I think it is/was "hashishim". I wasn't sure what was the original word (i.e. a plant name, or a family name, or what have you) from which the group'd been named, so I wasn't sure whether it was the same root, here.
Hm, they say it's from ḥaššāšīn (the first letter is h-with-underdot, in case it doesn't show up), plural of ḥaššāš "hashish user", from ḥašīš "hashish, hemp, dried grass", from ḥašša "to mow", and points to "ḥśś in Semitic Roots".
Taking a guess, I think that the Arabic word glossed as "hashish user" would become ħaxxiex, plural ħaxxixien, in Maltese.
Hm, the old dictionary of Maltese I have here does indeed have an entry for ħaxxiex: "one who eats a lot of vegetables, a vegetarian". (It also gives for ħaxix: "grass, herbs; greens; vegetables".)
Now that's pretty impressive! (the first bit freaked me out though, till you said you were only joking XD i didn't understand a word of the part). I understood the rest of it perfectly though, it basically a guy who almost drowns and stuff like that, I'll try and transcribe it for you later if I manage to finish my studies on time and no one else does.
Practically all the prononciation was perfect, ok, you CAN tell its not someone Maltese whose talking but you didn't make any of the mistakes people usually do. Some of the words you seemed to 'break' into two parts when speaking, while we would have said them in one go. The tempo is mostly what's off, if you know what I mean, but I'm sure anyone over here would understand you if you spoke like that.
you didn't make any of the mistakes people usually do
What are typical mistakes people make?
The bits I was most concerned about, for example, were my pronunciation of ħ, since that doesn't exist in any language I've learned so far, and of q (which I've heard described as a glottal stop, not that hard in principle but when it comes next to other consonants it's a bit weird, and distinguishing between words starting with vowel and those starting with q (since in German, vowel-initial words tend to have a glottal stop in front, so "qit would be like qif qeveryone spoke like this"). And remembering not to pronounce għ, especially at the beginning of words.
The tempo is mostly what's off, if you know what I mean
I think I do--the rhythm, for example. I think knowing what the heck you're saying would go part of the way towards helping this, since you know what groups of words go together and don't just go by the punctuation.
I'm sure anyone over here would understand you if you spoke like that.
Hadd ma jista jfisser it-tahbila ta' mohh li jiena hassejt x'hin ghereqt fl-ilma ghaliex kont ghadni ma kontx naf nghum tajjeb wisq, izda ma stajtx ninqala mill-mewga biex niehu nifs sakemm fl-ahhar intfajt jew biex nghid ahjar (tkartart? i didn't get this word) fuq ix-xtajta u bqajt kemm nofs mejjet bl-ilma li blajt. Meta rajtni fix-xott, waqaft fuq riglejja u tlaqt nigri b'kemm ghandi hila ghal gewwa l-art qabel ma tigi xi mewga ohra u tehodni maghha. Imma kollu kien ghal xejn ghax giet il-mewga kif hsibt, u regghet nizzlitni taht xi ghaxart (another word i didnt get, a measure of how much water the guy was under i think) ilma. Issa jien ma hassejtnix sejjer ninqasam billi ridt inzomm nifs twil izda minn (didn't get this word) tlajt fil-wicc u hadt in-nifs. Domt hekk nissara ma mewg darbtejn tlieta ohra sa ma giet wahda li sabtitni tisbita ma blata u hallietni barra minn sensijja. Imma billi issa kont dhalt wisq gewwa l-art, wara ftit li hadt ir-ruh tlajt fix-xott sewwa u mteddejt ftit fuq il-haxix minghajr biza li jilhaqni izjed il-bahar.
Hope you don't mind me not using Maltese letters, I don't have it enabled on my computer cause I don't use it XD only three words I couldn't make out, I think it might be cause they're not used in Maltese frequesntly or something. And I'll translate for you it later on.
Here's your transcription, with Maltese characters (I use http://linux.org.mt/lingwa/spellcheck.html?locale=mt to change the characters). I also listened and changed a couple of places.
Ħadd ma jista jfisser it-taħbila ta' moħħ li jiena ħassejt x'ħin għereqt fl-ilma għaliex għadni ma kontx naf ngħum tajjeb wisq, iżda ma stajtx ninqala mill-mewġa biex nieħu nifs sakemm fl-aħħar intfajt jew biex ngħid ahjar (tkartart? i didn't get this word) fuq ix-xtajta u bqajt hemm nofs mejjet bl-ilma li blajt. Jien x'nagħmel meta rajtni fix-xott, waqaft fuq riġlejja u tlaqt niġri b'kemm għandi ħila għal ġewwa l-art qabel ma tiġi xi mewġa oħra u teħodni magħha. Imma kollu kien għal xejn għax ġiet il-mewġa kif ħsibt, u reġgħet niżżlitni taħt xi għaxart (another word i didnt get, a measure of how much water the guy was under i think) (itkiem???) ilma. Issa jien ma ħassejtnix sejjer ninqasam billi ridt inżomm nifs twil iżda minn (didn't get this word) (wara?) tlajt fil-wiċċ u ħadt in-nifs. Domt hekk nissara ma mewġ daqs darbtejn tlieta oħra sa ma ġiet waħda li sabtitni tisbita ma blata u ħallietni barra minn sensijja. Imma billi issa kont dħalt wisq ġewwa l-art, wara ftit li ħadt ir-ruħ tlajt fix-xott sewwa u mteddejt fuq il-ħaxix mingħajr biża li jilħaqni iżjed il-baħar.
Here's how the book spelled it. Some of the spelling and/or words may well be old-fashioned.
Ħadd ma jista’ jfisser it-taħbila ta’ moħħ li jiena ħassejt, x’ħin għereqt fl-ilma; għalliex għadilli kont naf ingħum tajjeb wisq, iżda ma stajtx ninqala’ mill-mewġa biex nieħu n-nifs, sa kemm fl-aħħar intfajt ew biex ingħid aħjar tkarkart fuq ix-xtajta, u bqajt hemma nofs mejjet bl-ilma li blajt. Jien x’nagħmel? Meta rajtni fix-xott, uqaft fuq riġlejja, u tlaqt niġri kemm għandi ħila għal ġewwa l-art, qabel ma tiġi x mewġa oħra u teħodni magħha; imma kollu kien għal xejn, għax ġiet il-mewġa kif ħsibt, u narġa’ nsibni taħt xi għaxart iqjiem ilma. Issa iva ħassejtni sejjer ninqasam billi ridt inżomm nifs twil, iżda minn wara tlajt fil-wiċċ u ħadt in-nifs. Domt hekka nissara mal-mewġ daqs darbtejn tlieta oħra, sama ġiet waħda li sabbtetni tisbita ma’ blata, u ħallietni barra minn sessija; imma billi issa kont dħalt wisq ġewwa l-art, wara ftit li ħadt ir-ruħ, tlajt fix-xott sewwa u mteddejt fuq il-ħaxix, minn għajr biża’ li jilħaqni iżjed il-baħar.
Though I pay 1.7 euro cents (2.6 cents Canadian) a minute for calling the US, which is not that bad; it's half the price of a daytime local call, in fact! (Though for a fair comparison, I choose a specific carrier for calls to the US but usually don't for local calls, and the ability to choose your carrier for local calls is comparatively new, anyway.)
Not the case for international calls in general; I guess the US is that much cheaper because there's just a ton of submarine cables going that-a-way with lots of surplus bandwidth which sells more cheaply.
Hee, I just realised your name could be Maltese: angħarad. Not sure what kind of form that would be.
Without the initial 'a', ngħarad could be a verb, though (IIId stem of base għ-r-d, 1sg imperfect: "I għarad"). And ingħarad could be a passive (VIIth stem of base għ-r-d, 3sg masc. perfect: "He was għaraded").
No idea. I don't even know whether there is a base għ-r-d in Maltese, and I don't have a dictionary here. Just saying that morphologically and phonotactically, it could be a Maltese word. (Just like 'splurgs' could be an English verb in the third person singular, present indicative, due to the phonotactics and the -s ending, even though there's no such word.)
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And not "assassin" ?
Re: And not "assassin" ?
Same root, though.
Re: And not "assassin" ?
Re: And not "assassin" ?
Possibly. *looks it up on dictionary.com*
Hm, they say it's from ḥaššāšīn (the first letter is h-with-underdot, in case it doesn't show up), plural of ḥaššāš "hashish user", from ḥašīš "hashish, hemp, dried grass", from ḥašša "to mow", and points to "ḥśś in Semitic Roots".
Taking a guess, I think that the Arabic word glossed as "hashish user" would become ħaxxiex, plural ħaxxixien, in Maltese.
Hm, the old dictionary of Maltese I have here does indeed have an entry for ħaxxiex: "one who eats a lot of vegetables, a vegetarian". (It also gives for ħaxix: "grass, herbs; greens; vegetables".)
So I guess Maltese assassins are vegetarians? :)
Re: And not "assassin" ?
Hee hee hee.
Re: And not "assassin" ?
Hm, with the -ien I was misled by plurals in -iet. It's more likely to be simply ħaxxixin (though still with long i in the plural ending).
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Practically all the prononciation was perfect, ok, you CAN tell its not someone Maltese whose talking but you didn't make any of the mistakes people usually do. Some of the words you seemed to 'break' into two parts when speaking, while we would have said them in one go. The tempo is mostly what's off, if you know what I mean, but I'm sure anyone over here would understand you if you spoke like that.
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What are typical mistakes people make?
The bits I was most concerned about, for example, were my pronunciation of ħ, since that doesn't exist in any language I've learned so far, and of q (which I've heard described as a glottal stop, not that hard in principle but when it comes next to other consonants it's a bit weird, and distinguishing between words starting with vowel and those starting with q (since in German, vowel-initial words tend to have a glottal stop in front, so "qit would be like qif qeveryone spoke like this"). And remembering not to pronounce għ, especially at the beginning of words.
I think I do--the rhythm, for example. I think knowing what the heck you're saying would go part of the way towards helping this, since you know what groups of words go together and don't just go by the punctuation.
Whee! That sounds encouraging. Thanks!
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Oh, and also vowel length and stress, since neither of those are marked in the usual spelling.
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Hadd ma jista jfisser it-tahbila ta' mohh li jiena hassejt x'hin ghereqt fl-ilma ghaliex kont ghadni ma kontx naf nghum tajjeb wisq, izda ma stajtx ninqala mill-mewga biex niehu nifs sakemm fl-ahhar intfajt jew biex nghid ahjar (tkartart? i didn't get this word) fuq ix-xtajta u bqajt kemm nofs mejjet bl-ilma li blajt. Meta rajtni fix-xott, waqaft fuq riglejja u tlaqt nigri b'kemm ghandi hila ghal gewwa l-art qabel ma tigi xi mewga ohra u tehodni maghha. Imma kollu kien ghal xejn ghax giet il-mewga kif hsibt, u regghet nizzlitni taht xi ghaxart (another word i didnt get, a measure of how much water the guy was under i think) ilma. Issa jien ma hassejtnix sejjer ninqasam billi ridt inzomm nifs twil izda minn (didn't get this word) tlajt fil-wicc u hadt in-nifs. Domt hekk nissara ma mewg darbtejn tlieta ohra sa ma giet wahda li sabtitni tisbita ma blata u hallietni barra minn sensijja. Imma billi issa kont dhalt wisq gewwa l-art, wara ftit li hadt ir-ruh tlajt fix-xott sewwa u mteddejt ftit fuq il-haxix minghajr biza li jilhaqni izjed il-bahar.
Hope you don't mind me not using Maltese letters, I don't have it enabled on my computer cause I don't use it XD only three words I couldn't make out, I think it might be cause they're not used in Maltese frequesntly or something. And I'll translate for you it later on.
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Ħadd ma jista jfisser it-taħbila ta' moħħ li jiena ħassejt x'ħin għereqt fl-ilma għaliex għadni ma kontx naf ngħum tajjeb wisq, iżda ma stajtx ninqala mill-mewġa biex nieħu nifs sakemm fl-aħħar intfajt jew biex ngħid ahjar (tkartart? i didn't get this word) fuq ix-xtajta u bqajt hemm nofs mejjet bl-ilma li blajt. Jien x'nagħmel meta rajtni fix-xott, waqaft fuq riġlejja u tlaqt niġri b'kemm għandi ħila għal ġewwa l-art qabel ma tiġi xi mewġa oħra u teħodni magħha. Imma kollu kien għal xejn għax ġiet il-mewġa kif ħsibt, u reġgħet niżżlitni taħt xi għaxart (another word i didnt get, a measure of how much water the guy was under i think) (itkiem???) ilma. Issa jien ma ħassejtnix sejjer ninqasam billi ridt inżomm nifs twil iżda minn (didn't get this word) (wara?) tlajt fil-wiċċ u ħadt in-nifs. Domt hekk nissara ma mewġ daqs darbtejn tlieta oħra sa ma ġiet waħda li sabtitni tisbita ma blata u ħallietni barra minn sensijja. Imma billi issa kont dħalt wisq ġewwa l-art, wara ftit li ħadt ir-ruħ tlajt fix-xott sewwa u mteddejt fuq il-ħaxix mingħajr biża li jilħaqni iżjed il-baħar.
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Here's how the book spelled it. Some of the spelling and/or words may well be old-fashioned.
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Though I pay 1.7 euro cents (2.6 cents Canadian) a minute for calling the US, which is not that bad; it's half the price of a daytime local call, in fact! (Though for a fair comparison, I choose a specific carrier for calls to the US but usually don't for local calls, and the ability to choose your carrier for local calls is comparatively new, anyway.)
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Not the case for international calls in general; I guess the US is that much cheaper because there's just a ton of submarine cables going that-a-way with lots of surplus bandwidth which sells more cheaply.
angħarad
Without the initial 'a', ngħarad could be a verb, though (IIId stem of base għ-r-d, 1sg imperfect: "I għarad"). And ingħarad could be a passive (VIIth stem of base għ-r-d, 3sg masc. perfect: "He was għaraded").
Re: angħarad
(Do you know that 'angharad' is of Welsh origin?)
Re: angħarad
No idea. I don't even know whether there is a base għ-r-d in Maltese, and I don't have a dictionary here. Just saying that morphologically and phonotactically, it could be a Maltese word. (Just like 'splurgs' could be an English verb in the third person singular, present indicative, due to the phonotactics and the -s ending, even though there's no such word.)
No, I didn't; what does it mean?
Re: angħarad
Of course, I stole it out of a fantasy novel before I ever knew it was Welsh.
Re: angħarad
Just saying that morphologically and phonotactically, it could be a Maltese word. - that's correct tho!