Il-Malti Mgħaġġel : Maltese in computer-mediated chat conversations

Abstract

Although Maltese is historically mainly associated to the spoken variety, as English has always had a significant role where reading and writing are concerned, its use as a written form is very widespread in all means of communication, including the more modern ones. This paper aims to identify some of the main characteristics of the language as it is used in computer-mediated chat conversations and to provide a description of il-Malti Mgħaġġel (literally, ‘hurried Maltese’). Most of the considerations that will be presented are based on orthographic variation, though some other linguistic will also be discussed.