‘Drajjajtuli Għajnejja’: Maltese-English Language Debate Reignites, This Time Over MasterChef
Malta’s ongoing language debate has returned, this time over the latest Sunday night TV show, MasterChef Malta.
While the show is predominantly in Maltese (as is every other show on national TV), a number of people have been complaining about the frequency with which the contestants and judges switch to English. Some pages, like Il-Malti Madwarna, have even launched a campaign on Facebook called “Maltese isn’t the language of the kitchen anymore”, correcting the judges and even reminding them of Maltese words for some of terms being used on the show. “This is basic Maltese,” an angry post by the page read earlier this month, with comments saying this showed that the language is dying.
However, not everyone agreed with that analysis, even after one specific word which has gone viral after last night’s episode: “jiddrajjalekx” (a Maltese-English hybrid for “it doesn’t dry up for you”).
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“The only people who are killing the Maltese language are those who believe that it’s ready and doesn’t have anything left to add to it,” popular meme page and online commentary Imbarazz ta’ Kuljum wrote on social media, arguing that if everyone understood the word, then that’s “the only way a language can continue to grow and evolve”.
“No one said don’t use the word ‘jinxef’,” the page continued. “What we heard today was a living example of how Maltese will never die, as opposed to what people who love to cause fear out of nothing believe.”
Do you think the Maltese language is dying, or is this really the only way it grows and evolve into something more?
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