On Saturday 2nd November 2024, in an event organised by the Malta Centre (Bremen-Malta), the new website of the Malta Centre (maltacentre.eu) was launched and a workshop on the glossing of Maltese was held at the University of Malta Valletta Campus.
Interlinear glossing in linguistics is used to indicate the morphological structure of the words in an example and inserted between a word or sentence from the language/s under study and its literal translation. Glossing therefore enables the reader to identify the various components, known as morphemes, forming part of an example.
Prof. Michael Spagnol opened the event by thanking all those who played a part in setting up the Centre and organising its activities throughout the years. Raffaello Bezzina and Michela Vella followed, launching the Centre’s new website and walking the audience through the different sections, which include information on the aims and history of the Centre and useful research tools, such as the bibliography of texts on Maltese linguistics. They also encouraged all those who have any suggestions to help optimise the website to reach out to the Centre by clicking on the “Contact Us” button on the top right corner of the website.
After the website launch, Prof. Ray Fabri gave a short talk on issues related to the glossing of Maltese examples, and Prof. Thomas Stolz explained how glossing “helps to facilitate international communication on linguistics.”
The workshop’s participants were then divided into groups and asked to gloss a few Maltese words and phrases. They then discussed the obstacles they encountered while glossing and explored some solutions.
The participants and organisers agreed that a group of experts should be appointed next to form a committee in order to create a manual of guidelines for glossing Maltese examples. The committee will present its proposals to the members of l-Għaqda Internazzjonali tal-Lingwistika Maltija (GĦILM) at the International Conference on Maltese Linguistics (Konferenza Internazzjonali fuq il-Lingwistika Maltija) to be held next year and, eventually, publish the manual.
Ongoing discussion about glossing rules in Maltese