Frā and Hā as Adpositions in Persian Texts

Some Persian literary texts exhibit features that are less commonly observed in other texts from the Islamic era, however their origins can be traced back to ancient Iranian languages. One such feature is the use of frā and hā as adpositions and verbal prefixes. In some of these texts, frā is used, while in others, its variant hā is employed. In Tāj al-Tarājim, both forms are used. This article examines the evolution of frā in terms of form and function across the ancient periods of Iranian languages, highlighting its change from an adverb to an adposition and a verbal prefix. In Avestan, frā is an adverb meaning ‘forward’ or ‘ahead’. In some contexts, it lost its semantic function, and its placement before other sentence elements has led to its reanalysis as an adposition. In sentences, its proximity to the verb gradually causes it to become a verbal prefix. In Middle Persian and Parthian texts, frā mostly survived as a residual element in the structure of certain words. However, in some Persian literary texts, it continues to function as a verbal prefix or an adposition indicating the semantic roles of theme and goal of motion verbs. Through phonetic changes, frā changed into hā, which also retained the same functions as its earlier form.
 
Extended abstract
1.Introduction
Adpositions are linguistic elements used to indicate grammatical relations or various semantic roles, which have had multiple meanings and functions throughout different periods of the language. Some roles of adpositions were current in earlier stages of the language, while others have evolved over time due to linguistic developments. Persian literary texts exhibit characteristics not found in existing Middle Persian and Parthian texts. From this perspective, one can utilize the data from these texts and compare them with earlier periods to examine linguistic changes and the roles and functions of various linguistic forms.
Tāj al-Tarājim fi Tafsīr al-Qurān al-A'ājim is one of the translations of the Quran and one of the most significant interpretive texts, translated from Arabic into Persian by Imam Emad al-Din Abu al-Mozfar Shāhfur ibn Tahir ibn Muhāmmad Esfarāyeni," a prominent Shāfi'i scholar of his time, between 430 and 460 AH (Islamic calendar). One feature of this text is the use of "frā" as an adposition and verbal prefix, as well as its other form, "hā," serving both functions. In some Persian literary texts, instead of frā, hā has been used as a prefix and adposition, which is a variant form found in certain regions of Iran. The difference between these texts and Tāj al-Tarājim is that in them only hā has been used as an adposition and verbal prefix; however, in Tāj al-Tarājim, both frā and hā are employed as adpositions and verbal prefixes. Previous research has addressed the use of hā instead of frā and the change from f to h in Iranian dialects; however, there has been no mention regarding the primary function of frā or how it transforms into an adposition or prefix.
2.Review of Literature
Bahār (1960: 331-340) believes that this prefix does not appear in Middle Persian but is characteristic of the Dari language where it precedes verbs. Samsāmi (1967: 93-95) only refers to its Sanskrit form (prak meaning before or front) and its Avestan form (frā), concluding after quoting Bahār that frā is a prefix that appears before nouns and verbs. Nātel-Khānlari (1987: 3-45), along with Abolqasemī (2008: 265), have pointed out instances where the prefix frā is used with certain verbs to denote specific meanings; Nātel-Khānlari also mentioned its use as an adposition in some texts while referring to its Avestan form (1986:402). Khānlari (1986: 3-48) noted instances where hā was used as a prefix equivalent to b- which seems to be a local pronunciation variant, providing examples thereof. Khatib-Rahbar (2000: 387-388) and Sadeghi (2002: 4-5) also cited examples from texts dating back to the fifth through seventh centuries where hā was used instead of frā as both a verbal prefix and adposition.
In the majority of the aforementioned works, none have referred to how these letters evolved, nor have they mentioned the adposition and verbal prefix. This article aims to examine the role and function of frā in earlier stages of the Persian language - namely Old Persian, Avesta, and Middle Persian - and demonstrate how frā has taken on multiple grammatical functions while exploring how hā emerged, its relationship with frā and how these changes generally occur within Iranian languages. We will also address reasons for the change from f to h.
 3.Results and Discussion
3.1. frā:
In Old Persian, frā has always been a verbal prefix meaning "before, in front" and is attached to verbs; it sometimes changes the primary meaning of the verb but has not been used as an adverb or adposition (Kent, 1953: §§197, 268; Schmitt, 2014: 175). In Avestan, adverbs have transformed into verbal prefixes and adpositions due to a process of grammaticalization. In Avestan, frā, meaning "before, in front," is an example of such adverbs that has been used as a prefix either with or without a space from the verb. Considering the data from the Avestan language, one must recognize the primary role and function of frā as an adverb that changed into an adposition and then came closer to verbs, finding a fixed position and turning into a verbal prefix.
In existing Middle Persian and Parthian literature, there are no examples of its use as an adposition; however, in Persian literary texts, there are many examples of its use both as an adposition and as a verbal prefix.
3.2. hā:
In some Persian literary texts, hā has been used with the same functions as frā; that is to say, both as an adposition and as a verbal prefix.
Hā is another form of frā. One of the transformations in Iranian languages is the change from f in ancient times to h in Middle Persian which has persisted into modern Persian and other Iranian dialects (Bagheri, 2002: 101; Gray, 1902: §300). The change from f to h, which is common in many languages, represents a kind of lenition process during which the place of articulation loses its position in the mouth and becomes fricative glottal (Méndez Dosuna, 1996; Foulkes, 1997). In modern Iranian languages such as Sangesari, Mazandarani, and Kashei dialects, the phonetic cluster 'fr' has changed to 'h(a)r' or sometimes dropped 'r', becoming just 'h' (Azami and Windfuhr, 1972: 199; Windfuhr, 2010: 21; Borjian, 2017).
 4.Conclusion
Frā was used in ancient Persian texts during a specific time period - namely between the fourth and fifth centuries AH - in an area geographically encompassing central Iran and gradually gave way to hā. However, in Tāj al-Tarājim, both frā and hā were used side by side as adpositions and verbal prefixes. Given that there is no precise information about the life of the author of Tāj al-Tarājim available at hand, considering his text's characteristics closely suggests that it may belong to an area within central Iran or that he was influenced by central Iranian dialects.
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