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Part of
Advances in Iranian Linguistics II
Edited by Simin Karimi, Narges Nematollahi, Roya Kabiri and Jian Gang Ngui
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 361] 2023
► pp. 130–153

Chapter 5
Ezafe and the article

| The Ohio State University

There are a variety of different nominal systems within the Western Iranian languages. Nominals in some of these languages are maximally sensitive to case, number, gender, animacy, ezafe (modification), and definiteness. However, most of these languages only inflect for a subset of these categories. An additional peculiarity of these systems is that some of these languages feature wildly differing systems when inflectional features interact. For instance, Zazaki features a caseless system on indefinite nouns, a bicasual (two case) system on definite nouns, and as many as four cases (following Paul, 1998a) on modified nouns. This paper explores, synchronically and diachronically, the nominal systems observed in Western Iranian languages focusing on the interaction between (in)definiteness and modification by attributive adjectives. This constitutes a near-comprehensive juxtaposition of data that can serve as an essential reference for anyone who seeks to study and understand Ezafe and the article in New Western Iranian.

Keywords: ezafe, Iranian, definiteness, nominal morphology, typology
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Background on the Iranian languages
  • 2.Definiteness marking strategies
    • 2.1The indefinite markers
    • 2.2The definite markers
      • 2.2.1The marker rā
      • 2.2.2Case marking alone
      • 2.2.3Colloquial New Persian -(h)e
      • 2.2.4Soranî -eke
  • 3.Attribution marking strategies
    • 3.1The interaction of (in)definiteness and ezafe
      • 3.1.1Indefinite ezafe
      • 3.1.2Definite ezafe
    • 3.2Summary of forms
  • 4.Thoughts and conclusions
    • 4.1The definite ezafe
    • 4.2The indefinite ezafe
    • 4.3Resolution of the historical questions
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Published online: 14 April 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.361.05kar
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