Malta Economic Update - March 2007
In a country with two official languages like Malta, where Maltese and English often overlap in normal conversation, it is often difficult to pin down the exact meaning or translation of a complicated financial term. This may lead to a misunderstanding, something which can't be risked, particularly when dealing with international partners. The Malta Economic Update spoke to Carlo Farrugia, who has created a reference book that can help dispel any such doubts or miscommunication.
Carlo Farrugia started his financial services career at the Central Bank 28 years ago. He eventually moved to the Malta Financial Services Authority, where he is the Senior Manager in the Information Office, a department created in 2004. He is in charge of all the authority’s public relations and information dissemination.
The idea for a Dictionary for Financial Services came to him while he was attending a University of Malta masters degree course in English-Maltese translation. “The lecturers, knowing my financial background, would occasionally resort to asking me, their student, how to translate certain financial terms we would come across.
When I approached my employers they recognised that there was a need to fill this reference gap in the market, and they agreed to sponsor my project,” he explained.
The response to his suggestion from Paul Mizzi of Medsea Books Ltd, was also enthusiastic and a very fruitful relationship developed.
"I believe their intention is to have a series of Maltese dictionaries specialising in various fields. They have the well-known Joseph Aquilina Concise Maltese-English-Maltese Dictionary, the mammoth work with the red cover: and now they have published my book with a cover in the same style but green. I must say they complement each other very nicely on a bookshelf, although, of course, I intend the books to be used not to be a decoration," he quipped.
The project was a labour of love that was started in summer 2004 with Farrugia working in the evenings and on weekends as he juggled his MFSA and family commitments. "Early in the project I decided to, not just offer a simple translation, but also a definition of the term in both languages. This helps make the book ideal not only for international companies keen to work here and reach out to Maltese investors, clients or the public, but also for the Maltese public that is venturing into private investments."
"I'm not an academic, so what I did was collect sources for research. I studied terms in common usage by Maltese banks and financial institutions, some of which in loose translation from English. Some words were translated differently by different institutions: for example how the word payment is used. In my research I found it written as ħlas or as pagament. It is important for such terms to be standardised as pagament and ħlas may refer to payments from different sources," he explained.
Farrugia also consulted the works of the linguist Joseph Aquilina, the Laws of Malta and a host of other sources listed in the bibliography and acknowledgments pages of the dictionary, coming to a standard conclusion according to current usage and popularity. "I didn’t create any words myself," he assured me.
The book is reasonably priced and it is a must for every company shelf along with contact directories, almanacs and other reference books. However, aware of today’s digitalised world, the MFSA decided to make the dictionary available in a convenient electronic format on its website. The online service also offers definitions as well as translations, but it is not available for download.
"The response to the dictionary has been good. There was general acknowledgement that it was something needed, and there was praise from the Council for the Maltese Language. Since Malta joined the European Union, Maltese has come under the spotlight again, and this book is my contribution to the development and cultivation of our language, which is also an official on of the Union. I will be going to Luxembourg in April to present the book to Maltese translators in an EU-sponsored event, so I'm hoping to see more international exposure for it," he said.
Carlo Farrugia is now working on a revised edition, due out in late 2008. The first edition contain 1,600 terms: he aims to double that and include common terms used in a European Union framework.
As the preface, written by Dr Charles Briffa, says, the dictionary can be seen as part of the extensive translation projects undertaken by Maltese society as a result of EU membership. It is not exhaustive, an impossible task considering the rapid evolution of financial terminology, but it does offer strong suggestions for standardisation, providing help in preventing multiple translations of the same concepts. Considering that such financial concepts are crucial to the Maltese economy, Carlo Farrugia deserves praise for undertaking this task, while the MFSA should also be applauded for supporting the project.
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