Il Cantilena is the oldest known literary text in the Maltese language.[1] It dates from the 15th century (no later than 1485, the death of its author, and probably from the 1470s) but was not found until 1966 or 1968 by Prof. Godfrey Wettinger and Fr. M. Fsadni (OP). The poem is attributed to Pietru Caxaro, and was recorded by Caxaro's nephew, Brandano, in his notarial register (Dec. 1533 -- May 1563).
Although written in Maltese, it was a very early Maltese that had not yet been influenced much by Italian or English, and as such is an example of historical Maltese.
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This is the text of the Cantilena in the original orthography:
Xideu il cada ye gireni tale nichadithicum Mensab fil gueri uele nisab fo homorcom Calb mehandihe chakim soltan ui le mule Bir imgamic rimitne betiragin mucsule Fen hayran al garca nenzel fi tirag minzeli Nitla vu nargia ninzil deyem fil bachar il hali. Huakit hi mirammiti lili zimen nibni Mectatilix mihallimin me chitali tafal morchi fen timayt insib il gebel sib tafal morchi vackit hi mirammiti. Huakit by mirammiti Nizlit hi li sisen Mectatilix li mihallimin ma kitatili li gebel fen tumayt insib il gebel sib tafal morchi Huakit thi mirammiti lili zimen nibni Huec ucakit hi mirammiti vargia ibnie biddilihe inte il miken illi yeutihe Min ibidill il miken ibidil i vintura haliex liradi ’al col xibir sura hemme ard bayad v hemme ard seude et hamyra Hactar min hedann heme tred mine tamarra.
Witness my predicament, my friends (neighbours), as I shall relate it to you: never has there been, neither in the past, nor in your lifetime, A [similar] heart, ungoverned, without lord or king (sultan), That threw me down a well, with broken stairs Where, yearning to drown, I descend the steps of my downfall, Climb back up, only to go down again in this sea of woe. It(she) fell, my edifice, [that] which I had been building for so long, It was not the builders’ fault, but (of) the soft clay (that lay beneath); Where I had hoped to find rock, I found loose clay It(she) fell, my building! It(she) fell, my building, its foundations collapsed; It was not the builders’ fault, but the rock gave way, Where I had hoped to find rock, I found loose clay It (she) fell, my edifice, (that) which I had been building for so long, And so, my edifice subsided, and I shall have to build it up again, change the site that caused its downfall Who changes his place, changes his fate! for each (piece of land) has its own shape (features); there is white land and there is black land, and red But above all, you must stay clear of it.
This text contains many Siculo-Arabic morphemes (word-roots). The only Romance word is vintura "luck", sometimes translated into English as fate.
In general, early Maltese texts contain very little non-Semitic vocabulary; even in later texts, poetry tends to use more Semitic word-stock than general language use.