The Category and Structure of Persian Numerals

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Student, Department of Linguistics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Numerals are the linguistic representation of numbers. In some languages, numerals have distinctive features that make them to be considered a word class. Moreover, in linguistic analyses, numerals are generally studied in simple (single-digit) forms, and the fact that numerals have an internal structure and can potentially express an infinite number of numbers is ignored. In this study, we investigated Persian numerals and showed that numerals in Persian are not a word class. We also showed that numerals have an internal structure consisting of two groups: counters and decifiers. Counters are a closed class of quantifiers that cyclically determine the quantity of a decifier or a countee. Decifiers are an open class of classifiers that determine the scale of a counter in the numeral system and its positional notation. The combination of these two groups can produce an infinite number of numerals in Persian.

Keywords

Main Subjects


  • افشار، طاهره (۱۳۹۵). «ساختار سه لایه‌ای گروه تعریف در زبان فارسی». پژوهش‌های زبان شناسی. ۱۴(۸): ۸۹-۱۱۰.
  • انوری، حسن؛ احمدی گیوی، حسن (۱۳۸۸). دستور زبان فارسی ۲، انتشارات فاطمی. تهران.
  • باطنی، محمد (۱۳۸۴). توصیف ساختمان دستوری زبان فارسی، امیرکبیر. تهران.
  • تفکری‌رضائی، شجاع؛ نظری، کبری (۱۳۹۳). «بررسی نحوی ممیز عدد در زبان فارسی»، پژوهش‌های زبانی. ۸(۵): ۱-۲۰.
  • صحرایی، رضا (۱۳۸۹). «گروه حرف تعریف در زبان فارسی»، متن پژوهی ادبی. ۴۵(۱۴): ۱۲۹-۱۵۸.
  • طباطبایی، علاءالدین (۱۳۸۸). ساختمان واژه و مقوله دستوری: تشخیص مقوله دستوری واژه‌ها، براساس ملاک‌های صرفی. پژوهشگاه فرهنگ، هنر و ارتباطات. تهران.
  • American Psychological Association (Ed.). (2020). Publication manual of the American psychological association (Seventh edition). American Psychological Association.
  • Anward، (2006). Word Classes/Parts of Speech: Overview. In K. Brown (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition) (pp. 628–632). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00279-0
  • Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. MIT Press.
  • Chomsky, N., Jacobs, R., & Rosenbaum, P. (1970). Remarks on Nominalization. In Reading in English Transformational Grammar (pp. 184–221). Ginn.
  • Derrick, D., & Archambault, D. (2010). “Tree Form: Explaining and exploring grammar through syntax trees”. Literary and Linguistic Computing, 25(1): 53–66. https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqp031
  • Greenberg, J. H. (2005). Language Universals: With Special Reference to Feature Hierarchies. DE GRUYTER MOUTON. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110899771
  • Jackendoff, R. (1977). X̄ syntax: A study of phrase structure. The MIT press.
  • Samiian (1983). Origins of Phrasal Categories in Persian, an x-bar Analysis [PhD. Dissertation]. UCLA.