Vowel shortening in Persian: A phonological analysis

Poznań Studies in Contemporary Linguistics 53(3), 2017, pp. 373–397 © Faculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland doi: 10.1515/psicl-2017-0014 VOWEL SHORTENING IN PERSIAN: A PHONOLOGICAL ANALYSIS ALIYEH K.Z. KAMBUZIYA, AMIR GHORBANPOUR* AND NADER MAHDIPOUR Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran *[email protected] ABSTRACT This study is a phonological analysis of the process of vowel shortening in Persian. The aim was to find out whether there are any rules governing the different cases of vowel shortening in simple and complex words of formal standard Persian, and to analyse the conditions under which the long vowels /ɑ, i, u/ change into the corresponding short vowels /æ, e, o/. In doing so, data were gathered from a 75000-word contemporary dictionary of Persian, and all the instances undergoing vowel shortening were extracted. Analysing the data showed that the change of /ɑ/ into [æ] is the most frequent type of vowel shortening in Persian. In addition, it turned out that vowel shortening rarely occurs inside simple words in the formal standard form of the language (only in 35 entries out of 519 words in total; i.e. 6.7%); while on the contrary, in complex words it happens quite frequently. Furthermore, regarding the phonemic environment in which vowels undergo shortening, it was found that vowel shortening is most frequent before the glottal consonant /h/, next frequent before nasals /n/ and /m/, and then before /r/. The process also occurs rather frequently in morpheme-final positions in affixation. Lastly, it turns out that another important factor in vowel shortening is the syllable structure of the word; as the super-heavy and ultra-heavy syllables of Persian tend to lose one mora and become lighter in certain positions in the word. KEYWORDS: Vowel shortening; vowel length; syllable weight; Persian. 1. Introduction Sound changes are generally considered a common process in the historical development of any language, and changes in the quality and behaviour of vowels are usually at the heart of this development. Vowel shortening refers to a process in which the length of a vowel is shortened in a specific phonological environment, and the present study is an analysis of this process happening in PerAuthenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 374 A. Ghorbanpour sian.1 The sound system of modern standard Persian consists of six simple vowels, divided into sets of short and long vowels; /æ, e, o/ are considered short vowels and /ɑ, i, u/ are the long vowels of the language (Samareh 1999). This paper analyses the conditions under which the long vowels of Persian, i.e. /ɑ/, /i/, and /u/, are changed into the short vowels [æ], [e], and [o], respectively. Hence, the process is considered both a quantitative and qualitative vowel change. The purpose was to find out if there are any rule-governed patterns in different cases of vowel shortening in the simple and complex words of Persian. In doing so, data were gathered from a 75000-word contemporary dictionary of Persian (Sokhan Comprehensive Dictionary), and all the instances undergoing vowel shortening were extracted. In order to maintain a distinction between the formal standard language and the informal spoken use, only the formal written form of the words (as represented in dictionary entries) were chosen as data and as the focus of this study. In the course of the study, the following main questions were attempted to be answered: (1) Are there any underlying rules governing the process of vowel shortening in formal standard Persian? (2) What are the phonological conditions under which vowel shortening generally happens? 2. Literature review 2.1. Vowel length in Persian The sound system of modern standard Persian consists of six simple vowels (roughly) evenly distributed along the vowel chart. Three vowels are considered long vowels and the other three are short (Samareh 1999). (1) i [+long] e [−long] æ [−long] u [+long] o [−long] ɑ [+long] However, before discussing the phenomenon of vowel shortening in Persian, a few points need to be clarified about the very existence of the feature [long] in 1 In this study, “Persian” refers specifically to the dialect spoken in Iran, alternatively known as “Farsi”. Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM Vowel shortening in Persian 375 the Persian vowel system. Unlike some other languages such as English or Arabic, in which the difference in the length of a vowel can result in a difference in meaning (as is the case in the English pairs sheep /ʃip/ and ship /ʃɪp/, or in beat /bit/ and bit /bɪt/), vowel length in Persian is not a phonologically contrastive feature by itself. That means, what makes Persian vowels distinct from each other is the qualitative difference among them, and not the purely quantitative difference in their length (Samareh 1999: 85). Samareh asserts that the length of vowels in Persian can be examined in the traditional prosodic structure of Persian which is exactly based on syllable length, so that if in a certain verse we replace a syllable containing a long vowel with a short vowel syllable, the rhythm of the poem will break down. Of course, he also acknowledges the fact that the length of vowels can generally vary depending on the environment they occur in. In some cases, the length of the so-termed short vowels can be even more than the long vowels; as in the case of /dærd/ ‘pain’ in which the vowel /æ/ is longer than the (long) vowel /ɑ/ in /ɟɑz/2 ‘gas’. So, the same vowel can be of different length in different phonetic environments (Samareh 1999: 85). In a discussion on the historical development of Persian vowels, Sadeghi (1978: 129) mentions that in the early Islamic centuries (Early New Persian era) the Persian vowel system consisted of /a, i, u, aː, iː, uː, eː, oː/. The three vowels /a, i, u/ were similar in articulation to the corresponding Arabic vowels, with /i/ and /u/ later on gradually transforming into /e/ and /o/, respectively. The long vowels /aː, iː, uː/ were articulatory the same as /a, i, u/ and only different in their length. The long vowels have then changed over time into /ɑ, i, u/, that is, the stable vowels of the contemporary Persian today, and this change has taken place for various reasons after the ninth Islamic century. Sadeghi (1978) gives a number of reasons for the existence of long and short vowels in Persian in the past (i.e. early centuries of New Persian). First of all is the fact that New Persian is essentially the continuation of Middle Persian (a.k.a. Pahlavi) and so the sound system should not be much different from that of the Middle Persian. Also, numerous developments occurring in Persian suggest that short vowels and long vowels had been different only in their length. For example, in a word like /ʃahristaːn/ ‘city’, the weakening and deletion of /h/ has caused the lengthening of the preceding vowel, so that the word pronunciation had changed to [ʃaːristaːn]. In this word, /aː/ is articulatory the same as /a/ except that its length is twice as /a/. Another reason is the existence of prosodic poetry in Persian. At 2 In this paper, the palatal stops /ɟ/ and /c/ are taken to be underlying phonemes in the Persian sound system, only occurring as allophones [ɡ] and [k] before back vowels in their phonetic realisations. Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 376 A. Ghorbanpour the time when Persian adopted Arabic prosodics, it had consisted of long and short vowels just like Arabic. If the difference in Persian vowels in the third Islamic century had been in their articulation, and their length had been of a minor character (like today’s Persian vowels), it could not have taken prosodic weight (Sadeghi 1978: 130–131). Toosarvandani (2004) in a paper on vowel length in modern Persian (or modern Farsi, as he refers to it to emphasise the specific dialect spoken in Tehran, Iran), states that “while in Classical Persian the underlying opposition of quantity was realised on the surface, differentiating the corresponding qualitatively-identical short and long vowels, in modern Farsi the length opposition is realised only in certain limited environments on the surface”. In specifying these certain environments, he adds that “the three unstable vowels, /æ/, /e/, and /o/, are realised as short only in open, non-final syllables. Elsewhere, they are realised as long like the stable vowels, /ɑ/, /i/, and /u/, which, in contrast, always maintain their long length”. Toosarvandani points to two opposing approaches to the role of the feature length in the Persian vowel system; the “quantity only” analysis which maintains that the feature distinguishing the stable and unstable vowels in the underlying system is, as in Classical Persian, length; and the “quality only” analysis, which abandons length as a feature of the underlying system altogether. He then tries to demonstrate that, in fact, neither analysis is able to describe the underlying system and the associated phenomena completely and efficiently. In particular, arguing against a “quality only” approach, he raises the issue that “without a common feature unifying the unstable vowels, the ‘quality only’ analysis cannot generalise the unstable vowel lengthening phenomenon as a group lengthening process”. That is why Toorsarvandani argues that length must be specified underlyingly, and he proceeds to present “an alternate analysis, a synthesis of the two approaches that integrates both quantity and quality in its underlying vowel system”. Kambuziya and Hadian (2010), in a comprehensive discussion on natural classes in Persian vowels, give eleven phonological reasons for considering long and short vowels as natural classes. Among the reasons mentioned by them are the differences between the two groups in phonotactic constraints, conformity to the Sonority Sequencing Principle, the frequency and the type of consonant clusters occurring with them, the occurrence of geminates and compensatory lengthening, etc. Based on these criteria, they conclude that the two groups of vowels form natural classes distinguished by the feature [long]. It is also claimed that the very difference in their length has made long vowels to have corresponding written characters in the writing system of Persian, whereas the short vowels do not have any written realisations. Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM Vowel shortening in Persian 377 Miller (2012) reviews the vowel system of Persian in its different varieties across time and space. He makes use of the Early New Persian vowel system to shed light on understanding the variation among the vowel systems of several diachronically and synchronically separated varieties of Persian (i.e. contemporary Iranian Persian (Farsi), Afghan Persian (Dari) and Tajik Persian) which are derived from it. Discussing the development of the contemporary Iranian Persian, he refers to the occurrence of mergers in the vowel system (/eː, iː/ → /i/ and /oː, uː/ → /u/) which have resulted in sets of words with distinct vowels in Early New Persian and identical vowels in contemporary Persian; for example, the words /seːr/ ‘full’ and /siːr/ ‘garlic’ in Early New Persian era, which have the same pronunciation form in contemporary Persian, i.e. /sir/ ‘full/garlic’. Also, referring to Lazard (1957) and his classification of “stable” and “unstable” vowels, he asserts that “we do not distinguish between long and short vowels in the modern system, since it appears that in contrast to the ENP [Early New Persian] system, the vowel system is currently based on quality rather than quantity” (Miller 2012). With all that said, it can be argued that the feature [long] does exist, but as the distinction between any two vowels in Persian can be represented qualitatively by the more prominent features of [high] and [back], the less prominent feature of [long] is considered redundant in this system. For example, in the contrast between the vowel pair /æ/ and /ɑ/ below, [long] is considered a redundant feature: (2) /æ/ [+low] [−back] [−long] /ɑ/ [+low] [+back] [+long] The same is true about the contrast between any other two vowels. In other words, it can be said that there are no vowel pairs in Persian whose only distinctive feature is length. As Roca and Johnson (1999: 171) put it, “distinctive vowel length means that at least some vowels are kept apart by their length, only or principally: one member of the pair will be short and the other long”. But as shown in the feature matrix (3), the main features [high] and [back] are sufficient to make all the distinctions present in Persian vowel system, and so the difference in length is considered redundant. Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 378 A. Ghorbanpour (3) [high] [low] [back] /i/ + − − /e/ − ˗ ˗ /æ/ − + − /ɑ/ − + + /o/ − − + /u/ + − + The only situation in which length comes to prominence as a distinctive feature is in the process of compensatory lengthening of short vowels after the deletion of an adjacent glottal consonant (Kambuziya and Hadian 2010), occurring in a few words in spoken language. In such cases, vowel length comes into play in order to make a distinction between the word which has lost the consonant and another word with the same pronunciation but a different meaning, as in (4). (4) /bæʔd/ /bæd/ ‘later’ → [bæːd] ‘bad’ → [bæd] Here, the only difference between the two words in spoken language is the purely quantitative difference in their vowel length. 2.2. Vowel shortening in Persian Following the introductory discussion in the previous section, it is clear by now that the kind of vowel shortening in Persian that is meant in this study involves both a quantitative and qualitative alteration at the same time, where the long vowels of the system are substituted by the corresponding short vowels. That is, the high front vowel /i/ is changed into the mid front [e], the high back vowel /u/ is changed into the mid back [o], and the low back /ɑ/ is changed into the low front [æ]. The vowels and the respective changes in the process are shown in the diagram in (5). (5) u i e o æ ɑ Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM Vowel shortening in Persian 379 Among the classic discussions on vowel length in Persian, Natel Khanlari (1958) asserts by pointing to phonetic laboratory research findings that the real length of short and long vowels differs significantly based on the type of the syllable (closed vs. open) they occur in. He further adds that the articulation of long vowels before the nasal consonant /n/ is quantitatively similar to that of short vowels before /n/, and there is no difference in length between the two groups of vowels in this environment (Natel Khanlari 1958: 146). Sadeghi (2001) points to the shortening of long vowels before the glottal consonant /h/ in earlier times, as is the case in the words /rɑh/ → [ræh] ‘way’, /ʃɑh/ → [ʃæh] ‘king’, or /cuh/ → [koh] ‘mountain’; and he mentions that these changes have first been made in the spoken language (at least in some regions), and then found their way into poetry. Kambuziya (2007: 264) also argues that the long vowels /ɑ, i, u/ are shortened before the consonant /h/ in word-final or syllable-final position; as in the words /neɟɑh/ → [neɟæh] ‘look’ or /sijɑh/ → [sijæh] ‘black’. She attributes this fact to the general tendency of the language to maintain the average syllable weight of CVC, preferring it to the heavier syllable of CV̅C. Kambuziya further adds that this process is observed in many of the local dialects and accents of Persian as well (Kambuziya 2007). 3. Theoretical framework In this study, a rule-based generative approach rooted in the work of SPE by Chomsky and Halle (1968) was adopted; a view of phonology in which a number of context-sensitive rules transform the underlying form of a sequence into the final phonetic form that is uttered by the speaker. Along with the rule-based approach of generative phonology, the syllable structure of words was also taken into account. The syllable structure of Persian is CV(C)(C); that is, any syllable in surface realisation contains an obligatory onset consonant, an obligatory vowel as nucleus, and an optional coda consisting of one or two consonants. Tabibzadeh (2008) classifies Persian syllables according to their weight into three groups: (6) Monomoraic (light): CV Bimoraic (heavy): CV̅ / CVC Trimoraic (superheavy): CV̅C / CVCC / CV̅CC Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 380 A. Ghorbanpour In this classification, Tabibzadeh does not make a distinction between the two super-heavy syllables CVCC and CV̅CC. Some linguists, however, do make a distinction, calling the latter (heavier) syllable ultra-heavy (Hayes 1989) or super-superheavy (Watson 1999). 4. Methodology The data in this study included all the morphemes (both simple words and affixes) that undergo vowel shortening either in their stand-alone form (as simple, monomorphemic words) or when used in compounds and derivatives. They were extracted from a 75000-word contemporary dictionary of Persian (Sokhan Comprehensive Dictionary), and as mentioned earlier, only formal standard Persian words were considered as data, and deviant forms like slang or poetic language were not taken into account. A total of 88 morphemes were found, and the whole number of words made up of those morphemes was 519. This latter number refers to the actual entries in the aforementioned dictionary, and obviously, it does not include many of the proper nouns and inflected forms. For most of these words, both the original and the shortened forms are listed in the dictionary (except for the case of some inflectional shortenings which are not listed in their inflected forms). For each pair, the form which is more common in the modern standard use is provided detailed information by the dictionary, and the entry for the other (less common) alternative often merely refers back to the entry of the more common word without giving redundant information. In this study, only those pairs of words were taken into account in which the shortened form is more common than, or as common as, the long form. In most cases, the difference between the two pronunciations of each word is also reflected in their written forms in Persian orthography, so that the form with the long vowel has one extra character relative to the shortened form (e.g. ‫ن‬ /mihmɑn/ ‘guest’ vs. ‫ن‬ [mehmɑn], or ‫ ﺭﺍﻫﻨﻤﻮﻥ‬/rɑhnemun/ ‘guidance’ vs. ‫[ رھ ون‬ræhnemun]); that is because in Persian, as already stated above, only the long vowels have corresponding characters in the writing system of the language, whereas the short vowels do not have any written realisation (except for the case of /o/ which is sometimes irregularly realised in writing by the same character as that used to represent /u/, i.e. ‫)و‬. The consulted dictionary (Sokhan) also provides etymological information on each entry, as well as morphological information as to how the word is segmented into morphemes. Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM Vowel shortening in Persian 381 5. Data presentation and analysis In this section, the data are presented and discussed in four subsections according to the type of the words involved in the vowel shortening process. 5.1. Vowel shortening in simple words By the term “simple word”, it is meant here a monomorphemic word which cannot be segmented into smaller parts. In formal standard Persian, vowel shortening rarely occurs inside simple words. The few cases of this group cited earlier in literature, e.g. /ʃɑh/ → [ʃæh] ‘king’ or /neɟɑh/ → [neɟæh] ‘look’, happen merely in poetry, and due to metrical and rhythmical requirements of poetic language. However, simple words like the above mentioned examples do undergo vowel shortening even in standard language when used in compounds and derivatives, which are discussed in Section 5.2 below. An interesting point about the simple words affected by vowel shortening is the fact that many of them are loanwords of Arabic, French or Turkish origin, as illustrated by their corresponding abbreviations.3 The first group of simple words are presented here: (7) /pirɑhɑn/ /pehin/ /zinhɑr/ /æhrimæn/ /dʒɑdʒim/ /bɑlun/ /tumɑn/ /tʃumɑɢ/ ‘shirt’ ‘dung’ ‘beware’ ‘demon’ ‘woolen carpet’ ‘balloon’ (Fr) ‘currency’ (Tr) ‘stick, club’ (Tr) → → → → → → → → [pi.rɑ.hæn] [pe.hen] [zen.hɑr] [ʔæh.re.mæn]4 [dʒɑ.dʒem] [bɑ.lon] [to.mɑn] [tʃo.mɑɢ] As can be seen in the data set in (7), in these words vowel shortening occurs before nasal consonants /n, m/. Hence a general rule can be formulated to show this process in the above examples: 3 Ar: Arabic; Fr: French; Tr: Turkish. 4 In their phonetic realisations, all Persian syllables are considered to have an onset consonant. In cases where there is no onset in the underlying form, a glottal stop [ʔ] is inserted. In the case of the Arabic loanwords, this glottal stop is present in the underlying form. Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 382 (8) A. Ghorbanpour V → [−long] / __C [+nasal] In the following examples, shortening occurs before liquid consonants /l, r/. (9) /miljun/ /miljɑrd/ /bulvɑr/ /jurtme/ /jureʃ/ /surme/ ‘million’ (Fr) ‘billion’ (Fr) ‘boulevard’ (Fr) ‘trot’ (Tr) ‘raid’ (Tr) ‘kohl’ → → → → → → [mel.jun] [mel.jɑrd] [bol.vɑr] [jort.me] [jo.reʃ] [sor.me] For the above examples, the following rule can be made: (10) V → [−long] / __C [+liquid] In other cases, however, there seems to be no general rule about the phonemic environment in which vowel shortening takes place. That is, the phonemes surrounding the vowel which undergoes shortening varies from word to word. In some words in this group, vowel shortening seems to be a matter of vowel harmony, in which one vowel takes on the characteristics of another nearby vowel. In the following examples, a full (perseverative) vowel assimilation is involved in (11) as the second vowel becomes totally identical with a preceding vowel in the word. In (12) however, a partial vowel assimilation seems to be in place. (11) /jæɢlɑvi/ /tʃelip/ /bohbuhe/ /mondʒuɢ/ /tʃopuɢ/ ‘dish, pan’ (Tr) ‘(onomatopoeia)’ ‘amid’ (Ar) ‘glass bead’ (Tr) ‘pipe’ (Tr) → → → → → [jæɢ.læ.vi] [tʃe.lep] [boh.bo.he] [mon.dʒoɢ] [tʃo.poɢ] (12) /bɑsluɢ/ /tʃɑbuc/ /tʃɑvuʃ/ /sænduɢ/ ‘kind of sweets’(Tr) ‘brisk’ ‘herald’ (Tr) ‘box’ (Ar) → → → → [bɑs.loɢ] [tʃɑ.boc] [tʃɑ.voʃ] [sæn.doɢ] Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 383 Vowel shortening in Persian In (12), vowel shortening is actually a matter of height assimilation. The high vowels which are both long, lose their [+high] feature and are realised as mid short vowels as a result of assimilation to a preceding low vowel. For this set of data, the following rule can be stated: (13) Perseverative assimilation of vowel height V → [−high] / VC0 __ [+low] Because vowel height in Persian is a three level feature identified by specifications [high] and [low] (feature matrix (3) in Section 2.1), in the cases in (12) vowels are lowered one level as a result of assimilation; e.g., the high vowel /u/ is changed to mid [o]. Apart from the phonemic environments discussed above, vowel shortening in a number of cases seems to be related to syllabic structure and the syllable weight of the words. For example, in the word /bulvɑr/ ‘boulevard’ with the syllabic structure CV̅C.CV̅C, a super-heavy (trimoraic) syllable is followed by another super-heavy syllable. In such cases, vowel shortening can be attributed to the general tendency of the language not to favour super-heavy syllables occurring next to each other. The syllabic structure of /bulvɑr/ is given below. In this case, the first syllable loses one mora and becomes a heavy (bimoraic) syllable. (14) b σ σ μ μ μ μ μ μ u l v ɑ r → b σ σ μ μ μ μ μ o l v ɑ r The point is that there are constraints on superheavy syllables (and even more on ultra heavy syllables) in Persian as to where in the word they can occur. One such constraint is that the heavier a syllable, the less likely it is to appear in the non-final position in a word (Navidi 2013: 77). 5.2. Vowel shortening in complex words Unlike in simple words, vowel shortening happens quite frequently in complex words in Persian. In fact, as already mentioned in the previous section, many of Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 384 A. Ghorbanpour the simple words which are not reduced in their free stand-alone form, do undergo vowel shortening when combined into complex words. In this section, all the instances of morphemes going through vowel shortening in compound and derivative forms will be looked at. In data illustrations, the column on the right shows examples of complex words (both compounds and derivatives) made by the specific morpheme that undergoes vowel shortening, and as would be expected, the examples given here are not exhaustive and the list is open. A complete list of morphemes and a fuller (but still not exhaustive) list of examples can be found in the appendix. It goes without saying that the simple words mentioned in the previous section do participate in compounding and derivative affixation as well. The difference between the two groups is that in the data presented in this section, the simple words (morphemes on the left) used in compounds and derivatives (the examples on the right) do not undergo vowel shortening in their stand-alone form in formal standard Persian. This is parallel with the previously mentioned fact that vowel shortening in Persian occurs far more frequently in complex words than in simple words. Our data show that most cases of vowel shortening in this group are about the change of /ɑ/ into [æ], which will be discussed first. The shortening of vowels before the glottal consonant /h/ is the first set here, as expected and already mentioned in the literature. (15) ‘advertisement’ /ɑɟɑh/ ‘aware’ → [ʔɑ.ɟæh] in [ʔɑ.ɟæ.hi] /ɟɑh/ ‘time period’ → [ɟæh] in [ɟæh.ɡɑh] ‘sometimes’ [nɑ.ɟæ.hɑn] ‘suddenly’ [nɑ.ɟæ.hɑ.ni] ‘sudden’ /ɟonɑh/ ‘sin’ → [ɡo.næh] in [ɡo.næh.kɑr] ‘sinful’ /cutɑh/ ‘short’ → [ku.tæh] in [ku.tæh næ.zær] ‘short-sighted’ [ku.tæh fecr] ‘narrow-minded’ /mɑh/ ‘moon’ → [mæh] in [mæh.roχ] ‘moon-faced, pretty’ [mæh.ru] ‘moon-faced, pretty’ [mæh.tɑb] ‘moonlight’ /neɟɑh/ ‘look’ → [ne.ɟæh] in [ne.ɟæh.dɑ.ri] ‘keeping’ [ne.ɟæh.dɑr] ‘keeper’ [ne.ɟæh.bɑn] ‘guard’ in [ræh.ɡo.zær] ‘passer-by’ /rɑh/ ‘way’ → [ræh] [ræh.ne.mun] ‘guidance’ [ræh.næ.værd] ‘traveller’ [ræh.bær] ‘leader’ Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 385 Vowel shortening in Persian /sepɑh/ ‘corps’ → [se.pæh] in [se.pæh.sɑ.lɑr] [se.pæh.bod] /selɑh/ ‘weapon’ → [se.læh] in [sæ.læh.ʃur] /sejɑh/ ‘black’ → [si.jæh] in [si.jæh.tʃor.de] [si.jæh.puʃ] [si.jæh.ruz] /ʃɑh/ ‘king’ in [ʃæh.vɑr] → [ʃæh] [ʃæh.bɑ.nu] [ʃæh.sæ.vɑr] [ʃæh.bɑz] /tæbɑh/ ‘crime’ → [tæ.bæh] in [tæ.bæh.kɑr] ‘general’ ‘general’ ‘warrior’ ‘dark-skinned’ ‘dressed in black’ ‘miserable’ ‘kingly’ ‘queen’ ‘knight’ ‘hawk’ ‘criminal’ The data in (15) show the shortening of /ɑ/ before /h/, and the rule covering this change can be stated as follows: (16) V → [˗long] / __C # + [+spread glottis] The second group in this part are vowels undergoing shortening before the nasal consonants /n/ and /m/, as in the set of examples in (17). (17) /dæhɑn/ ‘mouth’ → [dæ.hæn] in [bæd dæ.hæn] ‘foulmouthed’ [dæ.hæn bin] ‘whimsical person’ [dæ.hæ.ne] ‘harness, opening’ /dɑmɑn/ ‘lap’ → [dɑ.mæn] in [pɑc dɑ.mæn] ‘chaste’ [piʃ dɑ.mæn] ‘apron’ [dɑ.mæn.ɟir] ‘entangled’ /-mɑn/ ‘like’ → [-mæn] in [tor.cæ.mæn] ‘Turk-like, Turcoman’ /hɑm-/ ‘co-, homo-’ → [hæm-] in [hæm.rɑh] ‘compeer’ [hæm.ɡun] ‘homogenous’ /pejɢɑm/ ‘message’ → [pej.ɢæm] in [pej.ɢæm.bær] ‘messenger’ /pæjɑm/ ‘message’ → [pæ.jæm] in [pæ.jæm.bær] ‘messenger’ A general rule covering the process in data set (17) can be stated as in (18). Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 386 (18) A. Ghorbanpour V → [−long] / __C # + [+nasal] Another set of morphemes going through vowel shortening is presented in (19). (19) /bɑzɑr/ ‘bazaar’ → [bɑ.zær] in [bɑ.zær.ɡɑn] ‘trader, merchant’ [bɑ.zær.ɡɑ.ni] ‘trade’ /-cɑr/ /-ɟɑr/ ‘doing’ → [-ɟær] in [se.tæm.ɟær] ‘tyrant, cruel’ [ʃi.ʃe.ɟær] ‘glazier’ [ku.ze.ɟær] ‘potter’ [rof.te.ɟær] ‘dustman’ /-sɑr/ ‘head’ → [-sær] in [sæ.boc.sær] ‘frivolous’ [χi.re.sær] ‘stubborn’ [ʔɑ.si.me.sær] ‘bewildered’ Here the shortening occurs before the consonant /r/, and so the corresponding rule can be stated as in (20). (20) V → [˗long] / __C # + [+liquid] However, another case of shortening of the type /ɑ/ to [æ] involves the negative making prefix /nɑ-/ which is changed into [næ-] in a number of words: (21) /nɑ-/ ‘not, un-’ → [næ-] in [næ.di.de] [næ.fæhm] [næ.dɑr] [næ.ʃo.dæ.ni] ‘unseen’ ‘witless’ ‘poor’ ‘impossible’ As it can be seen in the above examples, the negative prefix /nɑ-/ undergoes vowel shortening in a variety of phonetic environments regardless of the following sound. In this case, it is not possible to state a general rule about the conditions under which /nɑ-/ goes through vowel shortening. Again, the process seems more to be related to the syllabic structure of the word. Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 387 Vowel shortening in Persian Next we go through the instances of shortening of /i/ into [e], which are presented in (22): (22) /diɟær/ ‘other’ → [de.ɟær] in [de.ɟær.ɡun] [de.ɟær.ɡu.ni] /dʒɑvid/ ‘eternal’ → [dʒɑ.ved] in [dʒɑ.ve.dɑn] /nicu/ ‘good’ → [ne.ku] in [ne.ku.nɑm] [ne.ku.dɑʃt] ‘transformed’ ‘transformation’ ‘eternal’ ‘well-known’ ‘commemoration’ In the examples in (22), the shortening of /i/ into [e] occurs before the palatal stops /ɟ, c/ and also before the labiodental fricative /v/. The frequency percentage of all the phonemes before which vowels undergo shortening is given in Table 1 in the next section. Lastly, the cases of shortening of /u/ into [o] in complex words which are presented below in (23). (23) /tʃun/ ‘like’ → [tʃon] in [tʃo.nɑn] ‘like, as’ [hæm.tʃon] ‘like, as’ /ruh/ ‘spirit’ → [roh] in [ro.hɑ.ni] ‘spiritual’ [ro.hɑ.ni.jæt] ‘spirituality’ /bu/ ‘scent’ → [bo] in [bos.tɑn] ‘garden’ /huʃ/ ‘intelligence’ → [hoʃ] in [hoʃ.jɑr] ‘conscious’ [hoʃ.jɑ.ri] ‘consciousness’ As can be observed, the first case of /tʃun/ ‘like’ changing into [tʃon] in complex words, is an instance of shortening before the nasal /n/, and so this case can be accounted for by the general rule (18) which we covered earlier in this section. Also, the second word /ruh/ ‘spirit’ turning into [roh] as in [ro.hɑ.ni] ‘spiritual’ is another example of vowel shortening before the glottal /h/ captured by the rule (16) above. But as for /bu/ ‘scent’, again this is an example of shortening of vowel in morpheme-final position (like the case with the negative prefix /nɑ-/ above). The last word here, /huʃ/ ‘intelligence’ in [hoʃ.jɑr] ‘conscious’ is another example of a sequence of two super-heavy syllables discussed in the previous section (the word /bulvɑr/ in (14) above). Again, the first super-heavy (trimoraic) syllable in the sequence loses one mora to become bimoraic. Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 388 (24) h A. Ghorbanpour σ σ μ μ μ μ μ μ u ʃ j ɑ → r h σ σ μ μ μ μ μ o ʃ j ɑ r 5.3. Vowel shortening in inflectional affixation Vowel shortening also occurs rather frequently in inflectional affixation. In Persian, two vowels cannot be adjacent to each other (no hiatus), and so in order to prevent this from happening, a glide is usually inserted between the two adjacent vowels. An example of this phenomenon is the plural suffixation of nouns ending in vowels. When the plural suffix /-ɑn/ is added to nouns ending in /u/, the back glide [w] is inserted between the two vowels to avoid hiatus, and this insertion causes the vowel /u/ to change into [o], as in the following examples: (25) Plural suffixation: /u/ → [o] /ɑhu/ ‘deer’ + /-ɑn/ ‘(plural suffix)’ → [ʔɑ.ho.wɑn] ‘deers’ /æbru/ ‘eyebrow’ + /-ɑn/ ‘(plural suffix)’ → [ʔæb.ro.wɑn] ‘eyebrows’ /bɑzu/ ‘arm’ + /-ɑn/ ‘(plural suffix)’ → [bɑ.zo.wɑn] ‘arms’ /bɑnu/ ‘lady’ + /-ɑn/ ‘(plural suffix)’ → [bɑ.no.wɑn] ‘ladies’ /ɟisu/ ‘hair’ + /-ɑn/ ‘(plural suffix)’ → [ɟi.so.wɑn] ‘hair’ /zɑnu/ ‘knee’ + /-ɑn/ ‘(plural suffix)’ → [zɑ.no.wɑn] ‘knees’ Here, the general rule capturing this vowel change can be stated as follows: (26) u → ow / __ + ɑn Another case of a rather irregular vowel shortening is in the past tense of verbs, where /u/ in some verb stems changes into [o] when followed by past tense endings (in these cases /-t/), along with some other (irregular) changes in the final consonants. (27) Past tense suffixation: /u/ → [o] /ɑʃub/ ‘disturb’ → [ʔɑ.ʃoft] [ʔɑ.ʃof.tæn] ‘to disturb’ [ʔɑ.ʃof.te] ‘disturbed’ [bæ.rɑ.ʃof.te] ‘angry’ Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 389 Vowel shortening in Persian /dʒuj/ ‘seek’ → [dʒost] /ɟuj/ ‘tell’ → [ɡoft] /rub/ ‘sweep’ → [roft] /ʃuj/ ‘wash’ [ʃost] → [dʒos.tæn] [dʒos.to.dʒu] [ɡof.tæn] [ɡof.te] [rof.tæn] [rof.te.ɟær] [ʃos.tæn] [ʃos.te] [ʃos.to.ʃu] ‘to seek’ ‘search’ ‘to tell’ ‘statement, saying’ ‘to sweep’ ‘dustman’ ‘to wash’ ‘washed’ ‘wash’ As can be seen in the examples in (27), this vowel shortening (along with other changes) occurs irregularly, and this is characteristic of the past tense of some verbs in Persian. Looking at the shortened examples on the right, it can be seen that shortening of /u/ into [o] in these cases takes place before the consonants /f/ and /s/. The words in (28) illustrate a similar situation, only in this case the shortening is about the change of /i/ into [e]. This change is another example of irregular past, and one that is very similar to the English irregular past forms like leave /liv/ → left /lɛft/, or keep /kip/ → kept /kɛpt/. As can be seen, in these cases shortening occurs before /r/ and /ʃ/. (28) Past tense suffixation; /i/ → [e] /ɟir/ ‘take’ → [ɟe.reft] [ɟe.ref.tæn] [ɟe.ref.te] /nevis/ ‘write’ → [ne.veʃt] [ne.veʃ.tæn] [ne.veʃ.te] ‘to take’ ‘taken, gloomy’ ‘to write’ ‘written, text’ And the last group related to past tense suffixation is the change of /ɑ/ into [æ] as in the following examples. In the second example here, /ɑrɑm/ is made past by /-id/, which is another variant of the past tense suffix in Persian. (29) Pɑst tense suffixɑtion; /ɑ/ → [æ] /ɑrɑj/ ‘groom’ → [ʔɑ.ræst] [ʔɑ.ræs.tæn] [ʔɑ.ræs.te] ‘to groom’ ‘neat, well-groomed’ [ʔɑ.ræs.te.ɟi] ‘neatness’ /ɑrɑm/ ‘calm, rest’ → [ʔɑ.ræ.mid] [ʔɑ.ræ.mi.dæn] ‘to rest’ [ʔɑ.ræ.mi.de] ‘sleeping’ Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 390 A. Ghorbanpour 5.4. Vowel shortening in Arabic loan words The last group of words to be discussed is a set of Arabic loan words (mostly proper nouns) which go through vowel shortening when the adjective making suffix /-i/ is added to them. This is another example of shortening in word-final position in affixation. Again, in order to prevent two vowels to be next to each other (that is, the vowel at the end of the noun and the suffix vowel /-i/), a consonant is inserted between the two vowels, and the long vowel /ɑ/ is shortened to [æ]. (30) Noun-to-adjective suffixation in Arabic loanwords: /ɑ/ → [æ] → [don.jæ.vi] ‘worldly’ /donjɑ/5 ‘world’ + /-i/ (adj. suffix) /ʃurɑ/ /ʃowrɑ/ ‘council’ + /-i/ (adj. suffix) → [ʃu.ræ.vi] [ʃow.ræ.vi] ‘Soviet’ /mowlɑ/ ‘lord’ + /-i/ (adj. suffix) → [mo(w).læ.vi] /musɑ/ ‘(name)’ + /-i/ (adj. suffix) → [mu.sæ.vi] /ʔisɑ/ ‘(name)’ + /-i/ (adj. suffix) → [ʔi.sæ.vi] /rezɑ/ ‘(name)’ + /-i/ (adj. suffix) → [ræ.zæ.vi] But in this case, the consonant inserted is not the corresponding glide for /-i/, which would be /j/, rather the back glide /w/ is inserted. What is happening here is actually a process of dissimilation in which /w/ with the feature [+back] is inserted before the vowel /-i/ which is a [−back] vowel, and so the ending would be like [-wi]. The remaining is the change of [w] into [v]. The reason is that the glide /w/ does not exist in Persian as a phoneme, but rather as an allophone for the phoneme /v/. Hence, as an allophone, there are constraints on the occurrence of [w] in Persian; and in fact, it is argued that the only place it occurs is after the vowel /o/, and this is what happens with the examples in (25) in plural affixation. 6. Conclusion The total number of words undergoing vowel shortening in different phonemic environments is shown in Table 1 below. Based on the data presented in this 5 The phonemic transcription of Arabic loanwords in this part (and of all other loanwords elsewhere in this paper) is based on the nativised pronunciations as used in Persian, and not necessarily the pronunciation in the original language. For example, the original pronunciation of the word /donjɑ/ ‘world’ in Arabic would be /dʊnjaː/. Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM Vowel shortening in Persian 391 study, and the numerical information in Table 1, a number of conclusions can be made about the process of vowel shortening in modern standard Persian: (1) Out of the total number of 519 words undergoing vowel shortening, only 35 (6.7%) were simple words. Accordingly, it can be argued that in the formal standard form of the language, vowel shortening rarely occurs inside simple words, and it is only in poetic language that vowels undergo shortening in simple words and that is because of the metrical requirements of poetry. While on the contrary, the process happens quite frequently in complex words and in affixation. (2) Out of the three cases of vowel shortening in Persian, the most frequent process is the change of /ɑ/ into [æ] (54.5%); with the shortening of /u/ into [o] (26.5%) and /i/ into [e] (18.8%) at the next levels of frequency, respectively (see Table 1). (3) Regarding the phonemic environment in which vowel shortening generally occurs, the process is most frequent before the glottal consonant /h/ (25.8%), next frequent before /n/ (15%), and then before /m/ (10%) and /r/ (9.8%). The relative frequencies of the phonemes before which vowels undergo shortening are shown in Table 1. Vowel shortening also occurs rather frequently in morpheme-final positions in affixation. (4) Is spite of the fact that vowel shortening is more frequent before certain consonants (e.g. /h/, /n/, /m/ or /r/), the process seems to be also related to the syllable weight and the moraic structure of syllables, rather than only to the phonemic environment. This fact can be attributed to the constraints on the occurrence of super-heavy and ultra-heavy syllables in Persian, as to which position in the word they can appear in. The point is that Persian does not favour super-heavy syllables to occur adjacent to each other; the sequence of two super-heavy syllables is not very common in the language, and ultra-heavy syllables are generally very rare and restricted. One reason for vowel shortening in all the different cases can be explained this way that super-heavy or ultra-heavy syllables tend to lose one mora and become lighter in certain positions in the word. (5) Other than the syllable weight, the number of syllables in the word seems to be also a relevant factor. Out of the total number of the words Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 392 A. Ghorbanpour studied (519), only 8 words were monosyllabic, and 71 words disyllabic, and the rest of the words were three syllables and higher. The point is that vowel shortening seems to be closely related to the number of syllables, so that the higher the number of syllables, the more frequently vowel shortening tends to occur. Table 1. The number and percentage frequency of phonemes before which vowel shortening occurs. /ɑ/ → [æ] b p m f v t d s r n l ʃ c ɟ j ɢ χ h ∅* Total 44 /i/ → [e] 2 2 /u/ → [o] 1 6 27 1 2 32 54 8 1 6 13 6 15 7 17 7 1 2 9 13 11 2 8 11 20 2 98 42 283 54.53% 22 98 18.88% 14 13 138 26.59% Total 1 2 52 27 1 1 2 12 51 78 8 31 18 17 7 20 2 134 55 519 100% Percentage 0.19% 0.38% 10.02% 5.20% 0.19% 0.19% 0.38% 2.31% 9.83% 15.03% 1.54% 5.97% 3.47% 3.28% 1.35% 3.85% 0.38% 25.82% 10.60% 100.00% * This row refers to vowel shortening in morpheme-final positions (in affixation). Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM Vowel shortening in Persian 393 REFERENCES Anvari, H. 2006. Farhang-e Bozorg-e Sokhan [Comprehensive dictionary of Sokhan]. Tehran: Sokhan. Chomsky, N. and M. Halle. 1968. The sound pattern of English. New York: Harper & Row. Hayes, B. 1989. “Compensatory lengthening in moraic phonology”. Linguistic Inquiry 20. 253–307. Kambuziya, A.K.Z. 2007. Vajshenasi: Rouykardha-ye Gha’ede-bonyad [Phonology: Rule-based approaches]. Tehran: Samt. Kambuziya, A.K.Z. and B. Hadian. 2010. “Tabaghat-e tabiee dar vakeha-ye zaban-e farsi” [Natural classes in Persian vowels]. Persian Literature and Language Research 15. 117–144. Lazard, G. 1957. Grammaire du Persan Contemporain. Paris: Klincksieck. Miller, C. 2012. “Variation in Persian vowel systems”. Orientalia Suecana 61. 156–169. Natel Khanlari, P. 1958. Vazn-e She’r-e Farsi [Metrics of Persian poetry]. (Reprinted in 1994.) Tehran: Toos Publications. Navidi Baghi, S. 2013 Barresi-e Vajarayi-e Vazhegan-e Basit-e Chand Hejayi dar Zaban-e Farsi [A phonotactic study of Persian polysyllabic simple words]. (MA thesis, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran.) Roca, I. and W. Johnson. 1999. A course in phonology. Oxford: Blackwell. Sadeghi, A.A. 1978. Takvin-e zaban-e Farsi [The evolution of the Persian language]. Tehran: Azad University. Sadeghi, A.A. 2001. “Tahavol-e pasvand-e hasel masdar az pahlavi be farsi” [The evolution of abstract suffix from Pahlavi to Persian]. Masa’el-e Tarikhi-e Zaban-e Farsi [Historical issues of Persian]. Tehran: Sokhan. Samareh, Y. 1999. Avashenasi-e Zaban-e Farsi: Avaha va Sakht-e Avayi-e Heja [The phonetics of Persian: Sounds and phonetic structure of syllable]. (2nd ed.) Tehran: Iran University Pulishers. Tabibzadeh, O. 2008. “Keshesh dar dastgah-e vake’i-e zaban-e farsi” [Length in the vowel system of Persian]. Presented at the Seventh Conference of Linguistics, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran. Toosarvandani, M.D. 2004. “Vowel length in modern Farsi”. JRAS 14(3). 241–251. Watson, J.C.E. 1999. “The syllable and syllabification in modern spoken Arabic”. In: van der Hulst, H. and N.A. Ritter (eds.), The syllable: Views and facts. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 501–525. Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 394 A. Ghorbanpour APPENDIX A list of morphemes undergoing vowel shortening (in simple and complex words). Simple words /ɑ/ → [æ] /pirɑhɑn/ /jæɢlɑvi/ /lɑʃe/ /tʃɑχmɑɢ/ ‘shirt’ ‘dish, pan’ (Tr) ‘corpse’ ‘flint’ (Tr) → → → → [pi.rɑ.hæn] [jæɢ.læ.vi] [læʃ] [tʃæχ.mɑɢ] /i/ → [e] /zinhɑr/ /pehin/ /æhrimæn/ /dʒɑdʒim/ /niʃɑbur/ /miljun/ /miljɑrd/ /mihmɑn/ /niʃɟun/ /teriljun/ /tʃelip/ /ʔid/ ‘beware’ ‘dung’ ‘demon’ ‘woolen carpet’ ‘city name’ ‘million’ (Fr) ‘billion’ (Fr) ‘guest’ ‘pinch’ ‘trillion’ (Fr) ‘(onomatopoeia)’ ‘holiday’ (Ar) → → → → → → → → → → → → [zen.hɑr] [pe.hen] [ʔæh.re.mæn] [dʒɑ.dʒem] [nej. ʃɑ.bur] [mel.jun] [mel.jɑrd] [meh.mɑn] [neʃ.ɡun] [te.rel.jun] [tʃe.lep] [ʔejd] /u/ → [o] /bɑlun/ /bohbuhe/ /bɑsluɢ/ /bulvɑr/ /bute/ /dʒudo/ /jurtme/ /jureʃ/ /mondʒuɢ/ /surme/ /sænduɢ/ /ʃu(j)/ ‘balloon’ (Fr) → ‘amid’ (Ar) → ‘kind of sweets’(Tr) → ‘boulevard’ (Fr) → ‘bush’ → ‘judo’ (Ja) → ‘trot’ (Tr) → ‘raid’ (Tr) → ‘glass bead’ (Tr) → ‘kohl’ → ‘box’ (Ar) → ‘husband’ → [bɑ.lon] [boh.bo.he] [bɑs.loɢ] [bol.vɑr] [bo.te] [dʒo.do] [jort.me] [jo.reʃ] [mon.dʒoɢ] [sor.me] [sæn.doɢ] [ʃow.hær] Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM Vowel shortening in Persian /tumɑn/ /tʃɑbuc/ /tʃɑvuʃ/ /tʃopuɢ/ /tʃumɑɢ/ /tʃun/ /χub/ ‘currency’ (Tr) ‘brisk’ ‘herald’ (Tr) ‘pipe’ (Tr) ‘stick, club’ (Tr) ‘like’ ‘good, well’ → → → → → → → 395 [to.mɑn] [tʃɑ.boc] [tʃɑ.voʃ] [tʃo.poɢ] [tʃo.mɑɢ] [tʃon] [χob] Compounds and derivatives /ɑ/ → [æ] /ɑɟɑh/ ‘aware’ → [ʔɑ.ɟæh] in [ʔɑ.ɟæ.hi] /ɟɑh/ ‘time period’ → [ɟæh] /ɟonɑh/ /cutɑh/ ‘sin’ ‘short’ → [ɡo.næh] in → [ku.tæh] in /mɑh/ ‘moon’ → [mæh] /neɟɑh/ ‘look → [ne.ɟæh] in /rɑh/ ‘way’ → [ræh] in in in ‘awareness, advertisement’ [ɟæh.gɑh] ‘sometimes’ [nɑ.ɟæh] ‘sudden’ [nɑ.ɟæ.hɑn] ‘suddenly’ [nɑ.ɟæ.hɑ.ni] ‘sudden’ [ɟæh.vɑ.re] ‘cradle’ [ɡo.næh.kɑr] ‘sinful’ [ku.tæh næ.zær] ‘short-sighted’ [ku.tæh fecr] ‘narrow-minded’ [mæh.roχ] ‘moon-faced, pretty’ [mæh.ru] ‘moon-faced, pretty’ [mæh.tɑb] ‘moonlight’ [mæh.tɑ.bi] ‘moonlit, fluorescent’ [mæh.doχt] ‘(name)’ [mæh.nuʃ] ‘(name)’ [mæh.jɑr] ‘(name)’ [mæh.væʃ] ‘(name)’ [mæ.hin] ‘(name)’ [ne.ɟæh.dɑ.ri] ‘keeping’ [ne.ɟæh.dɑr] ‘keeper’ [ne.ɟæh.bɑ.ni] ‘guarding’ [ne.ɟæh.bɑn] ‘guard’ [ræh.ɡo.zær] ‘passer-by’ [ræh.ne.mun] ‘guidance’ Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 396 A. Ghorbanpour /sepɑh/ ‘corps’ → [se.pæh] in /selɑh/ /sejɑh/ ‘weapon’ ‘black’ → [se.læh] → [si.jæh] in in /ʃɑh/ ‘king’ → [ʃæh] in /tæbɑh/ /dæhɑn/ ‘crime’ ‘mouth’ → [tæ.bæh] in → [dæ.hæn] in [dæ.hæ.ne] → [dɑ.mæn] in [pɑc dɑ.mæn] [piʃ dɑ.mæn] [dɑ.mæn.ɟir] → [-mæn] in [tor.cæ.mæn] /dɑmɑn/ ‘lap’ /-mɑn/ ‘like’ /bɑzɑr/ ‘bazaar’ /-cɑr/ /-ɟɑr/ ‘doing’ [ræh.ne.mud] [ræh.næ.mɑ] [ræh.næ.værd] [ræh.bær] [ræ.hɑ.værd] [se.pæh.sɑ.lɑr] [se.pæh.bod] [se.pæh.dɑr] [sæ.læh. ʃur] [si.jæh.tʃor.de] [si.jæh.puʃ] [si.jæh.dʒɑ.me] [si.jæh.ruz] [ʃæh.vɑr] [ʃæh.bɑ.nu] [ʃæh.zɑd] [ʃæh.ri.jɑr] [ʃæh.sæ.vɑr] [ʃæh.bɑz] [tæ.bæh.kɑr] [bæd dæ.hæn] [dæ.hæn bin] → [bɑ.zær] in [bɑ.zær.ɡɑn] [bɑ.zær.ɡɑ.ni] → [-ɟær] in [se.tæm.ɟær] [ʃi.ʃe.ɟær] [ku.ze.ɟær] [bær.ze.ɟær] [rof.te.ɟær] [dɑd.ɟær] [zær.ɟær] [ʔɑ.hæn.ɟær] ‘guidance’ ‘guide’ ‘traveller’ ‘leader’ ‘souvenir’ ‘general’ ‘general’ ‘commander’ ‘warrior’ ‘dark-skinned’ ‘dressed in black’ ‘dressed in black’ ‘miserable’ ‘kingly’ ‘queen’ ‘prince’ ‘king’ ‘knight’ ‘hawk’ ‘criminal’ ‘foul-mouthed’ ‘whimsical person’ ‘harness, opening’ ‘chaste’ ‘apron’ ‘entangled’ ‘Turk-like, Turcoman’ ‘trader, merchant’ ‘trade’ ‘tyrant, cruel’ ‘glazier’ ‘potter’ ‘cultivator’ ‘dustman’ ‘just’ ‘goldsmith’ ‘balcksmith’ Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM 397 Vowel shortening in Persian /-sɑr/ ‘head’ → [-sær] /nɑ-/ ‘not, un-’ → /hɑm-/ ‘co-, homo-’ → /pejɢɑm/ /pæjɑm/ ‘message’ ‘message’ → → /i/ → [e] /diɟær/ ‘other’ → [de.ɟær] /dʒɑvid/ /nicu/ ‘eternal’ ‘good’ in [sæ.boc.sær] ‘frivolous’ [χi.re.sær] ‘stubborn’ [ʔɑ.si.me.sær] ‘bewildered’ [næ-] in [næ.di.de] ‘unseen’ [næ.fæhm] ‘witless’ [næ.dɑr] ‘poor’ [næ.ʃo.dæ.ni] ‘impossible’ [næ.ne.veʃ.te] ‘unwritten’ [bɑ.vær ‘unbelievavle’ næ.cær.dæ.ni] [hæm-] in [hæm.rɑh] ‘compeer’ [hæm.ɡun] ‘homogenous’ [pej.ɢæm] in [pej.ɢæm.bær] ‘messenger’ [pæ.jæm] in [pæ.jæm.bær] ‘messenger’ in [de.ɟær.ɡun] [de.ɟær.ɡu.ni] → [dʒɑ.ved] in [dʒɑ.ve.dɑn] → [ne.ku] in [ne.ku.nɑm] [ne.ku.dɑʃt] [ne.ku.ji] ‘transformed’ ‘transformation’ ‘eternal’ ‘well-known’ ‘commemoration’ ‘goodness’ /u/ → [o] /tʃun/ ‘like’ → [tʃon] /ruh/ ‘spirit’ → [roh] /bu/ /huʃ/ ‘scent’ → [bo] ‘intelligence’ → [hoʃ] ‘like, as’ ‘like, as’ ‘such’ ‘spiritual’ ‘spirituality’ ‘garden’ ‘conscious’ ‘consciousness’ in [tʃo.nɑn] [hæm.tʃon] [tʃo.nin] in [ro.hɑ.ni] [ro.hɑ.ni.jæt] in [bos.tɑn] in [hoʃ.jɑr] [hoʃ.jɑ.ri] Address correspondence to: Amir Ghorbanpour Department of Linguistics Tarbiat Modarres University Tehran Iran [email protected] Authenticated | [email protected] author's copy Download Date | 10/22/17 10:12 AM