A computational grammar and lexicon for Maltese

Table 2.11: Inflection table for two adjectives sabiħ (‘beautiful’) and kiesaħ (‘cold’),
respectively with and without inflectional comparative forms
Agreement Positive Comparative Superlative
Sg Masc sabiħ isbaħ l-isbaħ
Sg Fem sabiħa ” ”
Pl sbieħ ” ”
Sg Masc kiesaħ iktar kiesaħ l-iktar kiesaħ
Sg Fem kiesħa iktar kiesħa l-iktar kiesħa
Pl kesħin iktar kesħin l-iktar kesħin
Implementation
Record type
The record type looks like this:
oper
Adjective : Type = {
s : AForm => Str ;
hasComp : Bool ;
} ;
param
AForm = APosit GenNum | ACompar | ASuperl ;
Paradigms The smart paradigm for constructing adjectives can take between 1 and 4 strings,
depending on the predictability of the inflected forms and whether it has a comparative form
or not. A second paradigm sameA exists for adjectives which are invariant (and have no comparative
form). Examples of all are given in table 2.12.
Table 2.12: Adjective paradigms
Explanation
Predictable feminine and plural forms
Predictable feminine, explicit plural form
Explicit feminine and plural forms
All forms, including comparative
Invariant inflection
Constructor
mkA "bravu"
mkA "nadif" "nodfa"
mkA "aħmar" "ħamra" "ħomor"
mkA "dejjaq" "dejqa" "dojoq" "idjaq"
sameA "blu"
2.2.5 Other lexical categories
In addition to the simple lexical categories given above, the Resource Grammar Library also
defines higher-valency versions of these categories. The explanation of the V category for ex-
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