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

developed a much wider range of uses than what it has in origin”, i.e. in the
lexifier language (Qatari Arabic).
According to Bakir (2010: 216), fi is “used in a similar manner to that of
the English copulative verb „be‟”. The first series examples below illustrate what
Bakir (2010: 215) refers to as the “common existential use” of fi:
(38) a. B (Malayalam, 30 years)
?ašaan fii nafar iji (Bakir 2010: 215)
because FI person come
„Because there is someone coming.‟
b. C (Bengali, 30 years)
fii muškil (Bakir 2010: 215)
FI problem
„There is a problem.‟
c. E (Sinhala, 4 years)
fii nafar muut ?ašaan maafii šuuf filim (Bakir 2010: 219)
FI person die because NEG FI see film
„Is there a person who dies because he doesn‟t watch a movie?‟
Also attested is the use of fi as a predicative copula
(39) a. B (Malayalam, 30 years)
?ašara fii kabiir (Bakir 2010: 216)
ten FI big
„Ten are big.‟
b. D (Tagalog, 5 years)
?inta fii majnuun (Bakir 2010: 216)
2SG.M FI crazy
„Are you crazy?
c. F (Tamil, 5 years)
laa, maafii zaruuri (Bakir 2010: 216)
no NEG FI necessary
„No it is not necessary.‟
Note that the examples above are erroneously analyzed by Bakir (2010: 216) as
showing that fi “is often used in equational sentences”.
The samples in Bakir (2010) also contain one instance in which fi has the
function of locative copula:
(40) A (Bengali, 20 years)
?anaa fii hnii (Bakir 2010: 216)
1SG FI here
„I am here.‟
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