The broken plural in Maltese

In this study, SCHEMBRI explores, describes and analyses the broken plural in Maltese, one of many intriguing areas in Maltese grammar that have not been studied in great detail up to now. This is the first exclusively synchronic, in-depth study focusing on the broken plural in Mal-tese; other studies deal with this phenomenon either briefly, mainly in the context of other plural forms or other aspects of Maltese grammar, or emphasise the diachronic more than the synchronic aspect. A number of questions are relevant to a study of the broken plural, in-cluding: What is the actual range of patterns displayed? What is the for-mal relationship between different plural patterns? What is the formal relationship between singular and plural forms? How systematic and, therefore, predictable are these formal relations? Is it possible to predict whether a noun will have a sound or broken plural? Does meaning play any role in the determination of patterns? To what extent is the broken plural productive in modern Maltese? In what way is the broken plural in Maltese similar or different from the same phenomenon in other lan-guages of the Semitic family, especially Arabic? SCHEMBRI tries to answer some of these questions by examining the relevant data, and by looking for significant generalisations, trying to re-duce the richness of forms to more general basic patterns. SCHEMBRI’s conclusions provide important insights on the basis of which one can move on to the next step and attempt a formal account in some theoretical framework, such as Optimality Theory, to pick example of a framework that is actually mentioned by SCHEMBRI herself in the following study. SCHEMBRI’s analysis of the broken plural is another important contri-bution to the study of Maltese linguistics, and, in particular, the study of Maltese morpho-phonology. Through this work, this volume of Il-Lingwa Tagħna – Our Language is adding another precious stone to the colourful mosaic that is being put together to create as complete a picture as possi-ble of the Maltese language and Maltese linguistics. Other studies are planned to follow and enrich this picture further. (RAY FABRI (Malta)