Merħba għal vjaġġ permezz tal-lingwi Ewropej!

Lara’s journey through Europe’s regional and minority languages

Lara sets off on a new language journey - On this chapter of her journey, Lara explores the fascinating world of regional and minority languages and, being inquisitive, she, of course, uncovers many linguistic treasures!

Having found out about some 46 of Europe’s mostly ‘bigger’ languages on her first journey, on this trip Lara has chosen to scratch beneath the surface and explore languages which are not so well known beyond the areas they are spoken in. In some cases the languages she encounters have several dialects, some do not have a standardised written form or can be rendered in different scripts and in several cases the numbers of native speakers are declining. In all cases, however, the languages have a proud tradition and very dedicated and active communities of speakers seeking to ensure that their linguistic heritage is passed on to future generations.

Lara's language journey across Europe

Il-lingwi li se tiltaqa’ magħhom fil-paġni li ġejjin jixhdu d-diversità tal-kulturi u t-tradizzjonijiet li jeżistu qrib xulxin filkontinent tagħna. Xi wħud mill-225 lingwi nattivi għall-Ewropa huma mitkellma minn miljuni ta’ nies, filwaqt li oħrajn li huma mitkellma minn ftit, b’dispjaċir kbir, qed jintilfu.

Matul dan il-vjaġġ qasir, se tiskopri diversi similaritajiet. Il-lingwi Ewropej l-aktar jaqgħu fi tliet kategoriji ewlenin: Slavi, Romanzi u Ġermaniċi, Ġermaniċi, bil-lingwi ta’ kull grupp b’għeruq simili - imma, matul is-sekli żviluppaw f’direzzjonijiet distinti minn xulxin. Se ssir taf ukoll dwar id-differenzi tagħhom: ilvarjetà ta’ alfabetti (bħal-Latin, iċ-Ċirilliku, il-Grieg, l-Armenjan u l-Ġorġjan), li ħafna drabi jużaw kitba artistika; kif jittrattaw ilħolqien ta’ kliem għal invenzjonijiet ġodda u xi kultant l-oriġini misterjużi tagħhom. Kollha għandhom identità unika u l-istorja tagħhom x’jirrakkuntaw!