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The ''ezāfe'' ( or ; ) is a
grammatical particle In grammar, the term ''particle'' ( abbreviated ) has a traditional meaning, as a part of speech that cannot be inflected, and a modern meaning, as a function word (functor) associated with another word or phrase in order to impart meaning. Alth ...
found in some
Iranian languages The Iranian languages, also called the Iranic languages, are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian langu ...
, as well as Persian-influenced languages such as Azerbaijani,
Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...
and
Hindi-Urdu Hindustani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in North India and Pakistan as the lingua franca of the region. It is also spoken by the Deccani-speaking community in the Deccan plateau. Hindustani is a pluricentric language with two standa ...
, that links two words together. In the
Persian language Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision ...
, it consists of the unstressed short vowel ''-e'' or ''-i'' (''-ye'' or ''-yi'' after vowels) between the words it connects and often approximately corresponds in usage to the English preposition ''of''. It is generally not indicated in writing in the
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
script, which is normally written without short vowels, but it is indicated in
Tajiki Tajik, Tajik Persian, Tajiki Persian, also called Tajiki, is the variety of Persian language, Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by ethnic Tajiks. It is closely related to neighbouring Dari of Afghanistan with which it forms a dialect co ...
, which is written in the
Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...
script, as without a hyphen.


Ezafe in Persian

Common uses of the Persian ''ezafe'' are: *Possessive: "Mary's brother" (it can also apply to pronominal possession, "my brother", but in speech it is much more common to use possessive suffixes: ). *Adjective-noun: "the big brother". *Given name/title-family name: , "Mr. Mosaddeq" *Linking two nouns: "Tehran Street" or "Road to Tehran" After final long vowels ( or ) in words, the ''ezâfe'' is marked by a () intervening before the ''ezâfe'' ending. If a word ends in the short vowel (designated by a ), the ''ezâfe'' may be marked either by placing a ''hamze'' diacritic over the () or a non-connecting after it (). The is prevented from joining by placing a
zero-width non-joiner The zero-width non-joiner (ZWNJ, ; rendered: ; HTML entity: or ) is a non-printing character used in the computerization of writing systems that make use of Typographic ligature, ligatures. For example, in writing systems that feature initial, ...
, known in Persian as (), after the . The Persian grammatical term ''ezâfe'' is borrowed from the
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
concept of iḍāfa ("addition"), where it denotes a
genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...
construction between two or more nouns, expressed using
case endings A grammatical case is a category of nouns and noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and numerals) that corresponds to one or more potential grammatical functions for a nominal group in a wording. In various languages, nominal ...
. However, whereas the Iranian ''ezâfe'' denotes a grammatical
particle In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscle in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass. They vary greatly in size or quantity, from s ...
(or even a
pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (Interlinear gloss, glossed ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the part of speech, parts of speech, but so ...
), in Arabic, the word ''iḍāfa'' actually denotes the ''relationship'' between the two words. In Arabic, two words in an ''iḍāfa'' construction are said in English to be in possessed-possessor construction (where the possessed is in the
construct state In Afro-Asiatic languages, the first noun in a genitive phrase that consists of a possessed noun followed by a possessor noun often takes on a special morphological form, which is termed the construct state (Latin ''status constructus''). For ex ...
and any case, and the possessor is in the genitive case and any state).


In Hindi-Urdu

''Iẓāfat'', in
Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
and
Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
, is a syntactical construction of two nouns, where the first component is a determined noun, and the second is a determiner. This construction was borrowed from Persian. In
Hindi-Urdu Hindustani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in North India and Pakistan as the lingua franca of the region. It is also spoken by the Deccani-speaking community in the Deccan plateau. Hindustani is a pluricentric language with two standa ...
, a short vowel "i" is used to connect these two words, and when pronouncing the newly formed word the short vowel is connected to the first word. If the first word ends in a consonant or an (), it may be written as () at the end of the first word, but usually is not written at all. If the first word ends in () or ( or ) then ''hamzā'' () is used above the last letter ( or or ). If the first word ends in a long vowel ( or ), then a different variation of () with ''hamzā'' on top (, obtained by adding to ) is added at the end of the first word. In
Devanagari Devanagari ( ; in script: , , ) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental systems: alphabets, writing system), based on the ancient ''Brāhmī script, Brā ...
, these characters are written as .


In other languages

Besides Persian, ezafe is found in other
Iranian languages The Iranian languages, also called the Iranic languages, are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian langu ...
and in Turkic languages, which have historically borrowed many phrases from Persian.
Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...
made extensive use of ezafe, borrowing it from Persian (the official name of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
was ), but it is transcribed as ''-i'' or ''-ı'' rather than ''-e''. Ezafe is also used frequently in Hindustani, but its use is mostly restricted to
poetic Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
settings or to phrases imported wholesale from Persian since Hindustani expresses the genitive with the native declined possessive postposition ''kā''. The title of the Bollywood film, '' Salaam-e-Ishq'', is an example of the use of the ezafe in Hindustani. Other examples of ezafe in Hindustani include terms like "death penalty" and "praiseworthy". It can also be found in the neo-
Bengali language Bengali, also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. ...
(Bangladeshi) constructions especially for titles such as (Tiger of Bengal), (Islamic assembly) and (Month of
Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...
). The
Albanian language Albanian (Endonym and exonym, endonym: , , or ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid, Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan group. It ...
also has an ezafe-like construction, as for example in ,
Party of Labour of Albania The Party of Labour of Albania (PLA), also referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party (AWP), was the ruling and sole legal party of Albania during the communist period (1945–1991). It was founded on 8 November 1941 as the Communist Party of ...
(the Albanian communist party). The linking particle declines in accordance to the gender, definiteness, and number of the noun that precedes it. It is used in adjectival declension and forming the genitive: * "The Boss' office" (The office of the boss) * "In an adjacent office" * "Outside his office" (The office of his) Besides the above mentioned languages, ezafe is used in Kurdish in Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran:


Etymology

Originally, in
Old Persian Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as (I ...
, nouns had case endings, just like every other early
Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...
language (such as Latin, Greek, and Proto-Germanic). A genitive construction would have looked much like an
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
iḍāfa construct, with the first noun being in any case, and the second being in the genitive case, as in Arabic or Latin. * "by the will of Auramazda" *: "will" (
Instrumental case In grammar, the instrumental case ( abbreviated or ) is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the ''instrument'' or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action. The noun may be either a physical object or ...
) *: "
Ahura Mazda Ahura Mazda (; ; or , ),The former is the New Persian rendering of the Avestan form, while the latter derives from Middle Persian. also known as Horomazes (),, is the only creator deity and Sky deity, god of the sky in the ancient Iranian ...
(God)" (genitive case) However, over time, a relative pronoun such as or (meaning "which") began to be interposed between the first element and its genitive attribute. * ''by the will'' ''which'' ''(is) of Auramazdah'' William St. Clair Tisdall states that the modern Persian ''ezafe'' stems from the relative pronoun ''which'', which in Eastern Iranian languages (
Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...
) was or . Pahlavi (
Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...
) shortened it to (spelled with the letter Y in
Pahlavi scripts Pahlavi may refer to: Iranian royalty * Seven Parthian clans, ruling Parthian families during the Sasanian Empire * Pahlavi dynasty, the ruling house of Imperial State of Persia/Iran from 1925 until 1979 ** Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944), Shah ...
), and after noun case endings passed out of usage, this relative pronoun ''which'' (pronounced in New Persian), became a genitive "construct" marker. Thus the phrase * historically means "man ''which'' (is) good" rather than "good man." In other modern Iranian languages, such as Northern Kurdish, the ''ezafe'' particle is still a relative pronoun, which declines for gender and number. However, rather than translating it as "which," as its etymological origin suggests, a more accurate translation for the New Persian use of ezafe would be a linking genitive/attributive "of" or, in the case of adjectives, not translating it. Since the ezafe is not typical of the
Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...
language and most East Iranian languages, where the possessives and adjectives normally precede their head noun without a linker, an argument has been put forward that the ezafe construction ultimately represents a substrate feature, more specifically, an outcome of the
Elamite Elamite, also known as Hatamtite and formerly as Scythic, Median, Amardian, Anshanian and Susian, is an extinct language that was spoken by the ancient Elamites. It was recorded in what is now southwestern Iran from 2600 BC to 330 BC. Elamite i ...
influence on Old Persian, which followed the Iranian migration to the territories previously inhabited by the Elamites.


See also

*
Nominative case In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case, or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb, or (in Latin and formal variants ...
*
Oblique case In grammar, an oblique ( abbreviated ; from ) or objective case ( abbr. ) is a nominal case other than the nominative case and, sometimes, the vocative. A noun or pronoun in the oblique case can generally appear in any role except as subject, ...
* ''
Iḍāfah ''Iḍāfah'' () is the Arabic language, Arabic Arabic grammar, grammatical construct case, mostly used to indicate Possession (linguistics), possession. ''Iḍāfah'' basically entails putting one noun after another: the second noun specifies ...
'' (Arabic's construct case)


Notes


References


References

* * * * * * * * {{cite journal, last=Yakubovich, first=Ilya, year=2020, title=Persian ezāfe as a contact-induced feature, journal= Voprosy Jazykoznanija, volume=, issue=5, pages=91–114, doi=10.31857/0373-658X.2020.5.91-114, s2cid=226493392 Persian grammar Ottoman Turkish language Urdu