Some verbal constructions of the middle persian in the texts of Southwest Persian type (A discussion on the introduction of a new type of Persian language)

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Associate Professor of Persian Language and Literature, University of Birjand, Birand, Iran.

Abstract

Linguistic analysis of the texts of the period of development of the Persian language shows that during this period, a standard Persian language had not yet been formed. For this reason, in the domain of the spread of this language, texts full of dialectal elements are formed. One of the varieties of Persian, which has not been studied independently for some reasons, is the southwestern variety. In this article, the purpose of which is to introduce the southwest Persian variety, by examining some of the oldest surviving texts of this linguistic variety, we will examine some of the current constructions surviving from the middle period in this variety: 1/ passive stem; 2/ artificial stem; 3/ transitive suffix -ēn; 4/ subjunctive construction; 5/ verbal prefix by-. Of course, in some of these constructions, the verbal characteristics of the MP have been expanded and new verbal structures have been formed. After examining the above-mentioned cases, it becomes clear that the southwest Persian variety, probably due to its proximity to the area of ​​Middle Persian prevalence, has many of the verbal characteristics of this period in the time frame it has kept in itself.

Extended Abstract

1. ]ntroduction
One of the varieties of Persian language whose texts and characteristics have not been introduced and studied in Iran is the Southwest variety. This variety of Persian is mostly described on the basis of Persian texts in Hebrew script. Jewish-Persian literature is a group of texts whose language is Persian (and more precisely, different varieties of Persian), written in Hebrew script. "The southwestern texts are geographically closer to MP, and for this reason, linguistically, they have preserved more characteristics of MP". In this research, based on the methods of historical linguistics and dialectology, we will show the verbal constructions left over from the middle period in Southwest Persian texts.
 
2. Theoretical Framework
Based on the theoretical framework of the current research, the southwest geographic variety, like other geographic varieties, has common characteristics that are known as "variety" in short. The above-mentioned selected texts are part of the texts that have remained and can represent the old dialect of that area. In this research, we will only focus on the common features of the southwestern variety of Persian language in the field of verbs.
 
3. Methodology
The data of this research has been collected based on the corpus of written texts. To collect these data, only those texts were used that were written in the southwestern part of Iran. These texts are: 1. Law Report of Ahvaz (LRA) (Margoliuth, 1899); 2. Commentary on Ezekiel (Ez) (Gindin, 2007) (in this article, only the southwestern part of the commentary is used); 3. Commentary on Joshua or Early Jewish-Persian Argument (EJA) (MacKenzie, 1999); 4. Pentateuch of Vatican (PV) (Paper 1965a, b & 1966) and 5. Pentateuch of London (PL) (Paper, 1972). To do this research, the above-mentioned texts and current constructions belonging to the middle period, which are not found in other varieties of Persian, have been extracted.
 
4. Results and Discussion
The Verbal constructions surviving from the MP in southwestern texts are:

Passive Construction by Passive Stem

The Passive Stem in Present Tense is obtained by adding -īh to the stem. In NP, the use of the Passive Stem has disappeared, and the only way to form a passive verb is to use the past participle in addition to auxiliary verbs. However, in the southwestern variety of the Persian language, such as the second part of Ez, EJA and LRA the Passive Stem is used in the construction of the Passive verb.
The Passive Stem in past tense is obtained by adding the ending -ist to the passive present stem. In the MP, only the third person singular form of the past tense is seen. But in Ez there are also examples of other conjugations. In Ez the Passive stem is used in addition to the different forms of the verb, in the past participle and the infinitive. In addition, in the MP, the passive verb is made only by using the transitive participle (ibid, 1379: 170-1). But in the Ez there are examples where the present participle is also made into a passive stem.

Artificial Stem in Past Tense (passive) from nouns and adjectives

In the MP is made by adding the ending -īh and the past participle morpheme -ist to nouns, adjectives and adverbs. In the second part of Ez, in some cases the Artificial past stem is made by nouns and adjectives (Persian and Arabic).

Transitive suffix -ēn instead of -ā/an

The imperative in MP is formed by adding the suffix -ēn (< Old Iranian: *ay-na-) to the end of the present participle. In NP, the imperative participle is formed by adding -a/ān (<Middle Western Iranian: -ēn) to the imperative and transitive participle. However, in the second part of Ez and PL, the imperative suffix -ēn of the MP is frequently used.

Subjunctive Construction

The manner of constructing the present subjunctive verb in MP has not reached Dari Persian, only its third person singular form is used in NP as a benedictory verb of the third person singular. However, in the texts of the southwestern region, such as PL and Ez, it is used as Subjunctive verb, as in the middle period. In addition to this, unlike MP, sometimes the third person plural form of this construction is also observed in southwestern texts.

1. The use of the Subjunctive construction of the MP as the Imperative verb

In ancient Iranian and middle-western Iranian, the subjunctive verb, in addition to being used in its original meaning, is also used in the meaning of command (imperative). In PL, the most used of the MP subjunctive is in the imperative. Especially, this construction is always used in the absent imperative. This construction, with the same usage, is also seen with less frequency in the PV and Paris Bible (PB).

MP Present prefix bē

The verbal prefix b-, which today is seen only in the imperative and subjunctive mood, is a remnant of Middle Zoroastrian Persian bē. In NP, sometimes the vowel after b is /a/, sometimes is /o/, and sometimes is /e/. However, the present prefix b- is seen in the PV, Ez, and sometimes in the PL as by-. This y most likely indicates the MP pronunciation of this component, i.e. the unknown /ē/ or the saturated form of /e/ i.e. /i/.
 
5. Conclusions and Suggestions
It is clear that some linguistic elements or constructions that were thought to exist only in the MP are also found in the southwest variety of NP. Some of these elements have undergone phonetic transformation in NP. Some constructions of the MP have also been used in an expanded form in the NP. Therefore, it can be said that the most important feature of Southwest Persian verity is the preservation and even the structural expansion of many of the verbal constructions of the MP in the post-Islamic periods (NP). Considering the similarities in the structure of verbs between this linguistic variety and the Sistani variety (Qur'an-e Qods), these two varieties are the most important foci of preservation and continuity of the structure of verbs from the MP in the NP.
 
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Paper, H.H., 1965b. “The vatican Judeo- Persian Pentateuch: Exodus and Leviticus”, Acta Orientalia, xxIx, 1-2: 75-181.
Paper, H.H., 1966. “The Vatican Judeo- Persian Pentateuch: Genesis”, Acta Orientalia, xxviii 3-4: 263-340.
Paper, H.H., 1972. A Judeo-Persian Pentateuch, The Text of the oldest Judeo-Persian Pentateuch Translation, British Museum Ms. Or. 5446. Jerusalem and Leiden.
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Keywords

Main Subjects


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