Chapter 10. The Ezafe construction revisited
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Richard K. Larson
Abstract
This chapter addresses the nature, distribution and function of the Ezafe morpheme, a distinguishing grammatical feature of many of the Iranian languages. We review three main analyses advanced in the wide literature on the subject: semantic, morphological, and syntactic. We argue that the syntactic account of Ezafe is the most promising, both in its empirical reach, and explanatory power. Looking at an exhaustive range of data from Iranian Persian (iPersian) and other Iranian languages, we note that Ezafe occurs between nominal elements in the NP, PP, AP, and QPs. Following case theory (Chomsky 1981), we propose that Ezafe satisfies a licensing requirement in the following phrase, similar to ‘of’ in English. We then consider in detail the implications of this theory for the occurrence of Ezafe before PPs in iPersian and before finite and nonfinite complement clauses in iPerisan and Kurdish. Finally, we examine the occurrence of Ezafe in Zazaki ‘double Ezafe constructions’ and in Caspian languages showing the so-called ‘Reverse Ezafe construction’ in light of the case-based analysis.
Abstract
This chapter addresses the nature, distribution and function of the Ezafe morpheme, a distinguishing grammatical feature of many of the Iranian languages. We review three main analyses advanced in the wide literature on the subject: semantic, morphological, and syntactic. We argue that the syntactic account of Ezafe is the most promising, both in its empirical reach, and explanatory power. Looking at an exhaustive range of data from Iranian Persian (iPersian) and other Iranian languages, we note that Ezafe occurs between nominal elements in the NP, PP, AP, and QPs. Following case theory (Chomsky 1981), we propose that Ezafe satisfies a licensing requirement in the following phrase, similar to ‘of’ in English. We then consider in detail the implications of this theory for the occurrence of Ezafe before PPs in iPersian and before finite and nonfinite complement clauses in iPerisan and Kurdish. Finally, we examine the occurrence of Ezafe in Zazaki ‘double Ezafe constructions’ and in Caspian languages showing the so-called ‘Reverse Ezafe construction’ in light of the case-based analysis.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Advances in Iranian linguistics 1
- Chapter 2. Syntactic and semantic constraints on pronoun and anaphor resolution in Persian 15
- Chapter 3. A multi-dimensional approach to classification of Iran’s languages 29
- Chapter 4. The additive particle in Persian 57
- Chapter 5. The pronoun-to-agreement cycle in Iranian 85
- Chapter 6. The suffix that makes Persian nouns unique 107
- Chapter 7. The meaning of the Persian object marker rā 119
- Chapter 8. Topic agreement, experiencer constructions, and the weight of clitics 137
- Chapter 9. Another look at Persian rā 155
- Chapter 10. The Ezafe construction revisited 173
- Chapter 11. Quantitative meter in Persian folk songs and pop lyrics 237
- Chapter 12. Stripping structures with negation in Persian 257
- Chapter 13. Oblique marking and adpositional constructions in Tat 275
- Author index 301
- Languages index 305
- Subject index 307
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Advances in Iranian linguistics 1
- Chapter 2. Syntactic and semantic constraints on pronoun and anaphor resolution in Persian 15
- Chapter 3. A multi-dimensional approach to classification of Iran’s languages 29
- Chapter 4. The additive particle in Persian 57
- Chapter 5. The pronoun-to-agreement cycle in Iranian 85
- Chapter 6. The suffix that makes Persian nouns unique 107
- Chapter 7. The meaning of the Persian object marker rā 119
- Chapter 8. Topic agreement, experiencer constructions, and the weight of clitics 137
- Chapter 9. Another look at Persian rā 155
- Chapter 10. The Ezafe construction revisited 173
- Chapter 11. Quantitative meter in Persian folk songs and pop lyrics 237
- Chapter 12. Stripping structures with negation in Persian 257
- Chapter 13. Oblique marking and adpositional constructions in Tat 275
- Author index 301
- Languages index 305
- Subject index 307
