Persian Grammar

Description

‘With her unrivalled knowledge of the Persian language, Professor Lambton has produced a work that will long remain the standard textbook. As was to be expected, the treatment of pronunciation and the spoken language is particularly excellent [...] an extremely useful work for which teacher and student will be equally grateful.’ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society [From the back cover.] PREFACE ix INTRODUCTION xi Vowels xi Diphthongs xii The Alphabet xiii Reading Exercise xx PART I LESSON I The Indefinite ی‎ -z 3 The Personal Pronouns 4 The Demonstrative Pronouns 5 II The Plural of Nouns 8 The Possessive ezafe 9 Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns 10 Interrogative Pronouns 10 The Verb ‘to be' 10 III The Infinitive 15 Tenses formed from the Past Stem 16 Adjectives 19 IV Tenses formed from the Present Stem 25 The Pronominal Suffixes 29 xod, xif, and xistan 30 hamin and haman 32 cun 32 conin and conan 32 candin and candan 32 kasi and faxsi 33 hic 33 tour 35 V The Numerals 37 xeili and besyar 44‏ yak and yaki 45‏ digar and digari 45‏ cand and candi ‏ 46 How to express time 46‏ How to express age 49 VI The Passive Voice 53 tavanestan 54 xastan 54 gozaftan 55‏ bayestan 55‏ fayestan 55 Impersonal Verbs 56 The use of the Subjunctive after‎ ta and‎ ke 57 VII Adverbs 61 Conditional Sentences 65 The Causative 68 VIII Conjunctions 70 Relative Clauses 75 har 79 conanke and coninke 79 conance and conince 80‎ Indefinite Nouns and Pronouns 80 IX Compound Verbs 85 استیلای مغ ول در ایران p. 95 [Persian text] X Word Formation 96 Abstract Nouns 96 Verbal Nouns 96 Nominal Suffixes 97 Diminutives 100 Adjectival Suffixes 100 Compound Nouns page 102 Compound Adjectives 104 [Persian Text] 109 XI Prepositions 110 [Persian Text] 122 XII The various uses of -i 124 The Adjectival -i 124 The Abstract -i 125 The Indefinite -i 125 The Relative‎ -i 128 The Verbal -i 128 The use of the ezafe 128 The omission of the ezafe 130 The use of -ra 130 The use of the plural in -an 133 The agreement of nouns of multitude and collective nouns with the verb 133 Nouns used generically 134 The Vocative 136 The use of the comparative degree of adjectives 136 Repetition 138 va= and 138 [Persian Text] 141 XIII The use of the Infinitive and Short Infinitive 143 The use of the Past Participle 144 The use of the Present Participle 145 The use of the Noun of the Agent 145 The use of the Preterite 145 The use of the Imperfect 147 The use of the Perfect 148 The use of the Pluperfect 149 The use of the Present 149 The use of the General Present 150 ‏The use of the Subjunctive Present 151 The use of the Subjunctive Past 153 The use of the Future 154 The use of the Imperative 154 The Precative 154 Verbs of ‘saying’, ‘thinking’ and ‘seeing' 155 The use of the negative 159 Impersonal Constructions 160 The formation of ‘Continuous Tenses’ with dastan 160 The Particle hei 161 The Habitual Past and Continuous Past in Classical Persian 161 The Prefix be- in Classical Persian 161 The Conditional in Classical Persian 161 The use of amadan in Passive Constructions 162 [Persian Text] 164 XIV Polite Conversation 166 Some discrepancies between the spoken and the written word 172 PART II The Arabic Element INTRODUCTION 181 XV The Triliteral Root 187 [Persian Text] 195 XVI The Declension of Nouns 196 The Gender of Nouns 197 The Noun of Place 198 The Noun of Instrument 198 Abstract Nouns 198 Diminutives 199 Adjectives 199 [Persian Text] 202 [Persian Text] 203 XVII Doubled Verbs 204 Hamzated Verbs 205 [Persian Text] 207 [Persian Text] 208 XVIII Weak Verbs 209 Assimilated Verbs 209 Hollow Verbs 210 Defective Verbs 211 [Persian Text] 213 XIX Quadrilateral Verbs 215 The Dual 215 The Sound Masculine Plural 216 The Sound Feminine Plural 216 [Persian Text] 217 XX Broken Plurals 219 [Persian Text] 231 XXI Numerals 233 Pronominal Suffixes 236 Prepositions 238 Adverbs 242 Conjunctions 244 Interjections 245 [Persian Text] 245 [Persian Text] 246 APPENDIX I Irregular Verbs 251 II Interjections 255 III The Calendar 255 IV Currency, Weights and Measures 258 V Abjad 259 VI Intonation 260 KEY Key to Persian Grammar 266 Additional Exercises 296 Key to Additional Exercises 308 Additional Vocabulary 319 Index 322 Persian Index 326