Maltese economic terminology dictionary launched

A new specialised Maltese dictionary for economics has been launched by the University of Malta (UM), aimed to standardise a number of terms for the benefit of researchers and academics in the economic field, as well as that of authors, teachers, journalists, translators and all those wishing to write on the topic using the Maltese language.

The ‘Specialised Dictionary: Economics’ was compiled by economist and UM academic Prof. Lino Briguglio, and edited by Prof. Michael Spagnol and Dwayne Ellul from the Department of Maltese, as well as Thomas Pace, the Executive Director for the Maltese Language.

The specialised dictionary was published by the National Council of the Maltese Language in collaboration with the Department of Maltese in the Faculty of Arts at the University.

In a recent interview, Mr Ellul said the idea to build this collection of terms started from a post on Facebook, where a discussion arose around what the term GDP stood for.

The discussion came in the comments section of a post from 2020 on the Facebook Group Kelmet il-Malti. A Page called Rethinking Economics posted a critique of GDP, echoing similar discussions being held in several fora, even high-level ones in Malta.

However, Rethinking Economics, while writing in Maltese, kept the ‘GDP’ acroynom, derived from ‘Gross Domestic Product. In the comments, Prof. Briguglio pointed out that it can be better shortened to PDG in Maltese to reflect ‘Prodott Domestiku Gross’.

Prof. Spagnol also chimed in with his own critique, leading to a conversation between the two respected academics that has resulted in an undoubtedly valuable resource for anyone communicating about the economy in Maltese.

A digital copy of the dictionary can be found through the University’s Library website.