ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UPSALIENSIS Studia Iranica Upsaliensia 24 Bakhtiari Studies: Phonology, Text, Lexicon Erik Anonby & Ashraf Asadi Abstract Anonby, E. & Asadi, A., 2014. Bakhtiari Studies. Phonology, Text, Lexicon. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Iranica Upsaliensia 24. 222 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 978-91-554-9094-2. Bakhtiari, a Southwestern Iranian language in the Luri language continuum, is spoken by over a million people in the Zagros Mountains of Iran. Almost a century after Lorimer’s (1922) publication on the phonology of Bakhtiari, the present study re-examines this topic in the light of contemporary linguistics, the study of lexicon and texts and, crucially, native speaker intuition. This new research clarifies some of the important questions left by Lorimer and in doing so, leads to surprising insights into the basic structure of the system, which shows some fundamental divergences from Middle and New Persian, and even from the other Luri languages. The first part of the book situates the language within its larger geographic and genetic context, defines the language and its varieties, and provides a summary of research on the language. The second section, which constitutes the core of the study, is devoted to an in-depth analysis of the phonological system, including segmental phonology (inventory, contrast, allophonic processes and distribution), syllable structure and an array of morphophonological processes, as well as stress and intonation. The final three sections of the book comprise an interlinearized Bakhtiari folktale, tables of verb paradigms, and a semantically organized lexicon containing 1500 items. Together, these documents constitute the basis of the data analyzed in the phonological description and provide an integrated picture of related aspects of the language. Along with discussions of the typological contribution of the data and obser- vations on their distinctness from Persian, the final chapters are important resources for the further study of the morphology, syntax, discourse structure and lexicon of Bakhtiari. Keywords: Bakhtiari, Luri, Southwestern Iranian languages, Persian, phonology, text analysis, verb morphology, lexicon © Erik Anonby & Ashraf Asadi 2014 ISSN 1100-326X ISBN 978-91-554-9094-2 urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-234870 (http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-234870) Printed in Sweden by Danagård LiTHO, AB 2014 Distributor: Uppsala University Library, Box 510, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden www.uu.se, [email protected] دی مُردم ز ُغ َروت و ز بی قراری بل برُم زال ُبزنم تا ِآسماری ز ﻻلی تا ِاندكا فرش كن تيامه ياد ايل و ياد ايل َهنی وابامه — سيد علی صالحی Contents Acknowledgments ................................................................................... 11 Abbreviations ........................................................................................... 13 1 Introduction ..................................................................................... 15 1.1 The Bakhtiari language .......................................................... 16 1.2 Contribution and structure of this book ................................. 18 1.3 The research team .................................................................. 20 1.4 The data corpus ...................................................................... 20 2 The phonology of Bakhtiari ............................................................ 21 2.1 Organization of the phonological description ........................ 22 2.2 Consonants ............................................................................. 24 2.2.1 Consonant inventory ......................................................... 24 2.2.2 Some general differences with Persian consonants ........... 25 2.2.3 Consonant distribution and contrast .................................. 29 2.2.4 Phonetic realizations of consonants .................................. 43 2.3 Vowels ................................................................................... 48 2.3.1 Vowel chart ....................................................................... 50 2.3.2 Vowel distribution and contrast ........................................ 51 2.3.3 Vowel sequences ............................................................... 53 2.3.4 Interpretation of “long mid vowels” ē and ō ..................... 56 2.3.5 Other diphthongs and vowel-glide sequences ................... 58 2.3.6 Vowel modifications ......................................................... 60 2.3.7 Phonetic realizations of vowels ......................................... 62 2.4 Syllables ................................................................................. 63 2.4.1 Syllable distribution .......................................................... 63 2.4.2 Number of syllables in words ........................................... 64 2.5 Prosodic phenomena .............................................................. 64 2.5.1 Stress ................................................................................. 64 2.5.2 Intonation .......................................................................... 66 2.6 Morphophonemic processes .................................................. 69 2.6.1 List of affixes in Bakhtiari ................................................ 69 2.6.2 Assimilation ...................................................................... 71 2.6.3 Dissimilation ..................................................................... 74 7 2.6.4 Deletion ............................................................................. 74 2.6.5 Insertion ............................................................................ 82 2.6.6 Other processes ................................................................. 89 3 A Bakhtiari text ............................................................................... 91 3.1 Grammatical highlights.......................................................... 91 3.2 The text: Conference of the animals ...................................... 96 4 Verb morphology .......................................................................... 121 4.1 Verbs and the Bakhtiari lexicon ........................................... 122 4.2 Highlights of verb morphology............................................ 123 4.3 Tables of verb conjugations ................................................. 129 5 Bakhtiari lexicon ........................................................................... 155 References .............................................................................................. 219 8 List of figures and tables Figure 1: The Bakhtiari language area .......................................................... 17 Table 1: Consonants of Bakhtiari ................................................................. 24 Table 2: Phonetic realizations of consonants in Bakhtiari ............................ 43 Table 3: Vowels of Bakhtiari ........................................................................ 50 Table 4: Characteristic phonetic realizations of vowels in Bakhtiari ........... 62 9 10 Acknowledgments This project has been made possible by the contributions of a number of institutions and individuals. Erik Anonby’s research on Bakhtiari and related Southwestern Iranian languages was conducted through institutional support from Carleton Uni- versity in Ottawa, Canada, as well as through guest research positions at Uppsala University in Sweden and Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL) in the Netherlands. Ashraf Asadi’s research on Bakhtiari phonology is part of her larger work in translation of Bakhtiari texts. The publication of the present volume is due to the inspiration and en- couragement of Carina Jahani of Uppsala University, and has been generous- ly financed by the Wilhelm Ekman University Foundation and the Editorial Committee of Acta Universitas Upsaliensis. Finally, many other individuals contributed to this effort in valuable ways; we would especially like to thank Christina van der Wal Anonby, Ali Ghaharbeighi, Pegah Nikravan and Sima Zolfaghari for their contributions to this project. Of course, our research has ultimately been made possible by speakers of the Bakhtiari language and, with hope for their future, it is to them that we dedicate this effort. 11 12 Abbreviations [ ] phonetic transcription (International Phonetic Alphabet) bold phonological transcription (consonant inventory is shown on p. 24; vowel inventory is shown on p. 50) Ø null morpheme 1 first person 2 second person 3 third person adj. adjective ADJZR adjectivizer Ar. Arabic AUX auxiliary B. Bakhtiari C consonant CLF numeral classifier CMP comparative/superlative COMP complementizer CvB. Chahār Mahāl va Bakhtiāri Province DEF definite DEM demonstrative DIST distal E. Esfahān Province ENP Early New Persian EZ ezafe (associative marker) G glide impv./IMPV imperative INDF indefinite INF infinitive intr. intransitive K. Kumzari Kh. Khuzestān Province 13 L. Lorestān Province lit. literally n. noun NEG negative NOM nominalizer NPST nonpast OBJ object P. Persian PC pronominal clitic PST past/preterite PRF perfect or perfect participle POSS possessive pl./PL plural pres./PRS present prog. progressive PROX proximal sg. singular SBJV subjunctive tr. transitive v. verb V vowel V̄ long vowel voc./VOC vocative ʔ glottal stop (Persian transcriptions) ' stress ‘ ’ gloss (meaning) ... unspecified but obligatory element (lexicon) . syllable boundary ?? unknown or unattested word - morpheme boundary = clitic attachment (main interlinearized text only)