One of the dialects found in the Maltese language is the Żejtuni Dialect ,. This dialect is used by many of the Żejtun inhabitants and in other settlements around this city like Marsaxlokk, that consists of about twelve thousand people. The following two words are an example, there are many more that make it into the list ofvocabulary found in this Dialect.
For kite the Maltese word is tajra but in this dialect it is found as manuċċa.
For foggy weather the Maltese word is ċpar but in this dialect it is found as ċlambu.
All the vocal letters in this dialect possess a liquid versatility which allows the position, emphasis and tone of the vowels to change without any distinctrule; in some words the consonant letters are found to change as well. Such variations in the dialect are innate to native speakers.
The vowel 'A' in the Żejtun dialect is changed into 'U' or 'E'. Example:
English
Maltese
Żejtun Dialect
newspaper
gazzetta
gezzette
meat
laħam
leħem
fat
xaħam
xeħem
coal
faħam
feħem
water
ilma
ilme
burner
spiritiera
spiritiere
home
dar
dur
This form happens to roughly all of the words that end in the vowel ' A ', but when the sentence construction does not allow the vowel 'A' to transmute into 'E', such as in the Maltese equivalent of potato, i.e. ' patata ', a different vowel has to be used to elongate the syllable. Here, the word does not become petete but changes into ' Û ', becoming patûta.
The Vowel 'E'
The vowel 'E' changes into the vowels 'A' or also 'I'. Example:
English
Maltese
Żejtun Dialect
wild
selvaġġ
salvaġġ
seriousness
serjetà
sirjitu
seminary
seminarju
siminurju
when
meta
mite
The Vocal 'O'
The vocal ' O ' in this dialect changes into ' U ', however it demands an element of phonetical emphasis to differentiate this changed ' U from the previous one. In philology such emphasis requires an accent, hence ' Ù '. Example:
English
Maltese
Żejtun Dialect
school
skola
skùla
wheel
rota
rùta
pan
borma
bùrma
sack
xkora
xkùra
corner
rokna
rùkna
roll
romblu
rùmblu
This form occurs in many other words that have 'O' as their first vocal letter.
The Vocal 'U'
When the last vocal of the word is the U, it is changed into the vocal O with the consonant W with a muted-ending. Sometimes the U is changed into EW. Example:
