Cottonera dialect
Cottonera dialect | |
---|---|
Kottoneran | |
Pronunciation | [kɔˈtːɔnɛrɐn] |
Region | Three Cities and surrounding area |
Native speakers | About 10,000 (2014) |
Afro-Asiatic
| |
Maltese alphabet | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
One of the dialects of the Maltese language is the Cottonera dialect, known to locals as Kottoneran.[1] Many inhabitants of the Three Cities speak the local dialect, and thus roughly amount to 10,000 speakers.
The most distinctive feature of this dialect is its treatment of vowels i and u after the silent consonant għ. In Standard Maltese, and other dialects, these vowels are realized as diphthongs after għ, however, in most situations, they remain monophthongs in the Cottonera dialect.
The vowel I after Għ
The vowel i after għ remains an /i/ as in the English meet, instead of diphthongizing to /ai/ as in the English like.
English | Standard Maltese | Cottonera dialect |
---|---|---|
my/mine | tiegħi
[tiai] |
tiegħi
[ti:i] |
he curses | jidgħi
[jidai] |
jidgħi
[jidi] |
with me | miegħi
[miai] |
miegħi
[mi:i] |
This dialectal change does not occur with the words għid (easter), erbgħin (forty), sebgħin (seventy), and disgħin (ninety).
The vowel U after Għ
The vowel u after għ remains an /u:/ as in the English loot, instead of diphthongizing to /au/ as in the English town.
English | Standard Maltese | Cottonera dialect |
---|---|---|
his | tiegħu
[tiau] |
tiegħu
[ti:u] |
sent (passive participle) | mibgħut
[mibaut] |
mibgħut
[mibu:t] |
a piece of wood | għuda
[auda] |
għuda
[u:da] |
we can/could | nistgħu
[nistau] |
nistgħu
[nistu] |
we sell | nbigħu
[mbiau] |
nbigħu
[mbi:u] |
with him | miegħu
[miau] |
miegħu
[mi:u] |
The vowel E after Għ
Although in contemporary Maltese (21st Century), the combination /għe/ sometimes produces an /a/ vowel, the Cottonera dialect has widely kept the /e~i/ realization comparable to Standard Maltese.
English | Standard Maltese | Cottonera dialect | Contemporary Maltese |
---|---|---|---|
she remained | baqgħet
[baʔet] |
baqgħet
[baʔet] / [baqit] |
baqgħet
[baʔat] |
she fell | waqgħet
[waʔet] |
waqgħet
[waʔet] / [waqit] |
waqgħet
[waʔat] |
he tired them | għejjiehom
[ejji:om] |
għejjiehom
[ejji:om] |
għejjiehom
[ajji:om] |
The consonant Q
In Cottonera, most notably among the eldest demographic of Senglea, the consonant q is still pronounced as a voiceless uvular plosive /q/, as its counterpart in Classical Arabic. This sound survived in Modern Maltese only through the Cottonera dialect, instead of being replaced with the Standard glottal stop /ʔ/. However, it is important to note that it is severely in decline.[2]
English | Standard Maltese | Cottonera dialect
(archaic pronunciation) |
---|---|---|
never | qatt
[ʔatt] |
qatt
[qatt] |
we reside | noqogħdu
[noʔo:du] |
noqogħdu
[noqo:du] |
artichokes | qaqoċċ
[ʔaʔotʃtʃ] |
qaqoċċ
[qaqotʃtʃ] |
poverty | faqar
[faʔar] |
faqar
[faqar] |
he reached | laħaq
[lahaʔ] |
laħaq
[lahaq] |
References
- ^ Sciriha, Lydia (1997). Id-djalett tal-Kottonera : analizi socjolingwistika (in Maltese). Daritama Publications. ISBN 978-99909-68-26-2.
- ^ Vella, Olvin; Mifsud, Manwel (2006). "Kollu Malti : program 9" (in Maltese).
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