A historical study of homophonous ke in Persian

Document Type : علمی - پژ‍وهشی

Author

• Azam Estaji

10.22067/lj.v2i3.15911

Abstract

In Modern Persian the interrogative pronoun, the relative pronoun and the complementizer ke are homophonous and formally identical. The present paper based on the historical data from Persian, attempts to find the cause of this identity. Do they come from the same source or is this just an accident?
Harris and Campbell (1995: 282-313) on discussing the development of complex constructions make the point that “certain devices that mark subordination do indeed originate in questions and are then extended to subordination” (ibid: 308).
Examining the formal devices used for marking subordination, complementation and forming questions in Old Persian, Middle Persian and Modern New Persian shows that:
a. In Old Persian the interrogative pronoun is quite distinct from the relative pronoun and the complementizer.
b. In Middle Persian the interrogative pronoun is homophonous with the relative pronoun but the complementizer is still distinct.
c. In Early New Persian, in some cases the complementizer overlaps with the other two forms.
d. In Modern New Persian the three forms have become the homophonous Ke, formally resembling the interrogative pronoun in Old Persian.
So it seems that the Persian data give support to Harris and Campbell's point.

Keywords

• Interrogative pronoun
• relative pronoun
• complementizer

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