sptar
Maltese edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Eventually from Late Latin hospitale. The place and date of borrowing are uncertain, but regarding Algerian Arabic, Moroccan Arabic and Tunisian Arabic سبيطار (sbīṭār) it seems very plausible that the word was inherited from dialectal Maghrebi Arabic as spoken during the Arab reign (870 to 1127 AD). A later borrowing from Romance (both in Malta and North Africa) cannot be ruled out, but the phonetic agreement of the forms makes it seem unlikely.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
sptar m (plural sptarijiet, diminutive sptajjar)