Tajik grammar
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Regional and social varieties: Grammar:
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In general, the grammar of the Tajik language fits the analytical type. Little remains of the case system, and grammatical relationships are primarily expressed via clitics, word order and other analytical constructions. Tajik grammar is almost identical to Persian grammar, although there are notable differences. This article describes the grammar of the standard Tajik language as spoken and written in Tajikistan.
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[edit] Nouns
Nouns are not marked for grammatical gender, although they are marked for number. Natural gender is usually distinguished by a change of word, like English, e.g. мурғ (murgh) 'fowl' and хурӯс (khurūs) 'rooster'. Alternatively the modifiers 'нар' (nar) for male or 'мода' (moda) for female can be pre or post-posed to the noun, e.g. хар-и нар (khar-i nar) 'male donkey' and хар-и мода (khar-i moda) 'female donkey'.
Two forms of number exist in Tajik, singular and plural. The plural is marked by either the suffix -ҳо (-ho) or -он (-on), although Arabic loan words may use Arabic forms. The suffix -он is primarily used with animate nouns, whereas -ҳо can be used with any. For example, the singular for 'horse' is асп (asp), and the plural, 'horses' can be either аспҳо (aspho) or аспон (aspon). Typically, the -он (-on) ending is reserved for animate objects, although this is not always true. For example, body parts that come in pairs, such as даст ("dast"), meaning "hand" and чашм ("chashm"), meaning "eye" are pluralized as дастон ("daston") and чашмон ("chashmon"), respectively.
The article does not exist, although the definite direct object is marked by a suffix, -ро (-ro). The use of this suffix is mandatory when a previously referenced object is being talked about.
-
ин китобро хондам in kitob-ro khondam this book read-I
- "I read this book"
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китоб хондам kitob khondam book read-I
- "I read a book"
Nouns may exhibit several suffixes. Of these suffixes, the plural marker is found first, followed by any possessive markers followed by the direct object marker. For example in the following noun:
- китобҳоятонро
- kitobhoyatonro
This may be understood as [kitob [-ho pl [-yaton 2nd person pl. [-ro direct object marker] ] ] ], translation: "your (pl.) books"
[edit] Adjectives
There is no agreement of the adjective, or modifier with the head word. Adjectives do not take the plural markers -он or -ҳо. Typically, adjectives follow the nouns they modify, and are linked with the izafet construction, for example: китоби хуб (kitobi khub, good book) and китобҳои хуб (kitobhoi khub, good books). However, the superlative typically precedes the noun. For example,
- кӯҳи баланд (kūhi baland, tall mountain)
- кӯҳи баландтар (kūhi balandtar, taller mountain)
- баландтарин кӯҳ (balandtarin kūh, tallest mountain)
Comparative forms use the suffix '-тар' (-tar), while superlative forms use the suffix '-тарин' (-tarin).
[edit] Izafet-construction
The izafet-construction (from изофа, izofa meaning 'addition') is the name given to the combination of a head word and a modifier (for example an adjective) using the unstressed enclitic, -и, (-i). In the plural, the enclitic is placed after the plural marker.
-
духтари хушрӯй dukhtar-i khushrūy girl beautiful
- "beautiful girl"
-
духтарони хушрӯй dukhtaron-i khushrūy girls beautiful
- "beautiful girls"
Pronominal enclitics and the definite marker are placed at the end of the izafet-construction, for example, китоби хубам (kitobi khubam), "my good book".
[edit] Pronouns
Forms of the personal pronouns with English language equivalent(s).
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | ман (man) 'I' | мо (mo) 'we' |
| 2nd | ту (tu) 'you' | шумо (shumo) 'you' |
| 3rd | ӯ, вай (ū, vay) 'he, she, it' | онҳо (onho) 'they' |
The 2nd person plural, шумо also finds use as the polite form of the 2nd person. In written Tajik, this polite usage is distinguished by the capitalisation of the term шумо, for example, Шумо кай меоед? (shumo kay meoed?), trans. "when are you coming?" vs. шумо кай меоед?, trans. "when are you (all) coming?"
[edit] Enclitic forms
There are enclitics used after words to denote possession.
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | -ам (-am) 'my' | -амон (-amon) 'our' |
| 2nd | -ат (-at) 'your' | -атон (-aton) 'your' |
| 3rd | -аш (-ash) 'his/her/its' | -ашон (-ashon) 'their' |
For example: китоб (kitob, "book"), китобам (kitobam, "my book"), китобат (kitobat, "your book"). When following a vowel, for example китобҳо (kitobho, books), the leading '-а' is changed to '-я'. The phrase "their books", would be китобҳояшон (kitobhoyashon).
[edit] Prepositions
| Tajik | English |
|---|---|
| аз (az) | from, through, across |
| бо (bo) | with |
| бар (bar) | on, upon, onto |
| ба (ba) | to |
| бе (be) | without |
| дар (dar) | at, in |
| чун (chun) | like, as |
| то (to) | up to, as far as, until |
[edit] Verbs
[edit] References
- Perry, J. R. (2005) A Tajik Persian Reference Grammar (Boston : Brill) ISBN 90-04-14323-8
- Rastorgueva, V. (1963) A Short Sketch of Tajik Grammar (Netherlands : Mouton) ISBN 0-933070-28-4
