Problem
Maltese is an Afro-Asiatic Language of the Semitic family, spoken on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean. Consider how the indefinite (a, some) and the definite forms (the) of nouns are formed in the following words. In Maltese, the definite form of a noun is constructed by attaching either /il-/ or /l-/ to it. Examine the data below and answer the question that follow. (The symbol è represents a voiceless pharyngeal fricative.)
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indefinite
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definite
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[fellus] 'chicken'
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[ilfellus] 'the chicken'
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[aria] 'air'
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[laria] 'the air'
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[mara] 'woman'
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[ilmara] 'the woman'
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[omm] 'mother'
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[lomm] 'the mother'
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[kelb] 'dog'
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[ilkelb] 'the dog'
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[Pattus] 'cat'
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[ilPattus] 'the cat'
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[èitan] 'walls'
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[ilèitan] 'the walls'
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[abt] armpit
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[labt] 'the armpit'
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[ispaniol] 'Spanish language'
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[lispaniol] 'the Spanish language'
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• What is conditioning the form of the alternating definite marker?
• What natural classes of sounds are involved?