[Lingtyp] language contact, grammatical borrowing, the case of simple verbs in Persian

Tue Jan 28 03:25:22 UTC 2025

Dear Mohammed et al.,

Yes, the phenomenon you refer to (i.e., where a language largely replaces its simple verbs with complex verbs) has been documented multiple times in Australian languages—sometimes clearly induced by contact and/or language attrition, and sometimes not so much. I write about this very thing in my PhD thesis (Hamilton-Hollaway, 2024), where I study the grammatical effects that contact with Kriol and English has had on Mudburra (Ngumpin, Pama-Nyungan). Chapter 3 focuses on verbs. The whole thesis is available here: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:ee23ff6.

At the beginning of that same chapter, I also provide a review of other studies of changes to verbal systems—some of which show this same phenomenon.

I can also recommend Eva Schultz-Berndt's 2003 article "Preverbs as an open word class in Northern Australian languages: Synchronic and diachronic correlates" and John Mansfield's 2016 chapter "Borrowed verbs and the expansion of light verb phrases in Murrinhpatha." All three references are below.

Many good wishes to all!
Amanda

Lecturer in Linguistics
School of Social Sciences, University of Western Australia
ORCiD ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0740-9752

References
Hamilton-Hollaway, A. (2024). Paradigm shift: A theoretical and descriptive study of Mudburra-Kriol contact [PhD Thesis]. https://doi.org/10.14264/ee23ff6
Mansfield, J. (2016). Borrowed verbs and the expansion of light verb phrases in Murrinhpatha. In F. Meakins & C. O’Shannessy (Eds.), Loss and renewal: Australian languages since colonisation (pp. 397–424). De Gruyter Mouton.
Schultze-Berndt, E. (2003). Preverbs as an open word class in Northern Australian languages: Synchronic and diachronic correlates. In G. Booij & J. Van Marle (Eds.), Yearbook of Morphology 2003 (pp. 145–177). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-1513-7_7

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From: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of mohammad rasekh via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2025 5:39 PM
To: LINGTYP LINGTYP <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Subject: Re: [Lingtyp] language contact, grammatical borrowing, the case of simple verbs in Persian

Dear Christian,
Yes, the light verb construction verbalizes loans in Persian, too. But, the previous simple verbs are also replaced by light verb construction and the number of simple verbs has decreased. I mainly want to know if the second phenomenon has happened anywhere.

Mohammad Rasekh-Mahand
Linguistics Department,
Bu-Ali Sina University,
Hamedan, Iran.
Postal Code: 6517838695
https://basu.academia.edu/MohammadRasekhmahand

On Monday, January 27, 2025 at 01:00:28 PM GMT+3:30, Christian Lehmann via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org> wrote:

Yes, that is right: in some languages - Japanese, Korean -, the light-verb construction is a means to verbalize loans.

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Am 27.01.2025 um 10:23 schrieb Zahra Etebari Shekarsaraei via Lingtyp:

Dear Mohammad,

Here is my opinion:

If the non-verbal component of a compound verb originates from Arabic,

And

If it is the case for many of these verbs (as I think about it, it seems so),

Then yes, I believe we can relate this to contact influence.

I myself am eager to know about similar cases in other languages.

All the best,

Zahra

From: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org><mailto:lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> On Behalf Of mohammad rasekh via Lingtyp
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2025 9:28 AM
To: LINGTYP LINGTYP <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org><mailto:lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Subject: [Lingtyp] language contact, grammatical borrowing, the case of simple verbs in Persian

Dear Friends,

Persian has lost most of its simple verbs in the past 12 centuries gradually and the number of its simple verbs is less than 250 in modern era. Instead, it normally makes compound verbs to refer to actions. This language was heavily affected by Arabic in the last 12 centuries and it borrowed many words from this language.

My question is: Could we assume that contact with Arabic has caused the decrease of producing/using simple verbs in Persian? Do you know any similar case of language contact effects in other languages?

Thanks,

Mohammad

Mohammad Rasekh-Mahand

Linguistics Department,

Bu-Ali Sina University,

Hamedan, Iran.

Postal Code: 6517838695

https://basu.academia.edu/MohammadRasekhmahand

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