Verbal negation with muš in Maltese and Eastern Mediterranean Arabics
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Amany Al-Sayyed
Abstract
Verbs in Maltese can occasionally be negated with the nominal negator mhux. Analogous negation with reflexes of muš has been observed in Egyptian Arabic, with those researching it speculating that it is a recent phenomenon. Yet its earliest attestation is in the Egyptian Arabic of the 15th century. Drawing data from observations of Levantine usage and corpora of Egyptian and Tunisian Arabics and the Korpus Malti, we document the same type of construction in eastern Mediterranean Arabics and Maltese. This suggests that the phenomenon arrived in Malta with the first Arabic speakers to inhabit the islands, and it adds to Mifsud’s (2008) “curious similarities with the Eastern dialects” and another “striking parallel” to Borg’s (1997) occurring “in the realm of syntax” giving cause to revisit Stumme’s (1904) contention that the antecedents to Maltese are Levantine.
Abstract
Verbs in Maltese can occasionally be negated with the nominal negator mhux. Analogous negation with reflexes of muš has been observed in Egyptian Arabic, with those researching it speculating that it is a recent phenomenon. Yet its earliest attestation is in the Egyptian Arabic of the 15th century. Drawing data from observations of Levantine usage and corpora of Egyptian and Tunisian Arabics and the Korpus Malti, we document the same type of construction in eastern Mediterranean Arabics and Maltese. This suggests that the phenomenon arrived in Malta with the first Arabic speakers to inhabit the islands, and it adds to Mifsud’s (2008) “curious similarities with the Eastern dialects” and another “striking parallel” to Borg’s (1997) occurring “in the realm of syntax” giving cause to revisit Stumme’s (1904) contention that the antecedents to Maltese are Levantine.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents v
- Maltese linguistics: What is new? vii
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Part 1: New looks into the past
- On the phonology of Sicilian Arabic and early Maltese 3
- Aspects of the comparison between Maltese, Mediterranean Lingua Franca and the Occitan-Catalan linguistic group (13th–15th centuries) 39
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Part 2: Maltese, and just Maltese
- Modifiers and complements within the Maltese verb sequence 67
- Focus particles in Maltese: A corpus survey 87
- On prepositional ellipsis and the factors which block its application in Maltese 121
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Part 3: Beyond Maltese, now and then
- Verbal negation with muš in Maltese and Eastern Mediterranean Arabics 151
- Maltese kiteb vs. Tunisian (Sūsa) ktib 173
- The phonetic study of speakers along the Maltese-English continuum 193
- The visibility and salience of Maltese in bilingual Malta’s linguistic landscape 225
- The myth of the mixed languages 245
- Index of Authors 267
- Index of Languages 271
- Index of Subjects 273
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents v
- Maltese linguistics: What is new? vii
-
Part 1: New looks into the past
- On the phonology of Sicilian Arabic and early Maltese 3
- Aspects of the comparison between Maltese, Mediterranean Lingua Franca and the Occitan-Catalan linguistic group (13th–15th centuries) 39
-
Part 2: Maltese, and just Maltese
- Modifiers and complements within the Maltese verb sequence 67
- Focus particles in Maltese: A corpus survey 87
- On prepositional ellipsis and the factors which block its application in Maltese 121
-
Part 3: Beyond Maltese, now and then
- Verbal negation with muš in Maltese and Eastern Mediterranean Arabics 151
- Maltese kiteb vs. Tunisian (Sūsa) ktib 173
- The phonetic study of speakers along the Maltese-English continuum 193
- The visibility and salience of Maltese in bilingual Malta’s linguistic landscape 225
- The myth of the mixed languages 245
- Index of Authors 267
- Index of Languages 271
- Index of Subjects 273
