Referring Back Inside a Relative Clause

Level 4

Forms such as magħha, fuqha and dwaru can refer back to a relative's head.

How It Works

A resumptive suffix represents the relative's head inside the clause. With a retained preposition in a li relative, the personal form supplies its complement: magħha means ‘with her/it’, and fuqha means ‘on her/it’. Maltese does not leave that preposition without its complement. The suffix refers to the head, independently of the verb's subject agreement.

Resumption is not required in every relative. Ordinary indefinite direct-object relatives permit a gap or attached pronoun. When the dependency crosses another relative clause, resumption can become obligatory. A simple immediate-subject relative ordinarily uses a gap; coordinated-subject structures can instead require an overt pronoun.

Compare il-mara li waslet, ‘the woman who arrived’, with il-mara li tkellimt magħha, ‘the woman I spoke with’. In the first, the woman is the subject. In the second, she is the complement of ‘with’.

Examples (3)

  1. Il-mara li tkellimt magħha taħdem hawn.

    The woman I spoke with works here.

    Magħha resumes the woman; context selects I from tkellimt.

  2. Il-mejda li poġġejt il-ktieb fuqha hija ġdida.

    The table I put the book on is new.

    Fuqha resumes the feminine table; context selects I from poġġejt.

  3. Il-ktieb li Rita tkellmet dwaru huwa interessanti.

    The book Rita talked about is interesting.

    Dwaru resumes masculine ktieb; Rita controls subject agreement.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Referring Back Inside a Relative ClauseLevel 4

Learn This First

Trace suffixes back to relative heads while retaining independent subject agreement and construction-specific limits on resumption.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

li