Imgarri dialect

Imgarri
Imgarri
Imġarri
Region	Mġarr
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Semitic Central Semitic Arabic Maghrebi Arabic Pre-Hilalian Sicilian Arabic Maltese Imgarri; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Early forms	Central Maltese Mosta dialect ;
Dialects	Manikata dialect; Wied il-Għasel dialect; Australasian variants;
Writing system	Maltese alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
IETF	mt-u-sd-mt31
	Mġarr in Malta

Imġarri (also known as the Mġarr dialect) is a dialect of the Maltese language spoken in the village of Mġarr.^[5]

It is believed to be closely related or otherwise an offshoot of the Mosta dialect,^[6] though not much is written about this early dialect. In 1994, it had about 3000 speakers.^[7]

Phonology

	Labial		Dental/ Alveolar		Postalveolar		Velar		Pharyngeal		Glottal
Nasal		m		n
Plosive	p	b	t	d			k	ɡ			ʔ
Affricate			t͡s	d͡z	t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
Fricative	f	v	s	z	ʃ ʒ				ħ	ʕ^[7]
Trill				r
Approximant				l		j		w

References

↑ Martine Vanhove, « De quelques traits prehilaliens en maltais », in: Peuplement et arabisation au Maghreb cccidental : dialectologie et histoire, Casa Velazquez - Universidad de Zaragoza (1998), pp.97-108
↑ Klimiuk, Maciej. "Vowel Length in Maltese Dialects of Gozo" (PDF). archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de. Heidelberg University Publishing. Retrieved 6 August 2026.
↑ "EXPLORING MALTA". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), no. Wed 25 Feb 1970. National Library of Australia. TROVE. 25 February 1970. Retrieved 6 August 2026.
↑ Muscat, Noah. "An interview with my uncle Christopher Abela about his journey from Malta to Australia". www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au. Skola Maltija’s Maltese Migration Projects (From Malta to Australia).
↑ "Gh and h". Times of Malta. 2006-04-30. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
↑ Lucy, Calleja (6 September 2008). "Dialect Changes - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Malta Independent. Malta Independent. Retrieved 6 August 2026.
1 2 Camilleri, Antoinette; Vanhove, Martine (1994). "A Phonetic and Phonological Description of the Maltese Dialect of Mġarr (Malta)". Zeitschrift für Arabische Linguistik (28): 87–110. ISSN 0170-026X.

[1] Martine Vanhove, « De quelques traits prehilaliens en maltais », in: Peuplement et arabisation au Maghreb cccidental : dialectologie et histoire, Casa Velazquez - Universidad de Zaragoza (1998), pp.97-108

[2] Klimiuk, Maciej. "Vowel Length in Maltese Dialects of Gozo" (PDF). archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de. Heidelberg University Publishing. Retrieved 6 August 2026.

[3] "EXPLORING MALTA". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), no. Wed 25 Feb 1970. National Library of Australia. TROVE. 25 February 1970. Retrieved 6 August 2026.

[4] Muscat, Noah. "An interview with my uncle Christopher Abela about his journey from Malta to Australia". www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au. Skola Maltija’s Maltese Migration Projects (From Malta to Australia).

[5] "Gh and h". Times of Malta. 2006-04-30. Retrieved 2026-07-17.

[6] Lucy, Calleja (6 September 2008). "Dialect Changes - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Malta Independent. Malta Independent. Retrieved 6 August 2026.

[:0-7] 1 2 Camilleri, Antoinette; Vanhove, Martine (1994). "A Phonetic and Phonological Description of the Maltese Dialect of Mġarr (Malta)". Zeitschrift für Arabische Linguistik (28): 87–110. ISSN 0170-026X.

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