Structural Sketch of Farsi (Modern Persian)

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PHONOLOGY

The phonemic system consists of 29 phonemes.

1. Vowels.

The vowel system includes 6 phonemes:

 
front
back
 high
i
u
 mid-high
e
o
 mid
a
â

 

The main opposition is that of long-short / mid-high vowels and the mid frontal a being short and the high vowels and the mid back â being long.

 
front
back
mid
 long
i
u
â
 short
e
o
a

 

2. Consonants

There are 26 consonantal phonemes. The system is symmetrical:

 
(stops)
labial

(stops)
dentals
(affricates)
palatals

(stops)
velars

 stops fortis (strong)
p
t
č = ʧ
k
 (affricates) lenis (weak)
b
d
(d) ǰ = dž
g
 fricatives fortis
f
s
š
x
 fricatives lenis
v
z
ž
ɣ
 nasals
m
n
   
 liquids  
l, r
   
 glides    
y
h'

In each of the local rows (labial, dental, velar) there is a fortis (or voiceless) stop, a lenis (or voiced) one and two fricatives, fortis and lenis respectively. The palatal row also has all four members, but the first two are affricates, not stops. The velar row has as its fourth member q which is partly an affricate, and which may be devoiced in some positions.

3. Stress

The stress is word-final, particularly in all the nominal forms. In the finite verbal forms the stress may be shifted leftward: the basic stress is on the stem, but it may be shifted, for instance to the negation (see details: Gernot L. Windfuhr. Persian Grammar. History and State of Study. The Hague - Paris - New York: Mouton Publishers, 1978, p. 146).

 

GRAMMATICAL SKETCH

1. Morphology

Persian uses prefixes and suffixes, fusion, symbolic alternation of vowels, and compounding analytical constructions are widely spread.

The main scheme of the basic noun phrase sequence may be presented as:

stem form of the NOUN + hâ/e + (i) + ra

The morph -hâ may express the notion of the plural: âb-hâ 'waters, plenty of water;' ketâb-hâ 'books.' In a sentence like mâ mehmân-hâ dârim 'we have guests' -hâ expresses emphasis or amplification.

The morph -e is used in the possessive construction (ezâfe): ketâb-e hasan 'the book of Hasan,' mard-e maqtul 'the killed man' (with the borrowed Arabic participle maqtul).

The morph -i expresses indefiniteness: ketâb-i ' a book, some book,' ketâb-hâ-i 'some books.'

The participle -ra marks the direct object if the latter is definite: be-man ketâb-râ dâd 'he gave the book to me.'

2. The verbal system

The verbal system of contemporary literary Persian may be charted as follows (the stem xar- ' to buy,' Windfuhr, p. 90):

     imperfective  perfective
 present

 non-anterior

 anterior

 mixaram

 

 xâham xarid

 xaridam / xaride am

 past: non-reported

 non-anterior

 anterior

 mixaridam

 

 xaridam

 xaride budam

 past: reported

 non-anterior

 anterior

 mixaride (ast)

 

 xaride (ast)

 xaride bude (ast)

 subjunctive    bexaram  xaride bâšam
 conditional    mixaridam  xaride budam

The difference between the reported forms like tarǰome šode bude ast 'were reportedly (allegedly) translated' and the non-reported constructions ( tarǰome šode bud and tarǰome mikard(e)and respectively) may be illustrated by the text: dar bâre-ye dastur mitavâvan tasarvor kard ke dar zamân-e sâsâniân dasturhâ'i radvin ... yâ tarǰome šode bude ast, mosallaman motarǰemini ke as zabânhâ-ye sâskrit va ... tarǰome mikardeand be čonin dasturtiâ'i ehtiyâǰ dâste-and. 'With regard to grammar it is possible to imagine that during the time of the Sasanians grammars were composed or translated. The translators who were translating from Sanskrit (and other languages) certainly had need for such grammar.' (Ali Asraf Sâdegi "Elm-e zabân dar Irân-e bâstân", 'Linguistics in ancient Iran,' Soxan, 20, 1, 1970, 1349b, p.33); the event of translation or translating is described as not proven, but logically inferred or reported (narrative...)

The main parts of the Present and Past systems can be characterized in the following way according to J. Kurylowicz (Esquisses linguistiques, 1962), using the verb stem kard- 'to do':

 
1. System of Present neutral (general present)
mikonam
  
Imperfective (duration present)
mikonam		   Perfective (present perfect)
karde am
 
(mikarde am)
complex
  
 
2. System of Past neutral (definitive past)
kardam
  
Imperfective (imperfect)
mikardam		   Perfective (past perfect)
karde budam
 
(mikarde budam)
complex
  

 

VERBAL PARADIGMS

Personal endings

Singular Plural
1st person -am -im
2nd person -i -id
3rd person -ad -and

 

The verb kard-/kon 'to do':

Present (neutral-general)

Singular Plural
1st person mi-kon-am mi-kon-im
2nd person mi-kon-i mi-kon-id
3rd person mi-kon-ad mi-kon-and

 

Perfective Present is formed by the combination of the participle with the shortened forms of the present tense of budan 'to be.'

Singular Plural
1st person karde am karde im
2nd person karde i karde id
3rd person karde ast karde and

 

Definitive Past (Perfective)

Singular Plural
1st person kard-am kard-im
2nd person kard-i kard-id
3rd person kard+{0} kard-and

 

Past Imperfective

Singular Plural
1st person mi-kard-am mi-kard-im
2nd person mi-kard-i mi-kard-id
3rd person mi-kard+{0} mi-kard-and

 

Past Perfect is formed by the combination of participle with the forms of the Definitive (Perfective) Past of budan:

Singular Plural
1st person karde bud-am karde bud-im
2nd person karde bud-i karde bud-id
3rd person karde bud+{0} karde bud-and

 

Future is based on the form of the verb xâstan 'to wish, will':

Singular Plural
1st person xâh-am kard xâh-im kard
2nd person xâh-i kard xâh-id kard
3rd person xâh-ad kard xâh-and kard

 

Subjunctive is based on the Perfective Past of the verb budan:

Singular Plural
1st person karde bâš-am karde bâš-im
2nd person karde bâš-i karde bâš-id
3rd person karde bâš-ad karde bâš-and

 

 

REMARKS ON THE HISTORY OF PERSIAN

The verbal endings in synthetical forms are archaic. The nominal inflection has disappeared. The particle -ra can be traced back to the Old Persian postposition radij 'for the sake of' -- bagahya radij 'for god's sake' (compare the old Church Slavonic expression boga radi with the same meaning in which the ancient Iranian influence is evident.)

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