The position of indefinite enclitic “-ی” in attributive phrases

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore grammatical role of indefinite morpheme ‫ی‬ » -« in Persian attributive noun phrases and position of its use. Indefinite morpheme ‫ی‬ » -« is one of enclitics in Persian language.Enclitic is a kind of clitic. Clitic is a bound morpheme which is phonologically and semantically dependent on a host word. But syntactically it is like a free word, as it can be moved and displaced inside the sentence. Clitics are divided into two categories; proclitic and enclitic. Proclitic is added at the beginning of the host word, while enclitic is added at the end of it. Persian grammarians have two points of view regarding indefinite morpheme ‫ی‬ » -«. A group of them like Iran Kalbasi, Wida Sheqaqi and Mohammad Rasekh Mohand think that ‫ی‬ » -« is a clitic, while some of them like Khosraw Farshedward, Mohammad Ali Sorahi and Batol Alinajad say it is an affix. There are also different views about position of ‫ی‬ » -« in Attributive phrase (Noun + Adjective). A group of contemporary grammarians think that as a syntactic unit the position of enclitic ‫ی‬ » -« must be the end of the phrase and should be added to the adjective. Some others say that it can be added at the end of noun as well as at the end of adjective. The second group argues that in ancient literary works it is used in both styles.In this article the view of first group is supported by syntactic argumentations. The study has been implemented through a literature review having analytical-descriptive approach.