Ludovik Mifsud Tommasi Explained

Ludovik Mifsud Tommasi (1796-1879), also known as Ludovico Mifsud Tommasi, was a Maltese priest and educator, and also author of short poems and short prayers.[1] [2] He was from Cospicua, in southeastern Malta.[3] One of the major works of Mifsud Tommasi, L-Inni Imkaddsa (The Holy Hymns), a bilingual Latin-Maltese book, shows that his work focused on traditional aspects with the story concentrated with religious scenes. The book includes four of the five hymns of Thomas Aquinas.[4] Other important works are Stabat Mater Dolorosa; Christe Sanctorum decus Angelorum; and Magnae Deus Potentiae.

Mifsud Tommasi was a proponent of using the Latin alphabet instead of the Arabic script for Maltese.[5] This was a fraught issue at the time over how to incorporate sounds in Maltese, that could not be differentiated in the Latin alphabet; Mifsud Tommasi proposed representing the voiceless pharyngeal fricative with an h, although the eventually accepted form was ħ.

Notes and References

  1. Friggieri . Oliver . The Language and Literature of Malta: A Synthesis of Semitic and Latin Elements . 2016 . Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae . 69 . 2 . 201–219 . 10.1556/062.2016.69.2.6 . 43957450 . 0001-6446.
  2. Cassar Pullicino . Joseph . 1982 . The priest who declined a bishopric . en.
  3. Web site: Wintry Celebrations - The Malta Independent . 2022-03-05 . www.independent.com.mt.
  4. Web site: Fr Albert M. Grech O.P. (1883-1942): A Latin-to-Maltese literary and religious translator . 2022-03-05 . scholar.googleusercontent.com.
  5. Book: Borg . Albert . Perspectives on Maltese Linguistics . Caruana . Sandro . Vella . Alexandra . 2014-02-03 . Walter de Gruyter . 2014 . 978-3-05-006514-4 . 15 . en.