https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/5429 Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:44:09 GMT 2026-09-04T15:44:09Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148522 Title: The phonetics and phonology of nasal vowels in Polish and transferability into English Abstract: There appears to be a lack of consensus regarding the status of nasal vowels /ɔ̃ / and /ɛ̃ / in Polish as phonemes functioning as separate from /ɔ/ and /ɛ/. Some of the existing research treats them as complex segments made up of an oral vowel and a nasal stop and/or limits their occurrence in their nasal form to fricative preceding positions. This study investigates the status of these vowels by examining their realisations across different phonological contexts. It seeks in particular to assess whether nasalisation of vowels is affected by orthography and whether it is transferred into the L2 English of L1 Polish speakers. An auditory-acoustic analysis was carried out using speaking and reading task data which relied on semi-controlled and controlled stimuli. A detailed analysis of variants was carried out, with more such variants identified than previously described in the literature, although the phonological contexts in which they occurred was found to align with previous research on this topic. Orthography was in fact found to affect the pronunciation of these nasal vowels in Polish. Evidence of phonological transfer of nasalisation into English was also found although this study brought important insights into the topic, more research is needed. Description: B.A. (Hons)(Melit.) Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148522 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148051 Title: Maltese first language acquisition of morphosyntax : a focus on nominal inflection and agreement Abstract: This study traces the development of morphosyntax in typically developing, Maltese-dominant bilingual children aged 18–60 months, examining how mean length of utterance in morphemes (MLUm), parts-of-speech (POS) category distribution, and nominal morphosyntax evolve and interact over time. To this end, a corpus comprising over 30 hours of Maltese child language data was collected. Drawing on longitudinal naturalistic data complemented by targeted elicitation tasks, and supported by statistical modelling, the study provides a detailed account of language acquisition in a bilingual environment. The results show that MLUm increases steadily with age at a rate comparable to previous studies. A higher proportion of nouns in early productions gradually gives way to increased use of verbs and function words, with mixed-effects modelling confirming a significant shift over time and in relation to MLUm. Analyses of nominal inflection reveal that concatenative plural forms are acquired earlier and with greater accuracy than templatic forms. In nominal agreement, accuracy increases with age, although earlier stabilisation of gender relative to number is not statistically confirmed. Integrative analyses indicate that the stabilisation of nominal morphosyntax coincides with the transition to multiword syntax and the attenuation of this early noun dominance. Collectively, these findings depict the development of nominal systems as gradual and interdependent, contributing new empirical evidence to cross-linguistic theories of morphosyntactic learnability and bilingual acquisition. Description: Ph.D.(Melit.) Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148051 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147895 Title: Rooted in the Mediterranean studies in Arabic dialectology Authors: Fabri, Ray; Gatt, Kurstin; Spagnol, Michael Abstract: This volume presents the proceedings of the 15th Conference of the International Association of Arabic Dialectology (AIDA) held at the Valletta Campus of the University of Malta from 21 to 24 May 2024. The conference was jointly organised by the Department of Maltese, the Department of Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures, and the Institute of Linguistics and Language Technology at the University of Malta. [excerpt] Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147895 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145885 Title: How to write up interdisciplinary research in line with its theoretical underpinnings Authors: Schembri, Natalie Abstract: This guide aims to equip readers with practical advice on how to write up an interdisciplinary study in line with the theoretical underpinnings of interdisciplinary research. It will focus on how to write your text, explaining areas where it is important to highlight the interdisciplinary nature of your study. There are critical points in an IMRAD (Introduction, Methodology, Results, and Discussion) structure where this must be justified, highlighted, and brought to bear on your research problem. This guide will provide examples from relevant published research to illustrate how you can do this. It will also give you a basic understanding of the theory behind these textual practices. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145885 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z