Question-Word Questions in Persian

David Wimmer

11/21/12

LING 300: Language Report #3

Question-Word Questions in Persian (Farsi)

Persian question-word questions are formed by substituting the appropriate question word for the constituent being questioned, along with mandatory rising intonation at the end of the sentence. There are seven different question words: ki 'who', koja 'where', ci 'what', cera 'why', ke 'when', cd 'how much', ?eqr 'how many'. Examples (1) - (7) detail each of these question words in context:

1. ki          mi-          ya          -d          ?                              

who          DUR-          come          -3SG

'Who is coming?'                                                  (Mahootian, 11)

2. baraye          ta'tilat koja          mi ravand?ⁱ                              

where

         

         'Where are they going for their holiday?'                    (Mace, 147)

3. fiborz          baye                    ?irin          ci          kar          kd          ?

Fariborz                    for                    Shirin          what          work          do:PST:3SG

'What did Farirborz do for Shirin?'                              (Mahootian, 13)

         

4. cer?          hes?b-r? qabul nakard?                                        

why

'Why didn't he accept the account(s)?                    (Mace, 147)

5. ke          fiborz          bra          -ye          ?irin          sobune                    dorost          kaerd?          

when          Fariborz                    for                    Shirin          breakfast                    fix          do:PST:3SG

'When did Fariborz make breakfast for Shirin?'          (Mahootian, 12)          

6. in          kase          cd                    -e          ?                    

this          bowl          how:much          -is

'How much is this bowl?'                                        (Mahootian, 11)

7. shoma          ?eqr                               ruz          -e                    inja          ht                    -in          ?

you          how:many          day          -:COP:NPST:3SG          here          COP:NPST          -2PL

'How long have you been here?'                              (Dehgani, 59)

Question words occur in situ in Persian; that is, they occur in the same constituent order as the questioned constituent rather than undergoing a fronting process as in languages such as English. Because Persian is an SOV language, under normal circumstances the question word will occur initially if the questioned constituent is the subject and medially if it is the direct object or the recipient. Additionally, the question word follows the same case-marking rules as the questioned constituent would in a declarative sentence. Example (8) shows a declarative ditransitive clause, and examples (9), (10), and (11) show the interrogative version of that clause in which a question word replaces the recipient, object, and subject, respectively.

8. Ali                    ketab          -ra          be-          H          dad          ?

Ali(NOM)          book          -ACC          DAT-          Hasan          give:PST:3SG

         'Ali gave the book to Hasan.'

9. Ali                    ?e          -ra          be-          H          dad          ?

Ali(NOM)          what          -ACC          DAT-          Hasan          give:PST:3SG

'What did Ali give to Hasan?'

10. Ali                    ketab          -ra          be-          ki          dad          ?

  Ali(NOM)          book          -ACC          DAT-          who          give:PST:3SG

         'To whom did Ali give the book?'

11. ki          ketab          -ra          be-          H          dad          ?

  who          book          -ACC          DAT-          hasan          give:PST:3SG

'Who gave the book to Hasan?'                                        (Dehgani, 40)

Because of the rich inflectional information available to the speaker, Persian has no limit to the number of constituents that can be questioned simultaneously in this manner. It is thus quite possible (though rarely necessary) to replace every constituent with a question word in a complex Persian sentence.ⁱⁱ

12. ?iva          ba          rana          di?                    rt                    sinema

  shiva          INST          rana          last:night                    go:PST:3SG          movie

'Shiva went to the movies with Rana last night.'

13. ki          ba          ki          ke          koja          rt                    ?

who          INST          who          when          where          go:PST:3SG

'Who went where with whom when?'                              (Mahootian, 18)

It must be noted that Persian does not have a strict constituent order, and thus question words, like the constituents they replace, may sometimes occur in atypical locations. For instance, an object question word may be moved to a sentence-initial position to give it focus.

14. reza          ci          be          m          dad                    ?

  Reza          what          DAT          me          give:PST:3SG          

'Reza gave me what?'

15. ci          -o          reza          be          m          dad                    ?

what          -ACC          Reza          DAT          me          give:PST:3SG

'What was it that Reza gave me?'                                        (Mahootian, 19)

Persian is also a pro-drop language, meaning that pronouns may be omitted because they are inferable based on the morphology of the sentence. Thus, it is common for an object question word to appear as though it occurs sentence-initially, when, in fact, the subject would still precede it if included.

16. ci          -ro          did          -d          ?                              

  what          -ACC          saw          -3PL

'What did they see?                                                  (Mahootian, 11)

17. fiborz          ci          kar          kd          ?

  Fariborz                    what          work          do:PST:3SG

         

         'What did Fariborz do?                                        (Mahootian, 13)

Persian does not have a genitive question word. Instead, the enclitic ezafe is used to link the noun to the question word in a possessor-possessee relationship.

18. in          s          -e          ki          ye          ?

  this          dog          -EZ          who          is

'Whose dog is this?'                                                  (Mahootian, 11)

Persian does show a human/nonhuman distinction in question words. Ki 'who' is used for question words that replace a human constituent, whereas ci 'what' is used for nonhuman constituents. Examples(9)-(11) illustrate this dichotomy well: ki is employed to replace Ali' and Hasan', while ci is employed to replace ketab 'book.'

While there are several finer points remaining to be discussed about the formation of question word questions in complex clauses, these remain beyond the scope of this report.

References

Dehgani, Yavar. Persian. Munich: Lincom Europa, 2002.

Mace, John. Persian Grammar: For Reference and Revision. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003.

Mahootian, Shahrzad. Persian. London: Routledge, 1997.

         

i          My primary reference grammars had relatively few question-word          question examples, so I had to use data from a source (Mace) that          does not include glosses. I've restricted all such gloss-free          sentences to the initial examples 1-7, and they merely serve the          purpose of showing every question word in context.

         

         

ii          Note that, while it is also possible to replace every constituent in          English with a question word, much more periphrastic shuffling is          required and the sentences are likely more cognitively taxing to          produce and understand.