Linguistics Circle, 20 April 2012 A Couple of Morphologies Verb structure and argument alternations in Maltese Michael Spagnol 1.
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Contrasting Comparing Roots and patterns Binyan system Concatenative verbs Conclusion 1. Contrasting Rind%leischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz ‘beef labeling regulation & delegation of supervision law’ 2. Comparing Aim and scope Two plots 3. Roots and Patterns Templatic verbs Binyan √bsm √ktb √ħxn √lbs √ħrġ libes wear ħareġ go/take out ħaxxen fatten libbes dress v.t ħarreġ train v.t tħaxxen be fattened tlibbes be dressed tħarreġ train v.i ntlibes be worn nħareġ be taken out kiteb write I II III V tbissem smile VI VII nkiteb ‘be written’ VIII IX X ħxien become fat stħarreġ investigate A transparent system Contents of the root √ktb C1vC2vC3
nC1vC2vC3
C1vC2C3a
C1vC2C2vvC3
C1C2vjjvC3
kiteb nkiteb kitba kittieb ktejjeb ‘write’ ‘be written’ ‘writing’ ‘writer’ ‘booklet’ √lbs C1vC2vC3
C1vC2C2vC3 C1vC2C3a
libes libbes libsa ‘wear’ ‘dress, v.t’ ‘a dress’ Contents of the root √ħrġ C1vC2vC3
C1vC2C2vC3 stC1vC2C2vC3 √xrb C1vC2vC3
C1vC2C2vC3 √nbħ C1vC2C2vC3 stvC1C2vC2 ħareġ ħarreġ stħarreġ
‘go out’ ‘train’ ‘investigate’ xorob xarrab ‘drink’ ‘wet’ nebbaħ
stenbaħ
‘inspire’ ‘wake up’ Contents of the root Contents of the root Functions of the patterns 4. Binyan system Database Gaps in the system Productive patterns Complementary distribution Four categories A(n ir)regular system Word formation x x n, v, adj √ x √ n, v, adj How (ir)regular? Root-­‐derived verbs Verb-­‐derived verbs Causative alternations Passives and re]lexives Passives: predictable semantics Argument alternations Irregularity Regularity Uni-­‐directionality Regularity The passive of II għallem ‘teach’ is in VII ntgħallem ‘be taught’, (cf. nkiteb ‘be written’) not in V tgħallem ‘learn’, as one would expect ntgħallem għallem għallem √għlm CvCCvC √għlm CvCCvC nt-­‐ In sum •
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Verbal patterns do not have ]ixed semantic roles Templatic verbs are not all derived from binyan I (or II or III) – some are derived from roots, others from previously formed verbs Generalizations can be found by looking at the system as a whole The system is partly regular (argument alternations), partly irregular (singletons, synonyms, multiple interpretations) In terms of vocalic variation, gaps, morphological markedness and semantics, passives and re]lexives are regular, verb-­‐derived, while causatives and non-­‐
causatives are irregular, root-­‐derived 5. Concatenative Concatenative verbs Formal encoding Formal encoding Labile verbs Labile verbs Templatic and concatenative 6. Conclusion Summary Binyan system Uni]ied account Grazzi