Ludovik Mifsud Tommasi

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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.

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References

  1. Friggieri, Oliver (2016). "The Language and Literature of Malta: A Synthesis of Semitic and Latin Elements". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 69 (2): 201–219. doi:10.1556/062.2016.69.2.6. ISSN   0001-6446. JSTOR   43957450.
  2. Cassar Pullicino, Joseph (1982). "The priest who declined a bishopric".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. "Wintry Celebrations - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
  4. "Fr Albert M. Grech O.P. (1883-1942): A Latin-to-Maltese literary and religious translator". scholar.googleusercontent.com. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
  5. Borg, Albert; Caruana, Sandro; Vella, Alexandra (2014-02-03). Perspectives on Maltese Linguistics. Walter de Gruyter. p. 15. ISBN   978-3-05-006514-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)