Journal of Linguistics and Khorasan Dialects

Journal of Linguistics and Khorasan Dialects

A Study on the meanings of the suffix /pad/ in Middle Persian based on cognitive grammar

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Pouya Shahriarirad 1
Azam Estaji 1
Ali Izanloo 1
Hosseinali Mostafavi Gero 2
1 Department of Linguistics, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
2 Faculty of Russian, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
10.22067/jlkd.2026.96668.1359
Abstract
Abstract:

Within the framework of Cognitive Grammar, concepts of trajector and landmark elements play a central role in understanding relational meaning and the "figure-ground" organization in linguistic expressions. These concepts, initially introduced by Langacker (1991/2008), describe the roles of participants in a conceptual relationship. This paper examines the meaning of the postposition /pad/ in Middle Persian within this framework. To achieve this goal, all Middle Persian expressions in which /pad/ occurred were extracted from the Parsig Corpus and analyzed. In Middle Persian, this word appeared 2,456 times. The results indicate that /pad/ conveyed five distinct meanings: "in/within" (the most frequent meaning), "accompaniment," "down," "through," and "cause-effect relation" (the least frequent meaning), all of which reflect a different cognitive framework among Middle Persian speakers compared to Modern Persian speakers. These results are also compared with the related languages of Greek, Sanskrit, and Latin, showing a similar transformation in meaning in comparison with Persian.
Keywords
Middle Persian
Cognitive Grammar
trajector
landmark
/pad/
Send comment about this article
Enter Name.
Enter a valid email address.
Enter a vaid affiliation.
Enter comments (At leaset 10 words)
CAPTCHA Image
Enter Security Code Correctly.
Journal of Linguistics and Khorasan Dialects

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 06 February 2026