Wirt Ghawdex organised the first in a series of lectures for the 2025-2026 programme on Friday at the St Cecilia Chapel, Ghajnsielem. The lecture entitled “Id-Dritt li Tghawweg” (“The right to speak in dialect”) was delivered in Maltese and focused on Gozitan dialects.

The speakers looked at the ways in which Gozitans speak differently from Maltese by analysing the phonology and grammar of the dialects. They also looked at the Gozitan vocabulary and how the composition and meaning of words morph once they cross the Channel. Moreover, the speakers investigated the different forms of the Gozitan dialect and how these change from village to village.

Prof. Michael Spagnol teaches Maltese Linguistics at the University of Malta. His research interests include terminology, dialects, and Maltese grammar. He participates in international conferences and writes in academic publications and journals.

Prof. Spagnol was the Head of the Maltese Department and the Head of the Committee for Terminology within the National Council for the Maltese Language. He is also the editor of Ricerkaturi, and a co-editor of Qabelxejn and the series Dizzjunarji Specjalizzati. He manages the website Kelma Kelma and is one of the organisers behind Kelma Kelma Nota Nota.

Keith Attard teaches Maltese as Saint Elias College. He has published two editions of the publication Ballun Pingut (2012, 2014). He is also a proofreader at Proofreading Malta and Merlin Publishers, as well as a scriptwriter for the programme Etimologija.

Attard was the President of the Ghaqda tal-Malti, the University of Malta Maltese students’ association. He also was the editor of issues 41 and 42 of the journal Lehen il-Malti. He has taught the orthography courses “Tishih fil-Kitba tal-Malti 1,” “Tishih fil-Kitba tal-Malti 2,” and “Il-Malti Pass Pass: L-Ortografija,” which were organised by the University of Malta and the Department of Maltese at the same University.

The talk took its shape with the participation of the audience who lingered afterwards for a glass and some nibbles.

Wirt Ghawdex expressed thanks to APS Bank for sponsoring this series of talks and to Delicata Winery for sponsoring the wine for this event.

Wirt Ghawdex is a non-governmental voluntary organisation that was founded in 1981 with the aim of raising awareness about our heritage among all levels of society, and of saving the natural, archaeological, historical, and anthropological patrimony of Gozo and Comino.

More information about forthcoming events can be accessed on www.wirtghawdex.org or www.facebook.com/WirtGhawdexNGO.

Photo: Wirt Ghawdex

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