London
27 November 2000
Dear Friends,
Enclitic possessives. A request for help...
The Southern Italian possessive form Padreto, Mammata, Vitama, etc seems to
be
something of a linguistic mystery.
In my opinion it may derive from Arabic usage assimilated into Italian with
the addition of gender agreement.
Others suggest that it is a Gallicism. Others appear to have no idea.
Can anyone point me to useful reference works on the matter?
All contributions gratefully received.
Ed Emery.
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