Plant names in Maltese
Introduction
Maltese is basically an Arabic language, which has been strongly influenced by Sicilian and Italian. It also includes borrowings from the French, and recently from English (which is an official language in Malta, when Maltese is the national language). For a description, see Wikipedia.
References
- Caruana Galizia Anne & Caruana Galizia Helen, 1997. The food and cookery of Malta. Totnes (Devon), Prospect Books. 208 p.
- Cutayar Joseph, 2000. Dictionnaire français-maltais. Paris, L'Harmattan. 432 p.
- Cutayar Joseph, 2001. Dictionnaire maltais-français. Paris, L'Harmattan. 672 p.
Short glossary
This glossary has been compiled with the references above. It consists of approximately 81 names. 55 are Arabic names, which is far more (68%) than the whole Maltese lexicon, which is said to include only 30-40% of Arabic names. Maltese names are given in their "collective singular" form. The 'unitary singular' and the plural are only given when the sequence of letters is changed, which is the case with internal plural. In some cases, a phonetical transcription is given in square brackets.
- acorn ġandar (plural ġandra)
- alfalfa luċern (Cutayar)
- almond lewż (Caruana)
- apple tuffieħ (plural tuffiħat) (Cutayar)
- aprikot berquq (Caruana)
- artichoke qaqoċċ (Caruana)
- artichoke (Jerusalem) artiċokks (Caruana)
- azarole ('Neapolitan medlar') anzaroli (Caruana)
- aubergine brinġiel (Caruana)
- barley xgħir (Caruana) [ʃɛjr]
- bergamot bergamott (Caruana)
- bean (broad) ful (Caruana)
- bean (dry) fażola bajda (Caruana)
- cabbage kaboċċa (Caruana)
- caper kappar (Cutayar)
- carob ħarrub (Caruana)
- carrot karrotti (Wikipedia), zunnarija, zfunnarija (Cutayar)
- cauliflower pastard (Caruana); pastard, kromb (Cutayar)
- celery karfus (plural krafes) (Cutayar)
- cherry ċirasa (Cutayar)
- cherry ('Maltese cherry') ċirasa tal-Malta (Caruana)
- chestnut qastan (Caruana)
- chick-pea ċiċri (Caruana)
- coffee kafè (Cutayar)
- cotton qoton (plural qtan) (Cutayar)
- cucumber ħjar (Cutayar)
- date tamar (plural tamra) (Cutayar)
- endive (curly) indivja straċċnata (Caruana)
- fig tin (Caruana)
- garlic tewm, tewma (Caruana)
- gourd qara' twil (Caruana)
- grapevine (plant) id-dielja (Caruana), dielja (plural dwieli) (Cutayar); grape (fruit) għeneb (unit: għenba) (Cutayar); raisin żbib (Cutayar)
- hazelnut ġellewż (Cutayar)
- laurel rand (Cutayar)
- lemon lumi (unit: lumija, plural lumijiet) (Cutayar)
- lentil għazz, għads (Cutayar)
- lettuce ħass (Caruana)
- loquat naspli (Caruana)
- maize qamħirrun (Cutayar)
- mallow hobbejża (Caruana)
- mandarine mandolin (Caruana)
- medlar omm il-epp, fomm il-epp (Caruana)
- melon bittiħ, bettieħ (plural bettiħiet) (Cutayar)
- mulberry (white) ċawsli (Caruana)
- mulberry (black) tuta (Caruana)
- nectarine nuciprisk (Caruana)
- onion basal (Caruana)
- orange larinċ (Caruana), larinġ (Cutayar)
- parsley tursin (Caruana)
- pea piżelli (Caruana)
- peach ħawħ (Caruana)
- pear langas (Caruana)
- pear (prickly) bajtar tax-xewk (unit: bajtra) (Cutayar)
- pepper (black) bżar iswed (Cutayar)
- pepper (sweet) bżar aħdar (plural bżarijiet) (Caruana)
- pistachio fosdoq (unit: fosdqa, plural fosdqiet), pistaċċa (Cutayar)
- plum pruna (Caruana)
- plum (cherry) gayn bakar (Caruana)
- pomegranate rummien (Caruana)
- potato patata (Caruana)
- pumpkin qara' aħmar (plural qargħa) (Caruana)
- quince sfarġel (Caruana)
- radish ravanell, rafanell (Cutayar)
- rice ross (Caruana)
- rocket eruka, aruka (Caruana)
- rosemary iklin, klin (Cutayar)
- saffron żagħran (Cutayar), żaffran (Wikipedia)
- sesame ġulġlien (Caruana)
- shallot xalotta, basal tal-qsari (Cutayar)
- spinach ispinaċi (Caruana)
- strawberry frawla (Caruana)
- tea te (Cutayar)
- thyme sagħtar (plural sagħtra) (Cutayar) [sātra]
- turnip lift, ġidra (plural ġdur) (Cutayar)
- tomato tadam (Caruana)
- walnut ġewż (plural ġwież) (Cutayar)
- watermelon dulliegħ (Wikipedia) [dulliē]
- wheat qamħ (plural qmuħ) (Cutayar)
- zucchini qarabagħli (Caruana); qara' bagħli, qarabgħali (Cutayar) [karabāli]
