The status of the nominal in Persian complex predicates

Looking for the middle way: Voice and transitivity in complex predicates in Iranian

“…9 The present paper thus proposes that these issues should be discussed together with the various light verbs actually employed. This approach naturally implies that the argument to be presented here shares the view that "light verbs are not in fact semantically empty" (Megerdoomian 2001: 100, similarly Folli et al 2005, Butt 2010: 49-51 and many others), and that both the light verb and the non-verbal element contribute to the properties of the complex predicate.…”

Subject-object asymmetries in Persian argument ellipsis and the anti-agreement theory

“…It is a head-initial language except for the VP-level at which verbs occur in the final position (Karimi 2005). Persian is widely known for its large, open-ended list of complex predicates, consisting of a non-verbal element within the complement of v and a semantically bleached light verb generated under v (Karimi 1997;Folli et al 2005;Toosarvandani 2009;Megerdoomian 2012). The number of simplex verbs is extremely limited, with some estimated 120 verbs remaining in current use (Mohammad and Karimi 1992: 195), and most verbal concepts are expressed instead by increased reliance on complex predicates.…”

Emotional Temperament in Food-Related Metaphors: A Cross-Cultural Account of the Conceptualisations of ANGER

“…In other words, while for example ANGER IS A FLUID IN A CONTAINER is embodied, its manifestation as hot fluid in a container (heart-stomach) is an em-minded cultural notion for Persians which is motivated and mediated by Iranian traditional worldviews. iii Persian metaphorical expressions used as the data in this study are extracted from: Farhang-e amid (Amid Dictionary), 1992; farhang-e bozorg-e soxan (The comprehensive Dictionary of Talk), 2006; amsāl-o-hekam-e dehxodā (Proverbs and Mottos), 1999; loqatnāme-ye dehxodā (Dekhoda Dictionary), 1998. iv For the discussion of ‗light verb constructions' in Persian see also Khajeh et al (2013b), Megerdoomian (2012), andPantchewa (2010). v For more discussion on food-related conceptualizations of emotional temperament in Persian see Khajeh et al (2013a).…”