نشریه پژوهشهای زبانشناسی (Sep 2020)
Phonological Analysis of Question Word “ku?” in Persian
Abstract
AbstractThe Persian question word [ku] which means “Where is/ are…?” is used for both third person singular and plural nouns. In the standard spoken Persian, upon the addition of the [S] formative it changes to [kuS] and upon the multiple addition of this formative it changes to [kuSeS], each with different applications. With regard to other persons, in addition to the [S] formative, enclitic verbs of “budan” (to be) attach to [ku] and create [kuSam] “Where am I?”, [kuSi] “Where are you[singular]?”, [kuSim] “Where are we?”, [kuSin] “Where are you[plural]?”, and [kuSan] “Where are they?”. This research aimed at identifying the [S] formative and then explaining the phonological processes which create different pronunciations of question word “ku?” derivatives within the framework of optimality theory (Prince and Smolensky, 1993/2004). In so doing, it presents the constraints whose interactions cause these phonological processes. The constraint rankings are completed step by step until it comes up with a single inclusive ranking capable of explaining all different pronunciations of question word “ku?” derivatives. Keywords: question word “ku?”, third person singular subject pronoun, enclitic, phonological opacity, Persian phonology IntroductionThe Persian question word [ku] which means “Where is/ are…?” is used for both animate and inanimate third person singular and plural nouns, as in the following examples: [pesare ku] “Where is the boy?” [pesarA ku] “Where are the boys?” [cetAbam ku] “Where is my book?” [cetAbAm ku] “Where are my books?” However, [kuS] which is made by adding the [S] formative to [ku] in the standard spoken Persian is not used for plural animate nouns: *[pesarA kuS] “Where are the boys?” Moreover, [kuSeS] which is made by multiple addition of this formative in the spoken Persian is not used for plural nouns:*[pesarA kuSeS]“Where are the boys?” *[cetAbAm kuSeS] “Where are my books?”Therefore, as “ku?” becomes more marked, its semantic domain becomes more limited. With regard to other persons, the enclitic verbs i.e., the inflectional and dependant forms of the verb “boudan” (to be) attach to [kuS] to create the following forms: [kuSam] “Where am I?” [kuSi] “Where are you?”(singular) [kuSim] “Where are we?” [kuSin] “Where are you?”(plural) [kuSan] “Where are they?” Materials and MethodsThis research aimed at identifying the [S] formative and then explaining the phonological processes which create different pronunciations of question word “ku?” derivatives within the framework of optimality theory (Prince and Smolensky, 1993/2004). The ultimate goal of this research is to come up with inclusive rankings of the constraints which explain different pronunciations of question word “ku?” derivatives in various environments.Discussion of Results and ConclusionsAddition of the subject pronoun enclitic /-eS/ to question word [ku] creates [kuS], and its iterative addition creates [kuSeS]. Since the second occurrence of [S] exists at the end of [kuSeS], there is no way it can be an intervocalic consonant. So it is a part of the subject pronoun enclitic /-eS/. It was also argued that the first occurrence of [S] is not an intervocalic consonant either because it is not used as an intervocalic consonant in the standard spoken Persian. Even if it were an intervocalic consonant that we have been unaware of so far, the environment after /u/ is not suitable for its insertion. Rather, this environment requires common labial intervocalic consonants as [v] and [w]. Thus, the first occurrence of [S] is a part of the subject pronoun enclitic /-eS/. In other words, native speakers regard [kuS] as the basis for all the persons and attach the enclitic verbs to it rather than to [ku]. Moreover, it was argued that the change of the input /cu+eS+id/ to the output [ku.Sin] is the result of an opaque interaction because the realization of [n] in this environment is not expected.The significance of this research is that it is the first study which introduces different pronunciations of question word “ku?” derivatives in various phonological environments. This paper starts with a constraint ranking and ends with coming up with a single inclusive ranking of constraints that is capable of explaining all the different pronunciations of “ku?” derivatives. The inclusive ranking is in fact a combination of different constraint rankings.
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