82-550: Għargħur ( Maltese : Ħal Għargħur ) is a village in the Northern Region of Malta . It is situated on a hilltop between two valleys, and has a population of 2,768, as of March 2014. In Malta, each village celebrates a different patron saint or two depending on the number of churches in the locality. Each church is dedicated to a different saint. For this reason, some villages celebrate more than one "festa" per year. The village band clubs, at times in collaboration with
164-416: A large number of borrowings from Romance sources ( Sicilian , Italian , and French ) and, more recently, Germanic ones (from English ). The historical source of modern Maltese vocabulary is 52% Italian/Sicilian, 32% Arabic/Siculo-Arabic, and 6% English, with some of the remainder being French. Today, most function words are Arabic, so despite only making up about a third of the vocabulary, they are
246-463: A painting on wood that featured a crucified Christ and St. Patrick came ashore in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq. Promptly, the people of Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq took the painting to this cave and the demons left. A spring found in this cave was said to be miraculous; however, the faithful stopped drinking from it after lepers started bathing in it in order to heal. The painting can still be seen in the cave, a mass is said here once
328-408: A parish church, despite the fact that officially it had been re-integrated into Naxxar. With the death of Rev. Borg in 1610, Bishop Gargallo felt that he could finally confirm Ħal Għargħur's status as a separate parish. The residents of Ħal Għargħur, most of whom were farmers, promised that they would give part of their produce (cotton, wheat and barley) for the preservation of the parish. Ħal Għargħur
410-655: A red star on the silver part. The motto is ' Excelsior ' meaning "higher". The motto tells that the town is on the highest hill in Malta. In the Maltese dictionary Lexicon , of 1796, Vassalli gives a description of Għargħur in Italian as "Bel Villaggio alla parte settentrionale di Malta" ("A pretty village in the northern part of Malta"). In modern times a controversy has risen over the real name of this village - whether it should be called Gargur or Ħal Għargħur. The original name
492-941: A sample of 1,821 Quranic Arabic roots were found in Maltese, considerably lower than that found in Moroccan (58%) and Lebanese (72%) varieties of Arabic. An analysis of the etymology of the 41,000 words in Aquilina's Maltese–English Dictionary shows that 32% of the Maltese vocabulary is of Arabic origin, although another source claims 40%. Usually, words expressing basic concepts and ideas, such as raġel (man), mara (woman), tifel (boy), dar (house), xemx (sun), sajf (summer), are of Arabic origin. Moreover, belles-lettres in Maltese aim to maximise their use of vocabulary belonging to this group. Notes: * from Arabic استقصى ( istaqṣā ) "to investigate", ** from Arabic اشتاق ( ištāqa ) "to yearn for ". Naxxar Naxxar ( Maltese : In-Naxxar )
574-508: A year, when a small feast is held. Għargħur is the home of the Dwal Ġodda Theatre Company, whose aim is to present Maltese theatre in its cultural setting. Dwal Ġodda's repertoire includes works of members of the group, mainly the prolific playwright Martin Gauci, as well as classic plays by international dramatists and work by living writers. The village's motto is Excelsior , which also used in
656-469: A ḡ fir lanā ḏ unūbanā , kamā na ḡ firu na ḥ nu ʔ ay ḍ an lil-muḏnibīn ʔ ilaynā. wa lā tud ḵ ilna fī tajāriba , lākin najjinā min a š-š irrīr. ʔā mīn hab lan lahmo d-sunqonan yowmono washbuq lan hawbayn wahtohayn aykano doph hnan shbaqan l-hayobayn lo ta`lan l-nesyuno elo paso lan men bisho Amin Although the original vocabulary of Maltese was Siculo-Arabic , it has incorporated
738-562: Is a town and local council in the Northern Region of Malta . The population in March 2014 was 14,891. The Naxxar Church is dedicated to Our Lady of Victories . The annual village feast is celebrated on 8 September. It formerly hosted the Maltese International Trade Fair at Maltese International Trade Fair Grounds . Naxxar is spread over 11 square kilometres (4 sq mi). The whole locality comprises
820-582: Is because in the vicinity the Arabs had formed a village that they called Hal Muselmiet, which means 'the village of the Muslims'. For this reason the Christians started another village – that of the Christians and so the name of Naxxar. Although it has never been clearly explained where the name Naxxar originated, it is a clear fact that there is a close tie with the tradition that the people of Naxxar were
902-425: Is built offers a natural shelter to its inhabitants. In fact, in early times the village was used to reconnoitre the movements of the enemy. Because this height has a plain which goes right down to the sea, we find that three forms of defence were built through the ages – those along the sea such as towers , entrenchments, batteries , redoubts and beachposts – as a physical resistance to those attempting to land from
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#1732791537198984-607: Is considered a North African dialect of Colloquial Arabic that was brought to Malta by Arab and Berber ( Aghlabids ), who in 869/870 CE seized control of the island from the Byzantine Empire. It is also said that it descents from Siculo-Arabic, which developed as a Maghrebi Arabic dialect in the Emirate of Sicily between 831 and 1091. As a result of the Norman invasion of Malta and the subsequent re-Christianization of
1066-587: Is descended from Siculo-Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family . In the course of its history , Maltese has been influenced by Sicilian, Italian, to a lesser extent by French , and more recently by English. Today, the core vocabulary (including both the most commonly used vocabulary and function words ) is Semitic, with a large number of loanwords . Due to the Sicilian influence on Siculo-Arabic, Maltese has many language contact features and
1148-849: Is distinctive word-medially and word-finally in Maltese. The distinction is most rigid intervocalically after a stressed vowel. Stressed, word-final closed syllables with short vowels end in a long consonant, and those with a long vowel in a single consonant; the only exception is where historic *ʕ and *ɣ meant the compensatory lengthening of the succeeding vowel. Some speakers have lost length distinction in clusters. The two nasals /m/ and /n/ assimilate for place of articulation in clusters. /t/ and /d/ are usually dental , whereas /t͡s d͡z s z n r l/ are all alveolar. /t͡s d͡z/ are found mostly in words of Italian origin, retaining length (if not word-initial). /d͡z/ and /ʒ/ are only found in loanwords, e.g. /ɡad͡zd͡zɛtta/ "newspaper" and /tɛlɛˈviʒin/ "television". The pharyngeal fricative /ħ/
1230-400: Is in a dilapidated state. Villa Castro, formerly Palazzo Castro , is a Knights-period country residence which has been renovated and developed for modern housing in the 21st century. The outer gardens were demolished and developed into other surrounding buildings along the years. The head office of Quality Schools International , an international school organization,
1312-654: Is less distant from its Siculo-Arabic ancestor than is Standard Maltese. Voiceless stops are only lightly aspirated and voiced stops are fully voiced. Voicing is carried over from the last segment in obstruent clusters ; thus, two- and three-obstruent clusters are either voiceless or voiced throughout, e.g. /niktbu/ is realised [ˈniɡdbu] "we write" (similar assimilation phenomena occur in languages like French or Czech). Maltese has final-obstruent devoicing of voiced obstruents and word-final voiceless stops have no audible release , making voiceless–voiced pairs phonetically indistinguishable in word-final position. Gemination
1394-465: Is made up of four main panels depicting the coat of arms of Our Lady, Patroness of Naxxar; the village coat of arms; the coat of arms of Pope Pius X and the coat of arms of the Zammit family who were the benefactors of this door. In 1952, this door was dismantled, renovated and cleaned by the blacksmith Mastru Lucens Agius. The expenses involved were once more paid for by the Zammit family. The statue of
1476-747: Is most commonly described as a language with a large number of loanwords. Maltese has historically been classified in various ways, with some claiming that it was derived from ancient Punic (another Semitic language) instead of Siculo-Arabic, and others claiming it is one of the Berber languages (another language family within Afroasiatic). Less plausibly, Fascist Italy classified it as regional Italian . Urban varieties of Maltese are closer to Standard Maltese than rural varieties, which have some characteristics that distinguish them from Standard Maltese. They tend to show some archaic features such as
1558-404: Is part of the supercontinent of Eurasia'), while not understanding a single word of a basic sentence such as Ir-raġel qiegħed fid-dar ('The man is in the house'), which would be easily understood by any Arabic speaker. At that time Malta was thoroughly Arabized. The conquerors brought to the island the vulgar (colloquial) variation of Arabic, not the classical one (Classical Arabic), Therefore
1640-528: Is pronounced as dor. Th interjection "ħûri" is commonly used in this dialect, where "ħares" or "ara" would be used in Standard Maltese. The following are some words as spoken in the Għargħur dialect: One of the legends found in Għargħur is that of St. Patrick's Cave (Għar San Brinkat). It was believed, in the old times, that demons had infested this cave. Thus, people were afraid to pass by it. Once,
1722-510: Is said to them in Maltese. This reported level of asymmetric intelligibility is considerably lower than the mutual intelligibility found between other varieties of Arabic. Maltese has always been written in the Latin script , the earliest surviving example dating from the late Middle Ages . It is the only standardised Semitic language written exclusively in the Latin script. The origins of
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#17327915371981804-860: Is the Lord's Prayer in Maltese compared to other Semitic languages ( Arabic and Syriac ) with cognates highlighted: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen Ħobżna ta' kuljum agħtina llum . Aħfrilna dnubietna , bħal ma naħfru lil min hu ħati għalina . U la ddaħħalniex fit-tiġrib , iżda eħlisna mid-deni. Ammen ʔabāna , alla ḏ i fī as-samāwāt , li- yataqaddas ismuka , li- yaʔti malakūtuka, li-takun ma šī ʔatuka, kamā fī as-samāʔi ka ḏ ālika ʕa lā al-ar ḍ . ḵ ubzana kafāfanā ʔaʕṭi nā alyawm , wa
1886-425: Is velar ( [ x ] ), uvular ( [ χ ] ), or glottal ( [ h ] ) for some speakers. Maltese has five short vowels, /ɐ ɛ ɪ ɔ ʊ/ , written a e i o u; six long vowels, /ɐː ɛː ɪː iː ɔː ʊː/ , written a, e, ie, i, o, u, all of which (with the exception of ie /ɪː/ ) can be known to represent long vowels in writing only if they are followed by an orthographic għ or h (otherwise, one needs to know
1968-614: The Italo-Normans ended Arab rule of the islands, a written form of the language was not developed for a long time after the Arabs' expulsion in the middle of the thirteenth century. Under the rule of the Knights Hospitaller , both French and Italian were used for official documents and correspondence. During the British colonial period , the use of English was encouraged through education, with Italian being regarded as
2050-527: The diaspora . Most speakers also use English. The largest diaspora community of Maltese speakers is in Australia , with 36,000 speakers reported in 2006 (down from 45,000 in 1996, and expected to decline further). The Maltese linguistic community in Tunisia originated in the 18th century. Numbering several thousand in the 19th century, it was reported to be only 100 to 200 people as of 2017. Maltese
2132-425: The "h", which is otherwise silent in Maltese. Another feature is an untrilled "R", a letter which is normally trilled in standard Maltese. A word which is associated with this dialect is "ħuuri", which means "look". In the Ħal Għargħur dialect, a kite is called "ħamiema (ħemiema)" (pigeon), while in standard Maltese it is called tajra. The traditional Maltese female garb, the għonnella , was called stamijna in
2214-450: The 1980s, together with a grammar, the Regole per la Lingua Maltese , attributed to a French knight named Thezan. The first systematic lexicon is that of Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis , who also wrote the first systematic grammar of the language and proposed a standard orthography . Ethnologue reports a total of 530,000 Maltese speakers: 450,000 in Malta and 79,000 in
2296-961: The Baptist ; the chapel of St. James the Apostle ; Santa Maria tax-Xagħra; the Assumption of the Virgin in Magħtab which was built in the 18th century; the Annunciation of the Virgin at Salina which was built in the 16th century; the church of St. Michael the Archangel in Salina; that of St. John the Evangelist and that of St. Mary of the Angels in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq. The actual area where Naxxar
2378-482: The Baptist's chapel is considered to be the first chapel built in Għargħur, even though it was rebuilt in the 17th century and the existing chapel is not the medieval original. Another two medieval chapels were those of St Nicholas and St Bartholomew in the village of Għargħur; those of St Catherine and St Gregory (both in Xwieki); and St Mary Magdalene (Madliena) in the surrounding countryside. Prior to 1598, Ħal Għargħur
2460-418: The Għargħur dialect. The silent h ("akka") in Maltese was previously spoken in this dialect, and it still is by a few elder members of the community. Some words that in Standard Maltese are homophones are not homophones in the Għargħur dialect. Two such words are ħajt and dar. Ħajt (thread) is pronounced as ħajt while ħajt (wall) is pronounced as ħæjt. Dar (home) is pronounced as dôr while dar (he turned around)
2542-549: The Levant. The Norman conquest in 1091 , followed by the expulsion of the Muslims , complete by 1249, permanently isolated the vernacular from its Arabic source, creating the conditions for its evolution into a distinct language. In contrast to Sicily, where Siculo-Arabic became extinct and was replaced by Sicilian , the vernacular in Malta continued to develop alongside Italian, eventually replacing it as official language in 1934, alongside English. The first written reference to
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2624-575: The Magi . Other paintings which show the Madonna and Child, St. Cajetan, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Our Saviour and Our Lady of Sorrows are the works of the Maltese painter Franġisku Zahra . In the sacristy hangs the antique painting showing Our Lady of the Rosary which was painted on wood by Gio Maria Abela in 1595. The main door, which is made of bronze, is dated to 1913 and is the work of Pio Cellini. The door
2706-508: The Maltese language are attributed to the arrival, early in the 11th century, of settlers from neighbouring Sicily, where Siculo-Arabic was spoken, reversing the Fatimid Caliphate 's conquest of the island at the end of the 9th century. This claim has been corroborated by genetic studies, which show that contemporary Maltese people share common ancestry with Sicilians and Calabrians , with little genetic input from North Africa and
2788-508: The Maltese language differs from Classical Arabic in the same way as the Arabic dialects differ from Classical Arabic. the Maltese language also comprises a considerable number of Maghrebi features, in other ways it can be closer to other Arabic dialects, or closer to Classical Arabic than to the other dialects as in the word ra ('to see'). Arabic supplies between 32% and 40% of the language's vocabulary. Żammit (2000) found that 40% of
2870-485: The Maltese language is in a will of 1436, where it is called lingua maltensi . The oldest known document in Maltese, Il-Kantilena ( Xidew il-Qada ) by Pietru Caxaro , dates from the 15th century. The earliest known Maltese dictionary was a 16th-century manuscript entitled "Maltese-Italiano"; it was included in the Biblioteca Maltese of Mifsud in 1764, but is now lost. A list of Maltese words
2952-645: The Maltese vocabulary, especially words that denote basic ideas and the function words , but about half of the vocabulary is derived from standard Italian and Sicilian; and English words make up between 6% and 20% of the vocabulary. A 2016 study shows that, in terms of basic everyday language, speakers of Maltese are able to understand around a third of what is said to them in Tunisian Arabic and Libyan Arabic , which are Maghrebi Arabic dialects related to Siculo-Arabic, whereas speakers of Tunisian Arabic and Libyan Arabic are able to understand about 40% of what
3034-660: The Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail. L-Unjoni hija bbażata fuq il-valuri tar-rispett għad-dinjità tal-bniedem, il-libertà, id-demokrazija, l-ugwaljanza, l-istat tad-dritt u r-rispett għad-drittijiet tal-bniedem, inklużi d-drittijiet ta' persuni li jagħmlu parti minn minoranzi. Dawn il-valuri huma komuni għall-Istati Membri f'soċjetà fejn jipprevalu l-pluraliżmu, in-non-diskriminazzjoni, it-tolleranza, il-ġustizzja, is-solidarjetà u l-ugwaljanza bejn in-nisa u l-irġiel. Below
3116-530: The Middle Ages, in an area now called Tar-Rħieb (Friars' (old Maltese) place). There is no evidence as to when and why this abbey was abandoned, but the reason could have been the constant pirate attacks on the village, which led to a severe depopulation of both Għargħur and nearby settlements. During these raids, settlements were looted and those considered valuable enough were taken into slavery. Indeed, in this period houses in Għargħur were built so as to allow
3198-590: The Vitorja, whose feast is celebrated on 8 September, was imported from Rome whilst the statues of the Good Friday Procession are the work of a Maltese craftsman. Naxxar was one of the first villages which had the statues of the Passion of Our Lord and in fact it is believed that the procession started being held just after 1750. On 9 November 1787, the body of the martyr St. Vittorio was brought from
3280-579: The back, converting it into a garden, between 1898 and 1906. Palazzo Nasciaro is an 18th-century palace built during the Order of St. John that saw different adaptive reuse throughout the years. It is a prime example of late baroque architecture in Naxxar. Throughout its history, it was the residence of architect Francesco Sammut and later of his son Giovanni Sammut, it was the Lieutenant's house in
3362-612: The birth registers of Naxxar, at the time when the two villages fell under Naxxar, it was written next to the person's name whether he was from Naxxar, Mosta or Ħal Għargħur. The new status of Ħal Għargħur was suspended in 1601 by the Bishop's curia. This was done because Borg's health was deteriorating due to this problem. The Ħal Għargħur community complained about the situation to the Inquisitor, Monsigneur Verallo, who decided in 1604 that Saint Bartholomew's church could be used again as
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3444-469: The celebration of the saint's day , by visiting the church and the well-known fireworks display. There is little written information about the people of Għargħur in earlier days. One source of information is the Dejma list, which mentions Għargħur in conjunction with Ħal Samudi (Madliena). In the Middle Ages, Għargħur was most probably a very small rural community. An abbey was established in Ħal Għargħur in
3526-605: The cemetery of St. Calepodio of Rome and is found in the altar in the choir. Some of the sculptures and façades were made by Angelo Quatromanni. In the larger Naxxar area, there are various chapels. These include the chapel of the Immaculate Conception which was built in the 18th century; St Lucy's chapel; the chapel of the Shipwreck of St. Paul situated at San Pawl tat-Tarġa; Church of the Nativity of St. John
3608-591: The coat of arms of the US state of New York. Maltese language Maltese (Maltese: Malti , also L-Ilsien Malti or Lingwa Maltija ) is a Semitic language derived from late medieval Sicilian Arabic with Romance superstrata . It is spoken by the Maltese people and is the national language of Malta , and the only official Semitic and Afroasiatic language of the European Union . Maltese
3690-405: The dialect started dying out. There are various features associated with this dialect. One of them is the pronunciation of the letter "Q" in certain words, namely "daħq", "ċagħaq", "qagħaq" and "sriedaq", as a voiceless uvular plosive (similar to a "k"). In standard Maltese , the Q is pronounced as a glottal stop. Another feature, which however now has largely disappeared, is the pronunciation of
3772-399: The evenings on the days prior to the "festa", accompanied by spectacular fireworks, together with the nougat and ice cream stalls distributed around the village. On the day of the feast of St. Bartholomew, there is a procession around Għargħur with the titular statue of the saint followed by brass bands and a crowd of devout ones. Its coat of arms is divided per chevron, silver and red, with
3854-633: The first converts to Christianity. In fact, the parish of Naxxar was the first in the Maltese outskirts, after that of the cathedral (Mdina) and that of Vittoriosa . This is borne out and further evidenced by the village motto – Prior Credidi – meaning the First To Believe. It is not clear when Naxxar became a village, but human habitation in the area dates to the prehistoric era. This is evidenced by megalithic remains at Tal-Qadi and at Qaliet Marku. The cart ruts which start at Salina up to it-Targa and near Ghadira tal-Wej were probably first cut in
3936-524: The following zones: According to legend and the Bible , the Naxxarin were amongst the first to help Saint Paul and his fellow shipwrecked passengers when their ship ran aground. For this reason many connect the name Naxxar with Nassar (Nasra) which means 'conversion to Christianity'. The name might alternatively be derived from the Maltese verb "Naxar", which means to hang up clothes. Others insist that
4018-561: The founder Toni Tanti in 1840 and cost. The façade of the church has two clocks, one showing the actual time whilst the other is a painting and shows the time as a quarter to eleven. The main painting shows the Birth of Our Lady which is attributed to the school of Mattia Preti whilst at the side there are two paintings by Stefano Erardi which show the Flight to Egypt and the Adoration of
4100-527: The increasing influence of Romance and English words. In 1992 the academy issued the Aġġornament tat-Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija , which updated the previous works. The National Council for the Maltese Language (KNM) is the main regulator of the Maltese language (see Maltese Language Act, below). However, the academy's orthography rules are still valid and official. Since Maltese evolved after
4182-489: The installation of radar , a concave wall was constructed in Ħal Għargħur with the aim of detecting incoming aircraft. This acoustic mirror is called "il-Widna" by locals (lit. "the ear"). Ħal Għargħur hosted a number a refugees from the harbour area during that war who were seeking shelter from the continuous air raids by the Axis Powers . The public school was used as a dormitory for these refugees. Traditionally,
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#17327915371984264-594: The islands , Maltese evolved independently of Classical Arabic in a gradual process of latinisation. It is therefore exceptional as a variety of historical Arabic that has no diglossic relationship with Classical or Modern Standard Arabic . Maltese is thus classified separately from the 30 varieties constituting the modern Arabic macrolanguage . Maltese is also distinguished from Arabic and other Semitic languages since its morphology has been deeply influenced by Romance languages , namely Italian and Sicilian . The original Arabic base comprises around one-third of
4346-407: The members of the parish, are tasked with the organisation of the "festa". The competition between the band clubs can be quite fierce when it comes to the organisation of decorations and the fireworks shows, even if there is only one "festa" in the village. It gets even tougher when the locality celebrates two different patron saints, each honoured by an individual band club. The "festi" are held over
4428-466: The most used when speaking the language. In this way, Maltese is similar to English , a Germanic language that has been strongly influenced by Norman French and Latin (58% of English vocabulary). As a result of this, Romance language-speakers (and to a lesser extent English speakers) can often easily understand more technical ideas expressed in Maltese, such as Ġeografikament, l-Ewropa hi parti tas-superkontinent ta' l-Ewrasja ('Geographically, Europe
4510-491: The name comes from "Nsara" or "Nazaroei" which means 'those who believe in the teachings of Christ who came from Nazareth and thus "Nozri"'. Others say that the word Naxxar means 'one who saws, separates or cuts' – it might be worth mentioning that in Naxxar there are a lot of stonemasons. Magri, in his book says that the word naxar comes from "nazar" which in Hebrew means "chosen for him" or else "one who keeps to himself". This
4592-407: The new status of Ħal Għargħur. Dun Giljan Borg, parish priest of Naxxar, complained about the financial loss that Naxxar would suffer with the separation from it of Ħal Għargħur and stated that the Naxxar parish was losing the authority it had over the Ħal Għargħur community. Although Ħal Għargħur and Mosta formed part of the Naxxar parish, both were regarded as being separate entities from Naxxar; on
4674-405: The next-most important language. In the late 18th century and throughout the 19th century, philologists and academics such as Mikiel Anton Vassalli made a concerted effort to standardise written Maltese. Many examples of written Maltese exist from before this period, always in the Latin alphabet, Il-Kantilena from the 15th century being the earliest example of written Maltese. In 1934, Maltese
4756-441: The north of Malta, later served as the first public school in Naxxar, it was the police headquarters and until recently a police station, it served as a maternity underground hospital during World War II and provided shelter for the community from the war bombardments. Today, it is a private residence. Hompesch Hunting Lodge was a hunting lodge built by Grandmaster Hompesch close to Gauci Tower and Captain's Tower . Today it
4838-456: The people of Għargħur spoke in their own dialect. This dialect, like others on the island of Malta, is highly endangered. This is mainly due to the influence of the media, in which the dialect of the harbour area is used, and an education system which discourages the use of dialects. A socio-cultural stigma associated with dialects also contributed to the gradual demise of the dialect. As older generations stopped talking to their children in dialect,
4920-486: The pronunciation; e.g. nar (fire) is pronounced /nɐːr/ ); and seven diphthongs , /ɐɪ ɐʊ ɛɪ ɛʊ ɪʊ ɔɪ ɔʊ/ , written aj or għi, aw or għu, ej or għi, ew, iw, oj, and ow or għu. The original Arabic consonant system has undergone partial collapse under European influence, with many Classical Arabic consonants having undergone mergers and modifications in Maltese: The modern system of Maltese orthography
5002-570: The realisation of ⟨kh⟩ and ⟨gh⟩ and the imāla of Arabic ā into ē (or ī especially in Gozo), considered archaic because they are reminiscent of 15th-century transcriptions of this sound. Another archaic feature is the realisation of Standard Maltese ā as ō in rural dialects. There is also a tendency to diphthongise simple vowels, e.g., ū becomes eo or eu. Rural dialects also tend to employ more Semitic roots and broken plurals than Standard Maltese. In general, rural Maltese
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#17327915371985084-400: The renowned Jubilate Deo choir under the direction of Christopher Muscat , its sister children's choir Pueri Cantores Jubilate Deo handled by Daniela Callus and Kor Gaudete In Domino directed by Mario Attard. The church also has two transepts and a nave and is 130 feet (40 m) long. The width of the transept is 94 feet (29 m) and the nave 30 feet (9.1 m). The large bell was made by
5166-458: The residents to lock themselves in. One feature of these houses was a secret room in which females used to hide during these attacks. Also, the old streets and alleys are planned in a way that would confuse visitors. These raids continued well into the years, even after Għargħur became a parish. Indeed, on one occasion the residents of Għargħur found refuge in the parish church and vowed that if they were unharmed, there would be an annual pilgrimage to
5248-401: The same period. The Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary School , a post-secondary state school, is located in Naxxar. GCHSS is offering academic courses at advanced, intermediate and ordinary levels. Located right next to the post-secondary school is Naxxar Middle School, a secondary school. The Naxxar parish church was one of the ten parishes found to be existing by Bishop De Mello in 1436 and
5330-525: The sea; inland defences like pillboxes – to hinder the advance of the enemy if they were successful in landing; and the fortifications on high ground. Some fortifications around Naxxar include: Palazzo Parisio in Naxxar was built by Grandmaster Manoel de Vilhena in the 18th century. The palace was used by the Jesuit community as a university. After buying the property in 1898, Marquis Scicluna altered it into its present state and purchased more land at
5412-469: The shrine of [Mellieħa]. Nobody was harmed or taken into slavery on that occasion, and thus the tradition of holding this pilgrimage was started. As regards places of worship, it is likely that the early Christians used some of the caves found in the village as churches. Two such caves are those found at Ġebel San Pietru (Saint Peter's Hill (Old Maltese) or Stone (Modern Maltese)) and Għar San Brinkat (Saint Patrick's cave). Later on chapels were built. St. John
5494-582: The sictus tree. Some Roman artifacts, found during road construction, were carried to the Domvs Romana , a Roman Villa and Museum, situated in the old city of Mdina . A Muslim-style oven is still found in a house in Sqaq Warda, and a home with Arab-style decorations on the façade exists in the same area. There is documented reference of Ħal Għargħur as far back as 1419, in the lists of the Dejma , which
5576-479: The structure of the Maltese language are recorded in the official guidebook Tagħrif fuq il-Kitba Maltija (English: Knowledge on Writing in Maltese ) issued by the Akkademja tal-Malti (Academy of the Maltese language). The first edition of this book was printed in 1924 by the Maltese government's printing press. The rules were further expanded in the 1984 book, iż-Żieda mat-Tagħrif , which focused mainly on
5658-516: The summer months. This is a time of great merrymaking for the local community. In fact, there are a lot of traditions and customs associated with the "festa". Attending the "festa" can be a bit of a culture shock as it can get really noisy and loud. The Għargħur Festa is on 24th August or the last Sunday of August. For a whole week, Għargħur enjoys a celebratory festive mood, as it is wholly decorated in colourful lights, statues and other street decorations. The brass band marches take place throughout
5740-540: The using Romance loanwords (from the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe Archived 2015-12-29 at the Wayback Machine , see p. 17 Archived 2020-08-04 at the Wayback Machine ): The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to
5822-576: The villages of Mosta and Għargħur were subject to it. De Mello listed it as one of the ten parishes of Malta and it was the first parish dedicated to Our Lady after that of the old cathedral in Mdina . In 1575, the parish of Naxxar had under its control a total of 36 churches – 14 in Naxxar, 5 in Għargħur, 12 in Mosta and 5 in the neighbourhood of these villages. The present church was built between 1616 and 1630 when there were 1,200 inhabitants in Naxxar and it
5904-409: The year 1223 by Emperor Frederick II . The main event of the year is the village festa which is celebrated on the 24th (if this turns out to be a Sunday) or the last Sunday of August. The statue of the saint is carried shoulder high along the illuminated streets of the village accompanied by musical bands. A display of colourful fireworks, ends the village festival. Many tourists tend to take part in
5986-471: Was a Militia that guarded the locals from pirate attacks. The settlement suffered from severe de-population during the High Middle Ages and some years later due to continuous pirate attacks. Exiles from the central Italian city of Celano settled in Ħal Għargħur and built the town's oldest church, that of St. John (next to which one finds the town's graveyard). The citizens of Celano were exiled in
6068-535: Was a rural community located in an area particularly lacking fertile soil and fresh water. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of this area were able to finance the building of a parish church and several other chapels which host Baroque fine arts. The main attraction of the village, besides the countryside, is the Church of St Bartholomew . Its interior is of the Doric order but it has a fine Baroque façade. The original façade
6150-481: Was brought to the town in 1772. Restorations on it were held in 1912. In 2005 the statue had further preservation and its niche was restructured. The statue is the second heaviest in the Maltese islands . The Victoria Lines , named after Queen Victoria, and which divide the island of Malta from east to west, pass through this locality. There are also other fortifications. Għargħur hosts much of Malta's telecommunication infrastructure. Before World War II and prior to
6232-531: Was demolished and the one seen today was built in 1743. The church was built between 1610 and 1638 and was designed by Maltese architect Tumas Dingli . Its treasures include a wooden statue of Saint Bartholomew sculptured in Rome attributed to Maltese artist Melchiorre Gafà . The statue was made circa 1666 and it is believed to be the model for the similar statue in San Giovanni Laterano, Rome . It
6314-437: Was felt that a larger church was needed. The design was made by Tumas Dingli , one of the best architects of the time. The parish priest was Father Gakbu Pace . The choir and the area around it was redesigned in 1691 to the design of Lorenzo Gafà , the same architect who had designed the Mdina cathedral . The parish church was solemnly consecrated by Bishop Alpheran de Bussan on 11 December 1732. The church has three choirs:
6396-606: Was included in both the Thesaurus Polyglottus (1603) and Propugnaculum Europae (1606) of Hieronymus Megiser , who had visited Malta in 1588–1589; Domenico Magri gave the etymologies of some Maltese words in his Hierolexicon, sive sacrum dictionarium (1677). An early manuscript dictionary, Dizionario Italiano e Maltese , was discovered in the Biblioteca Vallicelliana in Rome in
6478-404: Was introduced in 1924. Below is the Maltese alphabet, with IPA symbols and approximate English pronunciation: Final vowels with grave accents (à, è, ì, ò, ù) are also found in some Maltese words of Italian origin, such as libertà ' freedom ' , sigurtà (old Italian: sicurtà ' security ' ), or soċjetà (Italian: società ' society ' ). The official rules governing
6560-590: Was part of the Naxxar parish. However, in 1598 Bishop Gargallo (for whom one finds a street named in Ħal Għargħur) decided to grant the people of Ħal Għargħur the charter establishing a parish. Thus, the first baptisms, marriages and funerals started being done in Ħal Għargħur. Dun Mattew Schiriha from Senglea , responsible for the chapel of Saint Bartholomew (which existed on the site of the present parish church), started signing documents as "Cappellano della parrochia di Casal Gregorio". The Naxxar parish refused to accept
6642-500: Was recognised as an official language. Maltese has both Semitic vocabulary and words derived from Romance languages , primarily Italian . Words such as tweġiba (Arabic origin) and risposta (Italian origin) have the same meaning ('answer') but are both used in Maltese (rather like 'answer' and 'response' in English. Below are two versions of the same translations, one with vocabulary mostly derived from Semitic root words and
6724-416: Was Ħal Għargħur (pronounced har arauwr or hal arauwr). 'Ħal' is an old abbreviation of 'Raħal', which means a "village/small town". In the middle of the 15th century the village was called Casal Gregorio although the Maltese equivalent of the name Gregorio is Girgor , not Għargħur . Rahal in classical Arabic is village or settlement, while Ghargur is arawr in Arabic derived from Ar'ar which is Gharghar tree or
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