Cottonera dialect

The Cottonera dialect is a special way people speak the Maltese language. It is also called Kottoneran by the people who live in the Three Cities. About 10,000 people speak this special way of talking.

One interesting part of the Cottonera dialect is how it treats certain sounds. In Standard Maltese and other dialects, some vowel sounds change after a quiet sound. But in Cottonera, these vowel sounds usually stay the same. This makes the Cottonera dialect unique and special.

The vowel I after Għ

In the Cottonera dialect, the vowel i after għ sounds like the English "ee". It does not change to the "ai" sound like in some other words.

This special change does not happen in words like għid (meaning easter), erbgħin (forty), sebgħin (seventy), and disgħin (ninety).

A famous poet from Senglea, Dwardu Cachia, helped create one of the first versions of written Maltese. He also wrote a poem using a special rhyme pattern that only works correctly when read in the Cottonera dialect.

The vowel U after Għ

In the Cottonera dialect, when the vowel u comes after the silent sound għ, it keeps the long /u:/ sound, like in the English word "goose". It does not change into the /au/ sound, like in the English word "mouth".

The vowel E after Għ

In the Cottonera dialect, words with the letters għe sound different. Instead of changing to sound like the vowel /a/, like in regular Maltese, it keeps a sound closer to /e~i/, like in Standard Maltese.

The consonant Q

In the Cottonera dialect, spoken in places like Senglea, older people still use a special sound for the letter q, just like in Classical Arabic. This sound is different from what most Maltese speakers use today. Usually, the q sound changes in standard Maltese, but in Cottonera, it stays the same. However, this special way of speaking is becoming less common over time.