TAlIKI RBFERBNCE GRAMMAR FOR BEGINNERS

AACTITH3AEOHHTOHKM 6 A Y

HacpyJ\J\o Xoaep and Mikael Thompson MVlxaVlJ\ TOMncoH

Nasrullo Khojayori

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1

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vii

Orthogra phy and P honolog y JoiMAO sa OSOWHHOCH Nomin als and Prepositions HccaoH HOMHH HyT sa neWORHAO .
CHAPTER 2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

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17

CHAPTER 3
Khojayori, Nasrullo. Tajiki : an elementary textbook p.em.

/ Nasrullo Khojayori.

4>ebA

Verbs
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59

CHAPTER 4

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-58901-263-9 (pbk. vol. 1: alk. paper)- ISBN 978-1-58901-264-6 (pbk. vol. 2: alk. paper)-ISBN 978-1-58901-269-1 (pbk. reference grammar: alk. paper) 1. Tajik language--Textbooks for foreign speakers--English. I. Title. PK6973.K49 2009 491'.5782421--dc21

Adverbs and P articles 3apel> sa naCORHAO

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1 13

CHAPTER 5 Compound and Complex Sentences "iyMAaoH MypaKKa6 sa TapKH6 H GLOSSARY

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...

123

4>apaHrH sO)l(ao
INDEX
2008052593

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147

2009

Georgetown University Press.

HaMOSIH HCTHAOOT

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1 65

This grammar book, as well as other language materials for Central Asian Languages produced by CeLCAR, Indiana University-Bloomington, is supported by a Title-VI grant from the Department of Education

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

SiK rYAH MaKrCYA Aap HH 6YCTOH, '"IHAa HaWYA 6e MaAaAH AYCTOH. -CabAH

There is no flower in the garden of goals Which was not grown without help of a friend.
-

Saadi

This textbook could not have been written without the assistance of many people. First, I am deeply grateful to the two scholars who brought me to the United States and gave me the opportunity to write this book: Dr. William Fierman, Director of the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center, whose love of Central Asia, knowledge of its cultures, and appreciation of the role of the national languages in the formation of national identity make him an incomparable advocate in the United States for the study of their languages and cultures; and Dr. Bill Johnston for his excellent ideas and his deep understanding of second-language pedagogy, which have provided his students invalu able guidance in developing textbooks with authentic materials. Second, sincere thanks to Dr. Paul Foster, Director of CeLCAR, for his support and dedication throughout this process and provid ing all the resources needed to complete this book. Third, I offer deep thanks to Dr. Azim Baizoyev for editing the Tajiki text; to Mikael Thompson for cowriting the English text and giv ing help in all areas of the book's composition, and above all for better explaining Tajiki grammar to native English speakers; and last but far from least to my wife, Farzona Zehni, who was involved in all stages of the book and without whose help the book could not have been writ ten. Also, the practical tasks of writing this book were greatly eased by the unstinting efforts of Alisher Davlatzoda, who provided techni cal support of every kind. Finally, I would like to thank Tom Tudek, Jim Woods and Sukhrob Karimov for design and illustrations. I am also very thankful to all my friends who helped me by pro viding pictures, videos, audios, and all other assistance. I am especialy g ra teful to Khiromon Baqozoda, Tohiri Safar, Abdulfattoh Shafiev, Na siba Mirpochoeva, Chris Whitsel, David Gay, and Amin Shohmurodov. Dr. Nasrullo Khojayori

INTRODUCTION

The Tajiki Reference Grammar has the aim of helping any person learning Tajiki, whether in class or self-study. One of the co-a uthors began work on it while learning of the language him self, and thus our major consideration has been to write from the perspective of potential learners. We have written it in simple lan guage, but with comprehensive treatment of all major grammati ca l points of Tajiki, particularly those that might prove difficult for native English speakers. It has been organized in traditional fashion, starting with pronunciation and orthography. Nominals (nouns, pronouns, and adjectives), which are very similar as a group, are discussed next, and then the construction of nominal and prepositional phrases and the simplest forms of equational and existential sentences. The Tajiki verbal system and the con struction of simple sentences is discussed next, after which ad verbs and other words whose position in a sentence is highly de pendent on the surrounding parts of speech are treated. Finally, the basic ways of forming compound and complex sentences are discussed in d etail. An important tool for the reader is the index, which has been compiled with an eye to including references to every important mention of Tajiki verb tenses (such as the tenses used in the different kinds of compound and complex sentences), izofat, use of the personal possessive markers as direct and indi rect objects, and other topics that run throughout the book, so the learner should refer to the index as well as the table of contents whenever there is a question on a particular topic.

Chapter

Orthography and Phonology

1. The Tajiki Alohabet the 8th century until the 1920s. In 1928 the Latin alphabet was

Th e Tajiki language used a modified Arabic alphabet from

ad opted but a modified Cyrillic alphabet became the official Taji ki alphabet in 1940. The Cyrillic alphabet used for Tajiki contains a total of 35 letters. Of these, 24 are consonants and 6 (plus H, a variant of H only used at the end of the word) are vowels, while 4 indicate "yo ted (or yo tate d) letters," Y [H] followed by a vowel. Following is a list of the Tajiki vowels, consonants, and yoted let ters in the Cyrillic script. Vowels: a , H (H), 0, y, y, J (e) Consonants: 6, B, r, F, /Ji" >K, 3, H , K, , A, M, H, n, p, c, T, 1, x, , 'I, '\, w, b Yoted letters: e, e, 10, 11
2. Vowels

The six Tajiki vowels can be classified according to their

phonetic features-that is, the position of the tongue and the

rounding of the lips when saying them: front/back, high/midi low, and rounded/unrounded. Front vowels (H, J) are produced when the tongue moves forward during articulation and back vowels (y, 0) when the tongue moves backward . Mixed or cen tral vowels (y, a ) are produced when tongue stays in the middle of the mouth. High vowels (H, y), mid vowels (y, 0, J), and the low vowel (a ) are produced when the height of the tongue is high, mid, and low, respectively. Rounded vowels (y, y, 0) are produced with rounded lips, while unrounded vowels (a, H, J) are pronounced with unrounded or "spread" lips. Unlike Eng lish, Tajiki vowels are always "pure" (monophthongs), keeping the same pronunciation throughout: The final w sound in show or shoe does not occur with the Tajiki vowels 0 or y, nor does H or J have the final y sound in see or say.

high mid low

front

Table of Vowels

the vocal cords in your ears as you speak; this buzz is the vibration of For exampl, Imnsmitted through the bones of the neck and head.)

H
y
o

rounded unrounded , rounded unrounded , rounded u nro u nded

in English the sound

s is voiceless, and z is identical except that It IS voiced ; similarly with p and b, t and d, etc. . .
T he Tajiki consonants are listed blow as vOIced or vOIceless, wi t h pairs of consonants differing only in voicing shown. Voiced consonants: Voiceless consonants:

3 (e)

Central low unrounded. Sounds like a in father. Front high unrounded. Sounds like ee in feet. Pronounced like H; used at the end of a word to indicate stress (except in the 2nd singular verb ending). Back mid rounded. Sounds like oa in boat. Back high rounded. Sounds like 00 in choose. Central mid rounded vowel. Like u in cut with rounded lips. Front mid unrounded vowel. Sounds like e in telegraph.

The Tajiki vowels can also be divided into two groups accord ing to their length. In this case the number of Tajiki vowels increas es to eight because H and y can be long or short. The difference in length is not indicated in the script. The short vowels are: a, H, y The long vowels are: H, y, 0, 3, Y
3. Consonants

re Voiced consonants are devoiced-that is, they are and o positi na! s-in ,: placed by their voiceless counterpart ess vOIcel Ilarly Slm nants. conso ess voicel before y diatel imme . coun consonants are voiced, that is, replaced by theIr vOIced that terparts, immediately before voiced consonants. (Note that nants conso ess voicel this applies only to the voiced and . ) OIced. s alway e come in pairs; A, p, H , M, and H, for example, a: place Linguists also classify consonants ccor m? to theIr of the and manner of articulation. The place of artlcul atlOn IS the part. the hp; lower the or e tongu mouth that is most closed, either by the spe The is. e manne r of articul ation indicates how strong the closur . chart. cific features of each consonant are given in the followmg

6 B A 3)1( " n tP T C W 'I

F - - - M H A pH

K X

166 1 [bj

vi2 d bilbii ti; iik b iri bbbk; bdCk.

-

occursatthe nd collsonants it is pronouncedvoiceles:

ofe
.... ..
:

[v] .

xy6[xyn], 'Iy6 ['Iyn];

- --

vii lb iodental fricative like v in very, vet.

-..
-.. -

"

.. -

06Kaw[0Kaw] .
, -.-.".--.... , .;.:,'-.---.. ..---,-

word orbeforevoitl. . ess

\Vh rt
. . . .

!' " T

' '-" i

"

""" "

'

,-,- ,-

,.. ... _"" ;........_ .... ..,.> . .

' :' - ... . '--

. ; .

There are twenty-four Tajiki consonants. Sixteen of them fall into pairs that are identical except for voicing. Voicing is the hum ming or buzzing sound that occurs when the breath passing through the voice box (the laryn ) causes the vocal cords to vibrate; voiced consonants have voicing and voiceless consonants do not. (To deter mine whether a consonant is voiced, put your fingers on your voice box and say the sound; if there is a steady buzz of vibrations, the con sonant is voiced. Alternatively, cover your ears with your hands and say the consonant. If the consonant is voiced, you should hear a buzz
x

.. i rr I
,

- - :- -, -".-, ..

s'top likeg il1 qet,ood"ItbecIl\s [g] ' T vici";ir .

, - - --

I fF
'
..

...............

.!

iA lfd} i Vbicd dertalstov likedidtJ:, bllt pronoul1ced

. . .. . . .

I :

1.
.

[gh] I Viced velar fricative, rather like the French r in ! franr;ais, but rougher.
...... .

'

J.L
.

voiceless before voiceless consonants:

.. . _........... .. _. .. . ...... ...... . . . . ...

"'

..

.. - --- .. -- - --

-.

-- -

.... .

. ..... .....,_... ............. c.... : "._:.... c. ... ....

TarWH",

.... . . ............... .

'

... I

: , . . . _ . ...

. , ............}..........

st the back of the I with the hp ofthe tongue agam ! upperfrontteeth., i

_ . _._
.. H . . . .. .:... "_ . .. _c.._,:"". . _ .._._.,,_.. . . . .......__

. . _ ,

.. _.... , ....

.. 7

:' - .. .. :_ 7 .,-,

.. -

, _''.. _ .".....; ' T' .. ':-:-- .. :--. ..

. "" .

:,

! i' " . . ... . i 33

....

i >K>K r [zh]
j ..
.

. . . .. ..

: +. .. .. . ;. 1 [z] 1
......... .

i;

Voiced alveo-palatal fricative like s in pleasure.

. .. .. . ..
. . . .... ... ...... .....

r
;

I" ,.

.. .. . . . .. . . . .. . . alveolar fricative like

..
....

. . ..

.. .. . ... . .. ..

....

..... . .. ..

.. .....

... . .

..

....... "

in zoo.

......... .... ....

.. .. . . . .

4>+
Xx

If)
[kh] [h]

Voiceless labiodental fricative like f in few, female. Voiceless uvular fricative like German only rougher.
._,"c__..,..,_ ..'_,___ ..-_ .. ,......_

...-_.__....-.......,......,. ...

. ..

.........."..... -.--

.---.-. -.,-- ...-,--- -.. - ... -:,

. -., --..-.
..

Voiced alveolar glide like y in yes, you, boy.

. . Voiceless velar stop like k in candle, key. Before voiced ,consonants it becomes yoiced: TOK30P
''' '-. .. -..... - - .,. -" . .-.-.-......,...-.. .. -' .. , .." ..,._ ..."

..

_....... ".

j _.....:.._...__'.M..::..+;;;. .._ . [TOf30p] l.-.-... ..; ....._+. . .__ ....... _. ._..__.._....__ ..._.
---

!KK j ;

[k]
[q]

.1 1
!
I j

j'

'

'

.....,. .........'.. _-..... ,- ..

'1
! --1

[chJ

..

i
i

Il.
I

! AA
.
'::':

,'

''

' ,

"

-: -,..- .-..

. MM

J .,

::. 'c'-""',,," ! : :': :: : . '...;:::,.".... . ;: :: I [1] I Voicep lateral liquid like 1 in lid, like, lake.
i

Voiceless uvular stop. Similar to k in coop or kook, ! but with the tongue much further back towards the i . throat.
..:. . .. , .._....... _ .:

'

..___.h_... _... .___..._,-. ___._.___......_."..._ _...._______..,_.:_'-_ _....,.

.. . .. .. ..

:..:,...:.,.:..:. ..........,_ . ._,_ ..._ .

.__...__.__.._.....:...__...:__ "'

":"':f' ::: '''''''''-''''''' :':''i'-'''''''--''''::"'':''''-''

"

' , ,

"

'" ,

.. ..-""-.. ---.... .......... -"--

..

- ..

.. .. . - . " ' - . ,

'"

,"-

'

-- .

"". . ".-

.. .

: Ww
!'b I

-i
;

..--

[m]
-. .... ...

. ."{-:...-......+,..::.--...-.---..-."..--....:....--.. -,.-

1.... _ .....0

..... ..................... ..... ! . .... . ! I nn Voiceless labial stop like p in spot. It does not have [p]
I

I HH

- """7...

"'. .".,-:

1'"

Voiced labial nasal like m in memorial, men, muscle.

.

.-. -.-. . -. -.. -- -... , - -..

..

..

. . .. . .. -,.----."...-....-..--- _ ......---'---.....-.....".,.-'.- -----.--- .-..... . -.

.

:..- .. ,-.--- . , '--..--.-

..

'''i

i [n]!

t---
.

... -............._ ................. -

Voiced alveolar nasal like n in

. - .,. ... .

..

...

" ...- .......j

i i
I

[']

Voiceless glottal stop like the catch in the throat in

uh-oh.
4. Voted Letters

noun, nerve,

name.

the aspiration (the heavy burst of air) of the pin

"

l... W. ._.H "

I
. .

: ...... . .

. +.,,,,...
I

[r]

w--.

: Cc
.._

......

L : [s]
.

.......

J
i
..

..

;.._.... ......-. ....,......._--_

..

t...._.

1..1 .
.. ". ",_
:

rT f it] r viid;;;titplik
.
. :.: .. .

Voiceless dental fricative like s if produced in see, sailor with the tongue closer to the teeth.

:.. :
..

.. . . .. . . ; . . _ .. . Voiced retroflex liquid (flap), somewhat like r in English words run, rule Very close to Spanish or
.... '..... *- .. '-.........-r. .'--..... - ..., . , -.... ..-",.,-..

post, pack.

_._._ .... ' ..._,_._'_.._.. .......... __.._-..._ . . ....... _'w ....._.' '.,.,.....

......'. .._ ..... _.'__

.. " _..

.-..i

In Tajiki, each letter usually represents a single sound, and sounds are generally pronounced the same whether at the begin ning, in the middle, or at the end of a word. But because Tajiki bor rowed Cyrillic script from Russian there are four letters in Tajiki which follow Russian convention to represent y [H] followed by a vowel:

..

. ..

. . . ..
..:. . .. . .

.............. .

... .. d.. . .

.... .. . .. .

..

. ..

..

...

.. .

. ... .. . . _ .

.. .

i i

e=H+3 e=H+O
For example:

51

IO=H+Y =H+a

__ L .. .

..

._

with the tongue against the upper front teeth.

. " ' . __ :.:..

:...:."". .. j,......

.. _

. ..

, _..

'

. . .

tune if produced

.j

. ..... . ,__ :"'.....

HaK=S1K Hop=ep

HypT= IOpT H3AHM=eAHM

The letter e, however, is not always a yoted letter. At the be ginning of a word it always indicates ye [H + 3], but in the middle

or at the end of a word it indicates ye [M + 3] following a vowel yoted letter and e [3] following a consonant. 'lOMe 'some tea' MyMe 'some hair' 6jHe 'some smell, a smell' pYMe 'a face' MapAe 'a man' aaHe 'a woman'
Compare:

or

5.2 Changes Conditioned by Other Sounds

. Ailimilatlon:

('10M 'tea') (MjH 'hair') (6jH'smell') (pjH I face') (MapA 'man') (aaH 'woman')

Some consonants change to become more like follow ing consonants.

1) When n [H] precedes a labial consonant (b (6], P . ' v [8], m [M]), it is pronounced m [M]:
TaH6aA > [TaM6A] 'lazy' waH6e [waM6e1'Saturday'
. /' .'

[n],f[+l,
. . . . ' .

'<,

Therefore in contemporary Tajiki there is a tendency to use the letter e to represent only the sound 3 in the middle and final po sitions. Thus, if we add the suffix e to a word like '10M, it is often written 'lOMe instead of'loe.
5. Changes in Pronunciation

followed by " . 2) Voiced consonants are devoiced nts are. consona s voiceles , voiceless consonants; sirhilarly voiced when preceding yoiced consonants:

whe

(Phonological Rules)

6aATap> [6aTTap] 'worse' ran3aHH> [ra63aHH] talking'

The pronunciations of many Tajiki letters change from how they are described above depending on their position in the word or the sounds next to them. In addition, there are some changes in pronunciation when a suffix is added to a word. In this section, square brackets are used to indicate the pronunciation of the word when it differs from the spelling; thus, [acJ>] indicates that the word spelled a+T 'seven' is pronounced haf, not haft. Similarly, forms in parentheses are not pronounced as written, but are the "origi nal" or underlying forms of words before changes that make them easier to pronounce.
5. 1 Positio nal Cha nges

Some sounds are not pronounced in certain circum stances, such as when consonants occur in sequence (a cluster).
b. Deletion (loss):

the middle consonantis 1) In clusters of three consonants, . often not pronounced:

-, sec the However, .in some on"). "Inserti ond consonant. (See Section c belOw,
cases a
.

XJ4WTpea> [XJ4wpea] 'brick-maker' 6aAaHATap> [6aAaHTap] 'higher' , ,, ,

". " " "

vowel is inserted after

'

The vowels a [a], u [y], and i [H] are reduced (pronounced weaker) in unstressed syllables. Sometimes they are pronounced rather like the vowels in cut, wood, and pin, respectively, but often they are reduced to the first vowel (the schwa vowel) in about or around. Some voiced consonants are devoiced at the end of a word unless the following word begins with a voiced consonant.

2) In clusters of two consonants at the end of a word, the .' last consonant is sometimes not pronounced:
. a+T:> [a+l' seven' awT:> [wl'eight' . KapAaHA; [KapAaH] 'they did'
. .

3). is often deleted between like vowels:

"/', ,-,'

Certai words end in a single consonant that gets doubled (a gem1:zate consonant) when a suffix beginning with a VOWllS added; these words are identified in this book with the second consonant in parentheses: CHH(H) 'age,' +aH(H) 'art, science, field of study.'

d. Metathesis:

Certain sequences of consonants are not allowed and is called the order of the consonants is switched in speaking (which rds, loanwo Arabic in nly commo metathesis). This happens most : fashion Tajiki in nced which are spelled as in Arabic but pronou

Y+A 'lock' > [YA+] KHT+ 'shoulder' > [KH ttl "YM'ba 'Friday' > ["Y'bMa]
6.

nounced when a suffix is added.) Also, 'b is often deleted between vowels; it is only retained in Arabic words in

4:) is deleted at the end of a word. (However, it is pro (geminate): +a'bOA 'lively.'

which it is originally doubled

c. Insertion: In certain circumstances, sounds are added to break up uncomfortable sequences of sounds.

A > rAa] 'tn' AYM > rAYM1/tenth' HHro [HHro]'sight' HHrOH rapM 'warm glance' HTTHAOOT, plural OfHTTHAO'b 'piece of information'

never

l) In certain cases a vowel is inserted between the second and third consonants of a consonant cluster when fonning a co:mpound word (remember that the fonns in parentheses are

All syllables in Tajiki contain one and only one vowel. There are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels. Syllables may end in a vowel, a consonant, or two consonants. In Tajiki no syllables begin with two consonants. T herefore the syllabic division falls between the two consonants of a two-consonant cluster and between the second and third consonants of a three-consonant cluster. (Since yoted let ters begin with a consonant, there is a syllable break just before any yoted letter inside a word: 6Hp-eH 'fried,' TaM-ep 'ready')
Syllable types in traditional Tajiki words
Syllable As a complete word Within the word

Syllabification

spoken or written):
, ,

jined.

2) Certain. consonans are inserted when two vowels are Most cobnly M [y] i automatically added (espe . CIally between lIke vowels) and is notalways written.

(MapA-Kop) > MapAHI<0p 'worker' (COXT-io\OH) > COXTYMOH 'construction' (wp-ep) > wapHep 'king' .
"

) Occasionally consonants are added in suffixation:

(603" + rap) > 603H-H-rap 'player, sportsman'

CVCC

rywT 'meat,' KOPA 'knife'

caxT-KOP 'hard-working'

Most Tajik words hve one primary stress. Usually the stress fal s on eIther the first syllable (in finite verb forms) or the last (m nouns and nounlike words). Unstressed words and maning ul units (called morphemes by linguists) tend to fuse with neIghborIng trssed words without affecting their stress; these . are calle elltles m Tajiki. In the following examples, the stressed yllable IS underlined. (Note that a number of words and forms mcluded below are not discussed further in the book.)

7. Stress

' 'I'Pt'1I /rlll/dred,' awTcaA 'eight hundred,' and HycaA 'nine hundred these of syllable first the O(Clir ill compou nd numbers, the stress moves to
words: cecaAY 6MCT 'three

}C1/I r /Illlldrrd,' n aH,\ caA 'five hundred,' wawcaA 'six hundred,' a4TcaA
hundred and twenty.'

The nominal parts of speech can take following grammatical

..............

d.

S ome pronoun s in the followin g groups:

, ,

1) int,,'rrn,ffRt,ivll".....

7. 1 Wo rd s with stress o n the last sylla ble.

This is the biggest stress group in Tajiki, including all nouns (except some proper nouns), adjectives, most pronouns, nonconju gated forms of the verb (such as the lexical or dictionary form), and several classes of adverbs. This group can be divided into following grammatical subgroups: ca 'field' XOHMW'reading' MapAYM 'people' naxTaKop 'cotton-grower'

3) indefit,ite

a. All nouns in their lexical form:

naXTa 'lMHH 'picking of cotton' ca4eAM 'whiteness, yogurt' AOHMW'student' caBAIiP'merchant' aA6aAaHA 'tall' a6pYKaMOH 'with arched brows'

ArOH'some' 4aAoH'someone, such-and such a person' 4a Ao HH 'some person' 'IaHAMH 'several'

AMrap 'other' AKAMrap 'each other' aMAMrap 'each other'

e. All infinitives:

xOHAaH 'to read,'

AMAaH 'to see'

xYPAaH 'to eat'

ca'white' oaHMH 'iron, made of iron' 6Mc e po we Ha 'multi-storey'

b. All adjectives:

f. All participial forms:

xOHM'read' HaBMWTa 'written' 6a poMa Aj 'gone out' rMpM4Ta'taken' OMaAj corne'
,

a30p 'thousand' naH,\caA 'five hundred' a4TyM 'seventh' CeJlK 'a third' AYB03Mll. ' twelve' a4ToA 'seventy'

c. All numbers:

cecal. 'three hundred' Hy3AM 'nineteen' wOH3Aa 'sixteenth' 'IOPJlK 'a fourth' XOHaM naH 'the fifth house' a30p aCKap 'a thousand soldiers'

paBaHM 'going' wYHaaaHAj'listener' 6MHaHAj 'watcher' rMpaHM 'taker' xOHaHAj'reader'

Note: if the numbers AycaA 'two hundred, ' cecaA 'three hundred, ' 'IopcaA
10

pa4TaHH in Mepa4TarH 'the one who will go' MaH AMpy3 pa4TaHH 6YAaM, MeoMaAarH 'the one who will corne' 'I wanted to go yesterday.' MeAMAarH 'the one who will see' MexoHA arH 'the one who will read'
11

60lJotKYHOH 'playfully' Ta6accYMKYHOH ' smilingly'

g. Verbal adjectives:

popaB OH 'while going' 6aTK}'HOH 'while conversing'

7.2 Wo rd s with strees on the first syl l abl e .

h. S ome adverbs of the following g roups:

2)

This stress group is also very large in Tajiki and includes all conjuga ted or finite v erb forms (verbs used in a complete sentence showing tense). This group includes the following types of words:
e.

AaAepO Ha 'bravely' xywoAoHa 'happily ' MapAoH a'masculine' OHCTa 'quickly ' naCHOKH 'backwa rds'

3)

pY30Ha 'in the daytime, daily' wa60Ha 'in the nighttime, nightly' 6ero 'in the evening' naro 'in the morning' HHCHpy3H 'noontime' neWHHH 'at noon'

noeH 'at the bottom' 6eP)2:t 'outside' a 'back'

S ome pronouns:
.. . . .. " .

', , , ' , 'tH xeA 'how' ryHa 'what kind' 'tH HaBb 'what kind' 'tH Tap3 'what kind'
1) intlrr(jll7aI'IVe
. .
.

....

HH xeA ' this way' OH xeA 'that way' HH'tyHHH 'like this' oH'tYHHH 'like that' xaM'tyHHH ' also; also this way' XaM'tYHOH ' also; also that way'
4) ,naennille:

., .. . .

. ,.

"" ' , . ,. ,

"

,.

3)

indicators. These are all enclitics, so the stress remains on the last syllable of the root word:

MMa 'all' np HK 'each one' np KaAoM 'everyone'

intensive '''':l'''*,,'U'''

6ab3e ' some' KHM-KH 'someone' KHM-'tH 'something' KHM-KaAOM 'some such'
:

II-aM, aT,-alU,-aMOH, -aT()H, -aWOH) : . I KHT06aM 'my book' I KHT06aT 'your book' I KHT06aw oH ' their book' !
-'-.. -----.-_..-.-,.--..-----.-....,"..,...._-.-....._.---.. -.....-.... ........ .. : .... ..__...,.... ......*.. : . .

;......-.. .-

I KHT06H HaB i 'new book' i nClMpH WyMO i 'your father'

-

I 'my house'

I XOHaH MaH

! a) iofat: .
.

.. ... .. . . .. .... . . .. ,._* _ . __ _ - _, _ -.... _-_ ,_.. _ ,..._ . .. _.--"

. . -.

- . 'r"..--- ''--'"--"..-'--..-"'----,,___.;,, ..____---'--1---_'""-.. .,..,.-..-"......._:...._,._._....._..,.."....._. ._._,

];i;;jt mark;:" ' r ;lndefini ti . ; -e:1 ,

i 'that, him, her, it'
i OHpO

i ' the book'

i KHT06p o

'

I aAaMe 'a pencil'

i KHT06e 'a book'

;.

.. '*. __.,__ __,...

d) perst;mJ possessive markers

.

-.- .--"--....-.. --.... ..'",.,, ... -.

..-.,'_ .. ,_ .' __ .....N. .. ... , ,_....,... _ ... ....._,_... .

'N' _._ _,_. _,.. ., ..H._._ ... .. . .. .. . . .

.... .. ..*.* . .._.. _H .. _ ... _ ._._._._._...H._. ..__.......... . ..._..

+_..-..-..___.... ._.

i 'book and pencil' ! 6010 KaM6aFaA l 'rich and poor'

Ie) conjunction -y i .;. I KHT06y aAaM

.... _.H .. _ . ._.._. . . _ .. .

....-_.,.,_."'_. __, _,,_'_"_"_

__....._.._._.....'_'"'._._' "_...__.

(-10):
....__ .NH . I

/ 21 past imperfect: , MeAHAaM rHpHTaM 'I took' used to see' i xOHAaM 'I read' HAarHCTaM i j AMAaM 'I saw' 'maybe I will see' ! QMaAaM 'I carne' i xaHAHAaM 'I laughed' i MeXOHAaM _._,,_,, J:,! ,.,i, g' !
_ ,... _ . H.".. ..........._ . _ . .;. .............. ,...... _ . ,

b. C onjugated forms of simple "1 verbs:

1)

simple past:

'

. .. ..

' .

. .

. .

"

"

..- .N .. ....- ....-..... -... .- ... .-. ...-

-.... -'" .....--... -.. :.-..".-.'

"-

--

-. - I

1'1 I
.

i 3) present perfect:
. . ."

..

.. _..

i Y ap py3 a3 HOHBO HOH MexapHAaaCT, ! 'He used to buy bread from the baker every day.'
L .......

. . . . . . .. i S) itnperative: : . i XOHOHeA Y naAapawpo ap py3 HAaaCT, ii 'make him read' i 'He used to see his father every day.'
: 4) habitual
H" ...,.". ....... . ;.,."_..... H. ..........._.",M .... .........e .. .-..._...... ......-........ _........ .-.. :.H. .-....... .-_ ........... ,.... ..........

-. _"

"

_ ."

rej:Jortative: .

,_....

,._ , .. _ ..

.1.

i 'I have seen' I rHpHTaaM ! 'I have taken' !

_ , , ..

! AM AaaM

'

--

-.

- .-

,_ ..

,_,--,,_.. ,

..,

'

--"

'

. .. ... ... . ........... . ..-_.. . ,..... "...... . .

..!.".:.....H.-........."._.... ... ..._"..:".......:..,,,.c.:,,.:.-:...c. __.....; . .; .

.

...

..

: ..

1
i i

. ..... __

........1.... ..
1 3 0-.

I HaaHCOHeA ; 'make him write' : QpeA ' take' i QapeA 'carry'

1 2 '0-.

2) time : ) mannr: . . :[. 1 .. .. ....,.......... c .. ... ,,, ...,, .. , .. ... .. ..... .... .f.. .." . ...... .. . . . ......

c. Adverbs:
AiPpaB

\1

.. OXOCT
i

: 'immediately'

. suddenly

6eHxTHep
'unwillingly'

I AMPY3 'yesterday' HMpy3 ' today' AMHa 'yesterday' , ! AO tomorrow' i nacapAo 'day after i! tomorrow' i nopcoA 'last year ' I MPOA 'immediately' i nopHHa 'last year' I HaBaKaK 'just now, L !el1tlt . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . .. :

, " , . ' , . . " ....' ....'_

.:

I I

a nd degree: .. quantity . ; HH aAap ' this much' i OH aAap ' that much' I SlK aAap ' some' I mt,6,aK 'a little'

t.

3)

.. ...."'"" .... '...." i., ".' .......;';.'" ,',.,..;..............,', ,',....,' ,.,.," ,

...... . _ ._,

xywe ' h u sh!, don't say that!' 0660 'uh-oh!' I.Qp aKaAAo 'good job!' uHO 'alas!'
g.

All InterJections:

xonna 'catch !' AO 'hello, hey' )':pa 'hooray!' jy ' a-hal' tHA'\yMAa 'as well' AOaaA 'at least'

Arabic words and phrases: IAHcc a 'in conclusion' MHH6abA 'hereinafter'

d. S ome conjunctions:
3epo, 3epo KH, '1apo KH, '1)':HKH
'because'

When a word is suffixed the stress moves to the suffix. (This ) is the feature that distinguishes suffixes and enclitics in Tajiki. the of form ve negati the In All auxiliary verbs are unstre ssed. didn't 'I AaM HaxoH verb, stress moves onto the negative prefix Ha-: hasn't read,' KOP HaKapAaM 'I didn't work,' TaMOM HawYAaacT 'it been finish ed,' AHAa HaMew aBaA 'he won't be seen.'
7. 3 U n stressed Word s and M o rphe m e s

AeKHH 'however' Ha60wa,6, 'if so'

MP.'1H 'everything' MP.'1aHA ' although' MP.'1aHA KH

'although that'

Unstressed words and morphemes, or clitics, are divided into two groups: proclitics and enclitics. Proclitics fuse onto the follow ing word, while enclitics fuse onto the preceding word.
8.

Proclitics:

Qe 'question word' HaxoA 'really' HaxOA KH 'really'

KOWKH 'would that' Ma60Ao 'beware, I fear' WOstA 'should, might' 6Hr30P 'let it be that' KaHH 'where'
-V

6a 'to' 6e 'without' 6ap 'through' TO 'until' Aap 'in, at' a3 XOHa 'from home' 60 aAaM 'with a pencil' 6e 3aMaT 'without a burde n' Aap P2X 'on the road' ' until/as far as Dushanbe' TO

1 4 '

-V

15

1 ) verb endings : -aM, -H, -aA, -eM, -eA, -aHA 2) persona l possessi ve markers : -aM, -aT, -aw, -aMoH, -aToH, -aWOH 3) predicate endings ('to be') : -aM, -H, aCT, -eM, -eA, -aHA 4) auxiliary verbs: 6YAaH, wYAaH, HaMYAaH, etc. 5) particles: -po, -6apHH, -603, -KaTM/aTH, -'IH, -a, -AHSI, -Aa, -e, -KY, -KYSI 6) conjunctions: -Y (-10, -BY) 7) subordinating conjunction: KH 8) izofat: -104 9) indefini te article: -e ( waxce 'some person,' MapAe 'some man')

b. Enclitics:

C h apter

Nominals and Pre posi t ions

Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives are grammatically similar in English and Tajiki. Unlike French, Spanish, German, Russian, Latin, or Greek, for example, Tajiki does not have grammatical gender even in pronouns: Y and BaM both mean 'he' or 'she' indifferently. Again like English, adjectives do not agree with nouns in number. Simi larly, unlike German, Russian, Latin, and Greek, for example, Tajiki has only one distinct case, the definite accusative -po (indicating a definite direct object); other grammatical functions are indicated by prepositions and word position. On the other hand, pronouns and nouns are more similar to each other in Tajiki than in English (most pronouns form plurals just like nouns do, for example). First, nouns, pronouns a nd adjectives will be discussed individ ually, as well as suffixes used to convert adjectives to nouns and vice versa, then the formation of noun phrases a nd izofat (which is used to indicate possession a nd modification by an adjective) will be discussed; in this respect Tajiki and English are quite different and the use of izofat should be learned before proceeding. Once the use of izofat to form noun phrases is understood, prepositions, prepositional phrases, and equational a nd existential sentences in the present tense are discussed, after which the student can proceed to the section on verbs.

1 . Nouns

As in English, Tajiki nouns essentially name people, ani mals, places, things, and ideas (qualities and abstractions) : For example, MapA 'man,' 3aH 'woman' 6a'la ' child,' ryp6a 'cat,' acn ' horse/ wap ' city,' Aape 'river,' "aHraA 'forest,' KHT06 'book,' AapaXT ' tree,' AHA 'heart,' xy w 6aX TH 'happiness,' 6y3yprH 'height.' Tajiki nouns can be singular or plural; except for certain types of nou ns borrowed from Arabic, the plural of a noun is formed from the singu lar with a suffix. The basic form of the noun is used as the subject of a sentence, b u t as w i th E n gl i sh this form does not change if the noun is used as

the object of a preposition . Moreover, there is no special possessive form like English man 's, car's, or dogs '; instead, the noun that is pos sessed takes a special marker, the izofat (see Section 5.2 below). When a noun is used as a direct object, it takes the ending -po after any plural suffixes if it is definite (roughly, if its English equivalent takes the definite article the); otherwise, the noun usu ally takes no ending. In fact, the issue of when a noun is definite in Tajiki is quite complex and will be discussed in some detail in Chapter 3, Section 2. The form -po is literary or formal; in collo quial speech the form -a is used after consonants and -51 (northern dialects) or -pa (southern dialects) after vowels: KHT06po xO Hapo

ed by adding the sf: In Tajiki the most common plural is form x can be added to all TaJiki fix -O to the end of the noun; this suffi nouns and takes the stress. aAaM 'pencil' MapA 'a man'

1 . 1 Plural formations

aAaMO 'pencils' MapAo 'men'

Formal

KHTo6a XOHaSi

Colloquial (N)

KHTo6a xO Hap a

Colloquial (S)

ed after consonants in The in the suffix -o is not pronounc the colloquial language:

'book' 'house'

KHT06 'a book' XOHa 'a house'

> >

KHT06o [KHT06o] 'books' XOHao [xoHao] 'houses'

KHTo6a rHp ! 'Take the book!' XOHaSi 6HH ! ' See the house!' Kocapa Te ! 'Give (me) the bowl!' Note that in older Persian, -po could indicate either a direct or an indirect object; the usage indicating an indirect object survives in some set phrases (XYAOPO w)'KP, 'Thanks to the Lord') and in poetry. Similarly, in English indefiniteness is usually shown by the indefinite articles alan in the singular and some in the plural. In Tajiki a simple noun or noun phrase can be made indefinite with the clitic -e, which is added after any plural suffix and before -po; it never takes the stress. In addition, a few particles that can follow the noun or noun phrase are written as separate words even though they are enclitics (and thus fuse with the preceding word and do not take stress) . The most important are aM/HH3 ' also' (HH3 Iiterary; they immediately follow the noun phrase they modify. Frequently in colloquial speech aM loses the and automatically adds a M in pronunciation after a vowel, and so becomes homophonous with the personal possessive marker -aM 'my') and 6apHH ' like, resembling.'

for certain groups of o. However, there are other plural forms animate nouns and some mamFirst, the plural marker -OH is used with mate nouns.

'tea,chers,' pa,ccoMoH, . , oAaMoH people , 'artists ' laHOH 'women,' MapAoH men the human body that come In pairs: AaCTOH ' hands,' 2. parts Aa60H 'lips,' '1aW.MOH 'eyes ' i .
1 . people and occupations:

MyaAAHM H

3. noun s with the suffixes

gardens,' KCOpOH
4. nam es

of plants, 6aproH 'leaves,'

trees,

, -BOH , -eH. This suffix has three variants: -rOH

.. . CaMeparOH 'planets'; H PY'O ts,' 'nigh oH 6. names of time unlfs: wa6 6OpOH 'springs, in springtime.'

5. names of celestial bbdles:

My,,\aroH 'btids,' wxoH ,,ranch' i

I

. . , . -30p, -cop, -60p : AOAasopoH tuhp 'mountains,' ,\jM60pOH ' c,anals' and their
parts:

cHToparoH stars, aXTapoH stars, days,'

. .
.

AapaXTOH trees,

, wornen, ' , , 1. After consonants -211 Is used: M.apAoH men, saHOH ' . . ... . oAaMOH 'peop 1e,' AapaXTOH 'trees . . suffix -OH Is the I!), l. vowe voted 2. After the vowel ! (Inclu ding the ' Child ren,' Ha6eparoH used : x;aMCOSIrOH I neighbors,' 6a'larOH , grandchildren.'

...v

1 8 .,-,,-

"

'grandfathers, old men,' McToHMeH 'mountain people.' er Jh! Uffh( 8 tt IS u$8d; 60ttyBOH 'ladies,' MHAYJlOH 'Hindus, Indians.'.

3. After the vowels B and 2 and yoted j. the suMx -ill Is used:

606oeH

ft thtt vowel . r

In addition, a number of words borrowed from Arabic take other Arabic plural forms.
a) The dual suffix

hand fu l of nouns, others by almost all nouns of a particular shape . A rabi c broken plurals are named in traditional Arabic grammar by giving the general form of the plural - the consonants are replaced with +, b, and A, respectively, and the appropriate vowels are in serted. The most common classes of broken plurals are:

of pa tterns for broken plurals in Arabic, some followed by only a

O y two words tha t take this suffix are common in Tajiki, both . WIth the mearung of ,both of a p ai r ' : Tapa+aHH 'both sides'
b) The plural suffix -OT (very common).

-aHH.

This suffix indicates two of a noun in Arabic .

BOAMAaHH 'both parents'

MabAYM 'something known'

MabAYMOT 'information'

a+boA ( af o/) xa6ap '(piece of) news' Tapa+ 'side' waxc 'person' 2. +YbbOA ( (1/' 0/) OKMM 'mayor' 3. Ma+obHA ( mafo' iI) MaKTa6 'school' Ma+MA 'club, group' MaWFaAa 'noise'
1.

ax60p 'news' aTpo+ 'sides' awxoc 'people' YKKOM 'mayors' MaKOTM6 'schools' Mao+MA 'clubs, groups' MaWOFMA 'noises'

MTTMAO"b 'piece of information' MTTMAooT 'information' BoeOT 'events' Boea 'event' BOpMA 'entering' BOPMAoT 'imports' COAMPOT 'exports' COAMP 'publication' The suffix -OT is used mostly with Arabic words, but it is taken by a few Tajiki nouns: Aea 'village' ca63a 'green things' 60F 'garden' HaBMWTa 'something written'
C) The plural suffix

Broken plurals, especially of the less common patterns, are used more commonly in literary Tajiki than in colloquial speech.
1 .2 Use of the plu ral

AeOT 'villages' ca6saBoT 'vegetabies' 60FOT 'gardens' HaBMwTa,\oT 'compositions, writings, oeuvre'

-HH

(less common).

MyaMMM 'teacher' Myco+Mp 'traveler'

d) Broken plural forms. .

MyaMMMMH 'teachers' Myco+MpMH 'travelers'

Arabic

broken pl urals are very common in Taji

YPY+. There are a large number

ki; they are formed by retaining the consonants in the singular and inserting different vowels between them. Thus, the broken plural of ap+ 'letter

(of an a lphabet)' is

Plurality is not shown when a noun is modified by a nu meral: OAaMOH 'people,' AY OAaM 'two people.' Numerals are often followed by one of a number of different classifiers (also called nu meratives), especially when modifying inanimate nouns. The most common classifiers are: Ha+ap for people (never used with Kac or oAaM), cap for animals, AOHa for things, aAaA for commercial items, and TO (Ta) for any noun. Other classifiers are usually mea sure words like KMAO 'kilogram,' MeTp 'meter,' and AMTp 'liter,' but also include such words indicating types or quantities of things as 6aHA"Ia 'bundle' and xaATa 'bag, sack.' Words for units of time and distance do not need classifiers: AY coaT 'two hours.' Plurality is used somewhat differently in Tajiki and English. In English, plurals are used for all nouns that name more than one object mentioned in a sentence; however, in . Tajiki plurals are not often used for inanimate nouns. Moreover, in English plural nouns are often used for general groups or categories of things (generic), but not for abstract nouns: People like him, it's fun to hunt mushrooms,

t h i s is only t r u e of animate nouns (often including plants, especially large ones l i ke AapaxToH ' trees') : OAaMOH 'people,' caro 'dogs.' For inanimate nouns, on the other hand, Tajiki more common ly than English uses the singular form, which in fact for inanimate nouns should be seen rather as indeterminate in number. (Plural forms of inanimate nouns are of course used when it is necessary to emphasize that more than one thing is being disussed.) For example: ce6 'an apple, apples,' ce60 'apples,' ce6e/fiK ce6 'an apple.' In both English and Tajiki, abstract nouns very rarely occur in the plural, in which case they refer to different types of a qual ity or abstraction. Just as in English, nouns can be joined using conjunctions, the most important of which in Tajiki are sa and -y 'and,' e 'or,' and He He 'neither ... nor'; these can also be used with pronouns and adjec tives. Usually they only occur before the last word in a series.

stones are good for building a solid house. In Taji ki,

Singula r

Plural
. ............. . . . .......... . . . . . ... . . . .. . . . . .. .

................. .

2nd 3rd

Ty (

. .. ''

. . . .: , . !'.. ... .

2. Pronouns

Pronouns are words that stand in for or refer to nouns, such as I, she, who, what, these, and those. There are four types of pronouns in Tajiki, personal, interrogative, demonstrative, and indefinite pronouns; personal pronouns include reflexive, reciprocal, and in tensive pronouns (see Section 5.3 below). Indefinite pronouns will be discussed in detail later with indefinite adverbs; the other three types of pronouns are discussed below. (English also has what are called possessive pronouns: My, mine, whose, etc. In Tajiki, posses sion is indicated the same way for nouns and pronouns; there are no distinct possessive pronouns. See Section 5.2 on izofat below.)
2. 1 Pers o n al pro n o u n s

U n like English, these forms of the person al prono uns ar used of in all cases, wheth er as subjec t or object of a senten ce, object al person the of object a prepo sition, or posse ssive; the direct the that t p ronou ns is forme d regula rly by addin g -po, excep d i rect object of MaH is Mapo. . Tajiki does not disting uish gende r gramm ahcally ; y, Ba , and OH each mean he, she, or it. The first two can be used almos t mter chang eably for people or things ( B aH is more common and y more In l i terary ), while OH tends to be used more for inanim ate object: . . Bae and HO unced prono colloquial Tajiki, OHO and aaHo are m ne, someo g dressm WyMO is often used as a polite form of a of which case it is capitalized. In the northern dIalect a .plural form WyMO also exists, WYM o eH . Similarly, the pr?noun ,Mo I,S also used for 'I' in this dialect and has the plural form MoeH for we.
_ _

2.2 I nte rrogative pro n o u n s

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask the identity of a noun. The basic interrogative pronouns are KH 'wh ?' a d 'tH 'wat?' KH s used only for people and 'tH for animals and mammate objects; theIr plural forms are KHO and 'tHO. The word <:,rder fo: interrogative pronouns is the same as in simple sentences; KH and 'tH take the same position in the sentence as the nours they rplace nd are not moved to the beginning of the sentence as IS done m EnglIsh.

Personal pronouns stand i n for a noun and indicate its rela tion to the speaker and hearer of a sentence. As in English, Tajiki personal pronouns are singular or plural and indicate three per sons: First person includes the speaker (I, we), second person the hearer but not the speaker (you), and third person refers to neither the speaker nor the hearer (he, she, it, they).

Kap HM 60 MyaAAHM ran 3aA, 'Karim chatted with the teacher.' KapHM 60 KH ran 3aA? 'With whom did Karim chat?'
In addition, 'tH can be used adjectivally in front of a noun, in which case it means 'what?' : 'tH KH T06 'what book?' (Note that nouns modified by 'tH are not necessarily definite.) A number of other interrogatives are formed from 'tH and a geeral noun (se the list below) . Also, 'tH is also used just as in E ghs f? r exp:esslOns of wonder and surprise (note the use of the mdefimte chhc corre-

2 2 '

sponding to the indefinite a r ti c l e alall): "414 6oJ'e ! ' W h a t a ga rd en ! ' Some o f the other interrogative pronouns have the same form as interrogative adjectives, and when used adjectivally precede the noun. The following are other important interrogative words (pro nouns, adverbs, and adjectives) and phrases in Tajiki.

OH TMpeu aCT, 'That is a window.' OH TMpeu KaAOH aCT, 'T hat window is large.' (not ' That is a large window. ') OH TMpeuo KaAOHaHA, 'Those windows are large.' OHO KaAOHaHA, 'T hose are large.' but not: OHO TMpeuo KaAOHaHA. ( This is not correct. )
When pointing something out or handing smthing over, Tajiks use the special presentative pronouns MaHa this here , and aHa 'that there.'

KaH 'when?' KY,\O 'where?' (acts as noun) \faHA 'how many, how much?' KaAOM 'which?' \fapo 'why?'

'1M KjaAap 'how much?' '1M Taap 'how?' (manner)

'lM XeA 'how! (condition) \faHAYM 'which?' (of a series) '1M rYHa 'what kind?'

apo has the colloquial equivalents \fM6a/\fMAa, and is often re placed by 6apoM '1M 'for what?'
2. 3 D e m o n strative pro n o u n s

AHa OH KMT06. Ma a, MH HOMa.

'That book right there; there's the book' 'T his letter right here; here's the letter.'

Besides their basic use to refer to specific things, MH and used for:

OH

are

Demonstrative pronouns are used t o point out things o r refer to nouns that can be identified from one's surroundings or from the course of the preceding conversation. The basic demonstrative pronouns are MH 'this' and OH 'that'; they can also be used (unlike in English) to refer to people, and in this use mean 'this/that person,' and thus 'he/she.' (To indicate politeness it is better to say MH Kac 'this person' and OH Kac 'that per son,' which are treated grammatically as plural in the northern dia lect to show respect: .... H Kac paMcaHA, 'He/she is the company head/ our boss,' not the singular paMc aCT.) As in English, MH indicates something close to the speaker and OH something further away. As pronouns they have the plural forms MHO ' these' and OHO 'those.' They can also be used as demonstrative adjectives, in which case they precede the noun they modify and never take a plural suffix: MH KMT06 'this book,' OH ryp6a 'that cat,' OH KMT06o 'those books,' MH XOHao 'these houses.' The demonstrative adjectives always pre cede numerals: MH AY cap ryc+aHA ' these two sheep.'

' ) anaphora, or reference to other words In speech: .. BaH MPO rY+Ta M IS used to pa+T 'He said this and left . .' / (as in 'ca a : !,, mr; a

t : ab =; ; MH OH aCT, KM Y 6eMOp aCT,

2) to

Englis,

ject clauses: Ca6a6M indicate ob 5, 'The reason for this is (this), that he is sick' (See Chapter Section

2.)

can be used as pronouns and as adjectives.

j,1H and OH have the emphatic forms aMMH and aMOH, which

aMMH KM T06 'this very book, this same book' aMMH OAaMO 'these very people, these same people' aMOH waxc 'that very person' . , aMOH AyxTaPO 'those very girls, those same guls x.aMoHo xy6aHA.'Only those/just those right there are good.'
)(,aMM nypaHA- 'Only these/just these right here are full.' Also commonly used are the demonstrative pronouns and adjectives (also often used as adverbs) \fYHMH 'like this, in this way' and \fYHOH 'like that, in that way, thus.' ey are often best trans lated 'such, so.' With this meaning \fYHOH IS used to form correla tive clauses (Chapter 5, Section 5).

j,1H KMTo6 aCT, 'This is a book' .... H KMTo6 Has aCT, 'This book is new.' (not 'This is a new book. ') j,1H KMT06o HaaaHA, 'These books are new.' .... HO HasaHA, 'These are new.' but not: j,1HO KMT06o HaaaHA. (This is not correct.)

2.4 I n d efin ite pro n o u n s

Indefini e pronouns are those like everybody, something, ally one, and nothmg that pick out all, some, or none of a group; even though they include words like everybody, they are called "indefi nite" because they do not pick out or point to a particular or specific person, place, or thing, but instead refer to the members of a group or class. Most indefinite pronouns are formed in three series that correspond very roughly to the some-, no-, and every-series of Eng lish; in Tajiki they are formed by adding an appropriate modifier to the nouns Kac 'person' and '"IH3 ' thing.' The some-series uses the in definiteness clitic -e (which can be replaced or emphasized with JlK 'one' or JlrOH ' several'); the no-series, e,\ ' no'; and the every-series, ap 'each.' They are formed the same way as indefinite adverbs and adjectives (somehow, anywhere, etc.). Because their forms do not match up in a simple fashion with English indefinites and depend on the form of the verb of the sentence, indefinite pronouns and adverbs are discussed together in detail in the chapter on adverbs, Chapter 4, Section 1 .5. Besides those discussed above, the pronouns aMa ' all,' aKcap 'most/maj ority' ap 'each,' 6Hcep 'many,' 3HeA ' (a great) many,' and 6ab3e 'some, a few' are extremely important and very com mon; as in English, grammatically they are considered plural. All of them may be used as indefinite adjectives as well. A few other indefinite pronouns are fairly common.

in il grou p or class a noun refers to (the, this, these, some, all, many, no). Interrogative and demonstrative adjectives are often classified as part of il d i stinct class of words in English, determiners (which also includes .,rticles, possessive nouns, possessive pronouns, and to some extent numerals used adjectivally in English), because as a group they be have rather differently from simple adjectives (they must occur before any other words in a noun phrase and in general two determiners can not occur in the same noun phrase, for example). The grammatical differences between simple adjectives and determiners are even stronger in Tajiki: Determiners always come before the noun they modify, while simple adjectives almost always come after the noun. Because determiners form noun phrases differently than simple adjectives do and are closely tied to definiteness, they are discussed much more fully in section 5 . 1 below and i n Chapter 3 , Section 2. However, i t i s appropriate at this point to list the important demonstrative, interrogative, and indefinite adjectives, many of which are also used as pronouns. As mentioned above, HH/OH ' this/that,' aMHH/aMoH 'this/ that very one,' and YHHH/'"IYHOH ' such (a one), (one) like this/that' are the important demonstrative pronouns; all of them are also used as demonstrative adjectives. The following interrogative pronouns are also used as adjectives:

+aAOH 'a certain someone, so-and-so' +aAoHu 'some person' (indefinite, largely equivalent to waxce 'a person')

U KaAOM '"IaHA '"IaHAYM

'what?' 'which?' 'how many, how much?' 'which?' (of a series)

3. Adjectives and determi ners

In addition, the following interrogative phrases can modify a noun: '"IU ryHa 'what kind?' and '"IU ap 'how much, what quantity?' The important indefinite adjectives include: aMa ' all,' ap 'each,' 6Hcep 'many,' 3HeA '(a great) many,' '"IaHN'"IaHAHH 'some, several,' JlK'"IaHA ' severa!,' JlrOH ' any, a few,' 6ab3e ' some, a few,' JlK 'one,' and e,\ 'no.'
.

Adjectives are words that describe, delimit, or pick out (mod ify) nouns, such as green, tall, beautiful, humane, all, many, which, this, and that. Simple adjectives describe nouns, interrogative adjectives are used to ask which of a group or class of things a noun refers to (which ?), and demonstrative adjectives (which in a broad sense include indefinite adjectives) point out or narrow down which thing or things
26
.>.$-

3. 1 Co m pa ratives a nd s u pe rl atives

Comparatives (bigger, greener, etc.) and superlatives (biggest, greenest, etc.) are used to compare one noun with others in the qual ity of the adjective. Comparatives (showing more of a quality than
-V >.$-

27

others in a group) are always formed in Taji ki with the sufix -Tap, which takes the stress:

cacjeA 'white,' rapM 'hot,'

cacjeATap 'whiter' rapMTap 'hotter'

In fa c t, the basic marker of the superlative is the suffix -MH; -npMH is a compound suffix us d commonly wit all adjectives w hose meanings allow a superlative . The suffix -MH IS sd l ; ss fre I ul'ntly, but it can be found in such words as HaxycTMH first, naCMH ' I <lst, ' and 6eX;MH 'best.'

The b asis of comparison (shown by than in English) is in dicated by the prepositi on a3 ' from' or (much less commonly) TO 'until' :

3.2 Adjectives u sed as nouns

al 6apcj cacjeATap 'whiter than snow' al eyT cypXTap 'redder than ruby'
The phrase than ever is expressed with al new 'than before' : a3 new rapMTap 'hotter than ever, hotter than before.' To say more than ever, Tajiki uses the phrase 6ew al new. The superlative (showing the most of a quality among a group) is formed in two ways; they do not differ in meaning. First, one can use the comparative and al aMa 'than all' : al aMa cacjeATap 'whitest.' Alternatively, the suffix -TapMH indicates the superlative:

Adjectives can be used as nouns without adding any suffixes, in which case they have the sense 'the . .. one':

cypX 'red, the red one' (but not the name of the color) 6ylypr 'high, the high one' KaAOH 'large, the large one'
3 . 3 N u merals

The names of the numbers 1-10 in Tajiki are as follows:

cacjeA 'white,' rapM 'hot,' cypx 'red,'

cacjeATapMH 'whitest' rapMTapMH 'hottest' cypXTapMH 'reddest'

SlK AY ce

1 2 3

Op ( aop) naH,\ waw

4 5 6

6eTaPMH pylOM lMHAarMM MaH

' the best days of my life' When modifying a noun, the superlative in -TapMH is a de terminer and thus precedes the noun, while the comparative is a simple adjective and must follow the noun . Almost all adjectives add -TaP and -TapMH to the end of the simple adjective, but a few adjectives add -TaP and -TaPMH to a different stem, just like Eng lish good/better/best and bad/worse/worst:

The final consonant in the numerals for 7-10 is not pronounced in normal speech unless a vowel closely follows it . There re two words for 'zero,' HOA (from Russian) and CMcjp (from ArabIC, also the source of the English words zero and cipher); as in English, they are less commonly used than the other numerals. As in English, the numbers for the teens and the decades (multiples of ten less than a hundred) in Tajiki have to be learned individually. The numbers for the teens end in Aa ' 1 0' I? recede by the number for the remainder over ten, in mo t cass In modI fied form (particularly involving consonant mutations hke those of Russian, as well as some vowel changes):

6eTaPMH 'best' 6eTap 'better,' xy6 'good,' Note: 6e 'good' is usually used in Tajiki only as a predicate 6Mcep 'many,' 6eWTap 'more,' Note: 6ew is an adverb meaning 'more' 6ewTapMH 'most'

elAa AyBolAa celAa oPAa nOHlAa

11 12 13 14 15

WOHlAa a6Aa a>KAa HylAax;

16 17 18 19

JU

2 9 '-"-

The numbers for the decades a re m o re i rreg u l a r:

6HCT CM 'IHA('IHHA) naH,\o

20 30 40 50

waCT acj>TOA awTOA HaBaA

60 70 80 90

nltl t l1l' m a t i ca l contexts. In addition, there are several special frac t i onal terms. One-half is HHM; terms for unitary fractions (fractions w i th one in th e numerator) from one-third on are formed by suffix
'

Numbers for the hundreds and thousands are formed as in English, with the number of hundreds or thousands followed by caA ' 1 00' or a30p ' 1 000,' except that unlike in English the hundreds are written as one word: AycaA '200,' ce a30p '3000.' For larger numbers Tajiki uses MHAAHOH 'million' and follows the British, Ger man, and Russian system of MHAAHapA 'milliard' for a thousand millions and 6HAAHOH 'billion' for a million millions (a billion and a trillion, respectively, in the American and French system). The other numbers are formed as compounds of these, much as in English; the numbers go from largest to smallest and must be con ncted with the enclitic -Y 'and.' (When followed by -Y, word-final IS pronounced.) Since " is automatically added between vowels, -Y becomes -10 when added to numbers ending in vowels (thus, AY, ce: and CM : AYJO, ceJO, CHJO; the first two of these generally only occur WIth fractIons). Compound numbers are not written as one word:

I ng JlK to the numeral for the denominator: CeJlK 'a third,' 'IOPJlK a fou rth, a quarter.' Also, there are several Arabic words for frac tions that are falling increasingly out of use in the spoken language: HHCcj> 'half,' CYAC 'third,' and py6b 'quarter. ' Fractions follow whole n u mbers in the normal fashion:

AYJO HHM naH,\Y CeJlK

2% 5 1/3

1 1/3 JlKY CeJlK 6HCTY acj>TY a3 naH,\ ce Hcca 27 3/5

6HCTY acj>T caAY 'Iop AycaAy 6HcT

27 104 220

acj>TOAY JlK caAY a6Aa

71 1 17

'IopcaAY HaBaAY naH,\ acj>T a30py cecaAY naH,\oy Hy 6HCTY naH,\ a30p cecaAY acj>ToA a30p

495 7359 25,000 370,000

Fractions of a whole (half of the pie, a tenth of your income) are Indicated by possessive izofat (see Section 5.2 below): HHMH naAaa ' h a l f of the pilaf,' CeJlKH ce6 'a third of the apples,' HHCcj>H wap 'half of the city,' a3 naH,\ ce HccaH OAaMOH 'three-fifths of the people.' A numeral often follows ap 'each, all': ap AY 'both,' ap 'lOp ' a l l four.' ap JlK 'each and every one' emphasizes every member of a group and thus gives no information about the size of the group. On the other hand, if the number is two or more, this construc tion emphasizes the number and serves to focus on each member of the group rather than the group itself. Although this is not always true, much of the time a phrase like ap AY 'both' implies that each member of the group is pursuing his or her own activity or is be ing acted on individually rather than as a group: ap AY MapA KOP KapAa HCToAa 6YAaHA, 'Both men were working (usually: on their own jobs).' If necessary, the fact that they were working together is conveyed by JlK,\OJl ' together' or a similar word, in which case the use of ap emphasizes that both men were working on the j ob, not just that there were two men working. To indicate an approximate number, it is common to say two successive numerals:

naH,\ MHAAHapAY 'IopcaAY HaaaAY AY MHAAHOHY wawcaAY CHJO acj>T a30py 'IopcaAY awToAY JlK 5,492,637,481
The fraction alb is formed regularly by saying the equivalent of "from (a3) b, a parts (Hcca)." Thus, two-thirds is a3 ce AY Hcca and three-fifths is a3 naH,\ ce Hcca. The construction with Tatc;CHM 'division' (AY Tatc;CHMH ce 'two divided by three,' ce Tatc;CHMH naH,\ 'three divided by five') is more formal and largely restricted to

Ay-ce 'two or three,' ce-'I0p 'three or foUf,' naH,\-waw 'five or six'

To indicate that people or things are acting or being treated in groups of the same size, one merely says the numeral twice: JlK-JlK 'one by one,' AY-AY 'in pairs, by pairs,' ce-ce 'in threes, by threes,' etc. The same can be done with nouns indicating groups : AaCTa 'bunch, group,' AaCTa-AaCTa 'in groups '; cj>aB,\ 'troop, host,' cj>aa,\ cj>aB'\ ' troop after troop, in a throng .'

3.4 Adj ectives w ith m e a s u re s

Adjectives and adverbs are frequently used with measu res of distance, direction, time, and other quantities in English and Tajiki, for example feet lon, two m. iles north, and 20 inches tall. In Tajiki he mesure IS placed ImmedIately before the adjective or adverb; I certam cases (temperature, for example) Tajiki requires an adjec tIve or adverb where English does not:

'IHA Aapa"a rapM '40 degrees Celsius (lit., 40 degrees hot)' AY MeTp 6aAaHA 'two meters tall' ce KHAoMeTP AYP 'three kilometers away (distant) ,
Measur es are frequently used with compar atives:

There are two other words for first, aaaaA (an Arabic loan word ) a n d HaxycTHH (a determiner) . I n addition, there is a second form of the ordinal suffix, -YMHH/IOMHH. Ord inal numerals in -YM are simple adjectives (and follow the noun), while those in -YMHH are determiners (and thus precede the noun). There is a slight difference in meaning between the two forms: -YMHH tends to indicate a set ordering and is in general more emphatic than -YM. In literary Tajiki there are alternate forms for second, third, and thirtieth, AyaaYM(HH), ceaaYM(HH), and cHaaYM(HH). The special form aaaaA 'first' has the determiner form aaaaAHH.
4. Com pound and derived nominals

'lOp Aapa"a rapMTap 'four degrees (Celsius) hotter' AY MeTp 6aAaHATap ' two meters taller'
Thus, we have the following (note that there is no distinct word in Tajiki for too meaning 'in excess'; this sense is conveyed by context):

KaMTap a3 1 00 COMOHH ' less than 100 somoni' 1 00 COMOHH KaM ' 1 00 somoni too little' 1 00 COMOHH KaMTap ' 1 00 somoni less'
To indicate frequency or rate, there are two constructions one with possss ve izofat and the other with a prepositional ph ase; . frequency IS mdIcated with 6op/MapoTH6a ' time, occasion' :

To this point we have not distinguished simple nominals, which contain only one meaningful part, from those that are formed from smaller units. Compound nouns and adjectives are those that contain two or more independent words, like bookshop, loveblind, and underdog, while derived nouns and adjectives are formed from i ndependent words with prefixes and suffixes (that is, elements that cannot occur by themselves as independent words). In Eng lish there is often disagreement whether a compound word should be written as one word, as two separate words, or with a hyphen; there is much less uncertainty in Tajiki.
4. 1 . Co m p o u nd n o u n s a nd adj ectives

COAe AY 6op/(Aap) SlK COA AY 60p ' twice a year' COaTe aWT AOAAap/(Aap) SlK coaT aWT AOAAap '$8 an hour'
3.5 O rd i n a l n u m e ra l s

There are three basic types of compound nominals, differing in how the nominals are connected. a . Quite often the elements of a compound nominal are joined directly: MyH 'hair' + cacl>eA 'white' MyHcacl>eA 'old man' x;aM 'same' + cOSl 'shadow' aMcoSl 'neighbor'
= =

This is quite common with adjectives formed from participial phrases: .Ordin.al numerals are used to indicate position in a series, . lIke first, third, and seventy-fifth. The ordinal numerals are usually formed with the suffix -YM (-10M after a vowel):

a3 'from' + AaCT 'hand' + pacl>Ta ' gone' a3AaCTpacl>Ta 'lost'

SlKYM 'first,' AYIOM ' second,' celOM ' third,' 'IOPYM ' fourth'

b. Often two nominals are joined with the conjunction y 'and'; the result ing phrase is treated as an indivisible unit and written as one word:
33

CHH(H) 'age' + Y 'and' + COA 'year' CHHHYCOA 'age' (rer:zember tha the second H in CHH(H) is not pronounced or written word-jinally, but does appear when a suffix is added)
==

the adjective:
I( )

When used to make a nou n, -M indicates the abstract quality of

WHHOCOHM 'acquaintance'

WHHOCO 'acquainted'

c. Finally, another vowel might be added between the two nouns break up consonant clusters:
nHp 'old' + a + 3aH 'woman'
==

The suffix takes the form -rM after the vowel a:

XOHarM ' of/for the home' XOHa 'home' (as in aalH+aH XOHarM 'homework')
. The suffix H CTOH This suffix is added to a noun to indicate a place abundant in that noun. While it is best-known for forming country names from ethnic names, it is used more widely. For example, from ryA 'flower, rose' is formed rYAHcToH 'place of flowers' (the name of a village in Azerbaijan where a famous treaty with Russia was signed in 1813), as well as 'The Rose Garden' (a famous book by Saadi). Similarly,
.

nH pa3aH 'old woman'

An important group of nouns is formed this way with till' past and present stems of verbs:
Aaa runnmg' + 0 + Aaa 'running' AaBoAaB 'fuss, bustle' pacIT 'gone' + y + 0 'coming' pa+ryo ' visiting'
== == == ==

ry+ 'spoe' + Y + ryH 'speaking' ry+TyryH 'telling'

yCT 'searched' + y + yH 'searching' yCTYyH ' searching'

4.2 De rived n o m i n a l s

There is a wide variety of prefixes and suffixes used to form ne n ouns and adjectives. Common ways of deriving nouns and . adjectives from erbs are discussed in Chapter 3, Sections 5 . 1 .f and g . The most Important ways of deriving nouns and adjectives from each other are:
a. The suffix -H. This suffix is used to form adjectives from nouns and abstract nouns ro a jectives. It is very commonly used to convert a noun to an adjectIve 10 cases where English would simply join two on, uch .as "wood door" or "copper plate"; unlike English, Ta JIkI dIst1OgUI hes very carefully between nouns and adjectives and usua!ly reqUIres an adjective (like "wooden" or "coppery") where EnglIsh would use a noun. When -M is used to form an adjective it ca have one Of a number of meanings, such as indicating the a . someth1Og . is made, nationality, the character of tenal out of whIch weather, or more generally something associated with or intended for the noun:

6eMo p ill ce6 'apple'

o. The suffix -a.

' '

6eMopHCTOH 'hospital' Ce6HcToH 'place of apples' (a viJ1age in T ajikistan)

Its most important uses are these:

and adjectives; the resulting word has a meaning related in some way to that of the original word: 6aHA 'busy, bound,' 6aHAa 'slave.' 1 . When suffixed to numbers, -a gives a noun that contains that number of parts. or diviipns or. is otherwise closely e. five fingers, related to that number: naH" 'five,' naH,\., 'th . hand, paw'; a+T 'seven,' acITa 'week.' . .. . . .. .

This suffix forms nouns or adjectives from other nouns

'1y6 'wood' AMPHKO 'America' 6opoH 'rain'

f time, ;a gives an a . I/lasting as long meaning "havmg the. age of - ear-old'; ce MO 'three .. AY COA i two years,' AycoAa I months,' ceMoa 'three months old, lastirigthree riloriths.' 3. Asimilar constIitction is used with nouns modified by a numeral to name something with that number of parts: . AY . 'Iapx 'tWo wheels,' AY'Ilpxa 'bicycle.' . .

2. When suffixed to a measur

'1y6M 'wooden' aMpHKoHM 'American' 6opoHM 'rainy'

. .

with p93 'day,' MO 'month,' and COA 'year.' Note that one can then add
-V

These adjectives are always written as one word and not hyphen ated as they sometimes are in English. These adjectives are common

3 5 '-"-

the suffix -M (which, because it follows a, becomes -rM) to form a nOll n naming the condition of having that age or lasting that length of ti ml':

BaM a3 AycoAarM XOHAa MeTaBOHMCT, 'From the age of two he was able to read.'
However, -a cannot be added to a word that already ends in it; in stead one adds the suffix -MHa: ac1>Ta 'week' > ac1>TaMHa 'weekly.'

spe c t" a 6 ry ll: sm or d a l l y a nima tes, to indicate something youn , , chau M KypC ; , fry ryp 6 a\f a 'ki tten'; MOM 'fish,' MOM \fa 'small fis ecypC M\fa 'stool'; xaATa 'sack,' XaATa\fa 'tote bag.
The suffix
nouns, -\fa. The dimi nutiv e suffix -\fa is added to

, . The suffix oaK. The suffix -aK is used (I) like -\fa to form dimintive , r mephoncal nouns, and (2) nouns associated with, resembling
Iy comparable to another noun.

d. The suffix -OHa. The suffix -OHa is used with time words to indicate that the action or condition either occurs regularly at that time, lasts during that time, or is associated with that time:
pY30Ha 'during the day, daily' wa60Ha 'during the night, nightly' COAOHa 'yearly'
It is used more generally to indicate something particularly charac teristic of or intended for a noun:

claw IS formed , telephone : K rywa : 'IaHr aK 'fork,' and from ryw 'ear' IS formed , to fly IS nap AaH/ napM and ' ning 'eve wa6 from ceiver.' Similarly, formed wa6n apaK 'butterfly.' the n mes of J. The suffix -rx,. The suffix -ro 'place' is used to form un: AOHM .know places characterized by or devoted to t e root n c1>ypYAro auport. edge,' AOHMw ro 'university'; c1>YPYA 'dIsmount,

us, from \f Hr

k.

that serve to form adjectives from nouns. The most common pre fixes include the following:

Adjectival derivational affixes. There are many prefixes and suffixes

MapAOHa 'men's, for men' 3aHOHa 'women's, for women' carOHa 'of dogs; irascible' Fap6MeHa 'western, occidental' BawMeHa 'vicious, inhuman'

e. The suffix -rap. The -rap suffix is used to name the creator in a broad sense of the root noun: KMMMe 'chemistry,' KMMMerap 'chemist'; sap3MW 'sports,' Bap3Mwrap 'sportsman.'
abundant in the base noun, usually a type of park or garden: AapaxT 'tree,' Aapaxnop 'arbor, orchard'; TOK 'grapevine,' T0K30P 'vineyard'; AOAa 'tulip,' AOAa30p 'tulip garden'; ce6 'apple,' ce630p 'apple orchard.'

f. The suffix -lOp. The suffix -30P is used to form a noun naming a place

6e-

aKrA 'reason, intellect' wapM 'modesty, shame'

ryHo 'sin' c aBoA 'literacy'

. ... ' UA ... ..

6eaKrA 'foolish' 6ewapM 'shameless'

6eryHo 'sinless'

' doubt'

6ecaBoA 'illiterate'

g. The suffix -\fM. The agentive suffix -\fH is used to form the names of professions from nouns associated with the profession. Thus, from MKrTMCOA 'economy' is formed MKrTMCOA\fM 'economist,' and from TeAec1>oH 'telephone' is formed TeAec1>oH\fM '(telephone) operator.'

36

The follo wing suffix es are most comm only used to form adje( t i Vl' from noun s:
Root

dtfi n i te depending on context: 6Mdip 'many' and '1M 'what?'

5. 2 l zofat

Second , the following determiners are either definite or in

.
i
r":

'/

J carHH. !stoi1e (adj.)'

- "- <*- * "

-rMH

xaWM 'fury, anger ' FaM 'grief, sorrow'

I 'IY"tt wpciden' ( xwT,!H :bricK '(adj.)' 1 cQlored ' .

" 0,
" - "

: AOHMW ' knowle YHap 'skill, talent' CP!":. '_<:ll . :. . . _

dg " r; ;''i''i;;d; '"

. ..

0' >

. ,. . r;;;"<;l1ld '
.!

! faMrMH 'sorrowful, sad'

I xaWM rMH 'angry, furious' .fPAK :pin!1.li/i Y

<\"
, ! .

- ;-::;''':;;''''.,..;,":;,::_. :L;;,:.....':: :.,,_ ... ._ ......

.. .

.'. . . . . X.9Krisl1lellYr tiI1l<jng'

.

5. Noun phrases

i YHapMaHA 'skillful, clever ' ! .P!":.. 'Ei' . . . . . .

.

lzofat is an enclitic M used to indicate that a noun (or occasion another nominal) is modified by another noun, an adjective, or a pronoun. The most common uses of izofat are to indicate attribution, In which an adjective or adjective phrase follows the noun: wapM "60 'a beautiful city,' HOMJlM AYP 'a distant region,' MAMMM rapM ' wa rm climate'; and possession, in which case the noun is followed by a pronoun or another noun: WPM MaH 'my city,' HOMJlM X.MCOP ' the region of Hisor,' MAMMM TO,\MKMCTOH 'the climate of Tajikistan.' Note that the adjective always modifies the noun immediate l y before it, so it must come before any noun ?r ronoun t at pos sesses the noun it modifies; in that case the adjectIve takes lzofat:
all y

. .. .. ... .. .

XOHaM 3e60M 3aH XOHaM 3aHH 3e60

fall

'the beautiful house of the woman' 'the house of the beautiful woman'

Noun phrases are formed in English by adding determiners and simple adjectives in front of the noun they modify in fairly strict order (thus, determiners precede simple adjectives, and among sim ple adjectives, adjectives of size precede adjectives of color, which l?recede adjecti es of material: these big green steel cans), except in very hterary or poetIc language: My car, a big house, our four welljed cats, those three cars of his (but a midnight dark and dreary). As previously mentioned, in Tajiki determiners must precede the noun, while sim ple adjectives and possessors must follow the noun, which takes a special suffix (izofat) indicating the noun is modified.
5. 1 Determ i n e rs

Adverbs always precede adjectives that they modify, and thus between a noun and an adjective in an izofat phrase.
XOHaM xeAe 3e60M 3aH XOHaM 3aHH xeAe 3e60

'the woman 's very beautiful house' 'the very beautiful woman 's house'

There is no English equivalent to attributive izofat; note that the order of the adjective and noun is opposite that in English. In possessive izofat the possessor follows the noun with izofat (the possessed noun), and possessive izofat can be translated /lof./I
,\Y3BAOHM CaMHa MOAapM napBM3

'the bag of Safina' 'the mother of Parviz'

Tajiki determiners include interrogative adjectives, demonstrative adjectives, numerals, the superlative form of simple adjectives, and the preposed form of ordinal numbers. In most cases determiners are auto matically formally definite, but there are some important exceptions. First, the following are always indefinite: e,\ 'no,' JlK 'one,' JlrOH 'some, a few,' and '1aHA 'several' (whereas .RK'IaHA 'several' and '1aHAMH 'some, several' are definite).

When several nouns are modified by a single adjective (a red pen and pencil, for example), they are joined together y -Y or Ba 'and' and the izofat comes after the last noun of the senes: XOMalO aAaMM cypx, 'a red pen and pencil.' This can be ambiguous in Ta jiki as in English; XOMalO aAaMM cypx can mean either a red pen and a red pencil or a pen and a red pencil.

3 9 '-"-

When a noun is modified by more than one adjective, the a d jectives can b e joined together with -Y o r sa ' and' o r b y izofat: XOHaH KaAOHY Has and XOHaH KaAOHH Has both mean 'a big new hou se . ' The order o f adjectives does not matter i n Tajiki; both XOHaH HaOH KaAOH and XOHaH KaAOHH Has are acceptable in Tajiki, whereas a new big house' is not usually an acceptable word order in English . Pronouns act just the same as nouns in possessive izofat: KHT06 .. MaH 'my book,' MOWHHH saHo 'their car.' This is true of the interroga tive pronouns KH and H as much as the personal pronouns: KHT06H KH? 'whose book?'; KHT06H H? 'what (kind of) book?' (answered by, for example, KHT06H TabpHX 'a book of history' ) . Note that if HH and OH are used in this way with izofat they must be pronouns, so that KHT06H HH means 'the book of this one, this person's book.' Since the pronoun in possessive izofat acts just like a possessive noun, it comes last in the izofat phrase: XOHaH HaOH MO, 'our new house.' A posses sive izofat phrase with a personal pronoun is treated grammatically as always definite; the indefinite sense of ' a friend of mine' is shown with SlK 'one' or aHA 'some, several' : SlK AYCTH MaH 'a friend of mine,' SlKe a3 AYCTOH MaH 'one of my friends,' aHA AYCTH MaH 'some friends of mine.' Such indefinite phrases are still treated grammatically as definite and as direct objects require -po:
I

to rel a te

Other u ses of izofat are:

a personal and family name: 'Mirzoi Salimpur' 'Humoyuni Shahriyor' 'Parvizi Romishgar' 'Safinai Akramdukht'

MHP30H CaAHMnyp X.YMOIOHH WapHep napSH3H POMHwrap Cacl>HHaH AKpaMAyxT

b.

to relate a nonprofessional title and a Tajik name or position:

,\aHo6H WapHep ,\aHo6H paHc

'Mister Shahriyor' 'Mister Chief'

c.

to relate the possessive and attributive members of a compound izofat phrase:

AYXTapH 3e6oH aMCOSiH MaH

'my neighbor's beautiful daughter'

aAaMH HaSH KYAaKH TaH6aA

'the new pencil of a lazy child'

d.

naAapaM SlK AYCTH TypO AHAaHA,

'My father saw a friend of yours.' In the literary language, if MaH in a possessive izofat phrase is followed by -po, it loses the final H :
naAapaM SlKe a 3 AYCTOH Mapo AHAaHA,

to relate a place name and its geographical category:

wapH AywaH6e KYH nOMHp yeHYCH ATAac AapeH Baxw

'Dushanbe city' 'Mount Pamir , 'the Atlantic Ocean' 'the Vakhsh River'

'My father saw one of my friends.' However, in colloquial Tajiki the definite direct object marker is
-(p)a, which in the northern dialect does not cause the final H to drop out. Thus, the combination is pronounced MaHa and Mapa in the northern

and southern dialects of Tajiki, respectively (note that in the southern dialect the subject is not usually treated as plural to show respect): 'My father saw one of my friend s.' (N) 'My father saw one of my friend s.' (S)
.

Tajiki pronouns can also be modied by an adjctive with izo fat; the meaning is very similar to EnglIsh phrases hke poor me and , lucky you: MaHH 6eopa 'poor me. A numeral can take izofat with a plural personal pronoun or the corresponding personal possessive marker (see the next sec tion) to indicate the number of people referred to; thus, AYH MO I , AYSIMOH means 'we two, (the) two of us.
5 . 3 Pe rso n a l possessive m a rkers

naAa paM SlKe a3 AYCTOH MaHa AHAa HA,

naAa paM SlKe a3 AYCTOH Mapa AHA,

v 40

Besides izofat followed by a personal pronoun, Tajii has an other way of indicating possession, the personal possessIve mark-

ers. These suffixes indicate the person and number of the p ossessor, and effectively replace the izofat and pronoun: -aM -M MaH 'my' -aT -M TY 'your (sg)' -aw -M BaM 'his, her, its'
= = =

MHo(awo H) 'these here' MHaw ' this one' ones' cact>eAaw 'the white one' cact>eA(o)awo H 'the white HHaw a TeA, 'Give me this one here. ' ones .' Cact>eAawo Ha rMpaM, 'I'll take (let me get) the white ones .' Cact>eAoSl woHa rHpaM, 'I'll take (som e of the) white
5.4 R eflex ive, r e c i p ro c a l , a n d i nt e n sive pro n o u n s .

-aMOH -aTOH -aWOH

-M MO 'our' -M WYMO 'your (pi)' -M OHO 'their'

HOMM WyMo 'tMCT? I HOMaToH 'tMCT? 'What is your name?' HOMH MaH AOAa aCT I HOMaM AOAa aCT, 'My name is Lola.' HOMH BaM 'tMCT? I HOMaw 'tMCT? 'What is his name?' HOMM BaM 6e>KaH aCT I HOMaw 6e>KaH aCT, 'His name is Bezhan.' If the noun is modified by adjectives, the personal possessive marker is attached to the last adjective in the phrase: XOHaM HaBH KaAOHaMOH 'our big new house.' A noun or noun phrase with a per sonal possessive marker is always treated grammatically as defi nite, and thus as a direct object must take -po. WYMO XOHaH HaBM KaAoHaMoHpo AHAeA? 'Did you see our big new house?' Such phrases can be made indefinite in meaning with SlK 'one' or 'taHA 'some, several,' as can possessive izofat phrases with person al pronouns; grammatically, however, they are treated as definite. naAapaM SlK AYCTaTPO AMAaHA, 'Father saw a friend of yours.' Because -po is reduced in colloquial Tajiki following conso nants to -a, the personal possessive markers of direct objects have the colloquial forms -aMa, -aTa, -awa, etc. In colloquial Tajiki it is common to use the 3rd person per sonal possessive markers to indicate which members one means of a group that is actually on hand; most commonly either an ad jective or a demonstrative pronoun is modified by the personal possessive marker. In this usage -aw is used with singular pro nouns and adjectives. With plural pronouns -aWOH is optional, but it must be used with adjectives; if the adjective takes -o as well, this adds a slight touch of indefiniteness. They are best translated 'the . . . one(s)' :

Reflexive pronouns are used to refer back to the subject, that i s, to indicate that the subject is acting on or for itself. In English the reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, etc. Taji i reflexive pronouns are formed very much the same way, by addmg the ap propriate personal possessive marker to xYA 'self': xYAaM 'myself xYAaT 'yourself xYAaw 'him-, her-, itself' XYAaMOH 'ourselves' xYAaToH 'yourselves' xYAawoH 'themselves'

nal pro Alternatively, it is common to use the izofat and perso xive refle e t if noun (XYAM MaH, XYAM BaM, etc.); this is most common pr dlcate mark pronoun were to be imm ediately followed by the rs m poetry and er in an equational sentence, and frequently occu song s to fit the meter. ' ts (and be. The reflexive pronouns can be used as duect objec ositio ns. ing definite must take -po) or as the objects of prep MaH XYAaMpo Han HC KapAaM, 'I felt good.' (MC KapAaH, 'to feel') OHO XYAawoHpo Aap OMMHa AHA aHA, 'They saw themselves in the mirror.' Reciprocal pronouns are used to indicate hat the people named by the subject (which must be plural) are actmg on or for each other. In English the reciprocal pronouns are each other and one an other. The reflexive pronouns in Tajiki are SlKAMrap and aMAMrap. OHO SlKAHrappo Aap OMHHa AMAaHA, 'They saw each other in the mirror. '

In English the reflexive pronou n i s a l so lI sed for em phasi s, in which case it is called an intensive pronoun: I did it myself They themselves are the crazy ones, etc. The reflexive pronouns are u sed till' same way in Tajiki; they follow the words in the sentence that an' being emphasized (a connotation English can convey in the same way, but usually in other ways).
MaH xYAaM AHAaM, 'I saw it myself .' MaH xYAaM OHpO KapAaM, 'I myself did it, I did it myself '

6. 1 C l a s s e s of prepo s i ti o n s

There are three classes of prepositions in Tajiki. a . Simple prepositions must be followed by a noun or noUI phr se; they are used for the most basic sptial and tepral relatIOnshIps. There are ten simple prepositions In spoken TaJlkI:
a3 'from' 6e 'without' 6ap 'over' 6apoH 'for'
.3

(Empha sizes that I was the one to do it, as opposed to someon e else)

Aap ' at, in' TO 'until' ,\Y3 'except'

60 'with' 6a 'towards' f'aMpH 'except'

(Empha sizes that that is what I did myself as opposed to what other people had a hand in)

MaH OHpO xYAaM KapAaM, 'I myself did that, That I did (myself).'

It is common to omit the subject when it is followed by the intensive pronoun. The intensive pronoun occurs by itself in com mands.
XYAaw rytPT, 'He said it himself.' XYAaToH HaBHceA, 'Write it yourself!'
6. Pre positions and prepositional phrases

KaM 'since when' 60 AycTaM 'with my friend' TO KaM 'until when' 6ap capaM 'over my head' raMpH y 'besides him'

Aap XOHa 'at home' 6e ryp6a 'without a cat' 6a XOHaH n apBH3 'to Parviz's house' ,\y3 MaH 'except me' 6apoH naAapaM 'for my father'

There are also some combinations of simple prepositions (com pound simple prepositions) like: TO 6a 'until,' 6a '\ 'xcept for.' The sim . ple prepositions are discussed in much greater detaIl m the next section.
b. Simple nominal prepositions are nouns which can be used in izofat constructions with other nouns to name relative locations in space and time: 6a'bAH neWHH 'after noon,' Ha3AH MOAapaM 'near Mother,' HUAHKH AOHHwro 'near the university.' Often they can be used with simple prepositions as well:
MaH 6a'bA U AHA6ap MepaBaM, 'I will go after Dilbar.' MaH new a3 WYMO oMaAaM, 'I came before you.'

Prepositions are words indicating relationships of various sorts between nouns or between a noun and a verb, like from, to, above, be low, beside, and about; in English and Tajiki a preposition is followed by a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun (which is called the object of the preposition) to form a prepositional phrase, such as above the douds, in the dumps, over the rainbow, about Bill, and beside me. However, not all English prepositions are translated with prepositions in Tajiki; the important exceptions will be given below. Note that in colloquial English it is possible under certain circumstances to separate an ob ject from its preposition and move it to the beginning of a clause or sentence: What did you want to talk to me about ? is much more com mon and natural in colloquial Ameri can English than About what did you want to talk to me? In Tajiki, however, it is unacceptable to move the object of a preposition to the beginning of a sentence; preposi tions must always be immediately followed by their objects.
44
.0-

Typically they are also used alone as conjunctions, adverbs, or adjectives: 6a'bA 'later,' new 'before, earlier,' HUAHK 'close' :
MaH 6a'bA MepaBaM, 'I will go later.' MaH new OMaAaM, 'I came before.' XOHaH y HUAHK aCT, 'His house is close.'

The possessive markers can also be used with compound prepositions and 6apoH: Aap MHeHaMOH 'between us,' a3 60AOSlW

'from it top,' 6apoRT 'for you.' When the 3rd person s i n g u l a r -aw i s used wIth prepositions, it is often best translated the: Aap MHeHaw 'in the middle,' al 60AORW 'from the top.'

c. Comound nom i nal prepositions consist of a simple preposition followed by' a SImple nominal preposi on and are used to indicate more spe Clfic spatial ru:d temoral reltions than the simple prepositions show. Thus, the baIc spatial meamng of a3 is motion away from; it can be . combmed WIth such nominal prepositions as Tapa 'side,' 6aHH 'mid dl; betwen,' and noeH 'feet; bottom' to indicate motion away from the ob ect startig at the loction named: a3 TapaH MaH ' from my side,' a3 6aHHH A ea from e I de of the village,' and a3 noeHH wap 'from the bottom o the CIty. SImIlarly, compound prepositions in Aap indi cate t e location whre an object is located or an action takes place, and those m 6a the location towards which motion is directed. most important nouns of location used in compound prep OSItIOS are the following, with their corresponding equivalent baSIC EnglIsh prepositions given:

Aap 60paH 'abou t (col/ cerrl illg) ' Aap 6ap 06a pH ' versus' Aap paTH 'during, in the course of' 6a MHC AH 'like' 6a MYK,06lo4 Alo4/6 ap 3lo4AAH ' against'
ositions are simple Structurally, compound nominal prep , so unlike English they are prepositions followed by noun phrases e pronouns. Thus, one must used systematically with interrogativ with a3 Ky'\O 'from where, say Aap Ky'\O 'where, where at,' parallel ther'; a simple Ky'\O is incor whence' and 6a Ky'\O '(to) where, whi 'here' and Aap OH ,\0 'there.' rect. Similarly, one must say Aap lo4H ,\0 re are ambiguous, since they Note that in English here, there, and whe ards; this can cause troucan indicate either location or motion tow ble in Tajiki for English speakers. espond to other conA number of English prepositions corr structions in Tajiki:

AapyH 'inside' 3 e p 'under, below' K,ao 'behind' Aa6 'right next to' Mlo4eH among' Ha3A 'near' nac 'behind'
'

aTPO , around' 6aHH 'between' 6 epyH 'outside' 60AO 'over, above'

naAy 'side, beside' n ew 'front' noeH 'under, below, at the base of' nywT 'behind' py6apyH 'opposite, facing' pyH ' on top of' CyH 'side, way' Tar 'under, below' Tapa , side, beside' TapaH/AacTH POCT 'right (side) of' Tapalo4/AacTH 'Ian 'left (side) of'

HOB 06acTa a3 'despite' OHA 6a/p o,\ eb 6a 'about (con cern ing)' e; (oHA 6a is more literary than Aap 60p alo4 abov ) Iran in mon po,\ eb 6a is much more com AOHP 6a 'according to' ' abov e) MOH aHA 6a ' like' ( 6a MHC AH, 6ap HH 'like 6lo4AYHlo4 'without' (fairly archaic) expressions, x;aHroMlo4/3lo4M Hlo4 'during' (since they are time formal) quite is Hlo4 3HM they do not need a simple preposition;
=

Note: Many of these nouns have concrete mean ings as well ' or eample, Aa6 means 'lip, ' pyH face, ' py6apyH 'face to face, ' noe 'feet, and AaCT 'hand. '
Some English prepositions correspond to a compound . ommal preposition containing only one of the three preposi tIons al, 6a, and Aap:

In addition, many verbs and adjectives req uire particular prepositions to complete their meanin. While soe of h s are . discussed below, in many cases the chOIce of preposItIon IS IdIOm atic and should be learned as part of the adjective or verb:

60M a3 ' rich in' 6a Aoxlo4A w YAaH 'to enter/be enrolled in' 6a wlo4pKaT KapAaH 'to participate in'
. ..

ion is what you would In many cases, however, the preposit MaW f'yA 'busy with ......' expect from English: 60
...

a3 MHeHH /a3 6aHHH 'through' (also expressed with al) al pOH/a3 TapHK,H 'via'

6.2 Sim ple prepositions Aap. Aap indicates location; its basic English equiv alent is ' at' or 'in.' In speaking it is frequently reduced to Aa. Its most important uses are as follows:
8. The preposition

most MOAapaM xaBoTMpaM, 'I am worried about my m ther.' The Ing: folloW the are uses of important of its wide variety 1) To indicate an area, object, or time from which some. .. . thing starts: . . . aa KYAClKM 'from childhood' a3 K 'from the mountain' . aa 60AO 'from the top' .

The meanings and uses of the Tajiki simple prepositions are as follows.

1) To indicate the place where an action occurs tion holds: Aap 6AYMMHrTOH Tea-Tea 60POH Me60paA, 'It often rains in Bloomington.' . . . M Aap 60F caHpyrawT KapAeM,
.

or

a condi

2) To indicate the time at which something occurred:

'As a child (in childhood) I didn't lil.<e carrots.' aBo Aap T06MCTOH xeAe rapM aCT, 'It's very hot in the summer:
Aap KYAaKM JlM MaH ea63Mpo AyeT HaMeAOWTaM,

'W e strolled in the park.'

.

3) With verbs like xapMAClH 'to buy,' i+TaH 'to find/and : rMpH+TaH 'to take, obtain, get/ to indicate the source 'iaMweA KMT06po aa MyaMHMaw rMpH+T, 'Jamshed got the book from his teacher.'

. 3) To indicate the respect in which a quality or attribute

In colloquial speech, Aap KY,\O is often reduced to Aa ry'\o, and frequently it is replaced by KaHH 'where (at)?'

holds true: Y Aap AOHHW a3 aMa 6eTap acT, 'She's the best one (lit., better than all) in intelligence.' Aap nyxTynaa Kace 6a y 6ap06ap wYAa HaMeTaBOHaA, 'In cooking no one can compete with her.'

4) To indicat motion through or across aKMM aa Aapi ryaawT; 'Hakim crossed the nver. . Aa is used in this sense to indicate the extent to WhIch

MaH aa 60aop cetS xapMAaM, 'I bought apples from the bazaar.'

someg;

mind should help you make sense of them. For example, in English you say that you are worried a bout something, while Tajiks view that something as the source of your worry and thus use a a : MaH

of. It is also used to indicate the time from which something starts. In many cases aa is used where English would use other preposi tions than "out of" or "from"; these must be learned individually as you come across them, but keeping the notion of "source" in

b. The p reposition a3. Aa indicates, most fundamentally, a source; its most basic spatial meaning is separation or motion away from or out

be 5) With comparative adjectives, u means 'than' (TO may . . . . used instead): . aa ryA HoaYKTap isofter than a floer' , T p ' more expensIve than gold aa THMO HMaTa

something rises or passes : . . . , ee . 06 aa aOHYSlW rY3aWT, 'The water came up to .his ht. , Bal\T aa HHMawa6 ry3aWT, 'The time was p assIng mIdnig . h speakers. This use is particularly counterintuitive for Enghs

6) To indicate possession. Aa can be used in this meaning only With inanimate nouns: .
7) To indicate the material out of which something is made: aa '1y6 ' out of wood' HH KHT06 aa MaH aCT, 'This book is mine.' HH KHT06 aa OHM MaH aCT, 'This book is mine.' Note: aa .OHH is pronounced HHH.

l:=:ta!}'Or:cl.:
. . ..

'These earrings are made of silver.'

. .. ',-'

'This door is made out of mulberry wood.' HH rywBOp a3 Hypa COXTa WYAaaCT,

3 Hp. 'out of silver' HH A.P '1y6H TYT COXTa WYACT,

.3

OHO 6e MaH pacj)TaHA, 'They went without me.'

'}

OHO 60 RKAHrap 'iaHr KapAaHA, 'They fought with each other.' MaH HOMapo 60 KOPA'Ia KywoAaM,

opened the letter with a knife.'

9) To indicate the cause of or reason for an action or condition: .

. . . . . . . .

'Of foods, : ' .. .. . . . . . : . , i ,' ' ., ..- - '. -.. .

. . . . . .. . . .. . "

' ' " . .,. ," '" : , , , ,

: ' ,, , , ,

there are bread and sweets. ' .

' . .. i .
" " "" "

,. ,':

They are also used as prefixes to form adjectives from nouns, in which 60 indicates the presence of the noun or of a quality as sociated with it and 6e its absence.
aA 'knowledge' AHA 'heart' Mana 'taste' 60aK;A 'smart, clever' 6eAHA 'heartless, ruthless; cowardly' 60Ma33a 'delicious' 6eMa33a 'bland, tasteless'

', _

:'::::'!:;ow;; :"') fr crying:

::;:ah:Mn:!Ht;:! a3
..

10) With nypcHAaH 'to ask,' to indicate the person asked: MaH AHA6ap CaAOMaTHH naAapawpo nypcHAaM,
In Tajiki-Persian poetry a3 can appear as 3H:
'From (for) the love of the Motherland my heart is aboil.' 'From my sweetheart's house comes the feeling of the Navruz wind.' In colloquial Tajiki a3 is often reduced to a in the north and aM in the south; a3 KY'i0 is often pronounced a ry'i0 in the north and aM ry,\o in the south .
c. The prepositions

'to be sorry for what one has done'

confusi on .'

'I asked Dilbar about her father's health.'

It is common, both in speaking and in writing, for Tajiks to use 6a 'towards' in place of 60. Thus, instead of 60aK;A Tajiks of ten say 6aaK;A 'smart,' and you will often hear 6a 3a60HH TO'iHKH in place of 60 3a60HH TO'iHKH 'in Tajiki.' While you should be able to understand this usage when you encounter it, it is considered substandard and should be avoided in your own speech.
The prepositions 6a and 6apoH. The basic meaning of the preposition is II direction towards," corresponding to to, towards, into, and so on. (6a followed by a personal pronoun often has the meaning 'to wards the house of': 6a (xoHaH) MO 'to our house.') It is also used to indicate the indirect object of a sentence - the person to whom the ac tion is directed or who receives the direct object. Usually the indirect object is indic;;lted in English by the preposition to: I gave the book to him, I read the book to her, I told the story to them. Note that in all these sentences, the prepositional phrase for the indirect object can be re placed by an object pronoun between the verb and the direct object: I gave him the book, I read her the book, I told them the story, I bought her the book. Direct and indirect objects can cause trouble for some English speakers since they are often distinguished in English only by word order; as a rule of thumb, if a sentence appears to have two objects, the object that can be made part of a to-phrase without changing the meaning of the sentence is the indirect object.
d.

3H HWH BaTaH 'iYw AopaA AHAaM,

6a

3H KYMH tip MeoRA HaCHMH 60AH HaBpY3H,

larly, 60 is used to indicate the language spoken: TO'iHKH ' in TajikL'

dicate accompaniment (1 went with Joh n) or instrument or means (1 fixed it with duct tape); 60 has both meanings as well. Simi

"with" and "without," respectively. In English, "with" can in

60

and

6.. The prepositions 60 and 6e mean

60 3a60HH

Mo 60 AHA6ap ran 3aAeM, 'We chatted with Dilbar.'

MaH 6a BaH KUT06po AOAaM, 'I gave him the book. ' MaH 6a BaH KUT06po xOHAaM,

'I read her the book, I read the book to her.'

However, English someti mes

would not.

u ses

Use of the Tajiki indirect object ind icates that the person has actually received the object or experienced the action, whereas Eng lish can use the indirect object with some verbs to indicate someone ji,,. whose benefit the action was performed even if that person didn't receive anything; these are usually distinguished by the terms "recipient" and ''beneficiary.'' The beneficiary indirect object is indicated in English by the preposition for, as in the equivalent sentences I bought her a book (in direct object pronoun) and I bought a book for her (prepositional phrase). The beneficiary is indicated in Tajiki with the preposition 6apoH.
MaH KMT06po 6apoM BaH xapMAaM, MaH HOMapo 6apoM BaH HaBMWTaM,

an i nd i rt'd object where Taji k i

DI.t.nce :
"

preposition.

To i nd ic a te extent

or distance traveled, Tajiki does not use (for) three kilometers.'

Mo ce KHAoMeTp AaBMAeM, 'We ran

Dura tion :

u se

To indicate the amount of time passed in an activity, just the amount of time without a preposition.
MaH ce coaT KOP KapAaM, 'I worked for three hours.' , MaH ce coaT KOP MeKYHaM, 'I'll work for three hours.

'I bought her the book, I bought the book for her.' 'I wrote the letter for him.'

ent, however, you When the activity is still continuing in the pres by . put the amount of time at the beginin ng of the sentence followed can ' . till s ' 03 6 b er amount of time by the adv aCT, KM .. ., or else follow the
Ay coaT aCT, KM MaH AaB MAa MCToAaa

(Compare this with the following:

MaH 6a BaH HOMa HaBMWTaM,

M,

'I wrote him a letter, a letter to him.') Note that a sentence may well have both a beneficiary and a recipient: 'I wrote a letter to her father for her, I wrote her father a letter for her.' 'I gave Dilbar a book for her younger brother.'
MaH 6apoH BaH 6a naAapaw

'I've been running for two whole hors

MaH AY coaT 603 AaBM Aa MCToAaaM,

mg ) . (literally, 'It's two hours that I've run/I m runn

. ,

HOMa HaBMWTaM,

f?r. indicates When exchanging, buying, or selling thinegs, TaJIkl uses 6a. what was traded or paid for something. In this sens
Excha nge :

'I've been running for two hours.'

MaH 6a AMA6ap 6apoH AOAapaw KMT06 AOAaM,

MaH MH xaATaH ce6p o 6a HK AOAAap rMp M4>T

'I got this bag of apples for a doll ar.'

aM,

Besides the beneficiary, 6apoH is also used to indicate the pur pose or the object of an action, also indicated by for in English.
MaH 6apoM ca6uBoT 6a MaF03a pa4>TaM, 6eMopxoHa 6apoM BeTepaHO,

Subs titution:

'I went to the store for vegetables.'

g else, the When sub stituting for someone o s?mthin of WIth Izoat or a per substitutee is indicated by 6a "OM 'in place cate by m place of or sonal possessive marker. (This is usu ally indi ns mstead.) instead of in English; 6a "OHW often simply mea
MaH 6a "OH W pa4>TaM, 'I went for her MaH 6a "OHM naAa paM KOP KapAaM,
=

I went in her place.'

,

6eMopxoHaM BeTepaHo 'veterans ' hospital' is p referred)

'hospital for veterans' (though the phrase

However, you should not automatically translate for with 6apoH, since for has a very wide variety of meanings in English that are conveyed in several different ways in Tajiki. The most impor tant uses of for besides beneficiary and purpose are the following.
5 2

'I worked for my father

'Parviz made tea for (instead of) coffee.' p for com When for is use d to indi cate a class or gru pretty tasty s It parison in the sense of "considering" (for example,
Restrictio n :

napB M3 6a "OHM K,aBa \fOH AaM KapA,

I substituted for my father at work.

.lilr ru lll/((J/lsidcrillg that it 's rulll), Taj i k i u ses Aap ' i n, ,1 1 . ' ( N ote tha i Taj iki treats this usage in the same way a s t h e u sage of Aap to i n d i

cate the respect i n which a quality holds true.)

Aap HH CHHHYCOA AaAep xeAe 6oaA aCT,

f. The prepositions 'iY3 and faHpH. These two prepositions are much the same in meaning, 'except.' Also common are the compound prepositions 6a "Y3, 6a Fai:ip, and Fai:ip a3, similar in meaning but more emphatic.
g.

'Daler is very smart for this (his) age.' The stronger sense of "despite" indicated by for all (For all his wealth, he still buys lottery tickets) is translated with HOB06acTa 6a:
HOBo6aCTa 6a CHHHycoAaw AaAep xeAe 6oclaM aCT,

The prepositions 6ap and 41ap. The preposition 6ap 'over, above' in d icates location; it can mean both on top of (touching) and above (not touching). The preposition clap 'down' is not used in modern spo ken Tajiki; it is sometimes encountered in poetry. It is, however, an important prefix for verbs.
7. Equational and existential sentences

'For all his youth, Daler is very wise.'

Role: For is often used to indicate the role something serves in a cus tomary schedule or a certain arrangement (For starters, we'll go on a picnic; That 'll have to do for a big finish); this is especially common with food at meals. In this sense Tajiki uses Aap.

OHO Aap Hax;opH TYXM xYPAaHA, 'They ate eggs for breakfast.'
Favoring: Where English uses for and against, Tajiki uses TapaclAop 'supporter' and 3HA 'contrary,' though to indicate support of a team aBoAop 'fan' is used. There are many other idiomatic uses of for in English whose Tajiki equivalents you will have to learn individually.

e. The preposition TO. The basic English equivalent of TO is 'until'; more precisely, TO is used to indicate the point up to which a condition holds, a movement takes place, or an action occurs. Thus, it is often equivalent to 'up to,' 'as far as,' or 'by':
TO AywaH6e 'until Dushanbe' TO PY3H AywaH6e 'until/by Monday' TO caHcIa 'IHAY naH" 'up to page 45' TO naro 'until tomorrow,' TO 603AHA I TO AHAaH 'until we meet again'

The simplest kinds of sentences in Tajiki are equational and exis tential sentences. Equational sentences are those with a form of the verb 'to be' like John is American, Saadi was a great poet, and Anusha is not tall; in such sentences, one nominal (the subject) is equated with, grouped with, or described as another nominal (the complement). Existential sentences are those with a form of ' there is' like There are lots of plates in the washer, There were many people there, and There isn 't a lot to do here; ex istential sentences state that a certain nominal exists (or does not exist), usually in a particular location. Equational and existential sentences differ from each other in the present tense (but not in the negative), in which tense they use slightly irregular verb forms. (In other tenses the verb forms are regular and will be discussed later.) Equational sentences are formed with the predicate endings, a set of endings agreeing with the subject in person and number that are added to the last nominal in the sentence, corresponding to the copula amlis/are of English. The predicate endings are underlin d in the following sentences, which show the form they take followmg a consonant; note that the 3rd person singular predicate ending aCT is not written joined to the preceding word.

(all commonly said when people part)

In addition, TO can be used instead of a3 'than' with comparatives. When used as a conjunction, TO has a wide range of meanings depending on the tense of the verb in its subordinate clause; see Chapter 5, Section 6.

I f the p red i cate e n d i ngs a re ad ded to a wor d end i n g i n a vow el, a H is au tomatically added to break up the se q u en ce of vowe l s, which causes the 1st singular and 3rd plural endings aM and aHA to be written SlM and SlHA- In the literary language, following a vowel aCT often loses its initial a and contracts with the preceding word , so that KM aCT 'who is?' and '1M aCT 'what is?' are often pronounced (and written) KWCT/'IWCT. However, in the colloquial language aCT is always omitted. E quational sentences have the general basic form:

existential sentence in its basic form contains a noun or pronoun as subject, a prepositional phrase of location ( w h i ch is not necessary when simply asserting the existence or non existence of the subject), and the appropriate form of the verb aCT. The prepositional phrase is often placed before the subject.
An ph rase

Aap WH 60F ryAw Haprwc aCT,

'There are narcissus flowers in this garden.' Note: Plural inanimates and nouns for small plants usually take a singular verb ending. The present negative of aCT is formed with the word HeCT ' there is not' and the same endings as aCT takes:

OH nweAa aCT, 'That is a bowl.' OH nweAa KaAOH aCT, 'That bowl is large.' OH nweAaw KaAOH aCT, 'That is a large bowl.' AWA6apy 3yAcI>wSI xOapaHA, 'Dilbar and Zulfia are sisters.' AWA6apy 3yAcI>wSI MYaAAWMaHA, 'Dilbar and Zulfia are teachers . '

It is considered very awkward to use the predicate endings immediately after the personal possessive markers; usually the personal possessive m arker is replaced by an izofat phrase with the personal pronoun, though one may also use an alternate cop ular verb (see Chapter 3, Section 7. 1 ) . The verb aCT i s used to form existential sentences. I t i s con jugated as follows; although it can take any subject, it occurs most commonly in the 3rd person. Note that except in the 3rd person singular its endings are the same as the predicate endings, which is generally true of all the personal endings of Tajiki verbs.
Singular Plural

MaH cep HeCTaM, 'I am not full.' Mo cep HeCTeM, 'We are not full.' Ty cep HeCTM, 'You (sg.) are not full.' WyMO cep HeCTeA, 'You (pl.) are not full.' Y (BaH) cep HeCT, 'He/she is not full.' OHO cep HeCTaHA, 'They are not full.' Aap WH,\O HOH HeCT, 'There's no bread here.' .... H HOH HeCT, 'This isn't bread.'

In formal Tajiki, the appropriate form of HeCT is also used to form the negative of an equational sentence containing a predicate ending; thus, the negative of MaH MyaAAwMaM 'I am a teacher' is MaH MyaAAwM HeCTaM 'I am not a teacher.' However, in colloquial Tajiki the negative of an equational sentence is formed by adding He to the end of the sentence and omitting the predicate ending en tirely: MaH MyaAAwM He 'I am not a teacher.' In classical Persian, the negative of the predicate endings was formed regularly with the prefix Ha-: HaSiM 'I am not,' HaM 'you are not,' HaSiCT 'he is not,' HaeM 'we are not,' etc. This usage can be found in poetry. The simple interrogative (yes/no form) of all types of sentenc es is shown by intonation. The word order remains the same.
WYMO xacTaeA? 'Are you tired?' Mo TaWHaeM? 'Are we thirsty?' Y rYPycH a aCT? 'Is he hungry?' WYMO 3e6oeA? 'Are you beautiful?' OH KWT06 aCT? 'Is it a book?'

You should keep in mind that some Tajiks use aCT in e uational sentences in place of the predicate endings, espe CIally for emphasis. This is considered substandard and you should avoid it.

OHO wOAa HA? 'Are they happ y?' BaH xaCT a HeCT ? 'Isn't he tired ?' Ty rywH a HeCT H ? 'Aren't you hungry?' HOH aCT ? 'Is there brea d?' HOH HeCT ? 'Isn't there brea d?'

Chapter 3

Ve r bs

1. Overview of the Tajiki verb

The central part of a sentence in terms of meaning is the verb; i n fact, in Tajiki it is possible for a complete sentence to consist of only a verb. In broad terms, a sentence describes an event, a set of circumstances, or a state of affairs. The verb names the state, change of state, or action described by the sentence, while the subject, objects, and most prepositional phrases name the various people, things, and places involved in what the sentence describes (called its participants). English and Tajiki are very similar in the ways they name states and actions with verbs and how they clas sify participants by the grammatical functions they fill. However, in Tajiki the distinction between events and changes of state on the one hand and states on the other is somewhat more important than in English, and for some verbs the participants are not given the same grammatical roles in English and Tajiki. In colloquial Tajiki the verb is the last word in the sentence (except for certain interrogative particles, which are often clitics and thus act as part of the verb). This was not true in earlier centu ries, however, so in much classical Persian poetry word order in a sentence was much freer; in poetry, certain set phrases, and songs the verb often is not the last word in a sentence (just as English word order is more variable there). In general, the Tajiki verb is grammatically similar to but eas ier than the English verb: Most Tajiki verb forms are formed regu larly from the basic verb forms with prefixes, endings, and auxil iary verbs, and the basic forms of a Tajiki verb are simpler than in English. In English a verb generally has three forms that a foreign student must learn (its principle parts), the present, simple past, and past participle (for example, sing/sang/sung); all other forms of most verbs are based on these forms. In Tajiki almost all verbs have only two principle parts, the past stem (or infinitive) and the present stem. The verbs AOWTaH 'to have,' 6YAaH 'to be,' aCT 'there is/are,' and HeCT 'to not be, there is/are not' are major exceptions. The past stem always ends in A (following vowels and voiced consonants) or T (following voiceless consonants): XOHA (xoHAaH

infinitive is formed from the past stem simply by add ing -aH. U n fortuna tely for the foreign leamer, the present stem i s not easi ly . determmed from the past stem for many verbs; it is an indep en dent form that for many verbs must be memorized . Historically the past tense stem was formed from the present stem by adding one of a small number of suffixes; however, because of chan ge s over the millennia in the pronunciation of Tajiki consonants de pending on neighboring sounds, the past and present stems have diverged for many verbs and a system of consonant mutations

' to read'), MCTOA (McToAaH ' to stand ' ) XOCT (xoCTaH ' to want'); thl'

no regu l a r p a tterns relating the past and present stems; examples i ncl ude 6YPAaH/6ap 'to carry,' MYPAaH/MMp 'to die' (though a regu l a r p resen t stem MYP is also commonly used), KapAaH/KYH 'to do,' AOAaH/AM 'to give,' HMWaCTaH/(HM)WMH 'to sit,' wYHMAaH/wYHaa 'to h ea r,' and 3aAaH/3aH 'to hit.' (Indeed, for some verbs a regular pres
ent

Ver s with past stems ending in -OA, -MA, and -MCT usually form theIr present stems by dropping the suffix: MCToAaH/McT 'to stand,' xapM AaH /xap 'to buy,' AOHMCTaH/AOH 'to know.' The following are four of the most common less regular pat terns for past and present stems.

with no difference in meaning: napaap(M)AaH/napaap 'to foster, to to train, .'

'to put.' (Verbs will be given by their infinitives, followed by their present stem if necessary, as above: XOCTaH/XO 'to want.') Note that some verbs have infinitives in both -AaH and -MAaH, usually

pac-MA-aM 'I danced,' and Tapc 'fear,' Me-Tapc-aM 'I fear,' Tapc-MA aM 'I feared.' It is also the pattern for many native Tajiki verbs, such as xOHAaH/xoH 'to read,' XYPAaH/XYP 'to eat,' and MOHAaH/MoH

has come into being. Thus, there are a number of general patterns relating the past and present stems that hold for many verbs, but they have many exceptions. The most regular pattern is that the past stem is formed from the present stem by suffixing -A or -MA; this is the formation used for almost all denominal verbs (verbs formed from nouns), for ex ample: pac ' dance' (borrowed from Arabic), Me-pac-aM 'I dance,'

.t'

2) 6/tT: e6

.1 ) 3/XT: C03 pe3

. Pres. Stem

3) O/YA: HaMO
pa60

.Ko6

. KOtTaH 'to look for' HaMYAaH 'to seem, appear'

pa6YAaH I to seize'

etTaH 'to find'

peXTaH 'to pour'

.infinitive

stem created from the past stem coexists with an older, irregular present stem, as with MYPAaH/MMp-MYP 'to die' mentioned above; for other verbs an older irregular past stem and a newer regular one formed from the present stem coexist, such as ,\aCTaH-,\aMAaH/,\a ' t o jump, leap.' This process of creating regular forms to replace i r regu lar ones is called back-formation by linguists.) For a very few verbs, the past and present stems come from unrelated verbs, l i ke be/am/was and go/went in English. (This is called suppletion by l i n guists.) Thus, the predicate endings and aCT form their other tenses with 6YAaH, and the present stem of AMAaH 'to see' is 6MH. On the other hand, Tajiki is more complex than English in that the verb has a full set of endings that agree with the subject in person and number; however, in all tenses they are the same as the predicate endings except in the third person singular (he, she, it). (In addition, in colloquial Tajiki the verb can take a second suffix indicating the di rect or indirect object of the sentence .) The personal ending of the verb does not agree in number with the subject in two cases: First, to show respect to an elder or superior, the plural verb endings are used in the 2nd and 3rd persons. Second, plural subjects that are inanimate (includ ing small plants) usually take a singular verb ending. Not all Tajiki verbs can take all tense forms. Verbs that name states of being, like 'to have,' 'to be able,' and 'to want,' cannot form tenses indicating on-going activities, that is, continuous tense forms or those with the prefix Me- apart from the present-future tense. All verbs except aCT and HeCT form the negative with the pre fix Ha-, which always takes primary stress .
2. T ransitivit y, direct objects, and defi nite ness

(OXTaH ; to build'

However, for many verbs there has been so much change in the sounds of the language over the millennia that there remain
60

There is a further distinction for verbs that requires more atten tion in Tajiki than in English, transitivity. Transitive verbs are those that take a direct object (eat, make, extract, etc .); intransitive verbs only have a subject (be, seem, fall, etc.). In English many transitive verbs can be used quite freely intransitively as well. Thus, Joh n 's eating dinner (transitive) and Joh n 's eating (intransitive), or The man 's hang-

(transitive) and nil' will 's III1 I /' i l / 011 tile 1 /00" (intransitive). In Tajiki, on the other hand, almost all ve ;bs are ei the r transitive or intransitive but not both (exceptions include MOHAaHI MOH 'to remain; to put, place'), and you must learn whether a verb is transitiv or intransitive along with its meaning and its two principle parts; qUIte often, however, corresponding transitive and intransitive verbs are closly. relted in form or else one is derived regularly from the other. (thIS IS dIscussed more fully in Section 7.5 below.) menti n befoe: the direct object is generally marked in .. .A TaJIkI WIth -po If It IS defimte and unmarked if it is indefinite; how ver, dfiniteness is a complex matter in any language and what IS conSIdered definite or indefinite often varies somewhat between languages. In English, the basic rule of thumb is that a noun is definite if it is a proper name or if it is modified by a demonstrative or h defiite article the; indefinite nouns are modified by the in defimte artIcles a/an/some, or else are plural common nouns without an article . As far as meaning is concerned, a definite noun has just been met. oned r refers to something concrete that is being point to or IS ImmedIately clear from the context. In English grammar It IS customary to say that the points to a unique, exclusive person, place, or thing, while a/an implies that there are others of that noun as well, but this is only true when talking about singular nouns. The basic me ning o.f definite is that the object or objects named by . the noun are IdentIfiable or predictable from context: In The man who just came in is my lawyer, the man can be identified, picked out from a crowd, and considered known to the listener. On the other and, i I went to a wedding yesterday and the bride wore purple; the lIstener IS not able to identify the bride if he passes her on the street or sees her in a crowd, but the fact that there was a wedding implies there must have been a bride. (These basic types of definiteness are called identifiable and familiar by linguists.) In genera efiniteness is as important in Tajiki as in English but, bcase TaJIkI does ot have a definite article, it is usually indi cated mduectly, except m constructions that automatically make a noun definite or indefinite. Even more confusing for English learn ers, nouns that are marked as definite in certain constructions be come indeterminate in definiteness if these constructions are used in certain specific circumstances. For example, while -po indicates a definite direct object most of the time, in certain circumstances (when the oun is. mo.dified by a relative clause, for example, or when the duect object IS placed before the subject) it does not indiing the coat on the hook
.1U

is the defi n i tene ss at all but only that the nou n will say that the construction is the m a i n clau se. In such case s we ex mple. . ,form ally defin ite but actu ally indefi nite, for ws the
cate

direct object of

ct follo Now, in most Tajiki sentences the duect obje nite . Thus, defi is noun subj ect, in which case -po indicates that the ypo AHAaM 'I saw her.' '9 KHT06po XOHA 'She read the book,' MaH -po (in general , the simp le noun A nou n or noun phra se with out er singular or plural) whenever it is unmodified) is indefinite (eith He hunts deer, She and often generic, as in English sentences like noun indicates a gen bu ys book s, or They grow cotton, in which the habitual or occupa eral category of things, often associate d with ences it can be hard sent i tional actions. (In the corresponding Tajik part of a compound to distinguish such an indefinite object from read a book,' 'She read verb .) Thus, Y KHT06 XOHA can mean 'She or stud ied (at some books,' 'She read books (hab itually),' even 'She that time).' generic, you To indi cate that the noun is inde finite but not eral HK 'one': Y HK can use the inde finite marker -e or the num en indi cating inde finite KHT06 osaPA, 'She brou ght a boo k.' (Wh colloquial speech. ness, -e is liter ary and would not be used in ch r uses, However, it is routinely used in colloquial spee in its othe which will be disc usse d later.) kilos of apples.' MaH ce KHAO ce6 xapH AaM , 'I bou ght three MaH ce6 THPH t1>TaM, 'I got an apple/apples .' MaH ce6p o THPH t1>TaM, 'I got the apple.' MaH OH ce6p o THPH t1>TaM, 'I got that apple.' re the subj ect However, it is possible to put the direct object befo ct object is formally defi for emphasis or contrast. In this case the dire , which is shown nite and must take -po but can be indefinite in sense unction with conj in ' by the indefinite clitic -e or the numeral HK 'one SlK KHT06po BaH osaPA, -po, which simply indicates the direct object: and I brought a book/ HK KHT06po MaH oaapAaM, 'She brought a book so did 1 . ' Ce6po MaH THPHt1>TaM, 'I got the apple/an apple/apples.' SlK ce6po MaH THPHt1>TaM, 'I got an apple.' Similarly, indefinite plural nouns can be indicated by '1aHA 's eral' or HTOH 'some,' which indicate that the speaker has speCIfic

62

not or is not expected to; non-specific nouns are those whose actu a l identity i s unknown t o th e speaker. Indefinite nouns can b e either specific or nonspecific, which is the difference in English between "I'm looking for a French book; do you have one?" (non-specific) and ''I'm looking for a French book; do you have it?" (specific). other word for 'several,' SlK'IaHA, differs from '1aHA in being definite, and thus requiring -po.) Thus:

books or instances of rea ng in mind; the s i m ple pl u ra l b e nonspecific but would not b e gene r Specific nouns are thosl' whose identity the speaker has in mind, though the listener

di

would

ic .

does

(An

Y 'laMA IOfTo6 oaaPA, 'She was brought some (particular) books .' Y KMT06 MeXOHA, 'She was reading books (habitually) .' but: Y SlK'IaHA KMT06po MeXOHA, 'She was reading several books .'
Note that the following types of direct object are alway s considered definite by Tajiki grammar (formally definite) and thus should al ways take -po:

of these types of direct object can logically be indefinite pl e, I saw a man who told me where you ent); i this c se, -po m u st still be used to indicate that the phrase IS the duect obect . of the sentence, but the sense of indefiniteness is indicated explICItly by such words as SlK 'one.' Thus, to summarize, the learner sho ld kee p in mind that while the c1itics -e and -po are always formally In definite and definite, respectively, in many constructions they serve other grammatical functions and then are not necesarilr ither a tually definite or indefinite. Actual definiteness or Indefimteness IS then shown if necessary by other independent words (OH, SlK'IaHA, RrOH, etc.), and otherwise must be determined from context. . The precise sense of -e and -po in conjunction can be qUIte subtle. For example, consider the following four questions, all of which mean 'What books did you read?'
( for
ex a m

Some

A. "IH KMTo6x;o-e-po xOHAeA?

B. "IH KMTo6x;o-e xOHAeA?

C. "IH KMT06x;o-po xOHAeA?

D. "IH KMT06x;o xOHAeA?

1) Froper ruun'::

nal pronouns . MaH, TY, aaH, MO, WYMO, OHO, etc.;

. .

3) Perso

OH MapAPo TaMOWO KYH ! 'Watch that man!'

2) Nouns modified by demonstrative adjectives: litH K;aAaMpo rMp ! 'Take this pencil!'

1) Demonstrative pronouns . MaH AMPYI MHpO AMAaM, 'I saw this yesterday.' WYMO OHpO xapMAeA? 'Did you buy that?'

Mo aMilKjlH KMT96'P9, K AilP PyMt,(MI ac;T, xc)HAaeM; 'We have already read the book that is on the table.'

'The day }Jefure yesterday I watched the movie Rwtam and Suhrob.' ; , 5) NotWs .

''The day before yesterday I watched a movie .' MaH napepY3 KMHOM "PYCTaM aa Cpo6"-po TaMOW

MaH napepYI KMHO TaMOWO KapAaM,

3apa+woH, KapMM, XaTAoH,

:r 'i'" 'i , :: ';,' . etc.:

Y.
.
. O KapAaM,

ptodifi.ed py relati"\l' . flause

.. ""

The first points to note are that an inanimate noun, KMT06 'book,' is in the plural, so both speaker and hearer know that m?re than one book is in question (or that this is a reasonable expectahon given the conversation thus far), and the . fact that the pl.ural. t of an inanimate noun is used means that a faIrly representatIve lIstIng of books one has read is probably expected; and '1H 'what?' can be either definite or indefinite depending on context (whereas KaAOM 'which?' is always definite). Thus, the exact sense of each question . each of the must be determined from context and by contrast WIth other questions, given the points above. Now, B and D (without -po) are almost identical in connotatin; a plural inanimate noun indicates little more th that tt:e grU? of things in question has more than one member, while the Indefinite marker does not materially alter this. Going beyond this, the use of -po add a certain sort of definiteness or specific character to B or D, but the details depend to some extent on context. Comparing A and B (both with -e), the former (with -po) means that the set of books, or at least the broad range of books one might expect, is known, but th: exact boo read are not known; that is what exactly is being asked. A IS the question one would ask of someone who studied in a particular program in college, for example, B of someone who has simply read a lot.
.AU 65
...!>-.

Comparing A and C (with -po), th d i ffl'rnc is that i n A (w i t h e), the focus i s broader than in C : In A, a w ider variety o f boob IS xpected, say books from different genres or from throug h o u t a field to get a feel for the breadth of one's reading, whereas i n ( a narrower range of books is expected, say to get a feel for one's depth of study in a particular area. Presumably A is the question one would ask, say, about the readings in a degree program and ( ' what one would ask about a particular class. Thus, in this case -po indicates roughly whether a natural or coherent set is expected or not, while the use of - e serves to broaden the focus or relevance of the question within those limits. Now, if you are beginning your study of Tajiki, you should . not worry ab out bemg able to catch all these distinctions yourself, . much less bemg able to produce them in your speech; they are very subtle and depend a great deal on context, and understanding them fluently requires much experience. However, you should take not of the varia ility in the exact senses of -e and -po as you encounter them (espeClally when used together) and pay attention to the con texts in which they're used.
3. Personal possessive markers as object suffi xes

Aap napM>K xapMAeAawoH? ' Did you b u y them in Paris?'

()bict nding must refer to the indirect object.
If the

sentence has both a direct and an indirect object, the

MaH 6a Y KMT06 po AOAa M, 'I gave him the book .' (MaH) KMT06 po AOAaMaw. MaH 6a Y MerYSlM, 'I'll tell her.' MerYSIMaw .
= =

er,

In addition, if the direct object has a personal possessive mark the object ending is omitted if it would be the same. Thus, it is perfectly fine to say MaH KMTo6aMpo AOAaMaw, 'I gave her my book' and MaH KMT06aTpo AOAaMaw, 'I gave her your book.' If the direct object belongs to the recipient, the recipient is effectively indicated on the direct object and not on the verb.
MaH KMTo6awpo AOAaM, 'I gave her her book.' BaH KMTo6aMpo AOA, 'She gave me my book.'
If the recipient is third person and the direct object is owned by another third person who is known from the context (so that if the end ing -aw would refer to two different people if repeated), either the pos sessor or the recipient must be explicitly mentioned in the sentence:

Tajiki, as you have learned, definite direct objects are indicat ed WIth -po and indirect objects with prepositions. However direct and indirect objects can also be indicated by using the persoal pos . . . seSSIve markers as object endmgs on the verb; the object ending comes after th persn-num?er ending for the subject and must agree with the omItted duect object in person and number. For example, in the sentence BaH MOO AMA, : He saw us,' the direct object MOpO can be re placed by e object uffix -aMH: BaH AMAaMOH, 'He saw us.' It is gen erally pOSSIble to omIt the subject pronoun, so this sentence will often ?e simply AMAaMoH, 'He saw us.' Note however that the verb AMAaM IS ambIguous by itself; it can mean either 'I saw' or 'he saw me.' In this cas (simple past with 151 singular ending), the subject is usually not omItted.
.

In

MaH KMT06M naAapaMpo AOAaMaw, 'I gave him my father's book.' MaH 6a naAapaM KMTo6awpo AOAaM, 'I gave my father his book' Note: that is, someone else 's book, if the book has already been

discussed and its owner clear from context; otherwise it means the book belongs to my father.
For first and second person subjects, the object suffix cannot be of the same person. Thus, * AMAaMaM 'I saw me' is ungrammatical, as are *AMAeMaM 'We saw me,' *AMAHSIT 'You (sg.) saw you (sg.),' *AHAeAaTOH 'You (pl.) saw you (pl.),' and so on. It is possible for a verb to have both third person subject and object, but in that case they can only refer to different people. Thus, it is not possible to re place the reflexive or reciprocal pronouns with an object suffix.
AMAaw, 'He saw him' (someone else) XYAawpo AHA, 'He saw himself.' 3aAaHAawoH, 'They hit them' (another group)

MaH TypO AMAaM I (MaH) AMAaMaT, 'I saw you.' Ty Mapo AMAH I (Ty) AHAHSlM, 'You saw me.' BaHo WyMOpO MewYHaaaHA I ( BaHo) MewYHaaaHAaToH

'They will hear you.'

66

'

XYAaWOHpo 3aAaHA, 'They h i t themse l ws.' jlKAMrappo 3aAaHA, 'They hit each other.'

5. Verb tense forms

There are several categories of meaning that Tajiki verbs show through their form; in general they are very similar to correspond . ing categories in English. They are tense proper, composed of time and aspect; voice; mood; and evidentiality.

As mentioned in the section on personal possessive markers, in colloquial Tajiki the personal possessive markers have distinct direct object forms due to fusion with -a, the reduced form of -po; these forms are also used as object markers, in which case forms like AMAaM are not ambiguous: AMAaM 'I saw,' AMAMa 'he saw me . '
4. Simple, prefi xed, and com pound verbs

speaking: . Past, presstate held good relative to the time of , ent, future. .

1) Time - the

time an action or change of state occurred or a

There are three broad classes of verbs in Tajiki, simple, pre. fixed, and compound verbs. Simple verbs are ones which are not composed of any smaller independent words, such as 6YAaH 'to be,' ryTaH 'to say, speak,' oMaAaH 'to come,' and KapAaH 'to do.' Prefixed verbs are verbs (usually verbs of motion) to which prefixes like ap, 6ap, or Aap have been added, usually to indicate the direction in which the motion is carried out; 6ap generally in dicates motion outwards and Aap motion inwards, as in the pair of verbs 6apoMaAaH/6apo ' to come out' and AapoMaAaH/Aapo 'to come in.' Most prefixed verbs are inseparable: The prefix is fuse ? to the verb root and other verbal prefixes (the negative and contmuous aspect markers) precede it. However, a few prefixed verbs are separable, in which case the other verbal prefixes come between it and the verb root; common separable prefixed verbs include BoxYPAaH 'to meet, come across' (from xYPAaH 'to eat'), 603raWTaH 'to return, come back' (from raWTaH 'to turn, spin'), and AaprMpMTaH ' to catch on fire, come alight' (from rMpMTaH 'to take, get'). For all prefixed verbs, separable or inseparable, the prefix is always written joined to the follOWing verb form and never takes the stress. Compound verbs (more precisely, nominal-compound verbs) in clude a noun before a simple verb; they are very common in Tajiki. The most common verbs used in compound verbs are KapAaH 'to do,' AOWTaH 'to have, ' wYAaH 'to become,' and MOHAaH 'to put, remain': KOP KapAaH 'to work' (from KOP 'work'), cap KapAaH 'to start' (from cap 'head'), AYCT AOWTaH 'to like' (from AYCT 'friend'). In the infini tive and most other verb forms, the noun in a compound verb is writ ten separately from the verb and precedes any verbal prefixes .

an action is . 2) Aspect - the way the "internal make-up" of ress at a given time, viewed: 'Continuous (ongoing or in prog rring continu (occu like the English progressive), imperfect tual (occurring repeat ously throughou t a stretch of time), habi etch aftime), perfect (completed by a ghou t a str

given time), or simple (undifferentiated).

edly throu

rim tical roles thatthe logical 2) Voice - the way that the grara gned subject and logical direct object play in an evnt are asslish (Eng . ative caus and by the verb form: Active, passive,

only has the first two voices.)

or desirabil4) Mood - the degree of actuality, possibility, al, fa ctu al ctu a an ng icati ity of an action: Indicative (ind event or an g n i t a c di event ot occurrence), subjunctive (in

ible, potential, o r occurrence that is not real but only poss e (indicating a com contingent on other events), imperativ d is not treated here, mand), probable. The probable moo Tajiki than English, and the subjunctive is commoner in
first-hand 5) Evidentiality - whether .the speaker has

In addition to verb forms proper (finite verb forms), a Tajiki verb has a verbal noun (the infinitive), three verbal adjectives (the past, present, and future participles), and a verbal adverb. That is, they re-

the testimony of kilOwledge in speaking or is relying on rtative is usually not others (reportative). (In fact, the repo but instead uses perfect indicated by distinct Verb forms . verb fotms in other aspects.)

68 ""-

. be decn. ?ed and dIscussed along with the finite forms of the verb pn ) gresm In e order best suited for English learners in the active voin' and IndIcative mood; the forms for a given tense in other voices and moods are very easily obtained from the active indicative form .
5. 1 N o n - fi n ite verbs form s

tain soe erba.1 force, such as ind icating tlw d i rl'ct or i nd i rec t object 0 1 the actJ n; m thIs respect the infinitive i s d i fferen t from deverbal nOll n, . slmply name some aspect of the action of the verb. Th ese w i l l whIch

Taj i ki infinitive:

I n Engl i sh, only the gerund can serve as the object of a preposi t i o n or th e direct object of a sentence; this function is filled by the

AaBH AaH 6a MaH MabKrYA aCT, ' I like ru n n i ng: (liter ally, 'Run ning interests me:)

MaH a3 Ta6 KapA aHH n Hcap aM xaBo THpaM, CYPYA XOHA aHaw 6a MaH MabKrYA HawYA,

'I'm worried abou t my son's running a fever.' 'I didn't like her singing.'

a. Infinitives. Ifinitives are nouns formed from verbs which serve to nae h actIon of the verb. In English there are two verbal nouns, . the Infirutive, to o, the gerund, doing, which have slightly differ . en senses : The Infirutive names the fact or the general idea of thl' actIo, ,:hIle the gerund names the actual performance of the action. !n TaJIki there is only one verbal noun, the infinitive, which is used In some of the uses of both of the English verbal nouns; however, there are o her s s 0: the English infinitive and gerund that must be . expressed In TaJIki wIth a subordinate clause (like English I saw that he had left ) . In many of their uses in English, infinitives and gerunds hav logIcal ujecs (though they are not expressed as grammatical subjects) : Hls smgmg bothers me (gerund, subject indicated with the possessIve), I want h t? sig (infinitive, subject indicated with object prn?n) e.tc. .In TaJIkI, eIther the logical subject or the object of an by the personal possessive marker: AaBHAaHaM firutive .IS IndIcated y runnIng,' 3a awoH 'their beating' (which can be a beating they eIther ga ?r receIved; te English is ambiguous in the same way . an Izofat construction: paKrcHAaHH paKrKroca s the TaJII) or ':Ith the dancer s danCIng.' However, the Tajiki infinitive cannot indicate bot the subject and the object (for example, there is no direct Tajiki equ!valent to 'their beating me'); to express both, one must use a sub ordInate clause (see Chapter 5, Section 2). Te follo,:ing re the most common uses of the infinitive and gerund In Engh sh wIth the corresponding constructions in Tajiki. . 1) In EnglIsh, one ay use the infinitive or the gerund as the sUJ. c o f entence, WIth very slight differences in meaning; the . TaJIki mfimtIve is used for this:
OMYXTaHH 3a60HH TO"HKH xeAe OCOH aCT,

2) English verbs of sensing can take gerund or infinitive ob jects (the infinitive in this case does not have "to"), with a slight difference in meaning: I saw him running focuses on the action that was actually in progress when I saw him, while I saw him run fo cuses on the completed event or summarizes the end result. The former is indicated in Tajiki with an object clause (see Chapter 5, Section 2) and the verb in one of the continuous tenses (discussed below), the latter with an infinitive, as in 2 above:
MaH AHAa M, KH Y AaBH Aa HCTOAa 6YA, MaH AaBH AaHa wpo AHAaM,

ing') 'I saw him running' (literally, 'I saw that he was runn 'I saw him run' (literally, 'I saw his running')

3) In English, the infinitive is used to indicate the purpose of an action: I went to see him. In Tajiki one uses a subordinate clause of purpose with KH 'that, so that' or TO KH 'in order that' and the verb in the subjunctive (see Section 2.3b below): MaH paclTaM, KH BaHpo 6HHaM, 'I went to see him' (literally, 'I went that I might see him').
4) In English, the infinitive and gerund are used to name a

verb that is the object of another verb: I want to go, he loves sleeping . There are a variety of corresponding constructions in Tajiki depend ing on the verbs in question. For example, the Tajiki equivalent of want + infinitive is a modal verb construction (similar to I can go, I should go, etc.) discussed in Section 6.2 below.
b. Past participle. The past participle is formed by dropping the fi nal -H from the infinitive, or, alternatively, by adding -a to the past
7 1 '-"-

'Learning Tajiki is very easy.'

7 0

corresponding to the English -ed or -en verb forms (bothered, woke II , sung, etc.); because it is an adjective, the stress falls on the final -a:
rY3aWTaH 'to pass (of time )'
>

tense s tem (the usual d escri pti on among 'Llji k g ra m m a rians). I I i s a n a djective indicating tha t the action o f the verb i s completed ,

HaKapAa ' t ha t which had not been done' AYCTHaAOWTa 'unliked' sOHaxYPAa 'unmet'

rY3aWTa ' passed, past '

Sim ilarl y: 6aCTaH 'to tie, bind ' > 6aCTa 'clos ed' MYPAaH 'to die' > MYPAa ' dead ' XYPAaH 'to eat' > xYPAa 'eaten' rHpH +TaH 'to take' > rHpH +Ta ' taken' oMaAaH 'to com e' > oMaAa 'com e' KywoAaH 'to open ' > Kyw oAa 'open(ed )' nYXTaH 'to cook' > nYXTa 'coo ked' AyxTaH 'to sew' > AyxTa ' sewn' The past participle is often used where English would use a . relative clause, in which case it is best thought of as meaning 'that was/had been . . . ' :
KHT06H xOHA a 'the book that was/had been read ' MapAH AHA a 'the man who was seen' ranH rY+Ta 'the talk/words that had been spok en' MaH 6a OHO Mesa H nyxTapo AOAaM,

Because the past participle of non-compound verbs is fair ly short, a -rH is added to it in colloquial Tajiki: xOHAarH 'rea ,' HarY+TarH 'unspoken.' However, adding -rH to compound verbs IS optional. It is used adjectivally like the past participle:
XOHaH PY+TarH 'a clean-swept house' KOpH wYAarw 'completed work' KHT06H HaxoHAarw 'an unread book' AapH nywHAarw 'a closed door'
if it is formed from a simple verb phrase with at most an adverb: a
In

English a past participle can be used as an adjective only

'I gave them the fruit that had ripened .'

much-read book, a little-known restaurant, my car's well-oiled engine; if the verb phrase is longer, it is made into a relative clause. In Tajiki, on he . other hand, much longer verb phrases (particularly ones contammg a prepositional phrase) can be made into a participle, in which case they are written as one word. Thus, from the phra e 3 Has OHAaAOP . WYAaH 'to be married anew (a3 Has), to be remarned IS formed the . participle a3HasoHAaAopwYAa 'remarried,' which is treated s a SIm ple adjective. Because such participles take a generic meanmg, they cannot be formed from verb phrases containing a definite time or place reference, which are always written as separate words:
MaH wa+ToAYH AHPY3 AHAaaMpo xapHAaM,

It is also often used as a noun to nam e the resu

KapA aH 'to do'
>

lts of an actio n:

KapA a 'wha t had been done.'

'I bought the peaches that I saw yesterday. ' . Note: the possessive ending is used to indicate the subject of the verb phrase that was made into a participle. In addition to its adjectival use, the past participle is quite com monly used to form a compound sentence, that is, one in which the subject is followed by more than one predicate. The past pariciple indicates a completed action (the first verb) succeeded by the action of the second verb; both verbs must have the same subject. (The long form in -rw cannot be used in this construction.) If the first action continues as the second begins, you cannot use the past participle; instead, the verbal adverb is often used (see Section e below). In such . cases, the Tajiki past participle is similar to the English present participle. Compare the following:

Past participles of compound verbs are formed the same way, . WIth the noun written joined to the verb; primary stress falls on the final -a, and secondary stress falls on the last syllable of the noun:
AYCT AOWTaH 'to like'
>

AycTAowTa 'favorite'

The negative is formed by prefixing Ha- (which takes the stress) to the verb. In the past participle of compound and separa . ble prefixed verbs, Ha- falls between the noun and the verb; primary stress falls on Ha- and the noun retains secondary stress:
72

L(aBoHoH 6a OWXOHa oMaAa, XYPOK

Com ing to a restaura nt, the young had Putting the book on the table, he/she went out.
Lola

table and went out.

ry30wTa, a3 XOHa 6apoMa A.

her

This construction is the basis for several verb tenses in which the second verb in the compound is an auxiliary verb; that is, the sec ond verb as lost its meaning as a full verb and only serves to indi cate a partIcular shade of meaning or grammatical function. Thus rHpH TaH 'to take, get' is often used as an auxiliary to indicate doin n actIon once and for all: For example, from HaBHWTaH ' to write' IS fo med HaBHWTa rHpH TaH 'to write down.' Most importantly, eram verbs are used WIth the past participle of another verb to mdicate the continuous tenses or passive voice.

The negative participle ends .in -aHAaJ-flHAa for all verbs; Ha- is prefixed to the entire verb form for simple verbs and prefixed verbs with inseparable prefixes, but after the prefix of separable prefixed verbs and after the noun of compound verbs: Ha6apoflHAa 'not com ing out,' BOHaxypaHAa 'not meeting,' KopHaKYHaHAa 'not working.' The present participle is an adjective used to indicate ongoing action; its basic translation is a relative clause, such as HaBHcaHAa 'that/who is writing.' Thus, MapAH xypaHAa 'the man who is eating, the eating man,' ryp6aH AaBaHAa 'the cat that is running, the running cat,' aTaH OflHAa 'the week that is coming, next week.' As with past participles, more complex present participial clauses can be used as compound adjectives, in which case all the words in the clause are customarily written together as one word. Also, present participles are frequently used as nouns indicating the doer of an action:

C : Present partiCiple. The preset participle is formed differently for sImple, compound, and prefixed verbs. For simple and prefixed verbs, the suffix -aHAa is added to the present stem of the verb -flHAa after vowels). For compound verbs the present stem alone IS used; the noun and present stem are written as one word:

Infinitive

Present stem

HaBHcaHAa 'writing (adj.); writer' ryflHAa 'saying (adj.); speaker' capoflHAa 'singing (adj.); singer' (from cYPYAaH/capo 'to sing') HaB03aHAa 'playing (adj.); player of musical instruments' (from HaBoxTaHI HaB03 'to play an instrument' ) wYHaBaHAa 'hearing (adj.); listener' (from wYHHAaH/wYHaB 'to hear') MOHrHp 'fishing (adj.); fisherman' (from MOH 'fish' and rHpHTaH/rHp 'to take, catch') AaBaHAa 'running (adj.); runner' AapCXOH 'learner' (from Aapc xOHAaH/xoH 'to study a lesson') KOPKYH 'employee' (from KOP KapAaH/KYH 'to work') pY3HoMaHHrop 'journalist' (from pY3HoMa HHrOWTaH/HHrOp 'to write for a newspaper ')
The names of many professions and activities are formed from the present participle with the suffix -H (-rH after vowels); in some cases, the noun has an idiomatic meaning:

HaBHcaHAarH 'the profession of writing' MOHrHpH 'the occupation or hobby of fishing'

7 5 -.!>-

XOHaHAarH ' the occu pation of si ngi ng'

(a more common mealling than

'rctldil/g, s t /ldyil/g ')

p.w.c KapAaH
f

d. Future participle. The future participle is an adjective formed adding the suffix -H to the infinitive:
ranH rycJ>TaHH
'something to sa)" a conver sation one ought to have' KHT06H xOHAaH H 'a book to read, a book one ought to read'

by

."" . .. ".".H trHAa

t:

pHcTaH

. . "," , " ,""""_" " _, ",","_, " " , , , , , "" ,, ,. ,

, :.

ewno xY . :H : Pr.Aa

. ....... "

. .......

,............................ ..... .............. ..... . .. ,'

....... ,............!. .

" .. . .

!.

_ .

,.....

- .. . !. . "

-. ,.=. - .

"

... .

"' .

The verbal adverb must be used for an action that is occurring at the same time as the main action; if the subordinated action is c?mplet . ed before the main action begins, you must use the past partiCIple.

The negative is formed by prefixing Ha- to the verb form for simple and inseparable prefixed verbs (HarycJ>TaHH, Ha6apoMaAaHH) and adding Ha- between a separable prefix or complement noun and the simple verb root (aoHaXYPAaHH, KopHaKapAaHH). The future participle is used in the same circumstances tha t the infinitive may be used adjectivally in English. This use indi cates that something is supposed to be or is about to be acted on (books to read, bills to pay, people to see, things to do), and by extension something intended for or suited to a purpose (a room to let, money to burn, something to ease the pain, music to chase the blues away). That is, it indicates obligation, intention, purpose, or near futurity.

AOAa rHpeH Aappo 603 KapA, 'Crying, Lola opeed the d or: MypoA AaaOH 06 oaapA, 'Running, uro carned water. , . . MaH n6acCYMKYHoH 6a Y HHro KapAIM, Smilm?, I look at him. MyAAO AYOXOHOH Tac6e MewyMopHA, 'Praymg (reCItmg

prayers), the mullah would count the beads.' (AYO xOHAaH 'to pray, recite a prayer ')
f.

Oeverbal nouns. Deverbal nouns are nouns formed from verbs to name some aspect of the action of the verb (such as the f culty for performing the action or the process or result of the action). The most common deverbal noun is formed from the present stem of the verb by adding the suffix -HW .

e. Verbal adverbs. The verbal adverb is a form of the verb used to subordi nate that verb to the main verb of the sentence in order to indicate the manner in which it is carried out; it usually corresponds to a presen t participle in English, such as He came running and Frowning, he said . . ., that either comes immediately after the main verb or at the very begin ning of the sentence (in which case it is set off from the rest of the sen tence with a comm a). For other verbs, the meaning is best convey ed by an adverb like smilingly or a phrase like while speaking. The verbal adverb generally comes immediately after the subject in Tajiki. To form the verbal adverb, add the suffix -OH to the presen t stem of the verb. The verbal adverb of compound verbs is writte n as one word. Thus:
Verb Present stem Verbal adverb

Verb
AHAaH/6HH 'to see' OMYXTaH/oMY3 'to study' ,\aHAaH/,\a 'to jump'

Noun
6HHHW ' sight' OMY3HW 'training, instruction' ,\aHw 'jump'

Many of these deverbal nouns can be used in turn to form com pound verbs:

AOHHW oMYXTaH 'to learn' rapAHw KapAaH 'to take a walk' cynopHW AoAaH 'to give an order'
Another common deverbal suffix, -op, is added to the past stem of a verb to indicate someone who engages in tht act vity; h s, from . xapHAaH/xap 'to buy' is formed xapHAop 'buyer. ThIS suffix IS VIrtu ally the same in meaning as the present participle used as the name of a profession or type of actor (for example, cJ>ypywaHAa 'seller').

adject i ve i s fo rmed from t Il\' p rese n t stem of t h e verb by s u ffi x i n g -0. Th i s fo r m i n d i ca te s t lH' . possessIOn of a quality inherent in the verb; i t o n l y occu rs w i t h

g.

Deverba l adJectives.

The d everba l

Singula r

Plural

a very smal l number of simple verbs, pra cti cally li mited to t h t ' . . followmg nme:

Verb

TaBOHHCTaH 'to be able' XOHAaH ' to read' AOWTaH 'to have' AOHHCTaH ' to know' pacHAaH 'to reach (maturity) ' AHAaH ' to see' rycf>TaH ' to say' rHpcf>TaH ' to get' wYHHAaH 'to hear '

Verbal adjective
TaaOHO ' capable' XOHO 'legible' AOpo ' ri ch; having' AOHO 'wise' paco 'mature, exact' 6HHO ' capable of seeing' rye ' capable of speech' rHpo 'attractive' wyHaao 'capable of hearing'

MaH ryA xapHAaM, 'I bought a flower. ' OHO wyp60 nyXTaHA, 'They cooked some soup. ' Mo 6a napH>K pacf>TeM, 'We went t o Paris.'
tions that ended at a definite time in the past, with no further qualifica tions. It corresponds closely to the English simple past in meaning. It is
The simple past tense is used for actions that happened or condi

not used for statements about actions that were habitual or ongoing in the past, such as "I went to the store every Friday" or "I read that book while you were here." (These sentences use the simple past in English but can be rewritten with other past tense forms that correspond to the tenses used in Tajiki: "I would go/used to go to the store every Friday"

5.2. Fi n ite verb fo r m s : The i n d i cative a ctive t e n s e s

a. S I Ple past tense.

The simple past tense of all verbs is formed b

addmg the past tense endings to the past stem of the verb. The pa . tense endmgs are:

!t

and "I was reading that book while you were here.") It is also not used for actions that occurred at some indefinite point in the past (what is

called the "experiential past"), such as "I've read that book" (the time when I read it doesn't matter and isn't specified, only the fact that I have read it - that I have had the experience of reading it), "I haven't gone there before" (where the focus is on the fact that I've never been there at any time in the past), "I've been there once or twice," (the important point is that at one or two unspecified times in the past I had gone there) or "Have you ever gone to France?"

2nd 3 rd

1 st

Sing. -aM -H
-0

Plur.

-eA -aHA

-eM

(in which

the entire point of the

question is whether at any time in the past I have been in France). These sentences do not use the simple past, but other sentences of the same type can take the simple past in English: "Yeah, I read that book" (which can be either simple past or experiential past, depending on context), "I never went there when I lived in Chicago," and "Did you ever go to France?," for example. (As a rule of thumb, if the sentence includes ad verbs like "ever," "never," "always," "often," "before," "once," "twice," or "a few times," the sentence does not refer to a definite time in the past and the simple past cannot be used in Tajiki.) In short, the simple other implication, other past tense forms are used. past tense refers to some specific time in the past; if the sentence has any

the SImple past tense. The stress falls on the first syllable of th ' verb . In colloquial speech, the pronounced

all past s tems end i the consonants A or T, there i s nev r need to wo rr about changmg vowels in the endings into yoted letters in r

The past stem (identical with the 3rd person singula r form) . IS formed from the infinitive by d ropping the final -aH ' because

pronounc,: d dIff rentl tha t h e infinitive. Thus, the p a s t tense . stem of xYPAaH to do IS xYPA, and i ts simple past tense forms are as follows.

- H;

3 rd person plural ending -aHA i

because the stress is on the first syll able, this i s

emphasis for events that are going to occur very soon. Thus, the usual

In addition, in colloquial Tajiki the simple past tense is used for

meaning of H ryTeA? is "What did you say?," bu t i t can also be U St'd in speaking to mean, "What is your opinion?" (that is, "What do/w i l l you say?"). Similarly, paTeM ordinarily means "We went," bu t used emphatically can mean, "Let's go!" (a meaning usually expressed w i t h the present subjunctive form paseM, which is not as emphatic). The negative of the past tense forms is formed by adding the prefix Ha- to the simple past tense form; Ha- always takes the stress. I t corresponds to the English past negative formed with didn 't- that is, i t expresses the simple negative without any other connotations; it dOl'S not express such meanings as 'I haven't read this book (yet).' Negative sentences are formed exactly like the corresponding positive sentences:

' I am writing a letter to my older sister.'

MaH 6a anaaM MaKTy6 HaSHWTa HCTOAaaM, BaH KOP KapAa HCToAaacT, 'He is working.' OHO Aap 60J" caHpyrawT KapAa HCToAaaHA,
'They are strolling in the garden.' WYMO 'IH KOP KapAa HCToAaeA? 'What are you doing?'

However, the pronunciation differs from the spelling (which is purely historical). In the northern dialect these forms are pronounced: In the southern dialect, on the other hand, they are pronounced:
Singular Plural

MaH HaxYPAaM, 'I didn't eat.' Ty 6a XOHa HapaTH, 'You didn't go home.' BaH MyaAAHMpo HaAHA, ' She didn't see the teacher.'
Yes/no questions are formed from the corresponding simple state ments by changing the intonation:

WyMO wap06 HywHAeA? Ty 6a XOHa HapaTH? BaH MyaAAHMpo HaAHA?

'Did you drink some wine?' 'Didn't you go home?' 'She didn't see the teacher?'

x Ha- to the The nega tive is form ed by addin g the nega tive prefi . main verb; yes/no quest ions are shown by intonation
Singular Plura l

that is ongoing or in progress at the present time; that is, it is used for ac tions that at the time of speaking have begun but are not yet completed. It corresponds closely in meaning to the English present progressive but can only be used with action verbs, not with verbs like AOWTaH 'to have' that indicate an unchanging state. It is a compound tense formed from the past participle of the main verb, the past participle HCTOAa of the a liary HCTOAaH 'to stand,' and the predicate endings. For example, the wntten forms of the present continuous of the verb XYPAaH 'to eat' are: For example:

b. Present continuous tense. The present continuous tense indicates an action

w.a

Singular

Plural

ing.' MaH e,\ KOP HaKapAa HCTOAaaM, 'I'm not doing anyth ing.' work isn't BaH KOP HaKapAa HCTOAaaCT, 'She WyMO aa3H aH xOHarH aToHp o HaKapA a HCToAaeA? 'Aren't you doing your homework?' ongo ing action, Becau se the present continuous tense indic ates an rb like OAO adve it requi res a defin ite time reference, often an 'now ' or 03HP 'now.'

80

at a parti cu lar time in the past: Whl'l I you called I was readng a book. That is, it is the past- time equ ivale n t of the pres ent c?ntmuous tense . It is formed in the same way a s the prese nt contm uous tense, exce pt that the pred icate endi ngs are repla ced by the simp le past of 6YAa H 'to be' : that an action was
Singular

c. Past contin uous tense . The past co n t i nu o ll s

:m going

t l'nSl' i s lI sed to i n d i ca te

tant to the conversation, such as a past time marker or a subordinate clause of past time.

u Sl,d to ind icate the backgrou nd to a past action that is more impor

BaK,Te KH MaH 6a XOHa OMaAaM, 3aHaM XYPOK nyXTa HCTOAa 6YA,

'When I carne home, my wife was cooking dinner.' AHPYl MaH 6a KOP patra HCTQAa 6YAaM, KH AaP PO AOAOPO AHAaM, 'Yesterday, I was going to work when I saw Dodo in the street.'

Mo Aapc XOHAa HCTOAa 6YAeM, KH a3 6epyH OB03H rHpSlH KYAaK 6a ryw pacHA,
'We were studying the lesson when we heard the sound of a child crying outside.'

W YMO '1M KOP KapAa HCToAa 6YAeA ? 'What were you doing ?'
As with the present continuous tense, the pronunciation is . dIfferent from the spelling. In the northern dialect these forms are p onounced KapAoca 6YAaM 'I was doing,' etc., while in the southern dIalect they are p ronounced KapAeCTa 6YAaM 'I was doing,' etc. . Just as WI the present continuous tense, the negative is or ed by p efixmg Ha- to the main verb; yes/no questions are . mdIcated by mtonatIon; and the past continuous tense can only be used with action verbs.

'They were strolling in the gard en.'

BaH KOP KapAa HCTOA a 6YA, 'He was working.' OH O Aap 60F caHpyrawT KapAa HCToAa 6YAa HA,

'I was writing a letter to my olde r siste r.'

MaH 6a anaaM MaKTy6 HaBH WTa HCTOAa 6YAaM,

is either ongoing or habitual in the present or that will occur in the future. It is formed by adding the present-future tense end ings (which are identical to the past tense endings except the 3rd singular ending -aA) and the prefix Me- to the present stern of the verb . The verb xOHAaH/xoH 'to read' is conjugated in the present future tense as follows:
Singular Plural

d. Present-future tense. This tense is used to indicate an action that

MaH e KOP HaKapAa HCTOAa 6YAaM, 'I wasn't doing anything.' v KOP HaKapAa HCToAa 6YA, ' She wasn't working.' BaH WYMO Ba3H+aH XOHarHaTOHpO HaKaPAa HCTOAa 6YAeA?
'Weren't you doing your homework?' The past continuous tense can be used by itself if the time in the past when the action was taking place is clear from context. How ever, it usually requires an explicit time reference, and thus is often

In compound verbs, Me- follows the nominal complement, which is written as a separate word: AYCT MeAopaM 'I like,' KOP MeKYHaA 'he works,' and so on. In prefixed verbs Me- usually pre cedes the prefix, but with separable prefixes Me- immediately pre cedes the verb and the prefix is written joined to it: BOMexypeM 'we meet' (from BoxYPAaH 'to meet'). The stress falls on the first syllable, Me- for simple verbs and the prefix or nominal part otherwise. The negative is formed by prefixing Ha- immediately before Me-; it takes the stress. As with the positive forms, nominal com plements are written as separate words and separable prefixes are joined to the rest of the verb: KOP HaMeKYHaA 'he doesn't work,' BOHaMexypeM 'we don't/won't meet.' The prefix Me- indicates ongoing or continuing action, as in the past continuous tense; historically it was not added to stative
8 3 '-"-

8 2 '-"-

verbs, that is, verbs indicating

an ongoing

state.

present-future tense it is now used with all verbs except AOWTiH (when used as a simple verb in the meaning 'to have'); moreover,

H owever, in

the

COAM ry3aWTa MaH p cITa 6a 6apoAapaM MaKT)'6 MeHaBMWTaM,

' Last year I used to write letters to my brother every week.'

Me- is used with AOWTaH in the present-future tense when it is part of a compound verb or when it is used in the meaning 'to hold' ; MaH 6MPMH'\ AyeT MeAopaM, ' I like rice.'
More specifically, the present-future tense is used:

COAOM AOHMW,\YMM MO 6Mcep KMT06 MeXOHAeM,

' We used to read lots of books when we were students.'

OH COAO MO Aap TOKMO 3MHAarM MeKapAeM,

'In those days (during those years), we lived in Tokyo.'

terday I go in this store, see, and the own er asks me . . .

e. Past im perfect(habltual) tense.

3) In narration about the past to glve a yiyid characte r to the story; COlloquial I;:nglish ras a similCir usage: "o yes

2) For continuous actions in the present or fllture, like the present contiquous, only with less emphasis upon the continuity o(the action.

and continue to happen regulady in the present and into the futur. In this sefl$e it often translates the English simple present, which in fact for most actio n verbs has a hapitual ,sen&e: i l,'I work" (every da say) as 9Pp ose d to , "I am Working" (right now) . "
' '

habitual action& in the present; that is, actions that hppened rguJar1)' in the past (for however long a time)

1) For

naAapaM Aap AOHMwro KOP MeKapA,

'My father worked (used to work) in a university.' The past imperfect cannot be used to refer to a definite time in the past, but instead must refer to a period of time within whic he action used to occur. Nor can the past imperfect be used for a defirute, delimited period of time <for three months, for example). If a definite time or duration or a single action is indicated, the simple past must be used. (On the other hand, an indication of frequency is perfectly ac ceptable with the past imperfect, such as ap Ti 'each week.') That is, the past imperfect focuses upon the habitual or ongoing character of the action, while the simple past implies a completed action in the past and is used to focus on the circumstances around it.

AMpy3 MaH 6a 3ABapA MaKTy6 HaBMWTiM,

'Yesterday I wrote a letter to Edward.' (There is reference to a definite time during which a single action occurred, writing a letter, hence the simple past.)

"

The past imperfect tense is used to

Ing on context . It IS formed by adding the prefix Me- to the ap propriate form of the simple past:
Singular Plural

read a book every week or He went to schoo l wh en he l ived in Panjak nt; it can be transl ?ted 'used to do,' 'would do,' or 'did' depend

indicate actions that were habitual or occupational or that hap . pened regularly In the past, such as When I was a ch ild, I wou ld

BaTe KM MaH Aap I-1cnaHM 6YAaM, ap aclTa 6a 3ABapA MaKTy6 MeHaBMWTaM, ' When I was in Spain, I used to
write letters to Edward every week.' (There is reference to an extended period during which the action occurred repeat edly and habitually, hence the past imperfect.)

Mo naH,\ COA Aap KaHaAa 3MHAarM KapAeM,

'We lived in Canada for five years.' (The condition of living in Canada extended throughout a definite period, hence the simple past.)

COAOM aToAYM MO Aap KaHaAa 3HHAarM MeKapAeM,

'In the seventies, we lived in Canada.' (The condition of liv

3rd

MeXOH'" 'he/she/it useci to read'

ing in Canada only occurred at some unspecified period during the seventies, hence the past imperfect.)
; MexoHAaHA : 'they used to read'

For this reason, the past imperfect i s often used when describ ing a past situation as the background to another action at a definite time in the past.
85

ther was workmg at the university.'

BaK.Te KM XOapaM TaBaAAYA WYA, "aAapaM Aap AOHMwro KopMeKapA, ' hen my younger s i ster was b o r n, my fa

''Y

5tative verbs like 6YAaH 'to be' and AOWTaH 'to have' do not . take the p refix Me- (except in certain conditional sentences). Tha t i s, . . only actIve verbs have a dIstinct past imperfect tense.

on the resu lt of whi ch is clear. The present perfect exp resses an acti ning, sometimes it is preceded by When this ten se is use d in this mea 'it is clear,' MabAYM wYA 'it became exp lana to ry phrases like MabAYM aCT d ecomes clear.' Narrative tenses use dear,' and MabAYM MewaBC!A 'it is/b results of such explanations. without these phrases are logically Exa mp le:

MabAYM wYA, KM ypo a6 c KapAaaHA, AHa cJ>aMMAeA, Y Hao MaA aac T,

.' 'It was clear that they arrested him hasn't come.' 'We ll then, you und erst ood that he

MOAapaM XOHaWMH3aH 6YA,

'My mother was a housewife' (not *Me6YA).

f. preent perfec tense. The present perfect is formed by adding the

s soe.tImes .ad ed between the participle and the predicate end

Singular

predIcate nd IIgs to t e past participle. Note that ( 1 ) the 3rd sin . ?ular ac IS wrItten Jomed to the participle, and (2) although a H

mgs, It IS not mdIcated in writing with yoted letters (thus, xOHAaaM can be pronounced [xoHAaswM]):

as in Eng lish to ind icate the The present per fect is also use d acti on has (or has not) occurred "ex periential past," that is, that an at som e time in the pas t. (ever) gone to Paris?' WY MO 6a n apM>K pacJ>TaeA? 'Have you , MaH 6Y3Kaw Mpo TaM OWO HaKapAaaM e in which several gam (a hi kas buz d 'I've never watche

Ma H 6opo 6a TowKaHA pacJ>TaaM,

'5av ri has see n a lot of American

dead goa t).' horsemen compete to cap ture the body of a

es.' 'I've bee n to Tashkent several tim

Cas pH cJ>MA MOM aMp MKo HMP O 6Mc ep

AMA aacT,

film s.'

p artICIple; Ha- takes primary stress and the last syllable of the parti . CIple takes s; condary stress (as does the noun of a compound verb): HapacJ>TaaM I haven t gone,' sOHaxYPAaeM 'we haven't met.'

!he negative is formed using the appropriate form of the past .

naA apa M e" ro Map o "aH r HaKapA

aacT,

me .' 'My father has never argued with se senses of the pre sent per In Eng lish you can disting uish the a experiential pas t takes before in fect with certain adverb s: The ) in a simple que stion, and never in pos itive statement, ever (before the present perfect pro per takes a negative statement or question; in a negative statement or a already in a pos itive statement and yet sent perfect is me ant rather than que stio n. To specify tha t the pre the adverbs aHY3 'yet,' TO OA 'so the experiential past, Taji ki use s ady.' far, unt il now,' and aAAaKaH ' alre

The present perfect has two distinct uses. 1) The present perfect proper is used to indicate an action that ,:,as copleted at some time in the past but whose end result con tmues mto the present; in this use it corresponds to the English present perfect: I have eaten, he's gone, etc.

apBM3 6Mcep wapo6 HywMAaacT, ' , Nazokat has come from France.'
Ha30KaT a3 <i>apoHca OMaAaaCT OHO 6a KapOliH pacJ>TaaHA, 'They have gone to Karachi.'
--V

Parviz has drunk a lot of wine.'

To OA ce 60p 6a Y 3aHr 3aAaaM,

'50 far, I have called her three times.'

Note: Neither the present perfect nor the experiential past can be used to

speak of a definite time in the past; they refer to actions occurring at some

86 .'-"-

all extended period ( 1 l il//('. '/ 1/('nt( )rc, II pas t l il l l t ' r requIres the s I m p le past (or another pas l lellse referrillg t o a dcji l l i l t ' ark : tIme In the past), except when using the reportative past (see n ex t).
illde fill ite pO.in t with 'l

2) The present perfect is also used as the reportative or narra. tive pa t, that is, to indicate that the statement is based on hearsay or th teStiIlOny of others, not on first-hand knowledge of the speakt.> r. IS use IS very common for passing on common knowledge, report mg what experts say, and telling about the historical past.

!h

past perfect (h had goe),. to The past dist ant is also use d as the pleted but with contmumg indi cate an action that was alre ady com pas t: con sequences at a given time in the COAH rY3aWTa Y aAAaKaH pHCOAaawpo AH4>O'b KapAa 6YA, ' Last year he'd already defended his thesis.' BaTe KH MaH ypo AHAaM, y aMaKaH a3 AOHAOH 6aprawTa 6YA, 'When I saw him, he had already returned from London.'
h.

AOHAOH pa4>Ta 6YAaM, 60pH aBBv. MaH T06HCTOHH COAH 1 995 6a in the summer of 1995 .' ' I wen t to Lon don the first time KapAa 6YAaM, MaH ce COA new 6a TO HKH CTOH ca4>ap s ago. ' ' I traveled to Tajik istan three year

rOBO 6a OH BOA" Ha6apOMaAaaHA, 'Cows don't go into that valley.' YB04> H ry4>TH OHO, y 60 MOAapaw 6a IOHOH pa4>TaaCT, :Accordmg to what they say (their words), he went to Greece with his mother.'

When used as the reportative past, the present perfect can be used with a past time marker. Aap aaTH Ba4>oTH naAapaM MaH e3AaMoa 6YAaaM 'I was eleven months old at the time of my father's eath.' Note: The reportative form must be used because this

in Tajik i. The future part sim ple future is mor e liter ary.
1.

s to exp ress the Futu re tense form s. The re are two verb form the iciple is common in colloquial Tajiki;

future

HCMOHAH COMOH" Aap COAH 907 MYPAaaCT, 'Ismoil Somoni died in 907 AD.'

information must have been learned from others.

The future participle is used in colloquial Ta jiki as a future tense indicating that an action is intended, planned, desired, or hoped for. It is used like a predicate adjective to which the predicate endings are added (except in the 2nd person singular, in which the repetition of -" is felt to be redundant):
Future participle:

g. Past distant tense. The past distant tense is formed in much the
same way as the present perfect, with the past tense of 6YAaH in place of the predicate endings:
Singular

'

MaH 6a nap H>K pa4>TaHH SlMI ' I want to go to Paris, I plan to go to Pari s.' Ty COAH oSlH Aa 6a MaCKaB pa4>TaH" ? ?' 'Do you plan to go to Mos cow next year as the past and the pres ent It can also be used in othe r tens es, such e of inte ntio n in the past : perf ect, to indi cate the app rop riate sens MaH 6a n apH>K pa4>T aHH 6YAa M, go to Pari s.' 'I wanted to go to Paris, I plan ned to
2. Simple ( or literary) future: The simple future tense is used ex clusively for actions that will occur in the future. It is formed from the present subjunctive (see Section 5.3b below) of XOCTaH 'to wa t' immediately followed by the past stem of the verb; when used m this way as an auxiliary for the future tense, the verb XOCTaH loses

As its name suggests, the past distant is used to tell about events in the relatively distant past.

YA4>SI Aap COAH 1 997 6a AMpHKO OMaAa 6YA,

Zulfia came to America in 1997.'
88 0-

i ts o r i g i n a l m ea n i n g of ' to wa n t' a n d m e rl" y con vey s i n form a t i on abou t the pers on and num ber of the subj ect of the s e n te n ce .
Singular

(the

refrain from the national an them, CYPYAH MHAAM) CaAOMaT 6oweA ! 'Be healthy!' (as farewell), 'You're welcome!'

Nex t week I will go to Dushanbe.' MaH 6a Mac KaB xox,aM paT, 'I will go to Mo scow.' <l>Hpya 6abA aa ce pya xox,aA oMaA, 'Fir uz will com e after three day s.' The negative is formed by add ing Ha-

aTaH oJlHAa MaH 6a Ayw aH6e xox,aM paT,

to xox,-.

The verb AOAaH/AHx, 'to give' changes AHX, to Aex, in the singular to form the imperative: Sa MaH OHpO Aex, ! 'Give that to me!', but remains as AHx,eA in plural form: KHT06po AHx,eA ! 'Give the book! ' In colloquial Tajiki, Aex, and AHx,eA 'give!' are pronounced Te and TeA: KocaJl/Kocapa Te ! ' Give (me) the bowl!' Many verbs whose present stems are very short add the prefix 6H- to form the imperative; a M is automatically added before a vowel, so the imperative of oMaAaH/o 'to come' is fre quently written 6He(eA), and the imperative of oaapAaH/oBap (whose present stem oBap often contracts to op) ' to bring' is of ten 6Hep(eA). In older Persian 6H- often indicated the subjunctive (as it still does in Iran); this use can be encountered in poetry and song.

Mo OHA 6a OH Haxox,eM rYT, 'We won 't talk about it aga in: MaH Haxox,aM pa T, 'I will not go.' Ty Haxox,M rYT, 'You will not say. ' The iple future is largely a literary tense; in spoken Tajiki the future partICIple or the present-future tense is usually used in its plac e.
5.3. The other fi n ite verb fo r ms

about the completion of an action or to deny the current existence of a state, including expressions of possibility, probability, desire, intent, doubt, and the like. The present subjunctive of most verbs is formed by adding the present personal endings to the present stem of the verb. In other words, for almost all verbs the subjunctive has the same form as the present indicative without the prefix Me-.
Singular Plural

b. Present subJunctive. The subjunctive is used to express uncertainty

all verbs It IS ormed ,:ith the present stem. In the singular, the bare present stem IS used; In the plural, the suffix -eA is added: J1H KHT06p o xOH eA ! 'Rea d this boo k! ' J1Hp o rHp ! 'Take this !' The imp erative of 6YA aH is formed with 6ow :

a. Imperatl e: . The imperative is used to give commands; for almost

The verbs 6YAaH 'to be' and AOWTaH 'to have' form the subjunctive differently. The subjunctive of 6YAaH is formed with the stem 6ow:
Singular Plura l

3HH Aa 6ow , JM BaTaH, I TO,\ HKH CTOH H oaOA H MaH ! 'Live l ong, 0 Motherland, My free Tajik istan ! '

(the Boy Scou t motto in TajikiJ

TaMe p 6ow ! 'Be prep ared ! '

WOA 6owaHA, 'May they be happy.'

There i s an alternate form of the 3rd s i n g u l a r, GOA: 3HHAa 60A ! nOSlHAa 60A ! Xy,\aCTa 60A ! HeCT/H06YA 60A ! 'Long may he/it live!' 'Forever live . . . !' 'Let him be happy!' 'Let him be gone, down with ... ! '

In add i tion, the subjunctive can be used i n parallel clauses to i n d i cate a general truth (a "gnomic statement" ) or to equate two or more actions without subordinating any of them. This use is quite common in proverbs: 3a60H AOHM, ,\aOH AOHM, 'Learn a language, learn a world.' Note that this construction pictures the two actions as perfectly parallel and as true regardless of circumstances. It would be pos sible to make it a true conditional statement by adding arap 'if' to the beginning, but doing so would imply that learning a language is a means to learning a world and would set up an ordering of be fore and after that the use of subjunctives in parallel avoids, which instead implies that as you learn a language, so also and as a matter of course you learn a world (a connotation the English equivalent conveys somewhat as well).

Because AOWTaH does not take Me- i n the present indicative, to p re vent ambiguity its subjunctive is formed from the past participle AOWTa and the auxiliary stem 60w:
Singular Plural

Note t at this form is used for the present subjunctive of compound verbs m AOWTaH as well: AYCT AOWTa 60waM 'that I like.' The plural imperative of all verbs except AOWTaH and AOAaH is iden tical in form with the 2nd person plural of the present subjunctive; thus, 60weA can mean either 'be!' or 'may you be' depending on context. The subjunctive is almost non-existent in English, so its use can e hrd fr Eglish speakers to grasp. The essential use of the subjunc ve IS to mdlcate that an action is not actual but rather potential, pro Jected, expected, desired, necessary, possible, or contingent on another action. Thus, in most cases the use of the subjunctive is required by the use of other words, such as modal verbs (can, should, might, ought, etc.) and some conjunctions (if, lest, before, etc.), or by particular construc tions (certain types of relative clauses, conditional statements, etc.). In these uses the verb in the subjunctive does not stand alone but is in some way connected loosely but in a dependent sense to another verb (sometimes one that is omitted but understood) in the same sentence. However, the subjunctive can be used alone to indicate a strong wish. For the 1st person singular and plural, the subjunctive means , , "let me... " or "1 sh a11 . .. " and "I et s ... ,, respectIve . 1y, wh ile for other persons it is best translated "may... " (or "let him ... " or "let them ... ").

c. Other subjunctives. Besides the present subjunctive, there are

three compound subjunctive forms, the perfect, habitual, and continuous subjunctives, differing from the present subjunctive in aspect and finding use largely in conditional sentences (see Chapter 5, Section 7) . The translations given emphasize the dis tinction each form makes, but they would often be too clumsy to use in English; in general they are much rarer than the present subjunctive and the learner should only learn how to recognize them at this stage. KYHaM, 'that I do' KapAa 60waM, 'that I (woul d) have done' MeKap Aa 60waM, 'that I would usual ly do' KapA a HCTOAa 60waM, 'that I would be doing' Arap MaH HH KOppO HaMeKapAa 60waM, OAaM Ba3HHH MewaBCl,t\, 'If I didn't have this job, I'd be in bad shape (my condition would be serious). ' Note: The habitual subjunctive is

used to mean working at a job rather than doing a particular piece of work.
Arap MaH TypO AHAa 60waM, \.Iapo Aap XOTHp HaAopaM? 'If I had seen you, why don't I remember?' Note: The continual subjunctive is used to emphasize that the
93

6HHaM. PaBeM ! CaAOMaT 60waA ! CaAOMaT 60weA !

'Let me see, I shall see.' 'Let's go! ' 'May h e b e healthy! ' 'May you b e healthy!'

speaker's seeing the hearer was ongoing when the hearer noticed it.

The passi ve is i.l verb form u sed to m a ke the logi al object o a verb (the person or thing actu a l l y bein g acted O i l ) mto the subJ ct. Thus, the active sentence I saw Bill has the p a s s i \' t ' . eqUlvalen Blll was seen by me. The passive is used to focus atten ioll . on the lgIcal o Ject (the patient) rather than or without mention i nr the logIcal subject (the aget): ill was seen entering the house. Tht: . am way t form th paSSIve m Tajiki is from the past partici plt' a the verb m the actIve sentenc e and the auxiliary wYAaH wh ic h shows the tese. For eX amle, oHAaH 'to read' has the assi Vl' XOHAa wYAaH to be read, , whIch IS conjuga ted normal ly:
d, PaSS Ive voice, ,

A ctive

Passive

rapM KaPAaH 'to warm up (trans.)

06 KapAaH 'to

n;

ap 1GlP.i&,aH 'to stat

Active

MOAapaM 06 rapM KapA, 'My mother heated the water .' water in the kettle becam e hot.' 06H '40l4HH K rapM wYA, 'The MOAap aM 06 rapM MeKYH aAt 'My mother is heating the water.' water in the kettle is heating up.' 06H '40l4HHK rapM MewaBaA, 'The n axTa ",aMb rapAHA, 'The cotton was gathered.' collected.' 06 ", a Mb raWT, 'The water was MYCO .HPOH 3apap AHAaHA, 'The passengers were injured (suffered harm) .' Kop noeH e.T, 'The work was finished (came to an end) .' The logica l subject of the sentence (the agent) is indicated with the phrase a3 Tapa. H 'by' (literally, "from the side of" ):

OHl\;O KHT06po XOHAaHA, 'They read the book.' KHT06 XOHAa WYA, 'The book was read .' OHl\;O KHT06po MeXOHaHA, 'They read the book.' KHT06 XOHAa MewaBaA, 'The book i s being/is/will be read.' Hl\;O KHT06po XOHAaaHA, 'They have read the book.' KHT06 XOHAa wYAaacT, 'The book has been read.'

MaH a3 Tapa.H l\;YKYMaTH AMPHKO 6a BaWHHTTOH AabBaT wYAaM,

t.' 'I was invited to Washington by the American governmen wYA, KHT06 a3 TapaclH Aw.6ap xOHAa 'The book was read by Dilbar .'

Simila rly: MaH XOHa COXTaM, I built a house.' XOHa COXTa WYA, 'The house was built.' MaH XOHa MeC03aM, 'I am going to build a house.' XOHa COXTa MewaBaA, 'The house is going to be built.'
'

Howevr compound verbs form the passive in a second wa . . For most aUXIlIary verbs used , in active compound verbs' there IS Y a . m? passI:e auxi iry; for the most common active auxilorrespond' Iary, KapAaH, ItS paSSIve aUXIlIary is wYAaH, for example. The passive the cm ound verb is formed simply by replacing the active aux I Iary WIth ItS cor;esponding passive; for example, TaMOM KapAaH 'to . , fimsh (somet mg has the passive TaMOM wYAaH 'to be finished .' Com pound nommatIve verbs formed with the auxiliary verbs wYAaH rw aH/rapA 'to turn (intr.),' rapAHAaH/rapA 'to wander,' eclTaH/e6 't find and AHAaH/6 HH 'to see, meet with' are always passive .

Tajiki uses the passive less frequently and more strictly than Eng lish does. In English, it is possible to form passive sentences in which the indirect object or another part of speech is made the subject. For ex ample, I gave Mary the book can have both The book was given to Mary (true passive) and Mary was given the book (passive of the indirect object) as passives, at least for many speakers of English. Similarly, it is natural for some English speakers to make passives for objects of prepositions: They went through the house thoroughly (active) and The house was gone through thoroughly (passive). Tajiki only allows true passives, in which a direct object is made the subject; KHT06 6a AHA6ap AOAa wYA, 'The book was given to Dilbar' is grammatical but *AHA6ap KHT06po AOAa wYAt 'Dilbar was given the book' is ungrammatical. Moreover, Tajiki tends not to use the passive when the agent is specified, and when the subject is general or unspecified Tajiki tends to use an impersonal construction or a 3rd person plural active form. Since the purpose of the passive is to focus
-V

95

attention on the direct object, this em pha s i s can oftcn be shown in Taji k i simply by moving the direct object to the beginning o f the sentencc. someone do somethin g or causes somethin g to happen. I t is formed by adding the suffix -OH to the present stem of the verb; the past stem of the causative is then formed in the usual fashion with -MA or -A Thus, from xOHAaH 'to read,' present stem XOH, the present stem XOHOH of the causativ e and its infinitive XOHoHAa H 'to make someone read' are formed. Similarly, from HMWaCTa HI WMH 'to sit' is formed the causative wMHoHA aH/WMHo H 'to cause to sit, to have someone sit, to seat; to place, to plant. ' The caus ative often takes an idiomati c meaning, as with the many mean ings of W MHOHAaH . (Whethe r the past stem ends in -MA or -A must be learned for each verb. Some verbs have both forms, usually with no differenc e in meaning : rapAoH( M)AaH 'to turn around, re turn ( trans.); to hand back' In a few cases the two stems have different meaning s: rY3apoH AaH ' to pass (trans.), spend (time)' vs. rynp oHMAaH 'to celebrate .') The gramma r associate d with the causative varies depend ing on the type of verb it is. If the active verb is intransit ive, then the subject of the active verb (the person or thing being caused to act in the causative) is made the direct object of the causative verb, just as in English. BaH 6a XOHaaw AaBMA, 'He ran home.' MaH BaHpo 6a XOHaaw AaBoHAa M, 'I made him run home.' Mo HMwaCTeM, 'We sat down.' AaAep MOpO wMHo H A, ' D aler seated us.'

n apBM3 naAOB XYPA, 'Parviz ate pilaf. ' M o 6 a napBM3 naAOB xypoHAeM, ' We made Parviz eat p ilaf; we fed Parviz pilaf.' The passive of a causative (He was made to run) is formed in the usual way. It indicates that the subject was forced to do some thing or brought into a given state by someone else. OH AapaxT naH'i COA new WMHOHAa wYAaacT, 'That tree was planted five years ago.'
f.

e. Causative voice. The causative indicates that the subject m a kes

also used as a reportative tense form indicating information ob tained at second hand (by hearsay, reputation, or report, for ex ample) . Since it is reporting something already observed, the v rb indicates past time. However, there are three other reportahve tense forms differing from the simple reportatie (presen pe rfect) . in the aspect of the verb. The simple reportahv f? rm mdlcat s both perfective and imperfective aspect (though It IS not used m all cases of perfective aspect), and is by far the most commonly used form; the others are much rarer and the learner only needs to recognize them at this stage. . . The reportative habitual (or past habitual nrrahve) s formed from the simple reportative by adding the prefix Me-. It IS used to indicate a statement at second hand for all actions that are habitual or repeated.
.

Reportatlve forms. As mentioned previously, the present perfect i s

If the active verb is transitive, however, the subject of the active verb is made the indirect object of the causative verb; the direct object of the active verb remains the direct object of the causative verb as well. Because the subject of the active verb is made into an indirect object, it is possible to indicate it with the object suffix on the causative verb.

MapAXjO Aap 'iaHrXjO Ba 3aHXjO XjaHrOM M TaBBaA y BaoT MeKapAaaHA, 'Men die in battle and women Ie I . childbir th.' Note: The use of the reportat ive habltual lmplzes that

MapAXjo HMc6aT 6a 3aHXjO 6MdpTap cMrop MeKaWM AaaHA, 'Men smoke more compared to women .' WyMO Aap AOHAOH 3MHAarH MeKapAaeA, ' (I hear) you used to live in London.' The reportative past distant tense is used to indic te a state ment at second hand in the same circumstances the simple past distant would be used - to tell about events in the relatively dis tant past, and actions that had been compl ted at a certain po n in the past with continuing consequences. It IS formed by combmmg

this is a statemen t about typical, regular occurrences.

MaH KMT06po XOHAaM, 'I read the book' naAapaM 6a MaH KMT06po xOHoHAaHA, 'My father made me read the book ' n aAapaM KMT06po XOHoHAaHAaM, 'My father made me read the book'

97

the past participle with the simple repo rta tive (prese n t perfect ) 6YAaH: A"Aa 6YAaaM, A"Aa 6YAaH, A"Aa 6YAaacT, etc.

01

Y 6a 6apoAapaw 3aHr Ha3aAa 6YAaaCT, 'He didn't fight/hadn't fought with his brother.' KOMPOH ypo Aap KY,",O A"Aa 6YAaacT? 'Where did Komron see him?' MaH TO OH PY3 MyaAA"M" 6a'laOflMpo HaA"Aa 6YAaaM, 'Until that day I had not seen my teacher's children.' new a30MaAClH" WyMo 6apoAapaM 6a MaKTa6 Hapactna 6yCT, 'Before you came my brother hadn't yet gone to school.' Y new a3 MaH 6a "H ,",0 paC"Aa 6YAaacT, 'He (had) arrived here before I did.'
Finally, the reportative continuous tense indicates continu ous aspect, and thus that the action was reported as ongoing in the past. It is formed by using the simple reportative of 6YAaH in the construction for the present and past continuous: pacl>Ta "CTOAa 6YAaacT, 'he/she was going,' etc. BaTe K" BaH nyApo ecl>T, BaH K"T06awpo KOcl>Ta "cTOAa 6YAaaCT, '(They say) she was looking for her book when she found the money.'
6. Modal verbs

p rece de c i pll', w h i ch mu st imm edia tely t-fu ture tens e. sen pre the i s con ju gate d; thus, in

TaB OH CTaH/TaB OH, whi ch

b may be neg ate d . The B oth the aux ilia ry and the m ain ver com bin atio n . of he two ver s; mea nin g foll ows from the sim ple the sen tenc e md Ica e re ram thu s if the mai n ver b is neg ated , CTaH is neg ated , It md icat es ing rom that acti on, an if TaB OH" an ina bili ty to do the acti on.

Auxiliary verbs and verbal forms are widely used in Tajiki and can be divided into two types, modal verbs and auxiliary verbs proper (see Chapter 5, Section 3); in general modal verbs have the same subject as the main verb and auxiliaries do not. There are four modal verbs or verbal constructions in Tajiki, indi cating ability (can), desire (want/wish), necesity (must), and possi bility (might) with a wide variety of shades of meaning depending on tense. The verbs XOCTaH 'to want' and TaBOH"CTaH 'to be able, can' are used with a main verb occurring either in a non-finite form or in the subjunctive. First the non-finite constructions will be given, then the subjunctive construction.

jug ati g TaB O "CT aH in Oth er ten ses can be form ed by con t TaB OH" CTa H I S a stat Ive v: rb, the app rop riat e ten se. N ote tha e the pre sen t or p ast con tmu not an acti ve ver b, so it can not tak ous ten ses. "flM, HMPY3 MaH BaH po A"Aa TaB OH" CTaH ay.' tod 'I will be able to see him , able to see. , MaH A"Aa HaTaBO H"C TaM, 'I was not from seem g ain refr to able was 'I , CTaM OH" TaB MaH H aA" Aa MaH HaA"Aa HaTaBO H"C TaM, ng.' 'I was not able to refrain from seei
.

not able to look .' MaH H"rO KapAa HaMeTaB OHaM, 'I am MaH H"rO HaKapAa MeTaBO HaM, ' ' I am able to refr ain from look ing. aM, BOH eTa HaM a MaH H"rO HaKapA .' 'I am not able to refrain from look ing

a. Expression of ability. To say that a person is able (TaBOH"CTaH) to

do something (main verb), the main verb is put in the past parti.v 9 8

ity i exp ress ed by cn In the subjun ctive con stru ctio n, abil . ctive aux lh ry TaB O "CTaH t.O 'u g atin g the pre sen t of the subjun ject. Thus, If the mam v rb IS e able ' imm edia tely afte r the sub . atIo n app ears as foll ows . XYPAaH ' to eat, to drin k,' the conjug

Singular

Plural

MaH XYPAaH HaMexoaM, ' I do not want to eat' MaH HaxYPAaH MexoaM, 'I want to refrain from eating' MaH HaxYPAaH HaMexoaM, 'I don't want to refrain from eating.' To indicate other tenses, the auxiliary XOCTaH is conjugated in the appropriate tense. Like TaBOH'HCTaH, XOCTaH is a stative verb and cannot be conjugated in the continuous tenses. MaH 6a MY,),A'HCTOH pact>TaH XOCTaM, 'I wanted to go to Mongolia.' MaH xYPAaH HaxOCTaM, 'I didn't want to eat.' MaH HaxYPAaH XOCTaM, 'I wanted to refrain from eating.' MaH HaxYPAaH HaxocTaM, 'I didn't want to refrain from eating.' Note that this construction can only be used when the subject of the main verb is the same as the person desiring the action, that is, when you would say, for example, I want to go. To say I want him to go, where the subject of the main verb is different from the subject of XOCTaH, you must use an object clause (see Chapter 5, Section 2). In the subjunctive construction the verb XOCTaH comes directly after the subject and the present subjunctive of the main verb comes at the end of the sentence. There is no difference in meaning between the non-finite and subjunctive constructions, but the subjunctive construction is preferred if the main verb phrase is very long. Thus, if the main verb is xYPAaH 'to eat, to drink,' the conju gation is:
Singular Plural

As with the non-finite construction, the auxiliary and the main verb may be negated: MaH HaMeTaBOHaM 6'HHaM, 'I am not able to see.' MaH MeTaBOHaM Ha6'HHaM, 'I am able to refrain from seeing' MaH HaMeTaBOHaM Ha6'HHaM, 'I am not able to refrain from seeing.' Ot er tenses can be forme d by conjugating TaBOH 'HCTaH in the appr opnate tense . MaH TaBOH'HCTaM 6'HHaM, 'I was able to see him today.' MaH HaTaBOH'HCTaM 6'HHaM, 'I was not able to see.' MaH TaBOH'HCTaM Ha6'HHaM, 'I was able to refrain from seeing' MaH HaTaBOH'HCTaM Ha6'HHaM, 'I was not able to refrain from seeing.'

b. ExpreSSion of desire. Desire is expressed by the infinitive of the main verb followed the appropriate form of the verb XOCTaH/xo 'to want.' For ex ample, for the present the present-future tense of XOCTaH is used:
Singular

As with the other forms, both the subjunctive auxiliary and the main verb may be negated. MaH Aap XOHa MOHAaH MexoaM, 'I want to stay at home.' Again, both the subjunctive auxiliary and the main verb may be negated.
1 00

MaH HaMexoaM xypaM, 'I do not want to eat.' MaH MexoaM HaxypaM, 'I want to refrain from eating.' MaH HaMexoaM HaxypaM, 'I don't want to refrain from eating.'

101

Naturally, just as with the no n - fi n i tl are formed by conjugating XOCTaH:

'

con s t r u c t i o n other tenses

Ty 60flA Aep HaKYH, Ty Ha60flA Aep KyH, 2)

'You shouldn't be late.' 'You mustn't be late.'

MaH XOCTaM 6a MYF)'AHCTOH paBaM, 'I wanted to go to Mongolia.' MaH HaxOCTaM xypaM, 'I didn't want to eat.' MaH XOCTaM HaxypaM, 'I wanted to refrain from eating.' MaH HaxOCTaM HaxypaM, 'I didn't want to refrain from eating.'

The other two Tajiki modals are 60flA 'must' and WOfiA 'should.' They are frozen forms of verbs that have otherwise fallen out of use in all modem Persian dialects; they thus act like adverbs but can take Ha-. The main verb, which can occur in three tenses to indicate various sens es of obligation or possibility, comes at the end of the sentence, and be tween the modal and the main verb come any objects and prepositional phrases that complete the meaning of the verb (such as phrases in a3 or 6a with verbs of motion), as well as adverbs closely modifying the main verb (especially ones reinforcing aspect, such as aAAaKaM 'already.') a variety of kinds of obligation or necessity arising from inner conviction, Tajiki uses the auxiliary 60flA 'must.' 1 ) To indicate that the subject is obligated to perform an action in the future (I must go, I have to leave, I ought to/should stay), 60flA is followed by the present subjunctive of the main verb; it precedes the noun of compound verbs. This construction means 'must, ought.'
Singular Plural

ted to perform an ac To indicate that the subject was obliga h h ), 60flA i s tion in the past (I had to leave, I ought to/s ould ave stayed followed by the past imperfect of the main verb. This construction have.' The negative is formed by is best translated as 'had to, should h h adding Ha- to the verb (not to ave ad to) or to 60flA (shOU ld not have) .
Plural

c. Expression of necessity. To indicate

OHO 60flA 6a AywaH6e MepaTaHA,

'They had to go to Dushanbe.'

Ty Aap OH ,\0 60flA HaMeMoHA,

'You didn't have to stay there.'

Ty Aap OH ,\0 Ha6 0flA MeMoHA,

'You shouldn't have stayed there.' t must have pe r To indicate a conjecture that the subjec ft 60R A is fol forme d an action in the past (He must have le already), h T erb. construc is e v main the lowed by the perfect subjunctiv of d require by the for ce tion means 'must have' in the sense of being red, or a of circumstances but not known for certain to have occur conjecture base d on evidence and what is reasonable to expect.
3)
Singular Plural

MaH 60flA 6a XOHa paBaM, 'I must go home.' WYMO HpO 60flA KYHeA? 'What do you have to

do?'

The simple negative is formed by adding Ha- to the verb, giv . the mg sense that something shouldn't be done. For the more em phatic sense of prohibition (must not), Ha- is prefixed to 60flA.
.A!.l 1 02 .A!.l 1 03 '-'-

K,Te KH M:H 6a XOHa pacHAaM, BaH 60AA x06HAa 60waA

e mu st ave bee n sle epi ng wh en J got ho me :

'

d. xpress lon of pos sibi . lity. To ind icate a varIety ' of km ds of pos sIb i l I ty. . use TaJIki s t e uxi liary WOAA 'mi ght .' 1) To md Icate tha t the sub ' . ect m gh t perform an a tion n th t , future (I might go), WOAA is foU wed y the pre sen t sub jun ctIve 0 / the ma in verb.

J) To ind icate a co n j e ct u re that the subject might h ave per formed a n action in the past (He might have left already), WORA is fol lowed by the perfect subjunctive of the main verb. This construc tion means 'might have' in the sense of a possibility allowed by the force of circumstances, or a conjecture that is weaker than that indicated by 60RA KapAa 60w- 'must have done.'
1 st . MaH WORA KaPAa 60waM
Singular

MaH WORA K)'HaM 'I might do'

Singular

Plural

i 'I might have done'

,

'

Me>

WOSwA KaPAa 60weM 'we might have . .

Plural

OAH RHAa MO WORA 6a napH

OHO WOSlA KYt:f,aHA 'they might do' ,

Y WORA Kap.6.a 60waA 'he might have done'

BaH WORA aAAaKaH paclTa 60waA, 'He might have left already.'
7. Verbs requiring care for English learners

>K paB eM, We mIght go to Paris next yea r.'

"

r: WOUd the pas t im per: e: construction is use o ndicate a counterfactual sar;:%:;;r' a:stem ent of pas t po ssIb IlIty and is bes t translate
d 'might have, perhaps . . . wo uld have.'
l s MaH WORA MeKapAaM 'I might have done' I Y WORA MeKapA , 'he might have done'
Singular
'we

2) To ind icate tha t the sub iec t . h a d the pO SSIb J IlIty of per for ming an action in th rhap I ha e gon e), WO RA is fol lowed by

MO WORA MeKapAeM might have done'

Plural

a. More on 'to be.' E quational and existential sentences in the pres ent tense were discussed previously in the chapter on nominals (see Chapter 2, Section 7); in other tenses the verb 6YAaH ' to be' serves for both the predicate endings and aCT ' there is.' More over, a present-tense form of 6YAaH is used in certain circum stances; it is formed regularly with the present stern 60w (taken over from the subjunctive) :
Singular Plural

they might have done' , Ty WORA 6a '40R W A aFM O H Mex ypMi 'You might have eaten laghm an in tea d.' ORA Ma H 6a Ay wa H6e HaM epa clTaM, Perhap s I wo uld n't have gon e to Dushanb e.'
" i,

HO WORA MeKapAaHA ;

These forms are usually used to add variety to the sentence when there are several clauses in a row that would all use the predicate endings. They are also used following personal pos sessive markers.

1 04

105

MaH 6HCTyacl>TcoAaaM, aKORM CHIOCeCOAa Me60waA Ba xoapaM 6HCTCOAa aCT, ' I'm 27 and my big b rother i s 33, and my little sister is 20.' OH MOWHHH naAapaM Me60waA, 'That's my father 's car.' Note: OH MOWHHH naAapH MaH aCT is also used to avoid the se

ments

a re general, the present-future tense forms MewaBaA 'it wiB do' . . and HaMeWaBaA 'it won't do' are used (note the use of the past partiCIple of a verb with wYAaH in the last sentence without a passive meaning):

quence of personal possessive marker and predicate ending, which is jarring to Tajiki speakers.
In addition, when a relative clause would cause two or more predicate markers to pile up at the end of the sentence, one of them is replaced by 60w to prevent awkwardness, since the predicate endings sound unnatural unless they follow nominals. Such sen tences can be handled stylistically so as to avoid such a pile-up, but even then 60w is preferred to prevent repetition. Compare:

AHa, HHaw MewaaaA, 'Ok, this will doL' JtiH xeA HaMewaaaA, ' (Acting) this way won't do.' A3 HH ,\0 6a OH ,\0 pacl>Ta HaMewaaaA, 'You can't get there from here .'
Finally, to indicate location the expression ,\oMrHp aCT 'is l cat ed' is used with Aap ' at' : 60HKH MHAAH Aap MapKa3H wap ,\OHrHp aCT, 'The National Bank is located at the city center.'

k obtain .' The verb b. AOWTaH 'to have, hold' and ntpl4TaH 'to ta e, get,

naAapH Cyp06 OH MapAe, KH a3 nOMHp aCT, aCT. 'Suhrob's father is the man from Pomir.' (most awkward) naAapH Cyp06 OH MapAe, KH a3 nOMHp Me60waA, aCT. 'Suhrob's father is the man from Pomir.' (very awkward) naAapH Cyp06 OH MapAe aCT, KH a3 nOMHp aCT.

hold,' u is mos.tly AOWTaH has the basic meaning of 'to ake, t sense It IS a stahve used in the sense 'to have' or ' to own. In thIS verb and does not take the prefix Me-.

Singular

Plural

(too repetitive) (preferred)

naAapH Cyp06 OH MapAe aCT, KH a3 nOMHp Me60waA.

Otherwise 60w is mostly used in formal written Tajiki. In addition, the verb wYAaH/waa 'to become' is closely associ ated with 6YAaH 'to be.' Its basic meaning is the same as English 'to become,' indicating the change from one condition to another. It is used more widely than 'to become,' often in the same circum stances that spoken English uses 'to get':

MaH KHT06 AOWTaM, 'I had a book (books) .' WYMO HH KHT06po AopeA? 'Do you have the book?'
However, when AOWTaH is used in the concrete sense of holding, hiking, or grasping, or when it is part of a compound verb (for example, AYCT AowTaH 'to like'), its present is conjugated in the regular way:

MaH 6eMop 6YAaM, 'I was sick.' MaH 6eMop wYAaM, 'I got sick.'
Frequently it is used in the present-future tense more or less as a substitute for 6YAaH, and as a result it is also so used in the simple past tense. However, wYAaH has the added meaning of an involuntary or passive change, which is in fact the source of its use in forming the passive. In addition, wYAaH is used to indicate that something is suitable, socially acceptable, or possible. Note that since in many cases such state--V 1 06 0--

BaM K,aAaMawpo MeAopaA, 'She is holding her pencil.' MaH HH KHT06po AyCT MeAopaM, 'I like this book.' AOWTaH is used to indicate actual possess on; exis nce is n dicated by aCT (6YAaH in the past tense). Thus, to have In EnglIsh does not always correspond to AOWTaH . Aap TO,\HKHCTOH 6Hcep Ky aCT, 'Tajikistan has lots of mountains, there are many mountains in Tajikistan.'
1 07 0--

The verb rHpH+TaH i s u s e d q u i te s i m i l ,u' l y to t ill' E n g l i s h verb get. Its basic meaning is 'to take,' but it is a l so u sed m o re b roadly i n

the sense o f obtaining or receiving something.

3.

(or other animal) is sensing something; as in English, there is a difference for seeing and hearing between p assive sensing, i n which something is simply sensed (to see, t o hear), and active sensing, in which the subject is p aying attention or actively ob serving something (to look, to listen) . The Tajiki verbs of sensing are the following:
Sense Passive

Verbs of sensing. Verbs of sensing indicate that a person

I n a d d i tion to HHro KapAaH, Tajiki has the verb TaMOWO KapAaH 'to wa t c h . ' Unlike English, this verb only takes a direct object. The English verbs of sensing (except for hearing, for which English uses 'to sound') can also be used to indicate the impres sion something makes on your senses, such as You look good, It tastes great, and The milk smells sour. Tajiki verbs of sensing are not used this way. For seeing and hearing the verb HaMYAaH/HaMo 'to app: ar, seem' is used, while for the other senses you say, for example, 6ySlw 6aA aCT 'It smells bad' (literally, 'its smell is bad').
AaAep WOA MeHaMOSlA, 'Daler seems happy.' BaH xaCTa HaMeHaMYA, 'She didn't seem tired.' Similarly, in English the verbs of sensing can be used in an abstract sense to indicate your evaluation of a situation, such as It looks like John left, Sounds like you 've got a problem, or It just doesn't feel right. For these senses you can use the 3rd person sin?ular of HaMYAaH 'to seem' with an object clause (see Chapter 5 SectIon 2) . The verbs of sensing are used as in English with TaBOHHCTaH 'to be able' to indicate both failure to sense something and incapacity to sense something; thus, MaH OHpO AHAa HaMeTaBOHaM 'I can't see it' can mean either that there is something in the way or the object is not in view, or that the speaker is blind or has weak sight. It is common to express the former meaning with phrases like OH 6a '1awMoHaM/rywaM HapacHA 'It didn't reach my eyes/ears.'

The passi ve verbs of sensi ng all treat the thing being sense d as a direc t objec t. The active verbs, however, make a distin ction between actua lly obse rving some thing and expe cting to obser ve some thing, much as in Engl ish. In I am looking at John, John is ac t ally in sight, whil e in I am lookin g for John, I am expe cting to see hIm but he is not in sight . In Tajik i, the form er m eanin g is indi cated with 6a, the latter with the direc t objec t. MaH AaAeppo HHro KapAa HCTOAaaM, 'I'm looking/waiting for Daler.' MaH 6a AaAep HHro KapAa HCTOAaaM, 'I'm looki ng at Dale r.' BaH pa,&.HOPO ryw KapAa HCToAaacT, 'He's listening to the radio .' BaH 6a ranaM ryw KapAa HCToA aacT, 'He's listen ing to me (liter ally, my spee ch).'

down,' xecTaH/xe3 'to rise, stand up, get up,' and Aapo3 KawHAaHI Aapo3 KaW 'to lie down' can be tricky for English speakers. n most tenses Tajiki uses these verbs as you would expect from Enghsh. 3YA+HSI Aap Aa6H Aape HHwacT, 'Zulfia sat down at the edge of the river.' AaAep a3 KYPCH xeCT, 'Daler got up from the chair.' 606oSlM Aap AHBaH Aapo3 MeKaWHA, 'Grandpa would lie down on the sofa.' However, in English the present and past progressives of these verbs have two distinct meanings. They can be used to indicate that the process of sitting down, lying down, or standing up is now or was at a given time still ongoing; thus, Mary's just now sitting down means
..v 1 09 '-'"-

d. Verbs of posture. The use of the Tajiki verbs HHwaCTaH/wHH 'to sit

that she is i n the middle of si tt i n g dow n (or, id iomatical ly, that she i i n the process of settling i n her chair a n d getting com fortable). For t h i sense Tajiki uses the present and past continuous tenses. However, tilt' English progressive forms of these verbs much more commonly me,l I l that the action has finished and the person i s i n the resulting sta te. Thus, Mary's sitting at the table right now means that Mary is seated il l the table. For this sense Tajiki uses the present perfect tense (for pres ent time) or the past distant tense (for past time); that is, one says the equivalent of She has sat down or He had lain down. napaH3 Aap 60F HHwaCTaaCT, 'Parviz is sitting in the garden . ' ryp6aaM Aap 60M HHwaCTa 6yA, 'My cat was sitting on the roof.' MYHcacl>eA Aap CORH AapaxTH TyT Aapo3 KaWHAaaCT, 'The old man is lying in the shade of the mulberry tree.' MOAapaM a3 capAapA Aapo3 KaWHAa 6YAaHA, 'Mother was lying down because of a headache.'
In addition, English speakers need to take care in translating the verb ' to stand.' To indicate standing as opposed to walking or running, Tajiki uses the verb HCToAaH/HcT 'to stand, stay, stop.' On the other hand, to indicate the state of being on one's feet as opposed to sitting or lying down, the verb POCT HCToAaH 'to be standing, to stand straight' is used. Finally, to indicate that someone is standing after having stood up from a sitting or lying position, the present perfect tense (the past distant tense for times in the past) of xeCTaH 'to get up' is used. Similar considerations hold for other important verbs like nYWHAaH/nyw 'to put on, wear'; the meaning of 'wear' is indicated by the present perfect or distant past. Similarly, with ryM wYAaH 'to get/ become lost,' one says ryM wYAaacT 'he's lost,' rather than ryM MeWaaaA, which would mean 'he's getting lost, he gets/will get lost.' However, there are many verbs for which the distinction between a change of state and the resulting state is not indicated by aspect. Thus, xo6HAaH can mean 'to sleep' and 'to go to sleep,' and both the present perfect xo6HAaacT and the present-future Mexo6aA mean 'he's sleeping,' while xo6HAaacT also means 'he's gone to sleep.' (One also uses such phras es as Xo6aw 6YPA 'he went to sleep,' literally 'sleep carried him off.') Other verbs do not use the present perfect for present meanings: Thus, one only says MeAOHaM 'I know,' not *AOHHCTaaM.

pending on context. This is not true of Tajiki verbs, which are much more often either transitive or intransitive but not both. However, quite often an English verb that has both intransitive and transi tive meanings will correspond in Tajiki to two closely related verbs. The most common patterns are as follows:

ry3awTaH/rY3ap 'to pass (intransitive), and ry3apoHAaH 'to

pass

1) An intransitive verb and its causative form: (transitive), spend (time)'

2) A transitive verb and its passive form: wYAaH 'to be oaexTaH/oae3 'to hang (tran sitive)' and oaeXTa hung, to hang (intransitive)'
iarie 3) A compound verb with active and passive auxil H 'to wYAa X R and )' sitive R X KapAaH/6aCTaH 'to freeze (tran freeze (intransitive), s: However, this is only true of verbs that differ

Many transitive English verbs can be used int ansitive y or in the passive to indicate that the action actually aphes reflexvely to he subject (or with other idiomatic meanings); this change m meanmg is indicated in Tajiki in a wide variety of ways that must be learned individually for each verb. For example, in English 'to prepare' is transitive with a corresponding passive 'to be prepared'; when used intransitively, 'to prepare' actually means 'to prepare oneself.' This last meaning is indicated quite differently in Tajiki:

only in transitivity.

TaMep KapAaH 'to prepare (something; 6a for), TaMep wYAaH 'to be prpared (6a for),

TaMep" "'HAaH 'to prepare ()neself; 6a for)' (lit., to see/undergo preparation)

MaH 6apoH Aape HHwo e TaMep KapAaM,

XypOI{H HaapY3M ...aMep UiYAaaeT,

iThe 'I prepared for the test.'

fooq was prepared for Navruz.' MaH 6a HMTHOH TaMep" AHAaM, .

'I

prepared an essay for dass.'

e. Transitive-Intransitive pairs of verbs. As discussed in Section 2 above,

many verbs in English can be either transitive or intransitive de..v 1 1 0

..v 1 1 1

C hapter

Adve r bs and Part icles

1 . Ad ve rbs and ad verbial phrases

Adverbs are words that modify verbs (ran quickly), adjectives (l!.flJI. green), and other adverbs (J2QJI. quickly). Adverbs that modify adjectives and other adverbs are placed immediately before the word they modify, and they should present no problems for Eng lish learners. Comparatives and superlatives of adverbs are formed in the same way as for adjectives. Adverbs and adverbial phrases that modify verbs fall into four main groups as in English, adverbi als of time, place, manner, and quantity.
a. Adverbials of time. Tajiki has numerous simple adverbs of time. The most important ones to indicate past time (and thus occurring with past-tense verb forms) are:

AHpy3 'yesterday' (with the colloquial form AHHa), AHwa6 'last night' napepy3 'the day before yesterday' napewa6 'two nights ago' nopcoA/nopHHa 'last year' napepcoA 'the year before last' HaBaKaK/o3HpaKaK 'just now, recently' Of course, the adverbs H Mpy3 ' today' and HMwa6 ' tonight' can be used with the p ast tense if referring to times earlier to day or tonight. For present and future time, the following ad verbs are quite common: aAONOAO/03HP 'now' AapoA 'immediately' HMwa6 'tonight' HMCOA 'this year' 3YA 'soon' HMpy3 'today' clapAo 'tomorrow' naccIapAO 'day after tomorrow'

Many adverbs of time refer simply to parts of a day or year and frequently have a habitual sense. Examples include:
1 1 2 1 1 3

PY I O H . ' i n the daytime, daily' wa60Ha 'in the nighttime, nig h tl y' 6eroM 'in the evening' naroM 'in the morning' HHC+HPY3M 'noontime' newHHM 'at noon'
Note that these adverbs can also be used as adjectives. Other im portant adverbs of time include: aMewa 'always/ 3YA-3YNTe3-Te3 'often,' ro-ro 'sometimes,' 6ab3aH 'now and then, on occasion, sometimes,' and aprH3/e,\ ro with a negative verb, 'never.' Also important are the following:

s ch as h the loca l mar k.et day . falls , the d a y of the week on w h i c wIthout

or baz aar In Khujand; Ayw aH6 e and naH ,\waH6e, the maj taken for t e name of a place.) py3 the name of the day might be mis ch somethIn? hap pen ed mu st Sim ilarly, the month or year in whi izof at. WIt h all of thes e ex follow MO ' month' or COA 'year' with on' is opt ional: pyl H A aH6 e pre ssions, the pre pos ition Aap 'in, H HJON Aap MOH HJOA In July, Aap PY3H Ayw aH6 e ' (on) Mo nday,' MO 'in 200 0.' COAH AY a3 0p/Aap COAH AY u op

A? I WYMO (Aap) MOXH HJOA Aap Mac KaB 6YAe A? (Aap> MOXH HJOA WYMO Aap Mac KaB 6YAe ?' 'Were you in Mo scow in July KaB Ha6YAeA ? I WyMO (Aap) COAH AYXUOpyM Aap Mac KaB Ha6YAeA? (Aap) COAH AYxa30pyM WYMO Aap MaC 'Weren't you in Mo scow in 200 0?' ases are placed either at the Mo st adverbs of time and time phr ediately following the subject: very beginning of the sentence or imm l MaH xeAe MaH xeAe xaCTa 6YAaM I AHpY 'Yesterday I was very tire d.' eM I Mo COAH rYlaWTa Aap MYfYAH CTOH 6YA eM, COAH ry3awTa MO Aap MYfYAH CTOH 6YA 'Last year we were in Mongolia.' xaCTa 6YAaM,

aHyl 'not yet' (used w i th a negative verb ) MyaaaTaH 'for the time being' 603 'still' +aBpaH 'immediately' aAAaKaM 'already,' 6a Ha3AHKM 'soon, recently' TaMOMaH 'finally'
In addition, there are several ways of forming adverbial phrases indicating time:

2} To indicate a given amount of e in the past or pre ceding the time of reference, the amount of time is fol lowed by the adverb new 'front, ago': AY PY3 new 'two . days agofbefore.' .
. . .

1) With units of time, 'last' is rY3awTa 'past," this' is HH, and 'next' is OJlHAa 'coming': COAH rY3awTa 'last year. '

week after that.'

3) To indicate a given amount of time later than a given time (whether in the past or the future), the amQunt of time follows the preposition 6a'bA or nac 'after, later' with izofat: 6a'bAH JlK a+Ta 'after one week, a week later.', nac a3 BK CO.4 'after a year, a yar later.' The last word often takes the possessive suffix -aw when the phrase indicates a period after a previously-mentioned time: 6a'bAH JlK a+Taaw 'a

BaH 6eM op 6YA, BaH AY pyl new 6eM op 6YA I Ay py3 new
'He was sick two day s ago .' e 6YAeM I Mo 6abAH SlK xatTaaw Aap Ayw aH6 6YAeM, e aH6 SabAH SlK xatTaaw MO Aap Ayw hanbe.' Dus 'A week later (after that) we were in icate on which day or in However, time markers use d to ind t befo re the verb : wh ich month an event fall s come righ birthday was in July.' 30APylH y Aap MOXH HJOA 6YA, 'Her y was yesterd ay.' 30APY3H y 6YA, 'Her birthda

To indicate a specific day of the week, the name of the day must be preceded by PY3, which takes izofat: PY3H AywaH6e ' (on) Monday.' (This is necessary because many places are named after
-V 1 1 40--

-V 1 1 5 0--

The nam es of the day s of th ' tc in Taj iki) are : flK wa H6 e Ayw aH 6e cew aH6 e '1op wa H6e Th Sun day Monda y Tuesd ay We dn esd ay

Wl'l' k

( W Jl l' Ch a re not ca p i ta l i zt'd

Th urs day Fr ida y Sat urd ay
ls-

naH '4w aH6 e '4YMba w aH6 e

ere are eral tem months in Taj iki . While the . :7;; ;I:;;sev ' a:sys m;c lns of r cal nd ar, and tra dition al Persia n . :re In vanous cIrcumstances, the mo st commonly-us ed calen da; i t e Westem calend ar, bo rrowed fro m Russian. (The TaJ iki an d E ngl IS h nam es of the mo nth s are SIm I1 but not identi cal bec au se Y the r:: Gree the English uItima/ f::ha::: !i :. es are orr ow ed from Ru ssi an they are stre d as I. Ru ssIa n; te stress is ind ica ted bel ow with nd er1 ini ng ( rom normal Tajiki stress on nouns.) Nte th't: c a?s f . . lIze ths are not cap Ita d in Tajiki .
To
ar

Adverblals of manner. In many cases Tajiki ad verbs of manner are sim ply adjectives used adverbially, like in the English He ran hard, though this is much more common in Tajiki than in English. While Tajiki does have some adverbial suffixes, there is no equivalent to English suffixes like -ly, -wise, or -way that must be used for almost all adverbs. Adver bials of manner tend to come immediately before the verb. Certain adverbial suffixes are used with Arabic loanwords, however, particularly -aH:
C.

aaAaH 'at least' aKcapaH 'mostly, generally' TaKpopaH 'repeatedly' ct>ebAaH 'currently'

YMYMaH 'in general, overall' MabMYAaH 'usually' OAaTaH 'usually, customarily' KOMHAaH 'completely'

d. Adverbials of quantity. The most important adverbs of quantity are:

HH aAap 'this much,' flK aAap 'some,' 6Hcep 'much,' KaMe ' a little,' '1M aAap 'how much/little!' OH aAap 'that much,' aHAaK 'a little,' 6ew 'more,' KaMaKaK 'very little'

flHB ap cj>eBpaA MapT anpeA Ma H HIO H

Jan uary F ebruary Ma rch Ap ril Ma y June

HIOA aBryCT ceH Tfl6p OKTfl6-p HOfl 6p AeKa6p

Taj iki adverbial s of pI o a;::ocations;n.the re are no sim ple ad::r E . ey are p l ace d after the sub ject . The nouns used in com po . . un d pre po sItI ons, however, can be used b them se ves or W . lth the prepo sition 6a to make adverbials of dire tI on . F or exa mp ie:
I

b: dverbla ls of pla ce and directio

July August September Octobe r November De cem ber

When a sentence contains all four types of adverbials, the adverbials of time and manner occur in the sentence as described above, while adverbials of place tend to come between the subject or the adverbial of time (if it follows the subject) and adverbs of manner, either before or after direct and indirect objects.

BaH nO eH pacj>T, 'He went do wn .' Ma H 6a no eH acj>ToAaM, 'I fel l do wn .' Ba H 60AO Aa BHA, 'Sh e ran up . ' O H c y napeA ! 'Jump ove r!' I-1H cy HH ro KyH ! 'Lo ok thi s way!' ne w pa aeA ! 'Move along !'

something, and nowhere that are used to refer to unspecified people, places, or things; indefinite adverbs are such words as anyhow and some time. Tajiki also has indefinite adjectives meaning some kind of, etc. In English there are five series of indefinite pronouns and adverbs; four of them are formed by prefixing any, some, no, and every to words like body, one, thing, where, time, and how that indi
cate the category of the indefinite word, while the fifth is formed by suffixing the corresponding interrogatives with ever (whoever, whenever, etc.) . Their Tajiki equivalents are simpler, but because they do not match up exactly with any of the English series they require some explanation.

e. Indefinites. Indefinite pronouns are words like anybody, everyone,

1 16

C 'pe rso n, ' 'IH3 ' th i ng, ' 'i O pla ce, Ba T tIme, TaBp ma nne , r, 60p , t I me, occasio n,' rYHa ' ty pl': and aAap 'am oun t.'
Unspecified

i i nde fi n i te ;erbs, ,aU for ed rom t?e bas e n oun sK Taj i k

The re a re th ree ser ies of

p ron ou n s a n d a d

The a I / if s er ies is h a r d e r to tran slate because it has several ' d i s tinct u ses in Engl i sh . The some-series is used for indefinite but s pe cifi c (known to some extent by the speaker ut not the lit n . . er); th e basic use of the any-series is roughly to mdlcate mdefimte a nd non-specific (unknown or unspecified by either pea ker r . . l i stener), in which case it is translated with an unspeCIfied mdefi nite just like the some-series.
-

H3epo Me6HHH? 'Do you see something/anything?' Arap WYMO Kacepo 6HHeA, 6a MaH ryeA, 'If you see someone/anyone, tell me.' However, the any-series is also used in negative sentences in Eng lish, in which case Tajiki can use either an unspecified or a nega tive indefinite. MaH KacepoLxe'i Kac(e)po HaAHAaM, 'I didn't see anybody/I saw nobody.' (Direct negative) BaH ct>HKP HaKapA, KH OHO 'IH3epO AHAaaHA, 'He didn't think that they saw anything.' (Indirect negative) BaH ct>HKP KapA, KH OHO xe'i 'IH3epO HaAHAaaHA, 'He thought that they didn't see anything.' (Indirect negative) Finally, the any-series is used in comparisons (be er than anyone) and to indicate a free choice (anywhere you mIght go); the first of these is indicated by a3 aMa 'than all, of all' and the comparative form of the adjective, while the second requires a universal indefinite in Tajiki. (A useful test is to replace the any word with a corresponding every -word ; if the sentence makes sense with very little change in meaning, then you should use the universal indefinite in Tajiki . ) AaAep a 3 aMa "acypTap aCT, 'Daler is braver than anyone.' ap Kace MeTaBOHaA KHT06 HaBHCaA, 'Anyone can write a book . '

1) Ind efin ite nouns n d adverb s pro per (here call ed unspeciwing ind efin iteness, which can be em pha SIze d or replaced wit h RK 'one' or RrOH 'severa l, som e' bef ore the bas e noun. (W hen use d as dir ect objects, the y mu st tak e po. ) The se w? rds cor res pon d to the Eng lish som e- and any -ser ies In mo st of the Ir use s, but can also be use d in certain circ um stan ces wh ere English use s a word fro m the no- seri es. e ord s of the som e-se ries are alm ost always exp res sed in " . m ,: TaJlkI thI S way: . ) are for . . fied ed wIth the chtIc -e sho

MaH 'IH3 epo WY HHAaM, 'I heard som eth ing . ' .strOH aaT MeKYHaM, 'I will do it some tim e.' H3 epo Me6 HHH ? 'Do you see som ething ?' Arap WYMO Kac epo 6HH eA, 6a MaH ryeA, 'If you see som eon e (an yon e), tell me .'

(Also can mea n, 'Do you see anything? ')

H?wver, n a question like liDo you see something ?" above, a neg atIve mdefim. te can be use d for em pha sis. e'i 'IH3 epo Me6HHH ? 'Do you see anything at all?, Do n't you see anythin g?'

2) Negative indefinites almost always correspond to the English no-series. They are formed by putting e" before the base noun and p tionally adding -e; the verb must be negative ecept w en the ngative indefinite is being used emphatically in a question, as dISCUSsed m la.

KaceLe" Kac(e) HaOMaA, 'Nobody came.'

1 1 9 """"

3) Universal indefinites u sually correspond t o the 1 ' 1 ' 1 " 1/ series; their use with any-words was discussed in l b , They . 1 1 1 ' formed by putting ap ' each' or aMa ' all, every' before the b . l I' noun; for emphasis you can use ap SlK, which has somewh a t t i l l ' sense of ' each and every' or 'every single.' When a universa l i l l definite i s used a s a subject, the verb must b e singular.
MaH ap SlK KHT06aToHpo XOHAaM, 'I read every single one of your books.' BaM ap SlK '1H3pO 6yM KapAa xapHA, 'He smelled each and everything before he bought it.' Aap aMa ,\0 60pOH 60pHAa HCTOAaaCT, 'It's raining everywhere.' The best rule for translating English sentences with word s in the ever - serie s (whoever, wherever, etc.) is to replace it with til t ' word from the other series that best conveys the same meanin g and translate it as that word following the d iscussion above. Sentences can contain more than one indefinite p ronou n or adverb. If the sentence is negative, an unspecified indefini te cannot precede a negative indefinite. Thus, the following sen tences are fine: Kace '1H3epO HaAHAI e,\ Kac 'IH3epO HaAHAI e,\ Kac e,\ 'IH3pO HaAHA all meaning 'No one saw anything,' but not: * Kace e,\ 'IH3pO HaAHA. Indefinite pronouns used with else, such as something else., can have two distinct meanings, something additional ('I'm still hungry - give me something else') or something different ('I'm not in the mood for chicken - let's have something else') . These are translated differently in Tajiki: Something additional is 603 SlK 'IH3H AHrap, while something different is SlK '1H3H AHrap.

MaH 6a ,\oe/e,\ ,\o(e) Hapa4>TaM, ' I d i d n't go a n y w lll' rl' , '

to connect words and phrases used are es ras ph ry cto u . Int rod tences , ence to the preceding sen t sen a of hip ns 10 f a I re or sho the phrases In , de range of e y common introductory set wI a IS ere Th learners (such " Important for advanced : IS e us r pe Pro ose h w prose . e apparent.. ., or cam be ly ick qu A " " ... that as It. may . If as En gli sh JIB e ) For beginning learnt sh wI t gh mI e on "H owever much ost basic ones : cessary 0 ne y onl is it r, ve we ho , rs

2,

I ntr od uc tor y ph ra se s

r, nonetheless' 60 ay,\YAH HH /OH 'ho;vev ' o " HH 'Iy HH H, aM'IyH HH als ) sides (in dlcatmg con trast Ho a0 6 aCTa 6a HH /OH 'be y)' rit ila sim ng ati sid es (in dic Aap 6 apo 6apH HH /OH 'be H/c YH AHrap a3 SlK Tapact/cy a3 Tapact e other . 'on the one hand . . . on th reover, In a ddition' mo ' al) rm (fo HH H MM 3a HAoa a 6a HH , 6a e' Aap HH cypaT ' in this cas se' , Aap OH cypaT ' in that c to say 6a H6 0p aH AH rap 'th at IS y' xyw6 axTO Ha 'fo rtunatel , ly ate tun 6aA6axTo Ha 'unfor ere f re' 6apoH a MH H/ aM oH 'th thus Ma caAaH 'for example, " se of thI S) cau (be us 6H H0 6ap HH 'th , hence' 6a AH H CO H, HH Ta ap 'th us Aap HaTH ,\a ' as a result' pHK.6 aMHH xeA aMHH Taap, 6a aMHH Ta ,, ' so, in the sam e way' K.HK.aTaH Ind ee d' a 'b, K.e aO p Aa , CTM PO 6a , , Aap aK.HK.aT 'in fact' ' in concluslOn cca K.H aA n), mo com ore xyAo ca (m 'finally' Aap OXHp (H H), HHOSlT st' tra Aap MYK.0 Hc a ' in con
_ v

: ::

es of t ind icate various typ se d es 1 e . rti pa l era .. sev are There the be ginning of a Marap an f o com e at questions.The parti cle s almost alway s us ed s-n o qu es lOn , M arap is ye a te ica ind to ce ten sen

3.

I nte rro g ati ve pa rti cle s

-v 1 2 1 -V 1 2 0

with neg ative sen ten ces, w ' .d h i le 0 e l' <l I1 l1l. uSl w i th a n y sen tl' lll'l They are highly literary. Oe Ma H X06 HAa aM? 'Am I slee pin g?' Marap HHp O HaMeAo HHC TH? 'Di dn 't you kn ow thi s?'

'

C hapter 5 Compound and Complex Sentences

Phrases can be joined into clauses, clauses into sentences, and sentences into larger sentences similarly in English and Tajiki, with conjunctions or by forming a relative clause (relativization). There are two types of conjunctions: Subordinating conjunctions make one sentence logically and grammatically dependent on the other, while coordinating conjunctions do not; relative clauses are used to modify nouns by subordinating to the noun an independent clause about it. Examples of subordinating conjunctions in English are

The particle -MH is suffi xed . to the verb to Ind Ica te a yes - n c , qu est ion . It is a col lo uial . f rm ued on y In the northe rn dia lec t... un der the influence o Uzb e an d IS con sId ere d extremely . sub sta n da rd by ma ny TaJIks; . foreign spe ake rs sho uld avo id it.

OS 03P O WY HHAeA-MH ? 'Di d the se

ind! cate a fol low-up questio : t!i ":asa.t. n w i th , . or , an d h ow abo ut. ..?"

yo u hea r the noi se? '

ar icle -a is s xed to the verb to ind icate a qu estion mean on rm a SUS pICIon or to see k ass urance It O fte n corre . spond s In me ani ng to the Engli sh "tag qu est ion s" at the en d 0f sen. ten ces lIk e ")';ou ':e gOI. ng to work now , aren 't you ?" and "He did n't go t the store, dId he? "

t ;:

- WYMO a3 Aywa H6e eA ? 'Ar e you from Dushanbe?' . - a , WYMO -'fH ? 'Yes, an d ho w abo ut you ?'

f!i

when (When he gets here, we 'll eaO, after (We left after John played the piano with a hammer), although (Although he was rich, he only shopped at second-hand stores), and because (We love her because she's uninten tionally very funny). Relative clauses are like the following: the man whom I saw, the woman who 's painting the house, and the house that lack built. Coordinating conjunctions form compound sentences (sen
tences composed of more than one independent clause); sentences with relative and subordinate clauses are called complex sentences. Various types of compound and complex sentences in Tajiki will be discussed in the order of grammatical complexity.
1 . Coord inating conjunctions and com pound sentences

WYMO HO HP O xYPAeA-a ? 'You ate the bread, didn't you ?' aH 60Jl A HH KOp pO KYH aM -a? I sho uld do thi s, rig ht (shoul dn 't I)?'

4. Interjections

coordinating conjunctions are sa (-Y) 'and,' e 'or,' aMMo/saAe/AeKHH 'but, however,' aM aM 'both . . . and,' e... e 'either. . . or,' Ha... Ha 'nei ther. . . nor,' and Ha TaHo/Ha cIlaaT... 6aAKH 'not only. . . but also.' All of these are used to join clauses in sentences, but only the first two can be used to join words into phrases as well. Note that when used as part of Ha ... Ha, Ha does not immediately precede the verb but instead immediately follows the place of the subject.

English coordinating conjunctions include and, but, yet, (ei ther ) . . . or and nor: John went home and I went to the store; April has come but it's still snowing; It's freezing }l.ft. he's not wearing a coat; Either John goes or I go; He's not happy, nor is he healthy, The basic Tajiki

MaH KHT06 xOHAaM sa napsH3 HOMa HaSHWT, 'I read a book and Parviz wrote a letter.'
1 2 2 0- 1 2 3 '-"

X.ap 6ero napaM3 pY3HOMa e KMT06 MeXOHA, ' Every evening Parviz would read a newspaper or a book.' MaH KMT06upo XOHAaM, aMMO OHpO HaclaMMAaM, 'I read your book, but I didn't understand it.' aH aM KMT06 oHAa, aM MYCMH ryw KapAa MCTOAa 6YAaM, . was both readmg a book and listening to music.' E MaH 6a OH o MepaaaM, e BaH 6a MH O MeOSlA, 'Either I will go there or she will come here.' MaH Ha KMT06po xOHAaaM, Ha clMAMpO AMAaaM, 'I have neither read the book nor seen the movie.'

n g wor w th a com m a . se . r a p h y, KM is set off from the pre ce d i ent clau se md lcat es pos slbl l ty, of the sub j u n ctiv e in the dep end in man y case s whe re Enghsh d oub t o r unc erta inty ; it is use d wou l d u se if/w heth er.

If a sentence containing e e, Ha Ha, or aM aM uses the same verb in both parts, one of the verbs must be omitted; in mosl cases the second verb is the one omitted:

MaH MeAoHaM, KM BaH OWMM AMA6ap aCT, 'I know he's Dilbar 's sweetheart.' MaH HaMeAoHaM, KM BaH OWMM AMA6ap aCT, 'I don't know that he's Dilbar's sweetheart.' MaH HaMeAoHaM, KM BaH OWMM AMA6ap 6owaA, 'I don't know if he's Dilbar's sweetheart.'

x.ap 6ero napaM3 e pY3HoMa MeXOHaA, e KMT06, :very morning Parviz either reads a newspaper or a book.' E MaH 6eMopaM, e TY, ' Either I'm sick or you (are). ' OHO Ha 6a XOHaaWOH MepaaaHA, Ha 6 a MaKTa6, 'They will neither go home nor to school.' OHO aM 3a60H MeoMY3aHA, aM aAa6MeT, 'They study both language and literature.'
In addition, to prevent repetitiveness when there is a series of clauses strung together with e e, you can use e KM and e MH KM 'or else' before the second or later clauses.

pa t tens if t e tIm s unspecI pen dent verb must be in the dist ant d If the time IS spec Ified . (N ?te fied ; the simple past can only be use and knowledge, a repo rtatlVe that if the sentence imp lies seco nd-h verb form must be use d instead .)

es an action in t e p st, the d If the dependent sentence nam

M, BaH clMK P KapA, KM MaH aaHp o AMA a 6YAa .' 'He thought I had seen him

(No time specified, so the dista nt past mus t be used (Time specified, so simp le past is used .)

.)

aaMp o AMAaM, BaH clMK P KapA, KM aclTaM rY3aWTa MaH k.' 'He thought that I saw him last wee Maf"0 3a AMAaacT, BaH ryclT, KM aclTaM rY3awTa Map o Aap last wee k.' ' He said that he saw me in the store ledge by hearsay and thus requires a

E MaH 6a OH o MepaaaM, e KM BaH 6a MH o MeoSlA, e MH KM MO Aap XyaHA aOMexypeM, 'Either I'll go there, or she'll come here, or else we'll meet in Khojand.'
2. Object clauses

(The sentence imp lies know reportative form like the pres ent perfe cU

If the object clause does not have a direct object, it is possible . to use an infinitive phrase in place of an object clause; the subject of the object clause is shown by a personal possessive marker on the infinitive, which being definite must take -po.

if/whether: I don 't know if he wen t, I wonder whether he will come back. Object clauses are indicated in Tajiki with KM (which is al
ways unstressed) after the indepen dent clause; in Tajiki orthog-

Object clauses (also called complement clauses) are those . hke that you like her in I know that you like her, in which the de pe dent sentence as a whole is the object of a verb . In English ?bJect clauses are indicated with that, which can be omitted, or

Mo MeAoHeM, KM WYMO 6a AywaH6e paclTeA, 'We know you went to Dushanbe.' Mo 6a AywaH6e paclTaHaTOHpo MeAoHeM. Mo MeAoHeM, KM WYMO 6a AywaH6e MepaaeA, 'We know you're going to Dushanbe.' Mo 6a AywaH6e paclTaHaTOHpo MeAoHeM.

1 24'-"-

-v 1 2 5 '-"-

Note that the simple infi n i ti ve shows no i n form il tion a t ,1 1 1 about tense, so that the two sentences above w i th object c l a u st ' s have the same equivalent when using an infinitive clause. I n tl'l l tion can be shown if necessary with the future participle and 6YAaH, such as pa4>TaHH 6YAaH 'to intend to go.'

Mo a3 nap8H3 nypcHAeM, KH Y KaM 6a AywaH6e MepaBaA

'We asked Parviz when he is going to Dushanbe.'

Mo a3 nap8H3 nypcHAeM, KH Y 6a KY'\O MepaBaA

'We asked Parviz where he is going.'

Mo a3 Y nypcHAeM, KH 6acTapo 6a KY'\O MOHeM.

'We asked him where to put the package.'

Mo 6a AywaH6e pa4>TaHH 6YAaHaToHpo MeAOHeM, 'We know you intend(ed) to go to Dushanbe.' The verbs ry4>TaH 'to say, tell' and nypcHAaH 'to ask' are amb ig uous with object clauses in colloquial Tajiki, in which, a s in Engl i s h , they can have the meanings of ordering or requesting an action : I told him to go, I asked her to leave. The sense of an order or suggestio 1 1 i s shown with the present subjunctive i n a n object clause, wh ic h as mentioned above can also indicate possibility or doubt. (In for mal Tajiki, however, the verbs XOHW KapAaH 'to wish, ask for' and TaAa6 KapAaH ' to demand' are used instead.) Mo 6a napBH3 ry4>TeM, KH BaM 6a AywaH6e paBaA, 'We told Parviz that he might go to Dushanbe; we told Parviz to go to Dushanbe.' Mo a3 napBH3 "ypcHAeM, KH BaM 6a AywaH6e paBaA, 'We asked Parviz if he might/would go to Dushanbe; we asked Parviz to go to Dushanbe.' The exact sense is determined from context. Note that with these verbs, use of an infinitive phrase in place of an object clause is further ambiguous for tense. Mo a3 napBH3 6a AywaH6e pa4>TaHaWpO "ypcHAeM, 'We asked Parviz to go to Dushanbe, we asked Parviz if he had gone/was going/would go to Dushanbe.' If the object of the main sentence is not the whole subord i nate sentence but only one element o f it, such a s We know when J/(. left, the question word must be used in addition to the particle K H . Unlike English, interrogatives are used only to ask questions, no t to show subordination; the English use with an infinitive is rough ly equivalent to a subjunctive in the Tajiki subordinate clause:

As mentioned previously, the subjunctive is used to indicate that . action is not actual but rather potential, projected, expected, deSIred, necessary; possible or contingent on another action. An appropriate sub junctive uxiliary used to express most of th modifications f the
an

3.

Subjunctive auxiliary constructions

main action or state; the combination of the auxiliary and e subjw: tive form of the main verb then expresses the speaker , s deIred odifi cation of the verb. The most important auxiliary constructions WIth the subjunctive apart from the four modal auxiliaries are as follows.

a. Uncert ainty.

gh the c?m One way to express uncertainty is throu preset or past contmu pound verb 4>HKp KapAaH 'to think' in the . . WIth Its verb m the prese ous tense; it is followed by an object claus ent subjunctive.

HKP KapAa HCToAaaCT, KH 6a Ayw aH6e paBaA e Hapa

'He was uncertain whether to eat.'

go t Dus anbe. 'He is thinking! uncertain whether or not t

HKP KapAa HCTOAa 6YA, KH HH xypOKpO xypa A e Haxyp HKP KapAa HCTOAaacT, KH KHTo 6aw Aap Ky'\O 6owa
' He is uncertain where his book is . '
-V 1 27 '-'--

BaA,

aA,

A,

speaker's personal onvictions, but rather f ro m i mpos i ti on by another peron o r compulslOr: by the force of circumstances, is expressed by . . conJuga r:g the uxlhary Ma,,6yp 6YAaH 'to be obliged, compelled, forced t m the sImple present tense; it appears early in the sentence, . usually Immediatel after the subject. The main verb appears at the end of the sentence m the present subjunctive. Other elements of the sentence may fill in the gap between the two verbal elements.

b. Compulsion or External Obligation. Obl igation that dOt.'s not a rise from till'

6eTap aCT ' d. Pref eren ce. Pre ference i s exp ressed b y tence (tha t is, it to agree with the subject of the sen

it is better,' wh ich

is not con jugated

pre ced es the subject . is a froz en form) . 6eTap aCT usu ally

MaH Ma,,6ypaM 6a AYXTYP paaaM, 'I must go to the doctor.' HA6ap Ma,,6yp aCT MOWHHawpo cl>ypywaA, Dilbar must sell her car.' OHO Ma,,6ypaHA TaCAHM w aaaHA, 'They are being forced to surrender.'

ft

aaa M 'It is better that I The negative form is 6eTap aCT Hap Hec T... Hap aaa M 'It is not better not go.' The double neg ative 6eTap . . that I not go' is also acce ptab le. Ive suffix sess pos ular sing 3rd the e, uag In the coll oqu ial lang -aw rep lace s aCT .

6eTap aCT MaH 6a XOH a paa aM, go hom e.' 'It is better that I go home, I'd better sleep, you'd better slee p.' 6eTap aCT X06", 'It is better that you te work.' te that we work, we'd betr 6ex;rap aCT MO KOP KYHeM, 'It is betr

The past tense of 6YAaH or wYAaH is used with Ma,,6yp to form the past tense expression of obligation; the subjunctive is un changed. MaH Ma,,6yp 6YAaM 6a AYXTYP paaaM, 'I was compelled to go to the doctor.' AHA6ap Ma,,6yp WYA MowHHawpo cl>ypywaA 'Dilbar had to/was forced to sell her car.' ' OHO Ma,,6yp 6YAaHA TaCAHM w aaaHA, 'They were forced to surrender.' c. PO, SilIity. F ? r t express on of possibility or permission, MyMKHH aCT It IS pOSSIble IS used; m colloquial Tajiki aCT is often omitted. MyMKHH aCT usually precedes the subject. MyMKHH 6apO.RM? 'May I go out?' MyMKHH paa", 'You may go.' MyMKHH aCT 3yAcI>H.R 3aHr 3aHaA, 'Zulfia may call.' In the colloquial language the main verb comes first in the sentence as an infir:itive; the subject is indicated with the appropri . ate possessIve suffix: 6apOMaAaHaM MYMKHH ? 'May I go out?' Pacl>TaHaT MyMKHH, 'You may go.'

6eTapaw HapaaaM, 'I'd better not go.' 6eTapaw xypaM, 'I'd better eat.' In addition, as with MyMKHH, in the colloquial language the main verb comes first in the sentence as an infinitive; the subject is indicated with the appropriate possessive suffix. In this construc tion 6eTap occurs without aCT or -aw: Hapacl>TaHaM 6eTap, 'I'd better not go.' XYPAaHaM 6eTap, 'I'd better eat.'

e. Necessity. To indicate necessity, the impersonal form A03HM aCT 'to be

necessary' is used as a frozen form; it usually precedes the subject. A03HM aCT MaH paaaM, 'It is necessary that I go, I have to go.' A03HM aCT wa6o KOP KYHaA, 'It was necessary that he work nights, he had to work nights.' As with MyMKHH aCT, in the colloquial language the main verb comes first in the sentence as an infinitive; the subject is indicated with the appropriate possessive suffix: Pacl>TaHaM A03HM aCT, 'I have to go.' rycl>TaHaW A03HM aCT, 'She has to tell.' KapAaHaMoH A03HM aCT, 'We have to do it.'
..v 1 29

..v 1 28

The pa s t tense of MyMKHH aCT, 6.Tap aCT, a n d AOJHM a C T i s fo rmed by re pla c ing aCT w i th 6YA a nd p u t t i n g the the m a i n verb i n the past imperfect instead o f the s u bj u n c t ive; infiniti Vl'S are unchanged :

A03 HM 6YA Mepa+T/Pa+TaHaW A03

'It was possible that I would go.'

MYMKHH 6YA Mepa+TaMlPa+TaHaM MyMKHH HM 6yA,

6yA,

'It was necessary that she go, she had to go.'

To indicate purpose, TO 'so that, in order to' is used . Sentences with TO are complex, consisting of two clauses . The first expresses a
f. Intent.

g. Apprehension. Ma60Ao 'beware, 1 fear' . . The conjunction Ma60Ao is placed a the be mnmg of a claus t give a warning or indicate an undeslTable ClTcumstance or act on, the verb is in the present subjunctive for present o fuu :e tIme and the perfect subjunctive for past time. Ma60Ao IS dIfficult to translate by itself but carries the flavor of 'beware, I fear, I hope not, take care, be careful.' The clause with Ma60Ao can stand .on its own as an independent sentence, often with a sense rat er lIke that of "or else . . . " left hanging, or it can be completed WIth an o ther clause introduced by KH:

present or past action, the second its reason; the second clause begins with TO and ends with the main verb in the subjunctive .

'We're going to Egypt to see the pyrami ds.' To indicate trying to avoid the action, the subordinate verb can be made negative, i . e., TO HapasaM 'so that I not go, in order for me not to go . '

Mo 6a MHc p MepaseM, TO apOMp

in ord er to get to sleep

TO paaaM 'so that I go, in order for me to go' BaH THpe38po "ywHA, TO x06aA, 'She O 6HH eM,

(so that she cou ld/mi h l ) g t s eep . '

closed the window

Ma60AO Aap XOHa Ha60waA, 'I hope he's not at home; I fear he's at home.' Ma60Ao y OMaAa 60waA, , . 'I hope he hasn't arrived yet; I fear he s arnved. , Ma60Ao 6a XOHa HaAapoH, 'Be careful - don't go in the house . . . ' Ma60Ao 6a XOHa HaAapoH, KH Aap OH ,\0 carH ra3aHAa aCT, 'Be careful not to go in the house, there's a dog in there that bites.'
, h, Permission. 6Hr30P (TO) 'allow, let' , r:ct ve or The conjunction 6Hr30P TO (from 6H indicating the subJu imperative in older Persian and y30 TaH/ry3 op , to put ) I tro . . duces a clause in the present subjunctIve and IS used to mdIca e permission or an oblique command; in colloquial speech TO, IS very often omitted. (In very colloquial spee h it is replace wIth . the imperative MOH(eA), from MOHAaH/MoH to put, place. ) It IS , senses thIS , con best translated as 'LeL .' in two of the three mam struction has in English: It indicates explicit permission or release from constraint ("Let him go" in the sense of " ; t him free' ) a d . dismissal ("Let him be gone" in the sense of Off WIth hIm! but not a suggestion or insistence on action ("Let's go," which IS translated by the bare present subjunctive). These two sen se ar e . . distinguished in Tajiki by intonation and pacing: Release IS l.n dI , cated by a pause after 6Hr30P (TO), while in a clause of dIsmIssal the entire clause is spoken as a single unit. Thus we have:

Sentences with TO can be tran sformed into simple sentenc es as follows:

AY3A Aap COSIH 6HH O HCTOA, TO ypo Kace H a6 H H aA, 'The thief stood in the shadow of the buil

ding in order not to be seen'

I. M , ake the verb 0 , f the second clause an infinitive ,. , . ' ,' , , ' , , 2. Replace TO with 6pOH; 3. Put the 6apoH phrase ftr the subject. . . Example: MaH Ay'lapxa xapHAaM, TO 6a AOH Hwro pasaM, 'I bought a bicycle to go to sch ool. ' MaH 6apoH 6a AOHHwro pa+TaH AY'I,apxa xapHAaM, 'I bought a bicycle to go to sch ool' (literally, 'f or going to school ')
. ,. ", ..

liHr30p, pasaA ! 'Let him go!' liHr30p pasaA ! 'Let him be gone! Off with him!' PaseM, 'Let's go, we should go'
131

1 30

6HrlOP TO 6HrHpAM, 'tyH a6p Aap 6aOpOH K- al WaBK, HAa XelaA, PYlH 6HAOH epoH.

Let me weep lzke the clouds in springtime, That from love a wail break forth the day lovers part.
Te fo lowing subordinating conjunctions do not gove rn the subJunctive. ' . !he conjunchon KOW KH is sed to exp ress a stro ng wish ; the verb i s
i. Wish . K?WKH 'wo uld that, if only

4. Relative clauses

. . m he p ast Imp erfe ct t o mdI cate past time and i n the present-futu re to m Icate p resent or future time . In more liter ary Tajiki the form . ead KOW IS use d mst .

OWKH MaH Aap TO'4HKH CTOH Me60AaM,

j.

. ap HH '40 Mew KOW KH y YA/6YA,' 1f only he were here !' Kow MaH ypo MeA HAa M, 'Wo uld that I had seen her. '

Would that I were in Tajikistan, How I wish

I was in Tajikisan !'

Condi tio . Ha owaA 'if so,' ap 'taHA 'alth ough' The conj unc tion Ha6 0wa A 'if so' is used to exp ress the con se que nce of a con ditio n; it is follo wed by the app rop riate form of he verb . (o t that there is no sing le form in Taji ki corr espond mg to Eng lIsh if not. )

came yesterday is sitting over there, the car that I sold him was stolen last week. Non-restrictive clauses add supplemental information

Relative clauses modify nouns in a larger sentence; thus, in The man who hit me ran away, "who hit me" is a relative clause modifying "the man." In English, relative clauses are indicated with the relative pro nouns who(m), that, and which (The woman who saw me, the woman whom I saw, the car that I bought, and the house, which burned down). In Tajiki there is one relativizer (word indicating a relative clause), the conjunction KH, which is never stressed; thus, unlike English Tajiki does not have special relative pronouns. Note that in English the relative pronoun can be omit ted if it refers to the direct object of the relative clause: In the man whom I saw, whom can be omitted because it fills the place of the direct object of the verb saw, thus: the man I saw. (Note that you cannot omit who in the man who saw me; it indicates the subject of saw.) In Tajiki, however, you must always use KH; it can never be omitted. English distinguishes between restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses with intonation and corresponding punctuation. Restrictive clauses serve to identify the noun being referred to by adding essential identifying information; they are spoken togeth er with the preceding noun without a pause or a change in pitch and thus in writing are not set off with commas: The man who

'If so, I will see you tomorrow.'

Ha6 0waA MaH naro WyMO Me6 HHaM

'

Th conjunction ap'taHA 'although' is follo wed by a verb in the past Imp erfect for past time and the pres ent-future otherwis e:

Ha6 0wa A WyMO XYAaTOH KYHeA, 'If so, do it your self. '

ap'taHA Y MeAoHHc T, XYAPO 6a HOAOHH laA,

'Alth ough he knew, he mad e him self out to

about a noun that is already sufficiently identified; they are set off with commas and in speech are set off with a slight pause and a dip in pitch: My friend Bill, who was in the army when he learned it, speaks Chinese very well. (Note that in written English, restrictive clauses require that and non-restrictive clauses which.) Tajiki dis tinguishes restrictive and non-restrictive clauses grammatically: Nouns modified by restrictive clauses take the clitic -e (which in this construction does not indicate indefiniteness), while nouns modified by non-restrictive clauses do not.
MapAe, KH AHPYl AHAeM, Aap OH '40 aCT,

be in the dark .'

In very colloquial Tajiki people often say ap'taHA KH, but this is . conSIdered Improper since in strict usage KH must join two clauses.

'The man we saw yesterday is over there.' (restrictive)

OH MapA, KH AHPYl AHAeM, Aap OH '40 aCT,

'That man, the one we saw yesterday, is over there.' (non-restrictive) Tajiki has two kinds of non-restrictive relative clauses, depend ing on the definiteness of the noun. A non-restrictive clause modify-

-'!.-' 1 3 2 0-

ing a d di n i te noun is l i ke the English caSt'; t he d a u st' adds fu rtl1l' r i nfo r m a t i on abou t a noun whose iden t i ty is a l re ad y known from the sentence and from context. Also, a non-restrictive clause can modify an indefinite noun (which would not be indicated by -e but rather by words like JIIUSl r oH), in which case the entire noun phrase is generic and indicates every person, place, or thing named by that noun. The simplest cases are when the noun that is being modi fied is the subject or direct object of both the main sentence and the relative clause. You should take the sentence that is the basis for the relative clause (for example, in I saw the man who hit you, 'the man hit you' i s the sentence that is relativized) and replace the noun that is going to be modified with KH . Thus, ' the man hit you' is MapA TypO 3aA; since the man is the noun being talked about by the relative clause, you should replace MapA with KH to give the relative clause KH TypO 3aA ' (who) hit you .' Then the noun in the main sentence that is being modified will usually take the clitic -e; if it is the direct object of the main sentence it must also take -po (which only indicates direct object in this construction) after -e. Thus, the main sentence is MaH MapAPo AHAaM, 'I saw the man,' which becomes MaH MapAepo AHAaM, 'I saw the man . . . ' before adding the relative clause . The relative clause can immediately follow either the noun phrase it modifies or the verb of the main sentence; thus:

dir ect obj ect of mo difi ed is the . . . In addition, if the nou n bei ng icate it exp hCl tIy WIth the. reind to e sibl pos is it se, clau the relative lva s d; that is, one can say the eqU sumptive pronoun Y just dis cus : , hIt hIm: Ma H MapAepo AHAaM, KH Ty len t of I saw the man whom you y to stly in col loquial speech as a wa ypo laAa 6YAM. This occurs mo the en there are many wo rds betwe kee p the reference clea r whn clause. mo dified noun and the relative

06p o rHp HcITa 6YAM, MaH MapAepo AHAaM, KH a3 Y KHT you got the boo k.' ' 1 saw the man from wh om KH OHp O a3 Y rHp HcITa 6YA.H" aM, MaH KHT06po 6a MapAe AOA n from whom you had taken It. ' I gave the boo k to the ma
_

5, Co rre l ativ e cla use s

indicate t e ext:nt t? whi.ch Correlative clauses are use d to h they are used In conjunctIon "':lt something hol ds true; in English f, pIla of es hungry that he ate three plat the wo rds so or such: He was so stormed out of

MaH MapAepo AHAaM, KH AHpyl TypO laA, 'I saw the man who hit you.' MaH MapAepo, KH AHpyl TypO laA, AHAaM, 'I saw the man who hit you.' Note that grammatically the noun being modified by a rel ative clause is treated as formally definite, so when it serves as the direct object of the main sentence it must take -po. To make it indefinite in sense (for example, I saw a man/some people who used to work here) you can use SlK/SIrOH : MaH RK MapAepo AHAaM, KH Aap HH '40 KOP MeKapA, 'I saw a man who used to work here.' , When the noun being modified is the object of a preposition . In eIther the dependent or the independent sentence, its place is filled in the dependent sentence by y.

the board aside and , t she was such a poor loser that she tossed est hm mer the at h laug ld wou h/as laug to as the room he was such a man d thus s an adverb) and uch a of dange;, So modifies an adjective (an that IS usua!ly used to Into ective); . noun phrase (and thus is an adj actuahty IS show ,WIth e (th nt eve or on acti on, diti duc e an actu al con as with an infinitive or . a condItIonal a verb in the ind icative), while d nindicate a general quah, or ten (indicated by wou ld) is used to tIve rela ar these are not called cor cY (In traditional English gramm use s.) be called emphatic so with that-cla

. clauses, " but instead would or SIm p 1y at h ew som d n: me for are s Co rre lati ve cla use n bet we en adj ectIva l s uch . ' wh ich ma kes no dis tin ctio . " k I, m Tap , 1 k e th a t ns are ftIl ed by '1 H H T . and adv erb ial so; bot h fun ctio Iord , y for ms a non -re strI ctIv e sub su ch , s 0 , wh ich stru ctu rall the IS, ' t a h t ( Ies f' ' l d adj ect ive it mo nat e cla use with the nou n or l era gen A . ed to the nou n phr se) ind efin ite clit ic -e is not add se ten by usi ng the p ast Imp erfect qua lity or ten den cy is sho wn in the sub ord ina te cla use : AaH H ryc claH A TaHep 6YA, , OH 'IYH OH ryw Ha 6YA , KH 6a xYP s rea dy to eat a whole sheep. 'He was so hungry that he wa KH 6a aM a AOA Mel a aA, OH 'IYH OH MapAH xaW MrH H aCT, would yell at everyone. 'He's such an angry man that he
-'V 1 3 5

A si m i l a r con str uct ion is Ihe 1//(I re" . II//' 1/1/1 1'1 ' . . , as i n '/111' 1//(1 // ' stu dy Taj iki, tlie mo re I like it . Su ch sen tl'n ces a re con str uc ted i l l Taj iki wi th the ad verbs ap tc;aAap K H... a Mo H tc;aAap: ap tc;aAap K H 3a6 0H H TO '4H KH PO OMYla M, O H 6 a Ma H a MO H tc;aAap Mab tc;YA aCT, 'Th t mo
I
.

11 011/(',

sta rt w i th the ba s i c sen te n ce I wen t h O ll/e a n d a d d the a p p ro p r i a t e p repos i tion fol lowed by OH KH .
MaH 6a XOHa pacj>TaM, 'I went horne.' 6abNnac a3 OH KH MaH 6a XOHa pacj>TaM, 'After I went home ... '

re I stu dy Taj iki, the mo re I like it.'

6. Subord inate claus es

Thus: 'After I saw you my sister gave me your letter. 'Before we ate we chatted about you.' There are two ways to say 'until,' TO OH aatc;Te KH and TO AaMe KH.
To OH aatc;Te KH TY Aap HH '40 aCTH, aMa KOP aaHpOH aCT, SabA al OH KH TypO AHAaM, xoapaM 6a MaH HOMaTpo AOA, new a3 OH KH XYPOK xypeM, MO Aap 60paH TY ran laAeM,

whil I wa s sleeping. In Tajiki these clauses are generally for . med by makmg the SubordIna te sentence a relative clause mo dify ing 'time' or OH 'th at (time). ' Batc; aatc;T T is used for wh en; the se cla uses do no t ne ed to be introduced by a pre position, and thus ha ve the str 'the time tha L' Thus, to say When I saw him, start with the basucture ic sen tence I saw him and form the relative clause the time tha t I saw him :
MaH ypo AHAaM
>

a. S ubo rdinate cla uses of time. Subordinate clauses of time are clauses like when he saw me, after I we

nt hom e, before we ate, un til I me t her, an d

'Until you are here, everything's a disaster.'

To AaMe KH <l>HPY3 6a HH '40 MepacaA, 60SlA HH Aap 60paH HH MaCbaAa ran HalaHeM,

Batc;Te KH MaH yPo AHAaM,

All subordinate clauses are set

'When I saw him . .. '

atc;Te KH aaH Mapo AHA, MaH caHpyrawT Kap

When he saw me, I was tak ing a stroll .'

off from the main clause by a comma.

Aa HCTOAa 6YAaM,

'Until Firuz gets here, we shouldn't talk this matter.' To say ' at the same time that, just as, right as,' use the c?njunc tion aMHH KH. In this case the first action cannot be ongoIng but instead must just have finished when the second occurs.
aMHH KH MaH x06HAaaM, TY Aappo TaK;-TaK; KapAaH, 'Right as I fell asleep, you knocked on the door:'

Th ere is no dis tin ct prep osi tio n to ind ica te 'whil e'; ins tea d, the de pe nd en t sen ten ce is pu t in a aatc; T cla us e an d the ve rb tak es a con tin uo us ten se . Th us, in Taj iki wh ile I slept is lite ral ly Wh en I was sleepi ng . 'It rained while I was sleeping .'
Batc; Te KH Ma H X0 6H Aa HCT oAa 6YA aM , 60 pO H 60 PHA,

(Indicating that someone told me about it or that I figured It out from the circumstances, hence the past perfect.)
aMHH KH MaH x06HAaM, TY Aappo Tatc;-TaK; KapA ,
. . 'Right as I fell asleep, you knocked on the door. . (Indlcatmg

Mo st oth er su bo rd ina te cla us es of tim e are for me d fro com po nd prep osi tion con ma tai nin g a3 'fr om ' fol lowed by OH KH . (T ere IS no co ma be for e KH be cau se OH KH con sti tut es a sin gle um t s o ke n WI tho ut a pa us e or a ch an ge in inton ati on . .) Th e prep osI tIo ns for before are ne w a3 (Pe rsi an ) an d tc;a 6A a3 (A rabic), a d for after are nac a3 (Pe rsi an ) and 6a bA a3 (A rab ic) ; bo th Per SIan an d Ar ab ic pr ep osi tio ns are com mo n in all levels of Taj iki sp eech, bu t tc;a 6A an d na c are mo re lite rary. So , to say aft er I we nt

that I know this from my own experience, hence the SImple past.)

Note that in addition to the conjunctions above, KH is so m . . times used to introduce subordinate clauses of all kInds; thIS IS similar to the use of 'that' in such sentences as He left for Londo , . that he might find a living. Except fO r object clauses, thIS use IS . . highly literary (just as it is in the nghsh sentence above) and wIll . not be encountered in spoken TaJIkl. . The following tables summarize the different clauses of hme.
--V 1 3 7

When

BaTe KM

BaTe KM MaH 60 TeAe+oH ran 3aAa MCTOAa 6YAaM, MOAapaM a3 KOP OMaA. BaTe KM Y 3aHr 3aA, CMTopa xYPOKaWpO xYPAa MCToAa 6YA. BaTe KM MaH KocalO Ta6a
MewYCTaM, AyxTapaM

BaTe KH means 'at

in relation to the whel1takes either the simple past, past narrative,

different tenses used

time, etc.' N otice the

that momen t, at that

TOAaMe KM To 3aMOHe KM

U nt i l , ti l l

To Aa Me

KM KOP Hae6 aM, MyW KM A 60H MeM OHaA

clause. It is important to remember that BaKTe KH

As s o o n a s X.aMHH KM

KMT06 MeXOHA. BaTe KM 6a 6030p Mepa B a M, xypcaHA MewaBaM. BaTe KM MaH 6a 6030p
MepaBaM, AycToHaMpo Me6MHaM.

BaTe KM MaH 6a 6030p p aB aM, 6a Ty Tap6y3 MexapaM.

present - the dependent clause changes tense in relation to the when clause. If the when-clause is conditional or indicates uncertainty, its main verb is in the subjunctive.

past continuous or the

X.aM HH KM Y 6 a XYAocae ORA, 6a MO M abAYM Me KYHaA

X.a MH H KH means

' immediately after something happens. 'As soon as' is very similar to
'

' when' and emphasizes that the event will occur

immediately after the other. The simple present

is usually used for future events, although the present perf ect can also be used .

After naC a3 0H KM 6abA a3 0H KM

naC a3 OH KH (6abA a3 OH KM) BaH 6 a AMp M KO oMaAaacT, AYCTH Ha3AMKaWpo BoxYPAaacT. 6abA a3 OH KH 6a AMPHKO o M aAa 6YAaaCT, 6a KaHaAa pa+Ta aCT 6abA a3 OH KH Y 6a XoHaaw
MepaBaA, 6a MaH 3aHr

therefore the action in its clause always precedes

' after that moment,'

6abA/nac OH KH me ans

the main clause can take any tenses except the continuous ones.

the meaning, the verb of

the a ction of the main

clause. Depending on

aus e all location like We wen t where you had gon e. Bec con tain ing nou ns of location, ed in Taji ki by pre pos ition al phr ases ply ind icated by pre pos ition al sub ord inate clau ses of place are sim ano ther nou n like w aXiP ' city' ) phr ases con tain ing OH ,\0 'place' (or inated clau se; often, how ev with a rela tive clau se for the sub ord ive phr ase in the sub ord inate er, there is no nee d for the resu mpt or hea vy: clau se, as it would sound too form al Mo 6a OH ,\oe pact>TeM, KM WyMO (u OH ,\0) oMaAa 6YAeA, 'We went (to the place) where you came from.'

e clau ses of plac e are thos e b. S ubordinate clau ses of plac e. Sub ord inat s are ind icat

Me3aHaA

1 39 1 38

c. SUbor 'n8Ie cl8 use of reason and pu rpose. To tel l w h y someone d i d so m e t h m g, su bord mate clauses of reason o r ca u se ( i n t ro d u ce d h v . . such conJun tlOns as because, since, for, and a s ) and pu rpose ( i n d i cated b y to, m order to, s o a s to, and s o on) are u sed . The major d i l frence between the two is that reasons refer to actual events or CIrcumstances while purposes indicate potential events or circu m stances that the subject intends t o bring about; thus, purpose claus . es reqUIre a subjunctive and reason clauses do not. The most common subordinate conjunctions of reason in Tajiki are "I)'HKH, 3epo (H), and a3 ca6a6H OH KH, all meaning 'because, since.' Anthr con.unction, a36acKH, is highly literary. Subordinate clauses begmnmg wIth "IyHKH and 3epo (KH) mustfollow the main clause while ' those beginning with a3 ca6a6H OH KH and a36acKH must precede it.

, MaH 6a MaCKa B Mep aBaM, To KH la6 0HH pyC HpO Han OMY laM order to learn Russian wel l.' ' I'm going to study in Moscow in na nYWHA, TO KH KaCaA HawaBaA, MOAap 6oAOH nHcapawpo 60 KYP so that he wouldn't become ill.' 'The mother laid a quilt over her son 6a Y "IH3 e Harycl>nM, Sap OH OH KH a3 MaH Hap aH,\ aA, n't say anything to him .' 'In order not to offend him, I did y Taji ki sub ord inate clau ses of Remember that in highly literar con intr odu ced by the all- pur pose rea son and pur pos e can als o be sub the ed by a clau se with a ver in . jun ctio n KH 'that.' When follow sense purpose clause; otherwIse, Its junctive, this often ind icates a is determined by contex t.

Mo naro 6a XOHaH wyMO pacl>n HaMenBOHeM, "IyHKH coant 4 Ma,\AHC AopeM, 'We are not able to go to your house tomor row because we have a meeting at four 0 'clock.' HPYl MaH 6a AOHHwro Hapacl>TaM, 3epo MOAapaM 6eMop 6yAt 'I dIdn't go to university yesterday because my mother was sick.' A3 acKH 60pH aBBaA 6a AywaH6e OMaAa 6YA, aHY3 e,\ ,\OHPO HaMeAOHHCT, 'Because it was his first time in Dushan be, he didn't know any places yet.' MaH cyxaHoH ypo Hacl>aMHAaM, 6apoH OH KH 3a60HH TO,\HKHpO H an HaMeAoHaM, 'I didn't understand what he said because I don't know Tajiki well.'

aA, n arOH ryA H03 oMa A, KH Typ O 6HH morning.' 'Gu lno z came to see you in the TypO ,\aH r MeKYHaA, H ran po 6a naA apaT Hary" , KH ause/or he' ll tell you off. ' 'Don't tell your father this, bec pur pos e are also frequently Sub ordinate clau ses of cause and and answe rs: used by themselves in questions
_

The most common subordinating conjunctions of purpose ar 6apoH OH KH, TO, a d TO (OH) KH, all meaning 'in order to, so as to , only 6apoH OH KH IS common in spoken Tajiki. As mentioned above, these conjunctions require the verb in the subordinate clause to b in the subjunctive. Subordinate clauses of purpose can occur eIther before or after the main clause.

n't you go to work?' Ty "Iap o 6a KOP Hapacl>TH? 'Wh y did cau se I was ill.' Sap oH HH KH 6eM op 6YAaM, 'Be have you com e?' WYMO 6ap oH "IH oMaAeA? 'Wh y see you .' Sap oH OH KH Wy MOp O 6HH aM, 'To y doesn't your father work?' 'Wh "Iapo na.a.apaT KOP HaMeKYHa.a.? cl>naCT, "IyH KH aHY3 flrO H KOpH HaF3 Hae d work yet .' 'Be cause he has n't found any goo
7.

Co ndi tio nal sen ten ces

SapOH OH KH Han x06aM, MaH aBa HaHy - wHAaM " , o 's to s1eep well, I didn't drink coffee.' MaH aBa HaHywHAaM, 6apoH OH KH Han x06aM 'So that I would sleep well, I didn't drink coffee ' a" 6a ywaH6e MepaBaA, TO aMcapawpo 6HHaA, He ,s gomg to Dushanbe to meet (see) his wife.'
'5

(or 'She's going to Dushanbe to see her husband. ')

-V 1 4 0 0-

se like If he wan ts to sleep, then Con diti ona l sen ten ces are tho wh ich one act ion or sta te oc he sho uld n't drin k coffee this late, in ille d. The con diti on, call ed or is fulf cur s wh en a con diti on hol ds t e ed in Eng lish with an if-clause;. icat the pro tasi s, is usu ally ind IS 1S, doS apo the con diti on, cal led the act ion or stat e dep end ent on p, ara is use . The Taj iki wo rd for if ofte n ind icat ed with a then -cla . (It is in the pro tas is when it occurs wh ich is always the firs t word ju st ces ten sen al typ es of cndi tion . pos sibl e to omit arap in cer tain ltom tly uen freq re mo IS It us. tell as in Eng lish : We re he here, he'd

ted i 1 Taj i k i t h a n i 1 :n g l ish .) i s no word for tltl'II i n Taj i k i ; that I S, he podosls I S n o t specI a l l y ma rked . The p ro ta s i s u s u a l l y comes first In a Tajiki sentence.

''hl'fl'

Taj i ki , t he verb in the p rotasis must b e i n the present-future tense. (Often an actual conditional is replaced by a subordinate clause of time: 'When you go . . . ' instead of 'If you go.') Arap Ty MepasH, MaH 60 TY MepasaM,'If you go, I'll go with you.'

CondIt Ional senten ces, ech of which is distinguished by the tensc . of the verb In both Enghs h and Tajiki. The basic distinc tion is bc twee couterfactual s and possib le condit ionals . Count erfactu als . descn be sItuatI ons that are impos sible or contra ry to fact' wh I' 1 l'' POSSI 'bl e con d ItIona " I s descri be situati ons that are known to be tru e or that might be true (howe ver doubt ful). The difference betwe en the two can be seen in the follow ing pair of senten ces.

a, The .dfferen t kinds of conditio nal sentenc es, There are several kinds of

(The speaker knows for certain that the other person is going.)
In present doubtful conditionals the verb in the protasi s must be in either the present subjunctive or the simple past tense. Use of the subjunctive indicat es greater doubt that the event will actu ally come about; if the verb is in the simple past tense, arap is best translated when. Arap Ty pasH, 6a MaH 3aHr 3aH, 'If you go, give me a call.'

If I was a total cad, I apologize. (Possible conditional) If I were a total cad, I'd never apologize. (Counterfactual)
The other important distinction common to English and Tajiki . IS be een past and pr: sent-future conditionals. In English possible O ItIonals, the verb In the protasis is indicative, not subjunctive; It IS In a past tense for past conditionals and the present for present or future conditionals.

Arap Ty pact>TH, 6a MaH 3aHr 3aH, 'When you go, give me a call.' (The simple past implies that it is quite likely that the person will go; often saKtTe KM pact>TH is

(The present subjunc tive implies that there is a distinct possibil ity that the person will not go.)

If he we t to the store, he bought food. (Past possible) Ifhe's SIck, he shouldn 't be in school. (Present possible) If he goes to the store, tell him to buy apples. (Future possible)
In English counterfactuals, the protasis takes the subjunctive for present or future and t e past perfect for past; the apodosis takes . the past or present condItIonal depending on tense.

Arap MMpy3 60pOH Ha60pa A, 6apoM MCTMpo)(,aT 6a AapaM 8ap306 Mepase M, 'If it doesn't rain today, we're going to go take a rest at Varzob Gorge.' Arap 6apoAa paT 6MeSlA, ryM KM Mapo 6MHaA, 'If your brother comes, tell him to see me.' In past doubtful conditi onals the verb in the protasi s takes the perfect subjunc tive, which is compo sed of the p ast p articipl e of the main verb and the auxilia ry subjun ctive stem 60w : KapAa 60waM ' that I did .' Arap saM 6a XOHa pact>Ta 60waA, MO 6a saM 3aHr 3aAa MeTaSOHeM, 'If he went home, we can call him.' The difference between actual and doubtful conditionals can be shown in English by using since instead of if; thus, in the sentence If you 're leaving, could you return this to John ?, you can replace if with since if you know that the person will definitely leave in the near future: Arap Ty MepasH, MaH 60 Ty MepasaM can be translated as 'Since you're going, I'll go with you.' On the other hand, if there is some doubt that the person will leave,

used instead.)

If Bill were happy, he wouldn't be (wouldn 't have been) such a killjoy. (Present counterfactual) If you hadn 't left the meat out, the cat wouldn 't have eaten it/it would still be fresh. (Past counterfactual)
. Taji.i OSSibl conditlnals. Possible conditionals are more complex In TaJIkI than In EnglIsh, for in Tajiki you must distinguish between act al and doubtful conditionals. Actual conditionals are those in hIch the condition is known to be true, while for doubtful condi tIonals the condition might be true or false. In actual conditionals in
.v 1 42

you

a n actual conditional. I n general d oubtful con d i tiona ls are more common than actual conditionals.

m u s t u se r Th u s, i f you a fl' u nSll fl' w lw t h e r a sen ten n' i s a l l actu al o r a d o u b t fu l con d i t i on a l, c h a nge if t o sillcl' i n the Engl i s h sentence; i f the sense o f the sen tence i s u n c h a n g e d, then i t i
much

a c?nd two ot er ind ica tor s of In add i tio n to arap, the re a re g me t, so l ong as and TO, here anm 6a wapTe KH ' on con d i ti o n tha

n,
.

MaH HH KOp pO MeKYHaM , 6 a wa

c. Taj ik i counterfactuals. Counterfactuals are formed by putting t h l' verbs in both the protasis and the apodosis in the past imperfect tense. (In such sentences 6YAaH and AOWTaH can take the pre fix Me-, which here serves to indicate the counterfactual, though 6YAaH is often replaced by wYAaH in such sentences.) Thus, Ta jiki counterfactual sentences do not show tense, which is deter mined by context. However, since past counterfactuals are over whelmingly more common than present counterfactuals, this is not a major difficulty.
Arap saM 6a XOHaJlW Mepac1>T, Me) saMpo MeAHAeM,

dition that you agree. 'I'm go ing to do this job, on con KH aM aH ryc1>TaOH WyMO CH aT Me wa seA , 6a wapTe do 'You'l l get be tter so long as you
AY XTYPP O H"!,pO KYH eA, . .. everythin g the do ctor SaI d. oH H TO"!,HK Hp o e Ha M 3a6 M, YH HaK p pO TaK cep 6H To ,
,

A, pTe KH WYMO P0 3M 6o we ,

times, you won t eam aJl 'If you do n't rep eat it many

f ;,rr- ',
1.

'If he had gone home, we would have seen him.'

Arap saM Aap XOHa Me6YA/MewYA, MO saMpo MeAHAeM,

'If he had been at home, we would have seen him; if he were at home, we would see him.'
Arap BaM Aap XOHa Me6YNMewYA, MaH XYAaM a3 BaM MenypcHAaM,

'If he had been at home, I would have asked him myself.'

Arap MaH MOWHH MeAowTaM, a3 aMa WOATap Me6YAaMl MewYAaM,
'If I had had a car, I would have been the happiest fellow in the world.'

In literary language, especially in poetry, two abbreviated forms of arap are also used, rap and ap:
rap 6ap capH Hac1>cH XYA aMHpM, MapAM, Sap KyPY Kap ap HYKTa HarHpM, MapAM. MapAM Ha6YBaA c1>HToAapo nOM 3aAaH, rap AaCTH c1>HToAae 6HrHpM, MapAM. ( PYAaKM)

If you would covet being an emir, you are really a man, If you don 't mock the blind and deaf you are really a man. You have no courage if you kick a man when he 's down, If you take the hand of such a man, you are really a man. (Rudaki)
-v 1 4 5 -V 1 44;,JL

Tajiki-E n g l ish G l ossa ry

All Tajiki words used in this book are included below; however, only the meanings relevant to their occurrence in the book are in cluded. The following abbreviations are used:

(N) adj. adv. adv.phr. c.prep. *c.prep.

coIl. conj. interj. intr. intro.part. intro.phr. lit. n. n.phr. n.prep. num. part. pI prep. pron. s.prep. sg trans.
v.

northern dialect adjective adverb adverbial phrase compound preposition (when the noun is used only with the given simple preposition) noun used to form a compound preposition (may be preceded by Aap, 6a, or a3 to indi cate location or motion towards or away from; must take izofat) colloquial conjunction interjection intransitive introductory particle introductory phrase literary noun; special plural forms given in parentheses noun phrase nominal preposition numeral particle plural other lexical item corresponding to an English preposition pronoun simple preposition singular transitive verb; present stem given after infinitive (except for compound verbs)

1 4T

-Aa6p n. clo ud a6py n. eyebrow a6pYkaM oH adj. with arch ed aaa aA(HH) adj. firs t aaryCT n. Augu st arap conj. if ( with

brows

the one h an d ... on the othe r a36 ack H canj. be ca use, since akO n. el der brother akcap aH adv. mostly, generally aaA aH adv. at lea st aA n. rea son, intelle ct aAH cca ca nj. in conclu sion aAAaKaH adv. already aAO interj. hello, hey aAoA adv. no w aM Hp n. emi r, pri nce
1 48 '-"-

a3 R Tapa/c y a3 Tap a HI v H AHr CyH ap intra .ph r. on

su bjunctive, simple past, ar past imperfect), since (with presen t-Ju ture) aA a6 n. po lite ne ss, civ ility; cultu re, civiliza tion aA a6H eT n. literature a3 s. prep . fro m a3 6aHH c.prep. throug h a3 MH eH H c.p rep . throug h a3 ne w adv. than befo re' th an ever a3 pOH c.p rep . via a3 ca6 a6H OH kH ca nj. be ca use, since a3 TP H c.p rep. by (mdIca ting the agent in passive se nten ces) a3 n pH H c.p rep . via
.

aM MO nll /}. bu t A MP HK O I I . A m eri ca, US aM pH KO HH ad). A m e r i can aH a prol/. th a t on e the re aH Aa K adv. a little aH op n. po me gr an ate ana n. old er sis ter an peA n. Ap ril aCKap n. so ldi er acn n. horse ac n6 0H n. stable-man aTpo n. sides' , acyc interj. ala s aTHAaH/aT v. to fal l aToH adv. fal ling ax60p n. news aXTap n. star ap oM n. pyramid
-

6a 'fawM/ryw pacHAaH v. to be visible/a u d i ble 6a ,\OH prep. instead of 6a ,\OSlW adv. instead 6a ,\Y3 s.prep. except for 6a wapTe KH canj. on

condition that, so long as 6aA adj. bad

6aA6axToHa intra.part.

*cprep. around

6a aM HH TapH intrap hr. so, In the same way (= aM HH nap)

Aap ao e b, a HaTaH) 6a cap H ... A apA 3aAaH 13 aH v.

mo reo ver, in ad di tion (farm al, = HAO Ba 6a HH) 6a H6 0p aH AHrap intra.p hr. th at is to say 6a MH CA H c.p rep . lik e 6a MYO AH c.p rep. a gain st 6a p OCT H mtra.ph r. in deed (= to give a he ada che to

HH Taap) 6a 3a MM H HH intra. ph r.

v. to be he ard/au dible 6aAH H COH in tra .phr. th us (=

6a s .p rep . to, towa rds 6a ryw p acHAaH/pac

unfortunately 6aATap adj. worse 6aHH *c.prep. between 6aAaHA adj. tall 6aAe interj. yes (= ope, a) 6aHA adj. busy, bound 6aHAa n. slave 6aHA'fa n. bundle 6ap s.prep. over 6ap 3HAAH c.prep. against 6apr n. leaf 6apraWTaH/6aprapA v. to return (intr. ) 6ap06ap adj. equal 6apoAap n. brother 6apoH s.prep. for
6apoH aMHH/aMoH intra.phr.

6ero 1 1 . even i n g 6eroH ad v. in the evening 6eryHo adj. sinless 6eAHA adj. heartless, ruthless; cowardly 6eHxTHep adj. unwillingly 6eMa33a adj. tasteless, bland 6eMop adj. sick 6eMopHcTOH n. hospital 6epyH *c.prep. outside 6ecaaoA adj. illiterate 6e adj. good (predicative

use anly)
6eHH adj. best 6eTap adj. better 6eTap aCT canj. it is better (that) 6eTaPHH adj. best 6e'fopa adj. poor 6ew adv. more 6ew a3 new adv. more than ever 6ewapM adj. shameless 6ewTap adj. more 6eWTapHH adj. most 6ewy6a adv. undoubtedly 6HI"30P canj. let it be that, allow 6HHHW n. sight 6HHO adj. capable of seeing 6HH06ap HH in tra. p a r t . thus 6HpeH adj fried 6HpHH'\ n. rice 6Hcep adv., adj. many, much 6HcepoweHa adj. mul ti storey 6HCT num. twenty 60 s.prep. with 60 aY,\YAH HH/OH intra.phr. howeve r, nonetheless 60 3a60HH TO,\HKH adv.phr.
. -

therefore
6apoMaAaH/6apo v. to come

out
6ap n. snow 6aCTaH/6aHA v. to tie, bind 6aop n. spring (seasan) 6ac KapAaH v. to discuss 6a'fa n. child 6abA n.prep. after; adv. later 6abA a3 n.prep. after 6ab3aH adv. now and then,

(beca u s e of this)

on occasion, sometimes 6ab3e pron. some, a few 6e s.prep. without 6eaA adj. foolish
1 49 '-"--

in Tajiki
60aAa6 adj. polite 60aA adj. wise

something else (in addition) 603 raWTaH/603rapA v. to return, come back (int r.) 603 UKYHOH adv. play full y 603 uHrap n. player, spor tsm an 603 0p n. baz aar, market 60U CTe'bAoA adj. talented 60H adj. rich 60AO *c.p rep. over, above 60M n. roof 60M a33a adj. deli ciou s 60M a'bp ucf>aT adj. intelligent 60HY n. lady 60p n. time, occasion 60paKaAAo inte rj. goo d job! 60p uAaH/60 p v. to fall
60p OH n. rain 60p OH 60puAaH v. to rain 60p OHH adj. rainy 60TaHT aHa adj. festive 60cf> aM adj. wis e 60Sl A adv . mu st 6y6 uH inte rj. see her e 6YA aH/6 0w v. to be (provides

606 0 I I . g ra n d fa t l1l' r, o l d man 60F n . garden 60A n. wind 603 adv. still; again 603 KapAaH v. to open (trans.) 603 SlK '1U3 U AUrap n.ph r.

6 Y PAaH/6a p 7 ' . to ca rry 6YH II. sme ll 6YH KapAaH v. to smell (tra ns.) 6YH HOK adj. sme lly, stin king 60 s.prep. with -8Ba conj. and Bae pron . 3rd pI: they, them (coli. for BaHO) Ba3u cf>au XOH arH n. homework Ba3 HUH adj. seri ous BaH pro n. 3rd sg: he!him,

rannH H II. talking rapAuAaH/rapA v. to wande r rapAUW KaPAaH v. to take a

walk
rapM adj. hot rapM KapAaH v. to warm up rapM wYAaH v. to become

(trans.)

rye K H ((mj. a s i f ryccI>aHA n . sheep ryw n . ear ryw KapAaH v. to listen (trans . with 6a; intr. for) rywaK n. telephone receiver rywT n. meat

rawraH/raPA v. to tum, spin

warm

-fFaHpH s . prep. except FaM n. grief, sorrow FaMrHH adj. sorrow ful, sad Fap6He Ha adj. western,

BaHO pron . 3rd pI: they, them (= Bae) Ba T n. tim e BaTe KU conj. when BaAe conj. but 8 aTaH n. hom elan d,

she!her, it

(in tr. ) . rHpeH adv. crying, weepm g rHpHcTaH/(rHpH ) v. to cry, weep (forms with present stem are rare and usually replaced by rHpSl KapAaH ) rHpHcI>TaH/rHp v. to take,
obtain, get, catch rupo adj. attractive . rHpSl n. crying, weepm g rupSi KapAaH v. to cry, weep rOB n. cow ro-ro adv. sometimes rY3apO HHAaH/rY3apO H v. to celebrate
rynpoH AaH/rY3 apoH v. rY3aWTa adj. last (week, etc.),

occidental Fap6H adj. western, from the west

-AAaBUAaH/AaB v. to run (intr.) AaBOAaB n. fuss, bustle AaAepO Ha adv. bravely AaM KapAaH v. to make

(ofprecipitatio n)

Bacf> oT n. dea th Bacf>oT KapAaH v. to die, perish BeTepaH n. army veteran BOAH n. valley Boea n. event BOAUA n. parent BOA uAa HH n. bot h parents BopuA n. entering, entry, Bop uAo T n. imp orts BoxYPAaH/BoxyP v. to meet,

motherl and

(tea, coffee)
AaMe KU conj. when Aap 1 . s.prep. in, at 2. n. door Aap 6ap06apH H H/H ntro. . g besides (mdIcatm

to pass (trans.), spend (time) past

v.

entrance

past tens e for the pers ona l poss essive markers and aC T) 6Y3Kaw H n. buzkashi (spo rt in which riders on hors eback compete to drag a goa t carcass to a goal) 6y3ypr adj. high 6y3yp rH n. hei ght
1 50 '-"-

come acro ss

- r-

rUU AaH/ra3 v. to bite ran n. talk, wor ds ran laA aH v. to chat, talk

to cross ry3aWTaH/ry3ap (a3 across), to pass (trans.) ryA n. flower, rose ryM KapAaH v. to lose (trans.) ryM WYAaH V. to get/become lost rYHo n. sin ryp6a n. cat ryp6a"la n. kitten rYPycH a adj. hungry rycf>TaH/rY(H) v. to say rycf>TyryH n . telling rye adj. capabl e of speech

phr. similarity; see HOB06a cTa

6a HH/oH ) Aap BOe'b intra. phr. _ indeed ( 6a POCTH, aHaTaH) . Aap UH cypaT intro.phr. m
=

Aap MyoHc a intro.phr. in Aap HaTH,\a intro.phr. as Aap OH cypaT intro.phr. in

1 5 1 '-"-

this case

contra st a result

that case Aap aK,104K,aT il/fro.phr. in fact Aapa n. gorge AapaxT n. tree AapaxT30p n. arbor, orchard Aapa,\a n. degree

(of temperature)
Aapr104p1o4cj)TaHIAapntp v. to
catch on fire (intr.), come alight AapA n. pain AapAHoK adj . painful Aape n. river Aapo3 adj . long
v.

Aapo3 KaW104AaHIKaw
to lie down

AapOMaAaH1Aapo v. to come in AappaB adv. immediately Aapc n. lesson, class AapYH *c.prep. inside AapoA adv. immediately AaCT n. hand AaCTa n. bunch, group,
handle

A104A 1 / . heart A104Ha Ildv. yesterd ay A104PY3 adv. yesterday A104cj)Ob KapAaH v. to defend A104wa6 adv. l ast n igh t AOA 3aAaH v. to yell, shou t (6a at) AOAaHIA104lti (Aelti) v. to give AOAap n. younger brother AOAAap n. dollar AOHa n. classifier for things AOH104CTaHI AOH v. to know AOH104W n. knowledge AOH104W OMYXTaH V. to learn AOH104Wr0lti n. university AOH104WMaHA adj. wise,
learned

-E-

- 101 n.

eA104 M
-

glu e, paste

104A0 8a 6a 104H int ro.p hr.

=

e conj. or e ...e conj. either . . . or e (104H ) K104 con j. or els e eA r104p 1o4cj)TaHlr1o4p v. lea rn e3Aalti nu m. eleven eK,YT n. ruby ep n. sweetheart, beloved e4'TaH/ e6 v. to find
-

(by hea rt)

moreover, in add ition ( 6a 3aM M104 104H) 104K,I\1o4M n. climate 104K,T1o4CO A n. economy 104K,T1o4COA'IH n. economist 104MPY3 adv. tod ay 104M COA adv. thi s year 104MT1o4lti0H n. test, exam 104M wa6 adv. tonight 104H pro n., adj. this 104H K,aAap adv. this much 104H Ta8p intro.p hr. thus, hence
=

AOH104W,\Y n. university AOHO adj . wise AOPO adj. rich; having AOWTaH/AOP v. to have AY num. two AY-AY adv. in pairs, by pairs AYB03Aalti num. twelve AY3A n. thief AYHe n. world AYO xOHAaH v. to pray, recite
a prayer AYP adj. far, distant AYPYCT adj. correct AycoAa adj. two-year-old AYXTaP n . daughter, girl AYXTYP n . doctor AY'Iapxa n. bicycle AwaH6e n. Monday AYCT AOWTaH V. to like AYCTAOWTa adj. favorite AYXTaHIAY3 v. to sew student

3a6 0H n. tongue, language 3aA aH/ 3aH v. to hit 3aH n. woman 3aH r 3aAaH v. to call by phone (intr., use s 6a) 3aHOHa adj. women's, of/for 3ap ap A104AaH v. to be injured, 3a MaT n. burden 3e60 adj . beautiful 3ep *c.p rep . under, below 3ep o (K104 ) conj. bec aus e 3104A adj. contr ary 3104e A adj. (a great) many 3104H AarH n. life 3104H AarH KapAaH v. to inhabit,
live (in a place) 30APy 3 n. birthday suffer harm women

AaCTa-AaCTa adv. in groups AaCT104 POCT *c.prep. right

(side) of

AaCT104 'Ian *c.prep. left

(side) of

( 6a A104H COH ) 104H xeA adv. this way 104H ,\0 n. here 104H'I yH1o4 H adj. like thi s; intro. part. also 104HW O n. ess ay, com pos itio n 104CTebAoA n. talent, ability 104CT 1o4poltiaT n. rest 1o4cToAaH/1o4CT(O) v. to stand, stay, stop (in tr.) 104TT1o4I\OOT n. information 104TTJ4AOb n. piece of information 104'\p o KapAaH v. to fulfill, do

Aa num. ten AabBaT KapAaH v. to invite (6a to) AabBaT wYAaH v. to be invited (6a to) AeKa6p n. December Aep adj. late Aep KapAaH v. to be late (6a to) Aeltia n. village A104BaH n. sofa A104rap adj. other A104AaHI61o4H v. to see
-V 1 52 '-"-

(homework, ass ign me nt) , follow (ins tru ctio ns) 104W K, n. love 104IOA n. July 104IO H n. June
-KKa6YA adj. blue KaAoM adj. which? KaAoM 104H adj . which? KaM adv. when?

30H Y n. knee 3YA adv. soon 3YA-3YA adv . often

-v 1 5 3 '-"-

KaA OH IIdj. larg e KaM adj ., atlv. few, l i ttl e KaMaKaK adv. very Ii tt le KaM 6aFaA ad}. poo r KaM e adv. a little KaH H adv. where ? (locatio n) Kap adj. dea f KapAaH/KYH v. to do KapO'lH n. Ka rachi KacaA adj. ill KaWJoIAH v. to smoke (tobacco) KJoI can]. tha t (to ma rk rela tive KJoIAO n. kil ogr am KJoIA OM eTp n. kilo meter KJoIM -KaAoM adj. som e such KJoIM -KH pro n. someone KJoIM -'IH pro n. som ething KJoIH O n. movie KJoIT06 n. boo k KJoIT 4> n. should er KH pro n. wh o? KOM JoIAa H adv . completely KO P n. work, job KOP KapAaH v. to work KO PA n . kni fe Koc a n. cup K04>TaH/K06 v. to look for KOW KH conj. wo uld tha t Kyp CJol'l a n. sto ol KYPCH n. chair KY,\ O n. where? KywoAaH/KYw O v. to open KYWTaH/KYW v. to kill KYAaK n. chil d (= 6aAa, 6a'la) KYA aKH n. chil dho od K H n ous e (lite rary) KYP ad] . blin d Kypna n. qUi lt Ky n. mountain

KYCTOHH I I . mO lmt ,l i n d Wl' II" Ky COp I I . mo u n ta i n

- 1<; -

cla use s)

Y4>A KapAaH v. to lock (trans.) Y4>A wYAaH v. to be locked

-

convenient Y4>A n. loc k

A

a6A a3 n.p rep. before aA6aAaHA adj. tall (of persol / ) aAaM n. pen cil aHA n. sweets a4>o n. back; *c.p rep . beh ind aBa n. coffee JoI MaTTap adj. expensive YAaH adj. comfortable,

MaKTy6 I I . letter (mail) MaH prOtz . 1" sg: I, me, etc . MaHa p ro n . this one here MapA n. man MapAHKOp n. worker MapAoHa adj. men's, for men MapAYM n. people MapoTH6a n. time, occasion MapT n. March MacaAaH intro.part. for

example, thus (introducing

an example)
acKaB n. Moscow Ma4>JoIA (Mao4>JoIA) n. club,

group
Ma,\6yp 6YAaH conj. to be

me, etc. (N) MyaAAJoIM n. teacher MYB04>HH prep. according to MYF,\a n. bud MYMKHH aCT conj. it is possible (that) MYPAaH/MJoIp -MYP v. to die MYCHH n. music MYC04>Hp n. passenger, traveler MYH n. hair MYHca4>eA n. old man
-HHa6epa n . grandchild Ha60waA conj. if so HaB adj. new HaBaA num. ninety HaBaKaK adv. just now,

MOH'Ia I I . s m a l l fish, fry MOH n. fish MOWHH n. car MO pran. 1 st pi: we, us, etc.;
1st sg: I,

compelled to
Ma,\AHC n. meeting (official) MaWFaAa (MaWOFJoIA) n. noise MabYA adj. interesting MabAYM adj. clear; n.

Aa6 n. lip; edge; *c.p rep . right

with me at, noodles, and variou s peppers) AeKJoIH conj. however AJoITP n. lite r AoaaA adv. at lea st A03 HM aCT conj. it is nec ess ary
AOAa n. tulip AOA a30 p n. tul ip garden -Ma6oAO conj. beware, I fear MaF03a n. store Ma3 3a n. tas te MaH n. May MaHAaw interj. okay MaKTa6 (MaKOTJoI6) n. sch ool
1 54

AaFMO H n. laghm an (dish

beSide, nex t to

something known
MabAYMoT n. information MabMYAaH adv. usually MabpJoI4>aT n. education MeBa n. fruit MeTp n. meter (unit of

recently
HaBJoIWTaH/HaBJoIC v. to write HaBJoIWTa,\OT n. compositions,

writings, oeuvre
HaBOXTaHI HaB03
v.

(that)

length) MJoIeH *c.prep. among MH3 n. table

MHAAHapA num. a thousand

to play

(an instrument)
HaBpY3
n.

Navruz
=

millions (UK milliard, US billion) MHAAHOH num. million MHH6abA adv. hereinafter MOAap n. mother MOeH pron. 1 st pi: we, us (N) MOHaHA 6a prep. like MOHAaH/MoH v. to remain; to put, place MO n. month
1 55

(the Persian New Year) HaF3 adj. good ( xy6) Ha3A *c.prep. near Ha3AJoIK n.prep. near; adj. close HaM n. moisture HaMHOK adj. humid HaMYAaH/HaMo v. to seem,
appear
HaprHc n. narcissus flower HaCHM n. feeling Ha4>ap n. classifier for people

Ha+c I I . desi re, g n'ed HaxOA (KH) adv. rea l l y HaxycTHH adj. first HaopH n. breakfast Ha Ha conj. neither. . . nor He interj. no HeCT v. is not; there is not

( OXHp) HHWaCTaH/(HH)WHH v. to sit H06YA adj. gone, absent HOB06aCTa 6a prep. despite,
=

(negative equational and existential verb) HHro n. sight HHro KapAaH n. to look at (trans.); to watch (trans. with 6a; intr. for) HHrOWTaH/HHrOp n. to write <for publication) HH3 adv. also, too (literary, follows noun) HHM num. half HHMawa6 adv. midnight HHc6aT 6a prep. compared to HHC+ num. half HHC+HPY3H adj. noontime HHOJlT intro.part. finally

HOH II. b n'a d HOHBOM I I . baker Honyppa adj. i n complete HOTaPC adj. fearless HOXOCT adv. suddenly HOHJI n. region HOJl6p n. November Hy3Aa num. nineteen Hypa n. silver Hy num. nine
-

OH ,\0 I I . the re OHO pro n. ),d pi: they, them ( yH O) OH'I yHH H adj . lik e that ope interj. yes <formal, a, 6aAe) OCO H adj. easy OXH p(O H) intro.p art . finally ( HH OSlT) oaHHH adj. iron, made of
= = =

naXTaKOp 11 . cotton -gr ow er naXTa'l HHM n. picking of cotton naAy n. sid e; *c.prep. bes ide new n. front; n.prep. before; new a3 n.prep. bef ore neWHH n. noon, early new HHH adj. at noon, in/of neW HHH ) new no xYPAaH v. to stum le new noxyp OH adv. stumblmg nHeAa n. cup, bowl (for tea, etc.) nHp adj. old nHp a3aH n. old wo ma n nHc ap n. son noe H *c.prep . under, below,
the early afternoon; n. lunch (sh ort for xypOKH afternoon

adv. earlier

OHCTa adv. quickly OW H n. sweetheart, beloved, OW XOH a n. restauran t OJlH Aa adj. nex t (week, etc. );
coming
-n-

iron

06 n. water 0660 interj. uh-oh! 06Kaw n. water sprinkler 06 KapAaH v. to melt (trans. ) 0 6 wYAaH v. to melt (intr.) oBapAaH/oBap-op v. to bring oBeXTaHioBe3 v. to hang (trans.) OB03 n. voice, sound OAaM n. a human OAaMOH n. humans (pl. of oAaM), people (generic) OAaTaH adv. usually,
customarily

lover

narOH adv. in the morning naAap n. father naAaB/naAoB n. pil af naH ,\ num . five naH ,\a n. the five fingers, naH '\O num . fifty naH,\w aH6 e n. Thu rsd ay
napepcOA

hand, paw

for all

HOB06acTa 6a HH/oH intro.phr.

besides (indicating contrast;

oe part. yes/no question word 030A adj. free (political) OHA 6a prep. about

at the base of noeH ec1TaH v. to come to an end nOH 3Aa num . fifteen nop HHa adv. last year nop coA adv. last year nyA n. money nyp pa adj. complete; adv. completely, fully nYPcHAaH/nypc v. to ask (a3

adv. the year before

see Aap 6ap06apH HH/oH) HOAOH adj. stupid HOAoHH n. ignorance,

foolishness

HOAYPYCT adj. incorrect H03YK adj. soft HOyAaM adj. uncomfortable HOA num. zero ( CH+p) HOAa v. groan, lamentation,
=

(concerning) OMHHa n. mirror OKTJl6p n. October oMaAaH/o v. to come OMY3HW n. training,

instruction

nap epy3 adv. the day bef ore nap ew a6 adv. two nights ago nap HAaH/nap v. to fly nac n.prep . behind; adv. later nac a3 n.p rep . after naC HH adj. las t nac HoKH ad backward s nac c1apAo adv. day after
tomorrow naXTa n. cotton yester day

last

nYXTaH /na 3 v. to cook; to nyXTyn a3 n. cooking nyw aMMOH adj. sorry (a3 for) nywT *c.p rep . behind nyw HAaH/nyw v. to pu t on,
wear (clothes); cover (trans.)
-

of)

ripen

oMYXTaH/oMY3 v. to learn, OH pron. yd sg: he/him, she/

her, it; that; adj. that to study

p-

cry of dismay HOMa n. letter (mail)

1 56'-"-

OH aAap adv. that much OH xeA adv. that way

pa6YAaH/pa60 v. to seize paA Ho n. rad io

1 5 T '-"-

paH C

pY3 HoM a n. newspa per pY3 0Ha adj. in the daytime,

facing py3 n. day daily

(con cern ing) py6b num . qua rter py6apYH *c.p rep . opp osi te,

agreement pO CT n. right (direct ion ) pO CT HCToAaH v. to be standing, to sta nd stra igh t po n. roa d popaa oH adv. wh ile going pO '4eb 6a prep. abo ut

(literal and figura tive: ma turity) paco adj. ma ture, exa ct pac coM n. arti st pa.TaH/paa v. to go pa.TYo n. vis it peXTaH/pe3 v. to pou r pHc oAa n. the sis P03H adj. agreed, in

off end ed, take offense (al at) pac HAaH/pac v. to rea ch

paoca n. fem ale dan cer pac n. dance pac KapAaH v. to dance pacHAaH/pac v. to dance pacKYHOH adv. dan cing(ly) paH r n. col or paH rHH adj. col ore d paH '4HA aH/paH '4 v. to be

1/. Iwa d (Ot' ll (Oll / IlIlI l Y or ii'l' isio 1/), ch i ef, bos s

capuT n . wealth capuTMaHA adj. rich capAa pA n. heada che cap oceMar H n. confusion ca. ap KapAaH v. to travel ca.eA adj. wh ite ca.eAH n. whiteness;

classifier for animals cap Kap AaH v. to start (tra ns.) cap wYAaH v. to start (intr .)

ca6 a6 I I . rea son ca6 3 adj. green ca63a n. green thi n gs Ca6 laa OT n. veg eta ble s ca6 3H n. car rot caa Aorap n. me rch ant caa oA n. lite racy car n. dog caA num . hun dred caH epa n. planet caH PyrawT Kap AaH v. to stro l l CaA OMaT adj. hea lthy CaAOMaTH n. hea lth caH r n. stone caH rHH adj. (of ) stone, stony cap n. hea d, beginning;

CHMYPF n. mythical Persian

bird of wisdom CHH(H) n. age

CHHHY cOA/cHHHYCOA n. age cHTopa n. star CH.P num. zero CHT adj. recovered, well,

TaaOHO adj. capable Tar *c. prep . under, below TarWHH adj. coming down,

settling
TaHep adj. ready TaKpOp KapAaH v. to repeat TaKpOpaH adv. repeatedly Ta-Ta KaPAaH v. to knock

better
CH num. thirty coaT n. clock, hour COAH P n. publication COAHPOT n. exports COA n. year COAOHa adj. yearly, annual COMOHH n. somoni (monetary

on (trans.)
TaAa6 KapAaH v. to demand TclMOM KapAaH V. to finish (trans.) TaMOM wYAaH v. to end (intr.),

be finished
TaMOWO KapAaH v. to watch TaH6aA adj. lazy TaHTaHa n. ceremony, festivities Tapa. (aTpo.) n. side;

unit of Tajikistan)
COXTaH/c03 v. to build COXTYMOH n. construction coS! n. shadow CYAC num. third cynopHw AOAaH v. to give

*c. prep . beside

Tapa.aHH n. both sides Tapa.Aop n. supporter Tapa.H pOCT *c.prep. right

an order
CYPYA XOHAaH v. to sing cYPYAaH/capo v. to sing cypx adj. red cyxaH n. word, speech cy6aTKYHoH adv. while

(side) of
Tapa.H 'tan *c.prep. left (side) of TapH n. way, route TapC n. fear TapCHAaH/Tapc v. to fear (intr., a3 for thing feared) Tac6e WYMopHAaH/wYMoP v.

PYH n . face; *c.p rep . on top of PY.Ta H/pY6 v. to sweep up

caxTKop adj. har d-working caH.a n. pag e (of book) ca po n. field ce num . three ce6 n. app le ce6 30p n. app le orc har d ce3 Aa num . thirteen ceH u6 p n. September cep adj. full (esp. offoo d) cew aH6 e n . Tue sda y ceSi K num . a thir d cHrop n. cig ar
1 58

yogurt

conversing
-T-

to count beads
TaCAHM n. surrender TaWHa adj. thirsty TabHHHH adj. intensive TabpHX n. history Te3-Te3 adv. often TeAe.oH n. telephone TeAe.oH'tH n. (telephone)

Ta6 KapAaH v. to run a fever Ta6accYM KapAaH v. to smile Ta6accYMKYHOH adv.

smiling(ly) TaaaAAYA n. birth

TaaaAAYA KapAaH v. to bear,

operator

give birth to
TaaaAAYA wYAaH v. to be born TaaOHHcTaHlTaaoH v. to be

THAAO n. gold THpela n. window TOI s. p rep . until; conj. so that,

able, can
1 59

in order to

cottonwood, and rel ate d trees TYXM n. egg

-

T02 (ra) II. c/assijit'r.fi'r 1111 110/ 11/ .11 TO 6a prep. u n t i l TO Aa Me K U canj. un til, til l T O la MO He K U conj. until, till TO OA adv. so far, un til no w T0 6u CTO H n. su mm er TO K n. grapevine TOK3 0P n. vineyard TO '4U K n. Tajik (perso n) TO'4UKH adj. Tajiki, of the Tajiks Ty pro n. 2nd informal sg: you TYT n. certain mu lberry,

cf>apAo Ilti ll. tom or ro w CS>apo Hc a I I . Fra n ce cf>aM I I . u n d ers ta n d i ng cf>a M uA aH /cf>aM v. to cf>e apaA n. February cf>ebAaH ad v. current ly cf>UK P KapA aH v. to think cf>UAM n. mo vie, film cf>uA'4YM Aa ad v. as well cf>u ToAa adj. fallen cf>ypywaHAa n. selle r
-xun de rstan d

XOHO adj. leg i b l e xOCTaH/xo v . to want xontp n. memory xoap n. younger sister XOHW KapAaH v. to request,

aMewa adv. a l way s aMHH pron., adj. this one aMHH KU conj. at the same

wish
xy6 adj. good

well having)

Han); interj.

XYAPO 3aAaH v. to make oneself out (6a as being/ xyAoca intra.part. in conclusion ( aAt<;ucca) xY'4aCTa adj. happy xyw6axToHa intro.part.
=

Taput<;) aMOH pran., adj. that one aMcap n. spouse aMCOJI n. neighbor aM'IyHHH pran., adj. (also)

time that, just as, right as aMUH Taap intro.phr. so, in the same way ( 6a aMuH
=

yeHYC n. ocean YMYMaH adv. in general, ov erall YHO pra n. yd pI: they, them (call. for OH O ) ypa interj. ho oray !
-9-

y pro n. 3rd sg: he/him, shelhe r' it yy interj. a-h al - CS> cf>a ap aH adv. im me dia tel y cf>a a'4 n. troop, ho st cf>a a'4 -cf> aa '4 adv. troop aft er

an d-s uch a person cf>aAo HH pran . so me perso n cf>aAaK n . world cf>aH( H) n. art, science, fiel d of stu dy
-V 1 60

cf>aAoH pro n. someone, su ch _

troop, in a throng

XOHa n. ho us ho me XO Ha rH adj. of/fo r th e ho me XO Ha WU H3 aH n. ho us ew ife xO HA aH/xoH v. to read XO HUW n. rea di ng

(tran s., dlrect object indica tes sleeper) x0 6u AaH/x06 v. to sleep XOMa n. pe n (writing)
do me sti c

xa6ap n. (pi ece of) news xaaoTHp adj. worried (a3 ab out) xaATa n. bag, sac k XaATa'la n. tot e ba g xapuAaH/xap v. to bu y xapHAop n. bu ye r xaCTa adj. tir ed (a3 from) xaWM n. anger, wr ath xawM rH H adj. angry, furio us xeAe adv. very xeCTa H/xe3 v. to ge t up, arise XH WT n. brick XH WT HH adj. brick XU wTpe 3 n. brick-maker x06 n. sleep x06 6YPAa v. to faIl asle ep

fortunately
XywoAoHa adv. happily xYPAaH/xyp v. to eat xYPAaHH n. foodstuffs XYPOK n. meal, food xywe interj. hush!, shush!,

quiet!
- x. -

a interj. yes ( 6aAe, ope) a6Aa num. seventeen a6c KapAaH v. to arrest aaoAop n . fan (of a team) a>KAa num. eighteen a30p num. thousand aHcf>o interj. alas! at<;Ht<;aTaH intra.part. indeed ( 6a POCTH, Aap aOt<;eb) aM adv. also, too (follows noun, see HU3); as prefix:
= =

this way; adv. in this very same way; intro.part. also aM'IYHoH pron., adj. (also) that way; adv. in that very same way aHrOMU prep. during aHy3 adv. yet ap adj., pran. each ap 60pe KU conj. whenever, every time ap KaAOM pron., adj. everyone ap JlK adj. each and every, every single (one) apru3 adv. never (with a

negative verb)
ap cl (ypycl) n. letter (of an

alphabet)
ap'laHA (KH) canj. although ap'lu pron. everything aCT v. there is/are

(existential verb)
aclT num. seven aclTa n. week aclTaUHa adj. weekly aclToA num. seventy aWT num. eight aWTOA num. eighty e'4 adj. no e'4 ro adv. never (with a

'

same
aM . . . aM conj. both . . . and aMa pron., adj. all; everyone aMa '40 n. everywhere aMAHrap pron. each other
161

negative verb)

HHAY I I . I l i n d u , I nd i a n HC KapAaH v. t o feci Hcca n. part 03HP adv. now o3HpaKaK adv. just now,
recently

OKHM (YKKOM) n. mayor OA n. condition OAO adv. now onna interj. catch! YKYMaT n. government YHap n. profession; talent YHapMaHA adj. skillful,
clever
- If 'laMA adj. how many, how much?

'tOH I I . ted 'lOp n U IIl. fou r 'I0PAa num. fou rteen 'IopwaH6e n. Wednesday 'IOPSIK num. a fourth 'IYH conj. when, as; prep. like

'IH xeA

IIt/H, tlt/j. how? (wllllifil lll)

- to -

wa6 n. nigh t wa60Ha adj. in the nighttime,

during the night, nightly

tOHOH n. Greece IOpT n. yurt (nomadic tent)

- fl -

(largely literary) 'IYHHH adv. like this, in this way, so; adj., pron. such
(as this)

wa6napaK n. butterfly waB n. love, yearning,

desire w aH6e n. Saturday wapM n. modesty, shame wapo6 n. wine waCT num. sixty wacJ>ToAY n. peach waxc (awxoc) n. person wap n. city wa pHep n. king waw num. six wHH oHAaH/w HHoH v. to cause to sit, to have someone sit, to seat; to place, to plant WHH OCO adj. acquainted WHH OCOH H n. acqu aintance WOA adj. happ y wOH 3Aa num . sixte en wox n. branch WOSIA adv. should, might wy6a n. doubt wYAaH/waB v. to become; to be suitable WYMO pron. 2n d pI: you WYMO pron. 2nd sg formal: you WYMoeH pron. 2 nd pI: you (N) wYHaBo adj. capable of hearing wYHHAaH/wYHaB v. to hear wyp60 n. a type of soup
-3-

SlrOH adj. some, several SlK num. one; adj. one, a/an SlK aAap adv. some SlK 'IH3H AHrap n. something SlK-SiK adv. one by one SlKAHrap pron . each other SlKOSl adv. together SlKw aH6e n. Sun day SlHaap n. January SIX n. ice SIX KapAaH/6aCTaH v. to freeze SIX wYAaH v. to freeze (intr.)
else (instead)

'IYHKH conj. because 'IYHOH adv. like that, in that

way, so, thus; adj., pron. such (as that) . 'Iy6 n. wood 'Iy6HH adj. wooden 'Iy6H adj. wooden

'IaHr n. claw 'IaHraK n. fork

'IaHAHH adj. several 'IaHAYM adj. which? (of a series) 'Ian n. left (direction) 'Iapo adv. why? 'Iapo KH conj. because 'Iapx n. wheel 'IapxocJ>aAaK n. merry-goround, carousel; wheel of fortune 'IaWHAaH/'Iaw v. to taste 'IaW M n. eye 'IH ...'IH conj. whether . . . or 'IH3 n. thing 'IHA num. forty 'IH pron., adj. what? 'IH rYHa adj. what kind? 'IH aAap adv. how much?; how little! 'IH HaBb adv. what kind? 'IH TaBp adv. how? (manner) 'IH Tap3 adj. what kind?

- li -

(trans. )

aBOH adj. young aMb raPA"AaH v. to be

gathered

aMb raWTaH v. to be collected aHr n. battle aHr KapAaH v. to fight aHraA n. forest aHo6 n. Mr. aCTaH-aHAaH/a v. to
jump, leap

acyp adj. brave aHW n. jump aOH n. world o n. place y3 s.prep. except y3BAoH n. bag, backpack YMba n. Friday YCTYyH n. searching yH6op n. canal yw n. boiling
-V 1 62 '-"-

3pOH

n.

Iran

-V 1 6 3 '-"-

I n d ex
-Aaccusative 1 2, 1 7 adjective 1 0, 26-33, 45 comparative 27-29 demonstrative 2 7, 62, 64 derived from nouns 29, 37-38 derived from verbs 1 2, 69, 7 1 -76 deverbal 78 indefinite 26, 1 1 7 - 1 20 interrogative 2 7 superlative 2 8 - 2 9 adverb 1 2, 1 4, 39, 45, 1 1 3 - 1 20 denoting frequency 32, 8 5, 1 1 3 1 14

possibility 1 2 8, 1 29 preference 1 2 9 uncertainty 1 2 7 auxiliary verbs 1 5, 74,

90, 94, 98

80, 8 8, 89-

-Bbeneficiary
-

52

indefinite 26, 1 1 7- 1 20 of manner and extent 1 2, 14, 1 1 7 of place 1 2, 1 1 6- 1 1 7 of quantity 1 4, 1 1 7 of time 1 2, 1 4, 1 1 3 - 1 1 5 used to reinforce aspect 8 1 , 8 2 - 3,
85-86, 8 7, 1 2 5

verbal 69, 76-77 agent 95, 96 agentive nouns 36 alphabet 1 anaphora 25 apodosis 1 4 1 aspect 69 continuous 69, 7 1 ,
82-83, 8 3 - 8 5

74, 90-81,

habitual 6 9 , 7 9 , 8 3 -85, 84- 85 imperfect 69 perfect 69, 86-87, 8 8 - 89 simple/unspecified 69 assimilation 7 auxiliary constructions 1 2 7- 1 32 compulsion 1 2 8 intent 1 30 necessity 1 29
1 6 5 "-""

classifier 2 1 clitics 1 5 comparative 32, 49, 54 conditionals 93, 1 4 1 - 1 4 5 actual 1 42- 1 43 counterfactual 1 42, 1 44- 1 4 5 doubtful 1 42- 1 4 3 past 1 42, 1 43 , 1 44 possible 1 42, 142- 1 4 3 present-future 1 42, 1 4 3 - 1 44 conjunctions 1 2, 1 4, 1 5, 22, 45, concessive 1 4 coordinating 1 4, 3 9-40, 1 2 3 o f purpose 1 4 o f similarity 1 4 o f time 1 4 subordinating 1 2 3 consonants 2 - 5 manner of articulation 3 place of articulation 3 unvoiced 3 voiced 3 copula 5 5, 56, 1 05- 1 0 7 correlative clauses 2 5, 1 3 5- 1 3 6

123

-D-

days of the week 1 1 6 definiteness 38- 39, 40

defi nite nou ns

1 3 3, 1 3 4

1 7, I H, 4 2 , 6 1 66,

deletion 7-8 deter mine rs 27, 2 8, 33, 38-3 9 devoicing 3, 6, 7 diminutive noun s 3 7 direc t obje cts 1 2, 1 7, 1 8, 40, 42, 5 1, 59, 6 1 -66, 66-6 8, 70, 95-96, 1 09, 1 34
-

- M measures 2 1 , 3 1 , 32

enclitics 1 2, 1 6, 1 8, 39 evidentiality 69 experiential past 79, 87-88 -Ffinite verb forms 78-98 fractions 30-3 1

-N-

metathesis 9 modals 98- 1 05 of ability 98- 1 00 of desire 7 1 , 1 00- 1 02 of obligation and necessity 1 02- 1 04 of poss ibility 1 04- 1 05 mont hs 1 1 6 mood 69 imperative 69 indicative 69 subjunctive 69

-G-I-

generic nouns 2 1, 63

-L-

imperatives 1 3, 44, 90-9 1 indefinite nouns 1 2, 42, 6 1 -66, 63, 1 33 indir ect objects 1 8, 5 1 -52, 59, 66-6 8, 70, 95, 1 09 infinitives 1 1, 69, 70-7 1, 7 1 , 78, 1 00, 1 2 5, 1 30 insertion 8 interjections 1 5, 1 2 2 intransitive verbs 6 1 -62, 96, 1 1 0- 1 1 1 izofat 1 2, 1 7, 32, 39-41, 70 attributive 39-4 1 possessive 32, 39-41

negation 57, 6 1 , 72-73, 75, 76, 80, 8 1 , 82, 83, 86, 90-9 1, 99, 1 00, 101- 1 02, 1 03 non-finite verb form s 70-7 8 non- spec ific noun s 64 noun phrases 3 8-43 nouns 1 0, 1 7, 1 7-22 compound 33-34 derived from adjectives 34-36 deverbal 70, 77 inanimate 6 1 verbal 69 number dual 2 0 numerals 1 0- 1 1, 24, 29-33, 4 1 complex 29-30 compound 30 ordinal 32-33

-0-p-

object claus es 2 5, 7 1 , 1 0 1, 1 24- 1 2 7

94-95, 97, 98 present 1 1 , 69, 74-76 particles 1 4, 1 2 1, 1 22 passives 74, 94-96, 97, 1 06 past stems 59-6 1, 71, 78, 89 personal possessive markers 1 2, 4 1 -42, 45-46, 70- 7 1 , 1 29 as object markers 66-68 plural forms 1 9 - 2 1 , 24 uses 2 1 -22 plurality 2 1 -22, 1 20 possession 1 8, 39-40 predicate endings 55-56, 86-87 prefixes 55, 83, 84, 9 7, 1 44 prepositional phrases 1 7, 32, 44-55, 59, 1 39 prepositions 1 7, 44-55 compound (nominal) 46-47 simple 1 5, 45, 47, 48-55 (simple) nominal 45-46 present stems 59-6 1, 83, 90, 9 1, 96 principle parts 59-6 1 proclitics 1 5 pronouns 1 1, 1 3, 1 7, 22-26 demonstrative 1 1 , 1 3, 24-25, 64 emphatic 44 indefinite 1 1, 1 3, 26-27, 1 1 7- 1 20 interrogative 1 1, 1 3, 23-24 negative (indefinite) 1 1 9 - 1 20 personal 22-23, 64 reciprocal 1 1, 43, 67-68 reflexive 43, 67-68 universal (indefinite) 120 unspecified (indefinite) 1 1 8- 1 20 protasis 1 4 1

past

1 1 , 69, 7 1 - 74, 80, 86, 88,

re po rtative 1 3, 69, 88- 89, 97 -98 respect marker of 6 1 resumptive pronouns 1 34, 1 3 5

-S-

sentences complex 1 2 3 compound 73-74, 77, 1 23, 1 23- 1 24 equational 1 7, 55-57, 1 05 existential 1 7, 56-57, 105 word order 23, 59, 1 1 5, 1 1 7, 128- 1 29, 1 2 9 specific nouns 64-65 stress 1 0- 1 6, 68, 72, 78, 80, 83, 86 subject 1 7, 44, 59, 70, 94, 95 subjunctive 69, 7 1 , 9 1 , 1 2 5 continuous 9 3 habitual 9 3 perfect 9 3 , 1 02, 1 03, 105 present 80, 9 1 -93, 99, 1 0 1, 1 02, 1 04, 1 26, 1 43 subordinate clauses 70, 1 2 3, 1 36- 1 4 1 o f place 1 39 of purpose 7 1 , 1 40- 1 4 1 o f reason 1 40 of time 1 36- 1 3 9 suflixes 1 5, 6 1 , 96 past 78 present-future 83, 91 syllables 9

-T-

-R-

logical object 70, 94 logical subject 70, 95

participles 1 1 , 69 future 1 1, 69, 76, 89

recipient 52 relative clauses 64, 75, 1 2 3, 1 33 - 1 36, 1 36 inclusive/exclusive 1 3 3 relative pronouns 1 33

tense 69, 1 26- 1 2 7 future participle 8 9 past continuous 82-83 past distant 88-89, 1 2 5 past imperfect 1 3, 84-85, 1 03, 1 04, 1 44 present continuous 80-82 present-future 83-84

1 66 ""-

present peril'ct 1 3, 116 Illl, 1 2 5 simple fu t u r e 89-90 simple past 1 3, 78-80, 84, 88, 1 2 5, 1 43 time 69 future 69, 83, 89 past 69, 78-80, 82-83, 84-85 present 69, 80-8 1, 83-85 transitive verbs 6 1 -62, 96, 1 1 0- 1 1 1 transitivity 6 1 -66, 1 1 0- 1 1 1
.

-V-

prefi xed 55, 74 inseparahlc 61l, 83 separable 68, 83 simple 68, 74 stative 59, 6 1, 80, 86 voice 69 active 69 causative 69, 96-97 passive 69, 74, 94-96 voicing 2, 3, 7 vowels 1 -2 reduction of 6 -y-

verbs 59- 1 1 2 compound 68, 72, 74, 83, 94 denominal 60 of posture 1 09- 1 1 a of sensing 7 1 , 1 08- 1 09

yoted letters 5-6, 56, 86, 9 1

1 6 8 '-"-