The origin of the name of Gozo

Abstract

“Do you come from Għawdex?” is a question that sounds as discordant as the other one, “Intom minn Gozo?”. To one not conversant with the Greek origin of the names of Gozo, such questions sound like being uttered by Maltese trying to speak English, and mix Maltese with English or, the other way round, like knowledgeable tourists trying to speak Maltese and, to our mind, mix it with “English”. This paper will show that none is the case. We, in fact, can use “Għawdex” liberally when speaking in English; likewise, we can use the name of “Gozo” when speaking in Maltese, for, as this paper will show, Gozo is an ancient variant of Gaudos from which it is derived, as much as Għawdex is. The irony is that Gozo, Għawdex and Gaudos did not originally belong to us.