Administrative Director Kevin J Ellul has received the latest volumes published in the 'Atlante Linguistico della Sicilia' (ALS) series from Professor Joseph M Brincat, which will complement the full collection of ALS at the University of Malta Library.
The project covers every aspect of life in Sicily as reflected in the regional and local dialects. Volume 37, 'Il lessico del mare' presents the answers of twenty fishermen from several fishing villages. These fisherman were given a questionnaire of around 800 items concerning names of fish, fishing implements and techniques, boats and their respective parts.
All the answers are listed according to the numbered questions and a selection is shown on maps, according to the geolinguistic method. The publication recognises the vast amount of variations from area to area, with findings that the Maltese term sometimes correlates with the Eastern or with the Western area, from either the nearest islands or none.
The book is edited by Elena D’Avenia. The publication is particularly valuable for the comparative linguistic studies between Maltese and Sicilians. The inclusion of Malta was thanks to Prof. Brincat who had roped in Nazzareno Cuschieri, a retired professional who is much respected by all local fishermen.
Furthermore, a comparative exercise carried out by Prof. Brincat in 1985 between Maltese maritime terms and those of six Sicilian fishing villages based on the 'Atlante Linguistico del Mediterraneo' had revealed that 70% of our terminology is of Sicilian origin. This will be updated on the basis of this book. Volumes 35 and 38 have been written by Filippo Castro and give an extremely valuable and detailed insight on the traditional boats of Sicilian fishermen, which are similar to our luzzu (from lu uzzu, as pronounced in various areas of Sicily).