The Grammar of Maltese Prepositions

The grammar of Maltese prepositions is described in detail starting from the definition of what counts as a preposition in Maltese. The sixty simple prepositions are analyzed as to their phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic properties in synchronic perspective. In this way several classes of prepositions can be distinguished on the basis of their structural behavior. The empirical data stem from the Korpus Malti 3.0 and a broad selection of conventionally published literature in contemporary Maltese. The study combines qualitative and quantitative methods. The results are evaluated with reference to the typology of adpositions as proposed by Hagege (2010).