Il-Kantilena

Il-Kantilena is the oldest known literary text in the Maltese language. It dates from the 15th century (no later than 1485, the death of its author, and probably from the 1470s), but was not found until 1966 by historians Godfrey Wettinger and Mikiel Fsadni. The poem is attributed to Pietru Caxaro, and was recorded by Caxaro's nephew, Brandano, in his notarial register (Dec. 1533 – May 1563). It is preserved at the Notarial Archives in Valletta.

Although written in Maltese, in Latin script, it was a very early form that had not yet been influenced much by Romance languages, and is thus an example of Old Maltese. This text contains many Arabic morphemes. The only Romance words are vintura 'luck', sometimes translated into English as 'fate', and et 'and'. In general, early Maltese texts contain very little non-Semitic vocabulary; even in later texts, poetry tends to use more Semitic vocabulary than general language use does, therefore while certainly of historical interest, Il-Kantilena most likely does not reflect the spoken language of the common Maltese of the time, but rather that of the elite who spoke a stilted form more pleasing to the ruling class.

However, literary evidence suggests that the spoken language in the 13th century was Arabic since ire was raised when the bishop of Malta resident in Sicily appointed Italian-speaking priests to the island. Both islands were occupied by the Arabs in the early medieval period, but Malta's relative isolation limited the diffusion of Italian cognates until much later.

Text
Xideu il cada ye gireni tale nichadithicum Mensab fil gueri uele nisab fo homorcom Calb mehandihe chakim soltan ui le mule Bir imgamic rimitne betiragin mucsule Fen hayran al garca nenzel fi tirag minzeli Nitla vu nargia ninzil deyem fil bachar il hali.
 * Original orthography

Huakit hi mirammiti lili zimen nibni Mectatilix mihallimin me chitali tafal morchi fen timayt insib il gebel sib tafal morchi vackit hi mirammiti.

Huakit hy mirammiti Nizlit hi li sisen Mectatilix li mihallimin ma kitatili li gebel fen tumayt insib il gebel sib tafal morchi Huakit thi mirammiti lili zimen nibni Huec ucakit hi mirammiti vargia ibnie biddilihe inte il miken illi yeutihe Min ibidill il miken ibidil i vintura haliex liradi ’al col xibir sura hemme ard bayad v hemme ard seude et hamyra Hactar min hedann heme tred mine tamara.

Xidew il-qada, ja ġirieni, talli nħadditkom, Ma nsab fil-weri u la nsab f’għomorkom Qalb m’għandha ħakem, sultan u la mula Bir imgħammiq irmietni, b’turġien muħsula, Fejn ħajran għall-għarqa, ninżel f’taraġ minżeli Nitla’ u nerġa’ ninżel dejjem fil-baħar il-għoli.
 * Modern orthography

Waqgħet hi, imrammti, l’ili żmien nibni, Ma ħtatlix mgħallmin, ’mma qatagħli tafal merħi; Fejn tmajt insib il-ġebel, sibt tafal merħi; Waqgħet hi, imrammti.

Waqgħet hi, imrammti, niżżlet hi s-sisien, Ma ħtatlix l-imgħallmin, ’mma qatagħli l-ġebel; Fejn tmajt insib il-ġebel, sibt tafal merħi; Waqgħet hi, imrammti, l’ili żmien nibni. U hekk waqgħet hi, imrammti! w erġa’ ibniha! Biddilha inti l-imkien illi jewtiha; Min ibiddel l-imkien ibiddel il-vintura; Għaliex l-iradi għal kull xiber sura: Hemm art bajda, w hemm art sewda u ħamra. Aktar minn hedawn hemm trid minnha tmarra.

 اشهدوا القضاء القعدة يا جيراني ،تعالوا نحدّثكم، ما انصاب في الواري ولا انصاب في عمركم قلب ما عندهاش حاكم، سلطان ولا مولى بير معمّق رماتني بدرجان مقسولة فين حيران عالغرقة، ننزل في درج منزالي نطلع ونرجع ننزل دايم في البحر العالي
 * Arabic orthography

وقعت هي مرمّتي، ليلي زمان نبني، ما خطاتليش المعلمين أما قطعلي طَفَل مرخي فين طمعت نصيب الجبل، صبت طَفَل مرخي وقعت هي مرمّتي

وقعت هي مرمّتي، نزلت هي السّيسان ما خطاتليش المعلمين أما قطعلي الجبل فين طمعت نصيب الجبل، صبت طفل مرخي وقعت هي مرمّتي، ليلي زمان نبني، وهكّ وقعت هي، مرمّتي وارجع ابنيها بدّلها انتِ للمكان اللّي يواتيها من يبدل المكان يبدل ال"فنتورة" علاش الأراضي على كل شبر صورة فمّ (ثمّة) أرض بيضاء وفمّ أرض سوداء وحمراء أكثر من هاذون فمّ تريد منها ثمرها ثمرة

Approximate English translation
Witness my predicament, my friends (neighbours), as I shall relate it to you: [What] never has there been, neither in the past, nor in your lifetime, A [similar] heart, ungoverned, without lord or king (sultan), That threw me down a well, with broken stairs Where, yearning to drown, I descend the steps of my downfall, I climb back up and down again, always faced with high seas.

It (she) fell, my building, its foundations collapsed; It was not the builders’ fault, but the rock gave way, Where I had hoped to find rock, I found loose clay It (she) fell, my edifice, (that) which I had been building for so long.

And so, my edifice subsided, and I shall have to build it up again, You change it to the site that suits her/it Who changes his place, changes his fate! for each (piece of land) has its own shape (features); there is white land and there is black land, and red But above all, (what) you want from it is a fruit.