F’każ ta "Dahar", per eżempju, il-/h/ għadha tinħass, waqt li bil-Malti ntilfet maż-żmien. Minkejja dan, hemm evidenza li fil-fatt konna nippronunzjawha din l-ittra. Fosthom insibu l-poeżija ta’ Ġan Franġisk Bonamico mis-seklu 17 fejn il-kelma “żahar” tirrima mal-kelma “baħar”.

Sema ’(sema’) vs Sema (Sema)

Kif tistgħu taraw, li niltaqgħu ma' omofoni bejn nomi u verbi fis-singular maskili tat-tielet persuna huwa pjuttost komuni. Id-differenza fl-ortografija bejniethom hija l-appostrofu fit-tarf ta’ "sema’" (sema’) li jirrappreżenta l-ittra "għ". Bħal fil-każ tal-biċċa l-kbira tal-omofoni, l-uniku mod kif tista' tgħid liema wieħed qed jintuża meta persuna titkellem huwa permezz tal-kuntest.

Xemgħa (candle) kontra Xema ’(wax)

Dan l-omofonu huwa ftit iktar kumplikat għas-sempliċi raġuni li dawn iż-żewġ kelmiet ġejjin mill-istess għerq, li jfisser li dak li jfissru huwa relatat. Din tista ’tkun l-omofona trickiest fil-lingwa għax dawn iż-żewġ kelmiet jistgħu jintużaw f’ kuntesti simili. Bħal fil-każ tal-maġġoranza ta ’omofoni oħra, il-kuntest tagħha se jgħidlek x’tifsira għandhom il-ħsejjes li qed tisma’, għalkemm huwa aktar komuni li l-kelma “xemgħa” tintuża fid-diskors komuni.


Bonus: Baħħar (he sailed) vs Baħħar (sailor)

Issa, naf x ’qed taħseb – dan huwa omonimu, mhux omofonu! Ukoll, iva! Iżda dan mhux dejjem kien il-każ. Qabel id-Deċiżjonijiet Nru. 1 li ħareġ il-Kunsill tal-Ilsien Malti, dawn iż-żewġ kelmiet ġew miktuba b'mod differenti. L-Â ħadet post fit-tieni vokali f’ baħħar (sailor) saret "a". Għaliex ittieħdet din id-deċiżjoni? Biex il-kitba bil-Malti - lingwa kemmxejn ikkumplikata - tkun aktar faċli. Peress li l-Malti huwa lingwa bbażata fuq sistema grammatikali Semitika li tibbaża l-ħolqien tal-kliem bi 3 jew 4 konsonanti fil-bażi (f ’dan il-każ, B-Ħ-R), din hija sitwazzjoni li sseħħ bejn it-3 persuna singular maskili u nomi relatati ma’ impjiegi (nomi tal-aġent) li ġejjin mill-istess bażi jew għerq konsonanti.

Imma kif nistgħu insolvuha din l-imbierka “problema” tal-omofoni? Hija problema li qatt ma tista' tiġi solvuta! Anke għalija bħala persuna li l-Malti għaliha hija l-lingwa materna, kultant id-distinzjoni bejn żewġ kelmiet tista' tkun diffiċli. Kulma trid tagħmel huwa li tipprattika l-Malti mitkellem tiegħek u jekk ma jkollokx l-opportunità li tagħmel dan ma ' persuna li titkellem bil-Malti jew tagħti titwila lejn din il-blog tal-Malti.

-- Kris, Community Manager - Malti


Válasz erre: OLS Community Manager Kris

Re: Jien Qed Nisma' Sew, Jew?: Omofoni Komuni fil-Malti

OLS Community Manager Kris írta időpontban
As languages evolve and change, there are bound to be instances where words which were once distinct in sound, somehow through the passage of time and the evolution of a language, begin to sound the same. A typical example in the English language, to take an example that we are all familiar with, is the words “night” and “knight”. They sound the same now, but their spelling shows us that they have a different history of pronunciation.

In this blog, we will explore a list of homophones in the Maltese language. Let’s go!

Dar (House) vs Dahar (Back) vs Dar (He turned)

A very common homophone situation that anyone learning Maltese will encounter is the one above. All of these three words are used in daily conversations but all of them have a different meaning. But why do they sound the same? Well, in Arabic, the base for the majority of the Maltese language, all of these words have distinct pronunciations. In case of “dahar” for example, the /h/ is still pronounced, whilst in Maltese, it was lost over time. That being said, there is evidence that we used to indeed pronounce this letter, including a poem by Ġan Franġisk Bonamico from the 17th century where the word “żahar” rhymes with the word “baħar”.


Sema’ (He heard) vs Sema (Sky)

As you can see, encountering homophones between nouns and verbs in the third person masculine singular is quite common. The difference in spelling between them is the apostrophe at the end of “sema’” (he heard) which represents the letter ‘għ’. As in the case of most homophones, the only way you can tell which one is being used when a person speak is through the context.

Xemgħa (candle) versus Xema’ (Wax)

This homophone is one of the trickier ones to deal with for the simple reason that both of these words come from the same root, which means that what they mean is related. This might be the trickiest homophone in the language because both of these words can be used in similar contexts. As with the majority of other homophones, its context will tell you what meaning the sounds that you’re hearing have, although it’s more common for the word “xemgħa” to be used in common speech.


Bonus: Baħħar (sailing) vs Baħħar (sailor)

Now, I know what you’re thinking– this is a homonym, not a homophone! Well, yes! But this wasn’t always the case. Before Deċiżjonijiet Nru. 1 which was released by Il-Kunsill tal-Ilsien Malti, these two words were spelt differently. An â replaced the second letter in baħħar (sailor). Why was this decision made? To make writing in Maltese - a somewhat complicated language - easier. Since Maltese is a language based on a semitic grammatical system that bases the creation of words with 3 or 4 consonants at the base (in this case, B-Ħ-R), this is a common situation that occurs between the 3rd person masculine singular and nouns related to jobs coming from the same consonant base or root.

How do we solve this “problem” of homophones? Well, it’s a problem that will never be solved! Even for me as a Maltese speaker, sometimes distinguishing between two words can be difficult. All you need to do is practice your spoken Maltese and if you don’t have the opportunity to do so with a real life Maltese person or just want to have some options, make sure to have a look at this blog from a few months ago to get some insights into the language!

Kris, Community Manager - Maltese