Arnold Cassola - Malta: People, Toponymy, Language

Malta - People, toponymy, Language (4 B.C. - 1600) is a new book by Arnold Cassola, published by The Farsons Foundation.

The publication aims to present rare material regarding the Maltese people, language and toponymy in previous centuries.

The first chapter, concerns a thriving community of Maltese living in Trapani in the 15th century. These Maltese found refuge, comfort, wealth and prosperity in Trapani and the surrounding area and became involved in various trades, financial transactions and other general activities.

The second chapter examines the reference to the islands of Malta, Gozo and Lampas in the earliest known portulan of the Mediterranean, the Periplous attributed to Skylax of Karyanda, dating back to the 4th Century B.C. The author discusses the possibility that the name Lampas, normally associated with Lampedusa, could actually be a reference to the island of Comino.

The vast richness of toponymic references to Malta, Gozo and Comino to be found in three ancient Italian portulans (1296-15th century) is dealt with in the third chapter. These Maltese place-names and landmarks are to be listed amongst the earliest known references to Maltese toponyms. The fourth chapter studies the toponymic references to the Maltese archipelago contained in the 1572 map which Girolamo Porro had charted for Tommaso Porcacchi's Le isole piv famose del mondo.

The fifth and sixth chapters deal with the Maltese language in the 16th century. The former chapter, compiles a number of 16th century opinions expressed by foreigners with reference to the nature of the Maltese language. The sixth chapter is a study of Hieronymus Megiser's late 16th century Maltese word-list and place-names that the German scholar had listed during his stay on the island.

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Education

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