Relativisation in Maltese

This paper provides a comprehensive description of relative clause structures in standard Maltese, which is a mixed language belonging to the South Arabic branch of Central Semitic, with a Maghrebi/Siculo-Arabic stratum, a Romance (Sicilian, Italian) superstratum and an English adstratum. Where relevant, we draw attention to divergences between standard and dialectal Maltese. We provide detailed discussion of a number of structures which have not received attention in previous literature (including non-restrictives). Our discussion draws on, and substantially extends, the data in Camilleri and Sadler (2011) and Camilleri and Sadler (2012a) to provide a comprehensive overview of relative clause structures in Maltese. To keep the dataset within manageable proportions, we excluded free (headless) relative clauses from consideration here. Within the broader Semitic perspective, our description adds to the relatively substantial literature on relativisation in the Arabic vernaculars, laying the ground work for a better understanding of how Maltese fits into the dialectal spectrum. At several points we make direct cross-dialectal comparisons, in particular in relation to the distribution of gaps and resumptives in relative clauses and the availability of a wh-relativisation strategy.