Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Edinburgh Handbook of Evaluative Morphology |
Editors | Nicola Grandi and LÃvia Körtvélyessy |
Place of Publication | Edinburgh |
Publisher | Edinburgh University Press |
Pages | 287-295 |
Volume | 1 |
Edition | 1st |
ISBN (Print) | 9780748671754 |
Publication status | Published - 2015 |
Abstract
Persian (Indo-European, Indo-Iranian) is the national language of more than 70 million people in Iran and is also spoken in Tajikistan and Afghanistan with minor phonological, morphologic a rare syntactic differences. Old Persian was a typical inflected language, systematically cognate with its contemporaries Classical Greek and Sanskrit. By the late Middle Persian period, however, the language had undergone a radical reduction of inflectional endings, thus assuming a closer resemblance to the analytical structure characteristic of New Persian. The lexical morphology, although reduced in number and variety of forms, expanded in scope and flexibility (Perry 200, 9779). Perry believes that Persian morphology cannot be meaningfully discussed without incidental appeal to syntax. He expresses the view that in New Persian, not only is todays morphology yesterdays syntax, but also todays syntax keeps a firm hold on morphological categories and relations.