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
RegionQormi and surrounding area
Maltese alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3
IETFmt-u-sd-mt43
Qormi in Malta

Phonology

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The Qormi dialect has the following vowels:[3]: 24 

Short vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i u
Open a

Long vowels

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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

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The 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

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The 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

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The vowels after the 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

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Although 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

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  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Hulst, Harry van der (2018). Asymmetries in vowel harmony: a representational account. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198813576.
  4. ^ 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.