One of the dialects of the Maltese language is the Qormi dialect. In Standard Maltese it is known as Qormi and by its speakers Qurmi, and is affectionately known as it-Tuf, or in standard Maltese it-Taf. Literally translated, taf is the Maltese word for 'you know'. This dialect is used by many of the inhabitants of Qormi and other settlements around that city of around 20,000 people. The most distinctive feature of the Qormi dialect is its treatment of vowels.
![]() | This article does not cite any sources. (May 2008) |
Qormi dialect | |
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Qurmi | |
Region | Qormi and surrounding area |
Language family | |
Writing system | Maltese alphabet |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
IETF | mt-u-sd-mt43 |
![]() Qormi in Malta |
Although there is no strict rule, generally the vowels in the dialect take the following forms. Vowels in the first syllables are the ones most often affected, but sometimes medial vowels are changed as well. Final vowels, on the other hand, are usually identical to those of the standard language.
The vowel a changes into the vowel /u/. If at the end of a word, it becomes an /o/.
English | Maltese | Qormi dialect |
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steeple (church tower) | kampnar | kampnur |
seriousness | serjetà | serjetò |
seminary | seminarju | seminurju |
potato | patata | patuta |
fog | ċpar | ċpur |
house | dar | dur |
The vowel o in the Qormi dialect also changes into /u/. For example:
English | Maltese | Qormi dialect |
---|---|---|
we went | morna | murna |
go (imperative 3rd pers. pl.) | morru | murru |
spring coil | molla | mulla |
car | karozza | karuzza |
glue | kolla | kulla |
postage stamp | bolla | bulla |
St George | San Ġorġ | San Ġurġ |
This form happens to almost all words that have the vowel o in the first syllable, although there may be exceptions.
The vowels after the għ change their sound as well.
Although there may be exceptions, such as kollha 'all of it', which is pronounced like killha in the dialect, and meta 'when' like mita, one must note that the vowels are almost never lengthened, and their accent remains the normal Maltese one.
Dialects and accents of Maltese | |
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Localized | |
Non-localized |
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