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The diversity of inflectional periphrasis in Persian1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2014

OLIVIER BONAMI  and
POLLET SAMVELIAN
OLIVIER BONAMI*
Affiliation:
Université Paris-Sorbonne, Laboratoire de Linguistique Formelle (CNRS & Université Paris Diderot)
POLLET SAMVELIAN*
Affiliation:
Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Mondes Iranien et Indien (CNRS, Inalco, EPHE & Université Sorbonne Nouvelle)
*
Authors' address: (Bonami)Université Paris-Sorbonne, 1, rue Victor Cousin, 75005 Paris, Franceolivier.bonami@paris-sorbonne.fr
Authors' address: (Samvelian)Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Institut de Linguistique et de Phonétique Générales et Appliquées, 19, rue des Bernardins, 75005 Paris, Francepollet.samvelian@univ-paris3.fr
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Abstract

Modern Persian conjugation makes use of five periphrastic constructions with typologically divergent properties. This makes the Persian conjugation system an ideal testing ground for theories of inflectional periphrasis, since different types of periphrasis can be compared within the frame of a single grammatical system. We present contrasting analyses of the five constructions within the general framework of a lexicalist constraint-based grammatical architecture (Pollard & Sag 1994) embedding an inferential and realizational view of inflectional morphology (Stump 2001). We argue that the perfect periphrase can only be accounted for by assuming that the periphrase literally fills a cell in the inflectional paradigm, and provide a formal account drawing on using valence for exponence. On the other hand, other periphrastic constructions are best handled by using standard tools of either morphology or syntax. The overall conclusion is that not all constructions that qualify as periphrastic inflection from the point of view of typology should receive the same type of analysis in an explicit formal grammar.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Linguistics , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , July 2015 , pp. 327 - 382
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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Footnotes

[1]

Parts of the work reported here were presented at the 6th Décembrettes conference (Bordeaux, 2008), at the 16th HPSG conference (Göttingen, 2009), at the 3rd International Conference on Iranian Linguistics (Paris, 2009), and at the conference on the Typology of Periphrasis (Guildford, 2010). We thank the audience at these events for their questions, suggestions and helpful disagreement, and in particular Marina Chumakina, Grev Corbett, Nick Evans, Andrew Hippisley, Andrew Spencer, and Greg Stump. For reading through various versions of this manuscript and making many valuable suggestions we thank Farrell Ackerman, Bob Borsley, Agnès Lenepveu-Hotz, Stefan Müller, Gert Webelhuth, and two anonymous Journal of Linguistics referees. Many thanks are due to Ewa Jaworska for her remarkable support throughout the editing process. This work was funded by the ANR-DFG project PERGRAM [grant No. MU 2822/3-I] and benefited from interactions with other members of the project, most importantly Stefan Müller and Jesse Tseng.

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