22 Non-verbal predication in Maltese
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Martine Vanhove
Abstract
The Maltese language (Semitic, Afro-Asiatic) originates from a Maghrebi Arabic variety, which has been in contact with Sicilian and Italian since the late Middle Ages, and with English since the 19th century. These contacts heavily restructured the language at all levels. After having provided basic information about Maltese morphosyntax, the chapter identifies and investigates eight types of non-verbal predication, following the typological approach proposed in Chapter 1 and the questionnaire. The constructions at stake are: the juxtaposition strategy; the pronominal copula; the locative copula qiegħed, originally the active participle of a stative verb meaning ‘sit, stay, inhabit’; the verbal copula used for the overt expression of TAM; the locative copula fi ‘in’; the adverbial copulas hawn ‘here’ and hemm ‘there’; the predicative possession, which developed from locative constructions with the preposition għand ‘at’ and a grammaticalized ✶‘be’ verb, to which the dative preposition and possessive suffixes were agglutinated and/or fused. Each section investigates nominal, adjectival, and adverbial predication and their function as possessive predication. This chapter also provides detailed information on the other uses of the constructions where relevant, that is ostension, focusing, spatial and non-spatial uses, inverse-possessive predication, the predicative use of numerals, grammaticalization into progressive and modal auxiliaries, idiomatic and metaphorical expressions, inverse-locational predication, existential utterances, presentational utterances, transpossessive predication, physical, emotional and mental states predication, and presentational utterances. It is shown that juxtaposition, even if not marginal, is a receding strategy and that possessive predication developed into pseudo-verbs, in order to mark several semantic types of non-verbal predication. The table in the concluding section recapitulates the morphosyntactic types of non-verbal predications together with their functions and productivity.
Abstract
The Maltese language (Semitic, Afro-Asiatic) originates from a Maghrebi Arabic variety, which has been in contact with Sicilian and Italian since the late Middle Ages, and with English since the 19th century. These contacts heavily restructured the language at all levels. After having provided basic information about Maltese morphosyntax, the chapter identifies and investigates eight types of non-verbal predication, following the typological approach proposed in Chapter 1 and the questionnaire. The constructions at stake are: the juxtaposition strategy; the pronominal copula; the locative copula qiegħed, originally the active participle of a stative verb meaning ‘sit, stay, inhabit’; the verbal copula used for the overt expression of TAM; the locative copula fi ‘in’; the adverbial copulas hawn ‘here’ and hemm ‘there’; the predicative possession, which developed from locative constructions with the preposition għand ‘at’ and a grammaticalized ✶‘be’ verb, to which the dative preposition and possessive suffixes were agglutinated and/or fused. Each section investigates nominal, adjectival, and adverbial predication and their function as possessive predication. This chapter also provides detailed information on the other uses of the constructions where relevant, that is ostension, focusing, spatial and non-spatial uses, inverse-possessive predication, the predicative use of numerals, grammaticalization into progressive and modal auxiliaries, idiomatic and metaphorical expressions, inverse-locational predication, existential utterances, presentational utterances, transpossessive predication, physical, emotional and mental states predication, and presentational utterances. It is shown that juxtaposition, even if not marginal, is a receding strategy and that possessive predication developed into pseudo-verbs, in order to mark several semantic types of non-verbal predication. The table in the concluding section recapitulates the morphosyntactic types of non-verbal predications together with their functions and productivity.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- List of the Authors V
- Acknowledgments
- Contents IX
- Crucial issues in non-verbal predication: A questionnaire 785
-
Part II: Case studies
- 22 Non-verbal predication in Maltese 789
- 23 Non-verbal predication in Nilotic 829
- 24 Non-verbal predication in Cushitic 865
- 25 Non-verbal predication in Mandinka and other Mande languages 915
- 26 Non-verbal predication in Cuwabo (Bantu) 955
- 27 Non-verbal predication in Ju 993
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Austronesia, Papunesia, Australia
- 28 Non-verbal predicates in Oceanic languages 1021
- 29 Non-verbal predication in Formosan languages 1067
- 30 Non-verbal predication in three families of Papunesia: Teiwa, Tidore and Mian 1103
- 31 Non-verbal predication in Nungon 1143
- 32 Non-verbal predication in Ngumpin-Yapa languages (Australia) 1169
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Part III: Conclusion and prospects
- 33 Non-verbal predication: Results and perspectives 1213
- Subject index 1275
- Language index 1283
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- List of the Authors V
- Acknowledgments
- Contents IX
- Crucial issues in non-verbal predication: A questionnaire 785
-
Part II: Case studies
- 22 Non-verbal predication in Maltese 789
- 23 Non-verbal predication in Nilotic 829
- 24 Non-verbal predication in Cushitic 865
- 25 Non-verbal predication in Mandinka and other Mande languages 915
- 26 Non-verbal predication in Cuwabo (Bantu) 955
- 27 Non-verbal predication in Ju 993
-
Austronesia, Papunesia, Australia
- 28 Non-verbal predicates in Oceanic languages 1021
- 29 Non-verbal predication in Formosan languages 1067
- 30 Non-verbal predication in three families of Papunesia: Teiwa, Tidore and Mian 1103
- 31 Non-verbal predication in Nungon 1143
- 32 Non-verbal predication in Ngumpin-Yapa languages (Australia) 1169
-
Part III: Conclusion and prospects
- 33 Non-verbal predication: Results and perspectives 1213
- Subject index 1275
- Language index 1283
