Dr Charles Daniel Saliba, an academic at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) Gozo Campus, recently participated in the international conference – The Presence of Arabic in the Languages of the World – organised by the Arabic Department and the Center for Arab Studies at the University of Bucharest.

The opening session featured Associate Professor Laura Sitaru, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, and Professor George Grigore, Coordinator of the Arabic Department.

In his lecture, entitled “Arabic Inheritance in Maltese Verbal Morphology: A Study of Verbal Inflection and Derivation,” Dr Saliba examined how Maltese verbs preserve their Arabic linguistic inheritance while also reflecting centuries of contact with Sicilian, Italian and English.

Reflecting on the experience, Dr Saliba said, “it is very fulfilling to see international scholars and students of Arabic taking an interest in the unique characteristics of the Maltese language.”

During his visit, Dr Saliba also donated copies of the three books comprising Level A1 of his Maltese for Foreigners series to the department’s library. He also donated a copy of the trilingual volume Provérbios Europeus / European Proverbs / Proverbji Ewropej, written in Portuguese, English and Maltese, which he co-authored with Professor Rui Soares, President of the International Association of Paremiology.

The publications will serve as additional reference material for students studying Modern Standard Arabic and Arabic dialects, while providing further opportunities to engage with the Maltese language.

Dr Saliba’s participation contributes to MCAST’s international academic presence and promotes scholarly exchange and research dissemination beyond Malta.

For further information, please visit https://mcast.edu.mt/ or https://www.charlesdanielsaliba.com.

Photo: Dr Charles Daniel Saliba presenting his books to Professor George Grigore

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