Appendix A - Understanding Persian Verbs: Why Do “They All Appear Alike”?

Summary

There are two major reasons why Persian verbs might look all so similar: (1) composite verb formation and (2) verb tense and category markers.

1. Composite verb formation. In the Persian language there are composite (compound) verbs and then there are base (single- word) verbs. The vast majority of Persian verbs are the derivative composite verbs, and a small minority of verbs are base verbs. Composite verbs consist of a noun, adjective or adverb that is combined with one of the few base verbs. Base verbs appear at the end of such composite verbs. Because the pool of base verbs is relatively small, large numbers of composite verbs use the same base verb as their second component, which makes the end of these composite verbs look the same. In addition, a majority of composite verbs use one of the two or as their base verb, which adds to the structural similarity among large numbers of Persian verbs. It might make things easier if we draw parallels between English and Persian. For example, in English, the composite verb to get ready is different in meaning from the composite verb to get over, and from the composite verb to get by, although all three have the verb “to get” in them. This is still different from the meaning of the base verb to get when it is used on its own and not as a part of a composite verb, for example, I got a letter from my friend. A similar phenomenon occurs in Persian. Let's take one of the most common verbs, the base verb which, on its own, means to become. When it is used in a composite verb, the meaning of that verb might not be the same. For example,

We see the verb شدن appearing at the end of all these composite verbs, but the meanings of these composite verbs are very different. The verb شدن is a high frequency verb that appears in numerous composite verbs as well as on its own.