12 55 Years of Arab Studies in Romania - Secţia de Arabă

lāzim kul šay fi mawǧūd (Al-Moaily 2008: 126)
necessary every thing FI existing
„every thing must exist‟
The least frequent is the use of fi with a locative function:
(15) Abulbashar (Bengali; 11 years)
awwal fi hināk (Al-Moaily 2008: 72)
first FI there
„he was there before‟
Fi is also widely attested in have-constructions:
(16) a. Abulbashar (Bengali: 11 years)
ana šugul ma fi (Al-Moaily 2008: 71)
1SG work NEG FI
„I don‟t have a job‟
b. Abdulmajid (Punjabi; 27 years)
ana fi bēt tāni (Al-Moaily 2008: 98)
1SG FI house other
„I have another house‟
c. Sameer (Bengali; 26 years)
ma fi wakt (Al-Moaily 2008: 97)
NEG FI time
„I don‟t have time‟
In addition, fi functions as a verbal predicate marker, associated with
various temporal and aspectual interpretations, including the past tense, the future,
the habitual aspect:
(17) a. Abulbashar (Bengali, 11 years)
nafar ziyāda fi irūh madrasa (Al-Moaily 2008: 81)
person much FI go school
„many people go to school‟
b. Abdulhamid (Punjabi, 26 years)
ba’dēn ana fi iği sa’ūdiya (Al-Moaily 2008: 99)
then 1SG FI come Saudi
„then I came to Saudi [Arabia]‟
c. Sameer (Bengali, 26 years)
hallāg fi isawwi seym-seym kida (Al-Moaily 2008: 84)
barber FI do same like this
„the barber does the same‟
d. Shera (Pashto, 22 years)
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