Lately I have been writing about the Maltese language, please indulge me in continuing on the theme. There is one particular subject that has long been on my mind, which is the personal pronoun.
One of the first discussions I have with students of Maltese in Australia, especially those to whom the subject is completely new, and even with some for whom it isn't, is the personal pronoun. More specifically, one has to appreciate that while English has the 'he' (in Maltese hu/huwa) and she (hi/hija), there is also the 'it', which refers for example to objects and sometimes to animals, whereas Maltese has no equivalent.
Students are usually curious to discover that any object named in Maltese needs to have a gender and therefore a table (mejda) is feminine while a chair (siġġu) is masculine. Similarly the sun (xemx) is feminine while the moon (qamar) is masculine. This begs the question as to how one might know which gender to assign a particular object. Probably the answer would be that one might need to have encountered the use of this word and so would have heard the pronoun used in reference, or have heard any adjective or verb associated with it, which naturally would also need to demonstrate the same gender, and therefore recognise the appropriate gender.
My interest is how will the Maltese personal pronoun develop in future to linguistically reflect trends happening around the world to accomodate gender identities that have existed in mankind since time immemorial but for a minority were, or still are, more or less hidden or silent in an environment of discrimination and even persecution by the minority and civil, political and religious authorities in society.
I am referring to people who identify with at least one of the letters in the acronum LGBTIQ, which are people along the whole spectrum of gender (that is being non-binary) and/or sexuality (that is not being heterosexual). The letters of the acronym refer to lesbian (that is a female sexually attracted to another female), gay (a homosexual, that is someone attracted to another of the same sex, mostly used for males), bisexual (a person sexually attracted to people of both sexes), transgender (someone feeling having a gender different to that assigned at birth), intersex (those whose physical characteristics do not tally with those expected from a masculine or feminine person) and queer (which can include all the above).
Therefore, she continues that the pronouns that are normally used, 'he' or 'she', do not apply to her, and prefers to use 'they' instead, which is a pronoun that is usually used in the plural and not in the singular.
Permit me to rewrite two sentences from before in order to show respect for the choice of pronoun by Mina (which respect was missing before) to show the difficulty that arises:
“The activists Mina Tolu spoke about themselves. They said they were born a woman, but now no longer identify as a woman and neither as a man. They regard themselves as 'non binary', that is neither masculine nor feminine.”
I have sympathy for Mina and so many others who are living a reality that they did not choose, and are telling us with sincerity what they are feeling.
My curiosity lies in how the Maltese language will form around the need to include these persons in daily life and discourse, when even the conjugation of verbs depends upon the personal pronoun, which is not the case in English.
------------------------------
Dan l-aħħar kont qed nikteb fuq l-ilsien Malti, u ppermettuli nkompli fuq it-tema. Hemm suġġett partikulari li ilu fuq moħħi, u dan huwa l-pronom personali.
Waħda mill-ewwel diskussjonijiet li jkolli ma' studenti tal-Malti fl-Awstralja, speċjalment għal dawk li għalihom dan huwa suġġett kompletament ġdid, u anke għal xi wħud li għalihom mhux, hija l-pronom personali. Iktar speċifikatament, wieħed irid bilfors japprezza li filwaqt li l-Ingliż għandu he (fil-Malti hu/huwa) u she (hi/hija), l-Ingliż għandu it, li jirreferi għal per eżempju għal oġġett u kultant għal annimal, mentri fil-Malti m'għandniex ekwivalenti.
L-istudenti jkunu kurjużi li jiskopru li kwalunkwe oġġett fil-Malti irid ikollu ġens (jew ġeneru), u għalhekk mejda hija femminili filwaqt li siġġu huwa maskili. L-istess xemx hija femminili waqt li l-qamar huwa maskili. Il-mistoqsija mallewwel tqum kif wieħed ikun jaf liema ġens ikun oġġett partikulari. It-tweġiba aktarx tkun li wieħed irid ikun iltaqa' magħha l-kelma u għalhekk ikun sema' l-pronom li jintuża għalija, jew ikun sema' xi aġġettiv jew verb marbut magħħa, li naturalment irid ukoll ikollu l-istess ġens, u għalhekk jieħu l-għarfien tal-ġens partikulari tal-kelma.
L-interess li għandi jien huwa kif il-pronom personali Malti għad jiżviluppa 'l quddiem biex jirrifletti xejriet lingwistiċi li qed iseħħu madwar id-dinja biex jakkomodaw identitajiet ta' ġens li ilhom jeżistu minn żminijiet bikrin tal-istorja tal-bniedem imma li għal minoranza kienu, jew għadhom, xi ftit jew wisq moħbijin jew baqgħu siekta f'ambjent ta' diskriminazzjoni u anke persekuzzjoni tal-maġġoranza u l-awtoritajiet ċivili, politiċi u reliġjużi tas-soċjetà.
Qed nirreferi għall-persuni li jidentifikaw rwieħhom ma' mill-inqas waħda mill-ittri tal-akronimu LGBTIQ, li huma nies fuq l-ispettru sħiħ ta' ġens (li mhumiex binarji) u/jew sesswalità (li mhumiex eterosesswali). L-ittri tal-akronimu jirreferu għal lesbian (lesbjana, jiġifieri mara li tinġibed sesswalment lejn mara oħra), gay (omosesswali, jiġifieri persuna tinġibed lejn persuna oħra tal-istess sess, l-iktar li tintuża għall-irġiel), bisexual (bisesswali, persuna li jinġibed għal persuni taż-żewġ sessi), transgender (persuna li tħoss li għandha ġens differenti minn dak attribwit lilha mat-twelid), intersex (dawk li għandhom karatteristiċi fiżiċi li ma jaqblux ma dawk li wieħed jistenna minn persuna maskili jew femminili) u queer (li tista' tintuża biex tinkludi dan kollu).
Għalhekk, tkompli tgħid li l-pronomi li nużaw normalment, hu jew hi, ma japplikawx għaliha, u tippreferi li jintuża they (huma) minflok, li huwa pronom li usually jintuża fil-plural u mhux fis-singular.
Ippermettuli nerġa nikteb żewġ sentenzi minn ta' qabel b'mod li bih nuri li nirrispetta l-għażla ta' pronom ta' Mina (b'li ktibt qabel dan m'urejtux) u nuri d-diffikultà li tinħoloq:
“L-attivisti Mina Tolu tkellmu fuqhom infushom. Huma qalu li twieldu mara, imma m'għadhomx jidentifikaw ruħhom bħala mara u lanqas jidentifikaw ruħhom bħala raġel. Iħarsu lejhom infushom bħala 'mhux binarji', jiġifieri la maskili u lanqas femminili.”
Jien għandi simpatija lejn Mina u tant oħrajn li qed jgħixu realtà li mhux huma għażlu, u qed jgħidulna sinċerament dak li qiegħdin iħossu.
Il-kurżità li għandi hija kif il-lingwa Maltija se tifforma madwar il-ħtieġa li jiġu nklużi dawn il-persuni fil-ħajja u fit-taħdit ta' kuljum, meta anke l-konjugazzjoni tal-verbi tiddependi fuq il-pronom personali, mhux bħall-Ingliż.
1https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/interview/93389/mina_tolu_respecting_my_gender_pronouns_means_people_see_me#.XwRZ-N9fjRY, retrieved 8/7/2020
2https://uwm.edu/lgbtrc/support/gender-pronouns/, retrieved 8/7/2020
1https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/interview/93389/mina_tolu_respecting_my_gender_pronouns_means_people_see_me#.XwRZ-N9fjRY, retrieved 8/7/2020
2https://uwm.edu/lgbtrc/support/gender-pronouns/, retrieved 8/7/2020
No comments:
Post a Comment