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DC Field | Value | Language |
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dc.contributor.author | Lucas, Chris | - |
dc.contributor.author | Spagnol, Michael | - |
dc.date.accessioned | 2022-04-01T05:40:55Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2022-04-01T05:40:55Z | - |
dc.date.issued | 2018 | - |
dc.identifier.citation | Lucas, C., & Spagnol, M. (2018). Conditions on /t/-insertion in Maltese numeral phrases: a reassessment. In P. Paggio & A. Gatt, (Eds.), The languages of Malta, (pp. 117-141). Berlin: Language Science Press | en_GB |
dc.identifier.uri | https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/92687 | - |
dc.description.abstract | There has, for a considerable period, been disagreement and confusion as to the conditions governing the appearance of the /t/ morpheme that sometimes intervenes between the numerals 2–10 and a following plural noun in Maltese, as in ħames skejjel / ħamest iskejjel ‘five schools’ (e.g. Aquilina 1965: 118; Borg 1974; Cremona 1938: 204–205). In recent work (Lucas & Spagnol 2016) we reported on a native-speaker production experiment designed to improve our understanding of this issue. The results of that experiment suggested that the key factor determining /t/-insertion was onset of the plural noun: CV-initial plurals virtually never permit /t/-insertion, whereas CC-initial and V-initial plurals at least sometimes do. Number of syllables also appeared to be a relevant factor, in that, e.g., monosyllabic CC-initial plurals were found to strongly favour /t/-insertion, disyllabic CC-initials less so, and polysyllabic CC-initials not at all. The present work builds on this earlier research, arguing that a more accurate and more general statement of the conditions on /t/-insertion is one that makes reference primarily to morphological pattern, rather than to onset and number of syllables. This conclusion stems from a new production experiment focusing specifically on /t/-insertion with CC-initial disyllabic plurals. The experiment tested combinations of numerals with a number of both ”sound” (suffixing, non-stem-altering) plurals and ”broken” (non-suffixing, stem-altering) plurals. The latter fell into one of three patterns: CCVVCV(C), CCVjjVC and CCVCVC. The basic prediction was that the broken plurals would, in general, be much more favourable to /t/-insertion than the sound plurals. This prediction was borne out (broken plural mean insertion rate: 32%; sound plural mean insertion rate: 5%). Additionally, we predicted that broken plurals of the CCVCVC pattern, such as gwerer ‘wars’, in which two consonants occupy the initial root-consonant slot in the basic, highly /t/-resistant, CVCVC pattern (cf. Mifsud 1994), would be less favourable to /t/-insertion than the other CC-initial broken plural patterns tested. This too was borne out (mean insertion rates: CCVCVC 23%; CCVjjVC 37%; CCVVCVC 55%). Taken together, these two findings show that morphological pattern should be taken as the key determinant of /t/-insertion, with onset and number of syllables contributing only secondarily. | en_GB |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Language Science Press | en_GB |
dc.rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess | en_GB |
dc.subject | Maltese language -- Morphology | en_GB |
dc.subject | Maltese language -- Syntax | en_GB |
dc.subject | Maltese language -- Grammar | en_GB |
dc.subject | Maltese language -- Phonology | en_GB |
dc.title | Conditions on /t/-insertion in Maltese numeral phrases : a reassessment | en_GB |
dc.title.alternative | The languages of Malta | en_GB |
dc.type | bookPart | en_GB |
dc.rights.holder | The copyright of this work belongs to the author(s)/publisher. The rights of this work are as defined by the appropriate Copyright Legislation or as modified by any successive legislation. Users may access this work and can make use of the information contained in accordance with the Copyright Legislation provided that the author must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the prior permission of the copyright holder | en_GB |
dc.description.reviewed | peer-reviewed | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.5281/zenodo.1181791 | - |
Appears in Collections: | Scholarly Works - FacArtMal |
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Conditions_on_t_insertion_in_Maltese_numeral_phrases.pdf Restricted Access | 378.37 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open Request a copy |
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