Editing Maltese language (section)

===Nouns===
Nouns are pluralised and also have a [[dual grammatical number|dual]] marker. Semitic plurals are complex; if they are regular, they are marked by ''-iet''/''-ijiet'', e.g., ''art'', ''artijiet'' "lands (territorial possessions or property)" (cf. Arabic ''-at'' and Hebrew ''-ot''/''-oth'') or ''-in'' (cf. Arabic ''-īn'' and Hebrew ''-im''). If irregular, they fall in the ''pluralis fractus'' ([[broken plural]]) category, in which a word is pluralised by internal vowel changes: ''ktieb'', ''kotba'' " book", "books"; ''raġel'', ''irġiel'' "man", "men".

Words of Romance origin are usually pluralised in two manners: addition of ''-i'' or ''-jiet''. For example, ''lingwa'', ''lingwi'' "languages", from Sicilian ''lingua'', ''lingui''.

Words of English origin are pluralised by adding either an "-s" or "-jiet", for example, ''friġġ'', ''friġis'' from the word ''fridge''. Some words can be pluralised with either of the suffixes to denote the plural. A few words borrowed from English can amalgamate both suffixes, like ''brikksa'' from the English ''brick'', which can adopt either collective form ''brikks'' or the plural form ''brikksiet''.

====Derivation====

As in [[Arabic]], nouns are often derived by changing, adding or removing the vowels within a [[triliteral root]]. These are some of the patterns used for nouns:<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/TeachYourselfMalteseJosephAquilina/page/n49/ | title=Teach Yourself Maltese Joseph Aquilina }}</ref>

* CaCiC – ''xadin'' (monkey), ''sadid'' (rust)
* CCiC – ''żbib'' (raisin)
* CaCCa – ''baqra'' (cow), ''basla'' (onion)
* CeCCa – ''werqa'' (leaf), ''xewqa'' (wish)
* CoCCa – ''borka'' (wild duck), ''forka'' (gallows)
* CaCC – ''qalb'' (heart), ''sajd'' (fishing)
* CeCC – ''kelb'' (dog), ''xemx'' (sun)
* CCuCija – ''tfulija'' (childhood), ''xbubija'' (maidenhood)
* CCuCa – ''rtuba'' (softness), ''bjuda'' (whiteness)
* CaCCaC – ''tallab'' (beggar), ''bajjad'' (whitewasher)

The so-called mimated nouns use the [[prefix]] ''m-'' in addition to [[vowel]] changes. This pattern can be used to indicate [[Location (geography)|place]] [[name]]s, [[tool]]s, [[abstraction]]s, etc. These are some of the patterns used for mimated nouns:

* ma-CCeC – ''marden'' (spindle)
* mi-CCeC – ''minkeb'' (elbow), ''miżwed'' (pod)
* mu-CCaC – ''musmar'' (nail), ''munqar'' (beak)