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Word order variation in Middle Iranic: Persian, Parthian, Bactrian, and Sogdian

  • Thomas Jügel
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Word Order Variation
This chapter is in the book Word Order Variation

Abstract

This paper focuses on word order structures that include Targets (i.e., Goals, Recipients, Addressees, etc.) in four Middle Iranic languages (Bactrian, Middle Persian, Parthian, and Sogdian) by querying the ergative database (Jugel 2015) and examining the Vessantara J̌ātaka (Benveniste 1946). Targets can appear in various positions, including the postverbal position, which is prevalent in a number of modern Iranic languages. The paper seeks to identify possible triggers for the variation, such as morphosyntactic ones as well as those related to information structure.

Abstract

This paper focuses on word order structures that include Targets (i.e., Goals, Recipients, Addressees, etc.) in four Middle Iranic languages (Bactrian, Middle Persian, Parthian, and Sogdian) by querying the ergative database (Jugel 2015) and examining the Vessantara J̌ātaka (Benveniste 1946). Targets can appear in various positions, including the postverbal position, which is prevalent in a number of modern Iranic languages. The paper seeks to identify possible triggers for the variation, such as morphosyntactic ones as well as those related to information structure.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Factors influencing word ordering 1
  5. Proximal to distal: Information flow and order in Maa 15
  6. Word order variation in Middle Iranic: Persian, Parthian, Bactrian, and Sogdian 39
  7. Word order in Mukri Kurdish – the case of incorporated Targets 63
  8. Targets and other postverbal arguments in Southern Balochi: A multidimensional cline 89
  9. Word order in contact and the expression of Target in Northern Domari 127
  10. The evolution of VO and OV alternation in Romeyka 141
  11. Word order in Iran-Turkic 163
  12. Word order variation in Chulym Turkic of Siberia 181
  13. Copulas and Target phrase positioning in the Arabic dialects of Kurdistan 197
  14. Word order typology in North-Eastern Neo- Aramaic 235
  15. Index of Authors 259
  16. Index of Languages 262
  17. Index of Subjects 264
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110790368-003

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Factors influencing word ordering 1
  5. Proximal to distal: Information flow and order in Maa 15
  6. Word order variation in Middle Iranic: Persian, Parthian, Bactrian, and Sogdian 39
  7. Word order in Mukri Kurdish – the case of incorporated Targets 63
  8. Targets and other postverbal arguments in Southern Balochi: A multidimensional cline 89
  9. Word order in contact and the expression of Target in Northern Domari 127
  10. The evolution of VO and OV alternation in Romeyka 141
  11. Word order in Iran-Turkic 163
  12. Word order variation in Chulym Turkic of Siberia 181
  13. Copulas and Target phrase positioning in the Arabic dialects of Kurdistan 197
  14. Word order typology in North-Eastern Neo- Aramaic 235
  15. Index of Authors 259
  16. Index of Languages 262
  17. Index of Subjects 264
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