Phasal verbs in the Maltese verb sequence

Abstract

This study is concerned with phasal verbs in the Maltese verb chain, which can be defined as a sequence of two or more finite verbs. In order to gain a better understanding of the verb sequence in Maltese, this study focuses on verb chains made up of three verbs, with at least one of them being a phasal verb. Put simply, phasal verbs are those verbs that point to a particular phase of a situation, such as its initiation, termination or completion. This study explores in detail the way in which different verb forms may combine together to constitute a chain. Sets of examples for three phasal verbs, namely, beda ‘start’, qagħad ‘stay’ and reġa’ ‘do again’ were collected using Korpus Malti v3.0 and then analysed from a statistical perspective. The principal observation is that each verb in the chain may only govern, or have scope over, the verb that immediately follows it. Moreover, the combinations allowed depend on the meaning of the governing verb, so that a specific combination might be possible with one interpretation of a governing verb but unacceptable with another interpretation. In addition to combinatorial possibilities and restrictions, this study also observes how future and progressive markers may interact with the verbs in the chain. Placing se (future marker) and qed (progressive marker) in different slots within the chain shows that the future and progressive markers may only occur with imperfective verbs. Although such marking may occur with verbs in the second or third slot, that is, V2 or V3, respectively, the V1 position is clearly favoured. Moreover, the position of se alters the semantics of the utterance since future meaning is expressed when se occurs in V1, while se marking on V2 and V3 expresses imminence, that is, a situation on the verge of holding but which ultimately remains unrealised.