From: a24061@ducksburg.com   
      
   On 2025-02-12, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:   
      
   > On 2025-02-12 11:45:01 +0000, Adam Funk said:   
   >   
   >> On 2025-02-09, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> On 2025-02-09 09:04:18 +0000, Ross Clark said:   
   >>>   
   >>>> 10 February - Feast of St Paul's Shipwreck (Malta)   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Why? Because it's Malta's only appearance in the Bible (Acts 28:1ff.).   
   >>>> And he's the patron saint of Malta. The text says "Melita", but   
   >>>> scholars don't seem to have a problem with the identification. The   
   >>>> Maltese of the time (?59 AD) were Roman citizens, and treated Paul   
   >>>> (also a Roman citizen) well. They are described as _barbaroi_, meaning   
   >>>> they didn't speak Greek. (Fr McKenzie thinks probably Punic.)   
   >>>> Paul was on his way to Rome to appeal to Caesar against charges of   
   >>>> making trouble.   
   >>>> Why 10 February? Don't have any information on that.   
   >>>   
   >>> I've been labouring under a delusion for 60 years, as I thought that   
   >>> happened at Matala in Crete, not Malta.   
   >>   
   >> I went to a conference in Malta years ago & there was quite a bit of   
   >> stuff referring to St Paul's shipwreck, including a bay named after   
   >> him (in both English & Maltese).   
   >>   
   >> BTW, Maltese is interesting --- it's an Arabic language with a lot of   
   >> Italian vocabulary, somewhat similar to the way English is a Germanic   
   >> language with a lot of French vocabulary.   
   >   
   > I have a Maltese colleague in England. She is in a department where   
   > there are significant numbers of Tunisian and Libyan students. She said   
   > once that when the students talk among themselves she cannot follow   
   > their conversations in any detail, but she can tell what they are about.   
      
   That's interesting, thanks.   
      
      
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