Middle Persian

Middle Persian
𐭯𐭠𐭫𐭮𐭩𐭪(PārsīkorPārsīg)
Region	Sasanian Empire(224–651)
Ethnicity	Persians
Era	Evolved intoEarly New Persianby the 9th century; thereafter used only byZoroastrianpriests forexegesisand religious instruction
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Western Southwestern Middle Persian
Early form	Old Persian
Writing system	Pahlavi scripts,Manichaean script,Avestan Alpha bet,Pazend
Language codes
ISO 639-2	pal
ISO 639-3	Either: pal– Zoroastrian Middle Persian ( "Pahlavi" ) xmn– Manichaean Middle Persian (Manichaean script)
Glottolog	pahl1241
Linguasphere	58-AAC-ca

Middle Persian,also known by itsendonymPārsīkorPārsīg(Pahlavi script:𐭯𐭠𐭫𐭮𐭩𐭪,Manichaean script:𐫛𐫀𐫡𐫘𐫏𐫐‎,Avestan script:𐬞𐬀𐬭𐬯𐬍𐬐) in its later form,is a WesternMiddle Iranian languagewhich became the literary language of theSasanian Empire.For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Persian continued to function as aprestige language.It descended fromOld Persian,the language of theAchaemenid Empireand is the linguistic ancestor ofModern Persian,the official language ofIran (also known as Persia),Afghanistan(Dari) andTajikistan(Tajik).

Name

"Middle Iranian" is the name given to the middle stage of development of thenumerous Iranian languages and dialects.The middle stage of the Iranian languages begins around 450 BCE and ends around 650 CE. One of those Middle Iranian languages is Middle Persian, i.e. the middle stage of the language of the Persians, an Iranian people ofPersia proper,which lies in the south-western highlands on the border withBabylonia.The Persians called their languageParsig,meaning "Persian".

Another Middle Iranian language wasParthian,i.e. the language of thenorthwestern Iranianpeoples ofParthia proper,which lies along the southern/south-eastern edge of theCaspian seaand is adjacent to the boundary between western and eastern Iranian languages. The Parthians called their languageParthawig,meaning "Parthian". Via regular sound changesParthawigbecamePahlawig,from which the word 'Pahlavi' eventually evolved. The-iginparsigandparthawigwas a regular Middle Iranianappurtenantsuffix for "pertaining to". The New Persian equivalent of-igis-i.

When theArsacids(who were Parthians) came to power in the 3rd-century BCE, they inherited the use of written Greek (from the successors ofAlexander the Great) as the language of government. Under the cultural influence of the Greeks (Hellenization), some Middle Iranian languages, such asBactrian,also had begun to be written inGreek script.But yet other Middle Iranian languages began to be written in a script derived fromAramaic.This occurred primarily becausewrittenAramaic had previously been the written language of government of the formerAchaemenids,and the government scribes had carried that practice all over the empire. This practice had led to others adoptingImperial Aramaicas the language of communications, both between Iranians and non-Iranians.The transition from Imperial Aramaic to Middle Iranian took place very slowly, with a slow increase of more and more Iranian words so that Aramaic with Iranian elements gradually changed into Iranian with Aramaic elements.Under Arsacidhegemony,this Aramaic-derived writing system for Iranian languages came to be associated with the Parthians in particular (it may have originated in the Parthian chancellories), and thus the writing system came to be calledpahlavi"Parthian" too.

Aside from Parthian, Aramaic-derived writing was adopted for at least four other Middle Iranian languages, one of which was Middle Persian. In the 3rd-century CE, the Parthian Arsacids were overthrown by theSassanids,who were natives of the south-west and thus spoke Middle Persian as their native language. Under Sassanid hegemony, the Middle Persian language became aprestige dialectand thus also came to be used by non-Persian Iranians. In the 7th-century, the Sassanids were overthrown by the Arabs. Under Arab influence, Iranian languages began to be written inArabic script(adapted to Iranianphonology), while Middle Persian began to rapidly evolve into New Persian and the nameparsikbecame Arabicizedfarsi.Not all Iranians were comfortable with these Arabic-influenced developments, in particular, members of the literate elite, which in Sassanid times consisted primarily of Zoroastrian priests. Those former elites vigorously rejected what they perceived as 'Un-Iranian', and continued to use the "old" language (i.e. Middle Persian) and Aramaic-derived writing system.In time, the name of the writing system,pahlavi"Parthian", began to be applied to the "old" Middle Persian language as well, thus distinguishing it from the "new" language,farsi.Consequently, 'pahlavi' came to denote the particularly Zoroastrian, exclusively written, late form of Middle Persian.Since almost all survivingMiddle Persian literatureis in this particular late form of exclusively writtenZoroastrianMiddle Persian, in popular imagination the term 'Pahlavi' became synonymous with Middle Persian itself.

TheISO 639language code for Middle Persian ispal,which reflects the post-Sasanian era use of the term Pahlavi to refer to the language and not only the script.

Transition from Old Persian

In the classification of the Iranian languages, the Middle Period includes those languages which were common in Iran from the fall of theAchaemenid Empirein the fourth century BCE up to the fall of the Sasanian Empire in the seventh century CE.

The most important and distinct development in the structure of Iranian languages of this period is the transformation from the synthetic form of the Old Period (Old PersianandAvestan) to ananalyticform:

• nouns,pronouns,andadjectiveslost almost all of theircaseinflections
• prepositionswere used to indicate the different roles of words.
• manytensesbegan to be formed from a composite form
• the language developed asplit ergativemorphosyntactic alignment

Transition to New Persian

The modern-day descendants of Middle Persian areNew PersianandLuri.The changes between late Middle and Early New Persian were very gradual, and in the 10th–11th centuries, Middle Persian texts were still intelligible to speakers of Early New Persian. However, there are definite differences that had taken place already by the 10th century:

• sound changes, such as
  • the dropping of unstressed initialvowels
  • theepenthesisof vowels in initialconsonantclusters
  • the loss of -g when word final
  • change of initial w- to either b- or gw- → g-
• changes in the verbal system, notably the loss of distinctive subjunctive and optative forms, and the increasing use of verbal prefixes to express verbal moods
• a transition fromsplit ergativeback to consistentnominative-accusativemorphosyntactic alignment
• changes in the vocabulary, particularly the establishment of asuperstratum or adstratumof Arabic loanwords replacing many Aramaic loans and native terms.
• the substitution of the Pahlavi script for the Arabic script

Surviving literature

Texts in Middle Persian are found in remnants ofSasanian inscriptionsand Egyptianpapyri,coins and seals, fragments ofManichaean writings,andZoroastrian literature,most of which was written down after the Sasanian era. The language of Zoroastrian literature (and of the Sasanian inscriptions) is sometimes referred to as Pahlavi – a name that originally referred to thePahlavi scripts,which were also the preferred writing system for several other Middle Iranian languages.Pahlavi Middle Persianis the language of quite a large body of literature which details the traditions and prescriptions ofZoroastrianism,which was the state religion of Sasanian Iran (224 to c. 650) before theMuslim conquest of Persia.The earliest texts in Zoroastrian Middle Persian were probably written down in late Sasanian times (6th–7th centuries), although they represent the codification of earlier oral tradition.However, most texts date from the ninth to the 11th century, when Middle Persian had long ceased to be a spoken language, so they reflect the state of affairs in living Middle Persian only indirectly. The surviving manuscripts are usually 14th-century copies.Other, less abundantly attested varieties areManichaean Middle Persian,used for a sizable amount ofManichaeanreligious writings, including manytheologicaltexts,homiliesandhymns(3rd–9th, possibly 13th century), and the Middle Persian of theChurch of the East,evidenced in thePahlavi Psalter(7th century); these were used until the beginning of the second millennium in many places inCentral Asia,includingTurpanand even localities inSouth India.All three differ minimally from one another and indeed the less ambiguous and archaizing scripts of the latter two have helped to elucidate some aspects of the Sasanian-era pronunciation of the former.

Phonology

Vowels

The vowels of Middle Persian were the following:

	Front	Central	Back
Close	iː,i		uː,u
Mid	eː,(e)		oː,(o)
Open		aː,a

It has been doubted whether the Middle Persian short mid vowels/e/and/o/werephonemic,since they do not appear to have a unique continuation in later forms of Persian and no minimal pairs have been found.The evidence for them is variation between spelling with and without thematres lectionisyandw,as well asetymologicalconsiderations.They are thought to have arisen from earlier/a/in certain conditions, including, for/e/,the presence of a following/n/,sibilantor front vowel in the next syllable, and for/o/,the presence of a following labial consonant or the vowel/u/in the next syllable.Long/eː/and/oː/had appeared first in Middle Persian, since they had developed from the Old Persian diphthongs/ai/and/aw/.

Consonants

The consonant phonemes were the following:

		Labial	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	t͡ʃ	k
	voiced	b	d	d͡ʒ	ɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s (θ)[early]	ʃ	x (xw)	h
	voiced		z	(ʒ)	(ɣ)
Trill			r
Lateral			l
Semivowel				j	w

A major distinction between the pronunciation of the early Middle Persian of theArsacidperiod (until the 3rd century CE) and the Middle Persian of theSassanidperiod (3rd – 7th century CE) is due to a process of consonantlenitionafter voiced sounds that took place during the transition between the two.Its effects were as follows:

1. Voiced stops, when occurring after vowels, becamesemivowels:

/b/>/w/,/d/>/j/,/ɡ/>/w/or/j/(the latter after/i/)

This process may have taken place very early, but it is nevertheless often the old pronunciation or a transitional one that is reflected in the Pahlavi spelling.

Old Persiannaiba-> Middle Persiannēw(PahlaviTBornyw'), but:

Old Persianasabāra-> Middle Persianasvār'horseman' (PahlaviPLŠYA,ʾswblʾ).

Proto-Iranian *pād-> Middle Persianpāy'foot' (PahlaviLGLE,pʾd,Manichaeanpʾy).

Old Persianmagu-> Middle Persianmow-'Magian' (Pahlavimgw-).

Proto-Iranian *ni-gauš-> Middle Persianniyōš-'listen' (Pahlavinydwhš-,alsonydwk(h)š-), Manichaeannywš).

2. Voiceless stops and affricates, when occurring after vowels as well as other voiced sounds, became voiced:

/p/>/b/,/t/>/d/,/k/>/ɡ/,/t͡ʃ/>/d͡ʒ/

This process is thought not to have been taken place before Sassanid Pahlavi, and it generally is not reflected in Pahlavi spelling.

A further stage in this lenition process is expressed in a synchronic alternation: at least at some stage in late Middle Persian (later than the 3rd century), the consonants/b/,/d/,/ɡ/appear to have had, after vowels, thefricativeallophones[β],[ð],[ɣ].This is slightly more controversial for/ɡ/,since there appears to have been a separate phoneme/ɣ/as well.A parallel development seems to have affected/d͡ʒ/in the same position, possibly earlier; not only was it weakened to a fricative[ʒ],but it was also depalatalised to[z].In fact, old Persian[d͡ʒ]and[ʒ]in any position also produced[z].Unlike the case with the spirantisation of stops, this change is uncontroversially recognised for Sassanid times.

The lenition of voiceless stops and affricates remained largely unexpressed in Pahlavi spelling,which continues to reflect the Arsacid sound values, but is known from the more phonetic Manichaean spelling of texts from Sassanid times.

Arsacidšap> Sassanidšab(late[ʃaβ]) 'night' (PahlaviLYLYA,šp';Manichaeanšb)

Arsacidpit> Sassanidpid(late[pið]) 'father' (PahlaviAB,p(y)t',Manichaeanpyd)

Arsacidpārak> Sassanidpārag(late[paːraɣ]) 'gift' (Pahlavipʾlk')

Arsacidhač> Sassanidaz'from' (PahlaviMN,hc,Manichaeanʾcorʾz)

As a result of these changes, the voiceless stops and affricates/p/,/t/,/k/,/t͡ʃ/rarely occurred after vowels – mostly when geminated, which has protected them from the lenition (e.g.waččag,sp.wck''child'), and due to some other sound changes.

Another difference between Arsacid and Sassanid-era pronunciation is that Arsacid word-initial/j/produced Sassanid/d͡ʒ/(another change that is not reflected in the Pahlavi spelling).The sound probably passed through the phase/ʒ/,which may have continued until very late Middle Persian, since Manichaean texts did not identifyIndic/d͡ʒ/with it and introduced a separate sign for the former instead of using the letter for their native sound.Nonetheless, word-initial/j/was retained/reintroduced in learned borrowings fromAvestan.

Arsacidyām> Sassanidǰām'glass' (Pahlaviyʾm,Manichaeanjʾm); but:

Avestanyazata> Middle Persianyazd'god' (Pahlaviyzdt')

Furthermore, some forms of Middle Persian appear to have preservedǰ(fromProto-Iranian/d͡ʒ/or/t͡ʃ/) afterndue toParthianinfluence, instead of the usual weakening toz.This pronunciation is reflected in Book Pahlavi, but not in Manichaean texts:

Proto-Iranian *panča>panǰ(speltpncin Book Pahlavi) orpanz(speltpnzin Manichaean)

Judging from the spelling, the consonant/θ/may have been pronounced before/r/in certain borrowings from Parthian in Arsacid times (unlike native words, which had/h/for earlier*θin general and/s/for the cluster*θrin particular), but it had been replaced by/h/by the Sassanid period:

Arsacidmiθr> Sassanidmihr'Mithra, contract' (Pahlavimtr',Manichaeanmyhr).

The phoneme/ɣ/(as opposed to the late allophone of/ɡ/) is rare and occurs almost only in learned borrowings from Avestan andParthian,e.g.moγ(Pahlavimgwormwg'Magian'),maγ(Pahlavimγ) 'hole, pit'.

The sound/ʒ/may also have functioned as a marginal phoneme in borrowings as well.

The phoneme/l/was still relatively rare as well, especially so in Manichaean texts,mostly resulting fromProto-Iranian*rd, *rz and, more rarely, *r.It also occurred in the combination/hl/,which was a reflex of Old Persian/rθ/and/rs/(cf. the words 'Pahlavi' and 'Parthian').

The sound/xw/may be viewed as a phonemeor merely as a combination of/x/and/w/. Usually/x/,/xw/and/ɣ/are considered to have beenvelar;a less common view is that/x/and/ɣ/were uvular instead.

Finally, it may be pointed out that most scholars consider the phoneme/w/as being still a labial approximant,but a few regard it as a voiced labial fricative/v/.

The initial clusters of/s/and a stop (/sp-/,/st-/,/sk-/) had acquired aprosthetic vowel/i/by the time of the Manichaean Middle Persian texts:istāyišn(ՙst՚yšn) 'praise' vs Pahlavistāyišn(ՙst՚dšn') 'praise'.

Prosody

Stress was on the last syllable.That was due to the fact that any Old Persian post-stress syllables had beenapocopated:

Old Persianpati'at' > Middle Persianpad

Old Persianmartiya-'man' > Middle Persianmard

Old Persianmartiyā́nām'man' (genitive-dative plural) > Middle Persianmardān

It has been suggested that words such asanīy'other' (Pahlavi spellingAHRN,AHRNyd,Manichaean՚ny) andmahīy'bigger' (Manichaeanmhy) may have been exceptionally stressed on the first syllable, since the last one was apocopated already in the course of the Middle Persian period: the later forms arean(Manichaean՚n), andmeh(Pahlavimsand Manichaeanmyh);indeed, some scholars have reconstructed them as monosyllabicany,mahyeven for Middle Persian.

Scripts

Main article:Pahlavi script

Main article:Manichaean script

Main article:Pazend

Middle Persian has been written in a number of different scripts.The corpora in different scripts also exhibit other linguistic differences that are partly due to their different ages, dialects and scribal traditions.

ThePahlavi scriptsareabjadsderived from theimperialvariety of theAramaic Alpha betused in the chancelleries of theAchaemenid Empire.As is typical of abjads, they express primarily the consonants in a word form. What sets them apart from other abjads, however, is the use ofHeterograms,and more specificallyAramaeograms,i.e. words written in Aramaic (sometimes, in later periods, with distortions) but pronounced in Middle Persian: e.g.LY(Aramaic 'to me') forman'me, I'. There were about a thousand of these in the Book Pahlavi variety. In addition, their spelling remained very conservative, expressing the pronunciation of the Arsacid period.The two most important subvarieties are:

1. Inscriptional Pahlavi,used in the inscriptions of Sassanid kings and officials from the 3rd–4th centuries CE. The 22 letters are written separately and still relatively well distinguished compared to later versions: the only formal coincidences of original Aramaic signs are the pairmandqand the tripletw,ʿandr.
2. Book Pahlavi,used primarily in Zoroastrian books from the 5th century CE on. Most texts are thought to reflect the stage of the language from the 6th to the 10th centuries CE.(6th–7th centuries for the translations of the Avesta and perhaps some didactic and entertainment literature, 9–10th centuries for the dogmatic and legal texts that form most of the corpus)This is the script that the overwhelming majority of Middle Persian texts is recorded in. It is a cursive script characterised by manyligaturesand by the formal coincidence of originally different Aramaic letters, reducing the number to just 14 distinct signs. Now, alsoncoincides with the tripletw=ʿ=r,and in addition, another tripletg,dandymerges too, as does the pairʾandḥ.Aramaicṭhad also disappeared. In later times, some mergers were disambiguated by means of diacritic signs, following the example of theArabic abjad:thus,g,dandywere distinguished again; however, this wasn't applied consistently.

Other known Pahlavi varieties are the early Pahlavi found in inscriptions on coins issued in the province of Pars from the 2nd century BC to the 3rd century CE; the relatively conservative Psalter Pahlavi (6th–8th centuries CE), used in a ChristianPsalterfragment, which still retains all the letter distinctions that Inscriptional Pahlavi had except the one betweentandṭ;and the Pahlavi found inpapyrifrom the early 7th century CE, which displays even more letter coincidences than Book Pahlavi.

TheManichaean scriptwas an abjad introduced for the writing of Middle Persian by the prophetMani(216–274 CE), who based it on his native variety of the Aramaic script ofPalmyreneorigin. Mani used this script to write the known bookŠābuhrāgānand it continued to be used by Manichaeans until the 9th century to write in Middle Persian, and in various other Iranian languages for even longer.Specifically the Middle Persian Manichaean texts are numerous and thought to reflect mostly the period from the 3rd to the 7th centuries CE.In contrast to the Pahlavi scripts, it is a regular and unambiguous phonetic script that expresses clearly the pronunciation of 3rd century Middle Persian and distinguishes clearly between different letters and sounds, so it provides valuable evidence to modern linguists.Not only did it not display any of the Pahlavi coalescences mentioned above, it also had special letters that enabled it to distinguish[p]and[f](although it didn't always do so), as well as[j]and[d͡ʒ],unique designations for[β],[ð],and[ɣ],and consistent distinctions between the pairs[x]–[h]and[r]–[l].

Since knowledge of Pahlavi decreased after theMuslim conquest of Iran,the Zoroastrians occasionally transcribed their religious texts into other, more accessible or unambiguous scripts. One approach was to use theAvestan Alpha bet,a practice known asPazand;another was to resort to the samePerso-Arabic scriptthat was already being used forNew Persian,and that was referred to as Pārsī. Since these methods were used at a relatively late linguistic stage, these transcriptions often reflect a very late pronunciation close to New Persian.

In general, Inscriptional Pahlavi texts have the most archaic linguistic features, Manichaean texts and the Psalter exhibit slightly later, but still relatively early language stages, and while the Pahlavi translations of the Avesta also retain some old features, most other Zoroastrian Book Pahlavi texts (which form the overwhelming majority of the Middle Persian corpus as a whole) are linguistically more innovative.

Transliteration and transcription

Transliteration of Pahlavi script

In view of the many ambiguities of the Pahlavi script, even itstransliterationdoes not usually limit itself to rendering merely the letters as written; rather, letters are usually transliterated in accordance with their origin regardless of the coinciding forms: thus, even though Book Pahlavi has the same letter shapes for originaln,wandr,for originalʾandḥand for originald,gandy,besides having some ligatures that coincide in shape with certain individual letters, these are all transliterated differently.For instance, the spelling ofgōspand'domestic animal' is transliteratedgwspndin spite of the fact that thewandnhave the same graphic appearance.

Furthermore, letters used as part of Aramaic heterograms and not intended to be interpreted phonetically are written in capitals: thus the heterogram for the wordānis renderedZK,whereas its phonetic spelling is transliterated asʾn'(the final vertical line reflects the so-called 'otiose' stroke, see below). Finally, there is a convention of representing 'distorted/corrupt' letters, which 'should' have appeared in a different shape from a historical point of view, by under- or overlining them: e.g. the heterogram forandar'in' is transliteratedBYN,since it corresponds to Aramaicbyn,but the sign that 'should' have beenbactually looks like ag.

Within Arameograms, scholars have traditionally used the standard Semitological designations of the Aramaic (and generally Semitic) letters, and these include a large number ofdiacriticsand special signs expressing the different Semitic phonemes, which were not distinguished in Middle Persian. In order to reduce the need for these, a different system was introduced byD. N. MacKenzie,which dispenses with diacritics as much as possible, often replacing them with vowel letters:Aforʾ,Oforʿ,EforH,HforḤ,CforṢ,for exampleORHYAforʿRḤYʾ(bay'god, majesty, lord').For ''ṭ'', which still occurs in heterograms in Inscriptional Pahlavi, Θ may be used. Within Iranian words, however, both systems usecfor original Aramaicṣandhfor original Aramaicḥ,in accordance with their Iranian pronunciation (see below). The letterl,when modified with a special horizontal stroke that shows that the pronunciation is /l/ and not /r/, is rendered in the MacKenzie system asɫ.The traditional system continues to be used by many, especially European scholars.The MacKenzie system is the one used in this article.

Transliteration of Manichaean script

As for Pahlavi,cis used for the transliteration of original Aramaicṣandhfor the transliteration of originalḥ.Original Aramaich,on the other hand, is sometimes rendered asẖ.For originalṭ,the signṯis used. The special Manichaean letters for/x/,/f/,[β],/ɣ/and[ð]are transcribed in accordance with their pronunciation asx,f,β,γandδ. Unlike Pahlavi, the Manichaean script uses the letterAyinalso in Iranian words (see below) and it is transliterated in the usual Semitological way asՙ.

Transcription

Since, like most abjads, even the Manichaean script and a maximally disambiguated transliterated form of Pahlavi do not provide exhaustive information about the phonemic structure of Middle Persian words, a system of transcription is also necessary. There are two traditions of transcription of Pahlavi Middle Persian texts: one closer to the spelling and reflecting the Arsacid-era pronunciation, as used by Ch. Bartholomae and H. S. Nyberg (1964)and a currently more popular one reflecting the Sassanid-era pronunciation, as used by C. Saleman, W. B. Henning and, in a somewhat revised form, by D. N. MacKenzie (1986).

The less obvious features of the usual transcriptionare:

1. long vowels are marked with amacron:ā,ē,ī,ō,ūfor/aː/,/eː/,/iː/,/oː/,/uː/.
2. The semivowels are marked as follows:wfor/w/andyfor/j/.
3. The palatal obstruents are marked withcaronsas follows:šfor/ʃ/,čfor/t͡ʃ/,ǰfor/d͡ʒ/andžfor/ʒ/.
4. Thevoiceless velar fricative/x/is marked asx,its labialised counterpart/xw/isxw,and the (phonemic)voiced velar fricative/ɣ/isγ.

Spelling

A common feature of Pahlavi as well as Manichaean spelling was that the Aramaic lettersṣandḥwere adapted to express the sounds/t͡ʃ/and/h/,respectively. In addition, both could use the letterpto express/f/,andṣto expresszafter a vowel.

Pahlavi

Arameograms

The widespread use of Aramaeograms in Pahlavi, often existing in parallel with 'phonetic' spellings, has already been mentioned: thus, the same wordhašt'eight' can be spelthštorTWMNYA.A curious feature of the system is that simple word stems sometimes have spellings derived from Aramaic inflected forms: the spellings of verb stems include Aramaic inflectional affixes such as-WN,-TWNor-NandY-;the spellings of pronouns are often derived from Aramaic prepositional phrases (tо̄'you' isLK,originally Aramaiclk'to you',о̄y'he' isOLE,originally Aramaicʿlh'onto him'); andinalienable nounsare often noun phrases with pronominal modifiers (pidar'father' isABYtl,originally Aramaicʾby'my father',pāy'foot' isLGLE,originally Aramaicrglh'his foot').Furthermore, the Aramaic distinctions betweenḥandhand betweenkandqwere not always maintained, with the first often replacing the second, and the one betweentandṭwas lost in all but Inscriptional Pahlavi: thusYKTLWN(pronouncedо̄zadan) for Aramaicyqṭlwn'kill', andYHWWN(pronouncedbūdan) for Aramaicyhwwn'be', even though Aramaichis elsewhere renderedE.In the rest of this article, the Pahlavi spellings will be indicated due to their unpredictability, and the Aramaeograms will be given priority over the 'phonetic' alternatives for the same reason.

If a word expressed by an Arameogram has a grammatical ending or, in many cases, a word-formation suffix, these are generally expressed by phonetic elements:LYLYAʾnforšabʾn'nights'. However, verbs in Inscriptional Pahlavi are sometimes written as 'bare ideograms', whose interpretation is a major difficulty for scholars.

Historical and ambiguous spelling

It has also been pointed out that the Pahlavi spelling does not express the 3rd century lenitions, so the lettersp,t,kandcexpress/b/,/d/,/ɡ/and/z/after vowels, e.g.šp'foršab'night' andhcforaz'from'. The rare phoneme/ɣ/was also expressed by the same letter shape ask(however, this sound value is usually expressed in the transliteration).Similarly, the letterdmay stand for/j/after a vowel, e.g.pʾdforpāy'foot' – this is no longer apparent in Book Pahlavi due to the coincidence of the shapes of the original lettersy,dandg,but is already clearly seen in Inscriptional and Psalter Pahlavi. Indeed, it even appears to have been the general rule word-finally, regardless of the word's origins,although modern transliterations of words likexwadāy(xwtʾd) andmēnōy(mynwd) do not always reflect this analogical / pseudo-historical spelling.Finalīywas regularly writtenyd.In the same way,(w)bmay also correspond to awin the pronunciation after a vowel.The fortition of initial/j/to/d͡ʒ/(or/ʒ/) is not reflected either, soycan express initial/d͡ʒ/,e.g.yʾmforǰām'glass' (while it still expresses/j/in the learned wordyzdt'foryazd'god').

Some even earlier sound changes are not consistently reflected either, such as the transition of/θ/to/h/in some words (in front of/r/this reflex is due to Parthian influence, since the Middle Persian reflex should have been/s/). In such words, the spelling may havesor, in front ofr–t.For example,gāh'place, time' is speltgʾs(cf. Old Persiangāθu) andnigāh'(a) look' is speltnkʾs;šahr'country, town' is speltštr'(cf. Avestanxsaθra) andmihr'Mithra, contract, friendship' is speltmtr'.In contrast, the Manichaean spellings aregʾh,ngʾh,šhr,myhr.Some other words with earlier/θ/are spelt phonetically in Pahlavi, too: e.g.gēhān,speltgyhʾn'material world', andčihr,speltcyhl'face'.There are also some other cases where/h/is spelt/t/afterp:ptkʾlforpahikār'strife', and/t/may also stand for/j/in that position:ptwndforpaywand'connection'.

There are some other phoneme pairs besides/j/and/d͡ʒ/that are not distinguished:h(the original Aramaicḥ) may stand either for/h/or for/x/(hmforham'also' as well ashlforxar'donkey'), whereas the use of original Aramaichis restricted to heterograms (transliteratedEin MacKenzie's system, e.g.LGLEfor pāy 'foot'). Not only/p/,but also the frequent sound/f/is expressed by the letterp,e.g.plhw'forfarrox'fortunate'.While the original letterris retained in some words as an expression of the sound/r/,especially in older frequent words and Aramaeograms (e.g.štr'foršahr'country, town',BRTEforduxt'daughter'),it is far more common for the letterlto have that function, as in the exampleplhw'forfarrox.In the relatively rare cases whereldoes express/l/,it can be marked asɫ.

Expression of vowels

Like many abjads, the system may express not only consonants, but also some vowels by means of certain consonant signs, the so-calledmatres lectionis.This is usually limited to long vowels:thus, originalʾcan stand for the vowel/aː/(e.g. inpʾdforpād),ycan stand for/iː/and/eː/(e.g.pymforpīm'pain' andnymfornēm'half'), andwcan stand for/uː/or/oː/(swt'forsūd'profit' andswlforsōr'salty'). However, short/u/is also typically expressed like long/uː/(e.g.swdforsuy'hunger'), whereas short/i/and the assumed/e/and/o/vary between being expressed like their long counterparts or remaining unexpressed:p(y)tforpid'father',sl(y)škforsrešk'tear',nhwmfornohom'ninth'.Due to elision of/w/,writtenywcan also correspond to/eː/:nywk''good'.Gemination ofconsonantswas not expressed, e.g.waččag,sp.wck''child').

In Inscriptional and Psalter Pahlavi, a-ythat was not pronounced appears word-finally, e.g.šhpwhryforŠahpuhr.Its origin and function are disputed. In Book Pahlavi, it developed into a peculiar convention, the so-called 'otiose' stroke, which resemblesw/n/rand is added to demarcate the end of the word after those letters that never connect to the left:mān''house'.

Like many abjads, Pahlaviʾcan express simply the fact that a word begins in a vowel, e.g.ʾp̄ʾyt'forabāyēd'it is necessary' (though two alephs usually aren't written in a row to express an initial long vowel).

Manichaean

In contrast to the historical and ideographic features of Pahlavi, Manichaean spelling is relatively straightforward.Like Pahlavi, the Manichaean script designates vowel-initial words withʾ,but a further spelling convention in it is that it is the letterՙ,rather thanʾ,that is written before initial front vowels, e.g.ՙymforim'this' (in contrast to Pahlaviʾm(orLZNE). Vowels are marked by matres lectionis in the Manichaean script in the usual way, and long vowels are more likely to be marked.

In spite of the availability of signs for each sound, Manichaean spelling did not always make perfectly phonetic use of them. In particular, not only in Pahlavi but even in Manichaean, the letterpwas often used to express/f/,and/z/after vowels was written etymologically asc:thus,frāz'forth' was speltprʾc,just as in Pahlavi.If the voiced fricatives really occurred as allopohones of/b/,/ɡ/,/d/in Middle Persian, the special Manichaean signs for fricativesβ,γandδusually were not used to express this either. Conversely, the Semitic letters for the consonantsq,ṭandh(transliteratedẖin Manichaean) were retained and used, occasionally, even though they only expressed the same Middle Persian sounds askandt,andḥ(transliteratedhin Manichaean). The Manichaean script also has abbreviation marking double dots for the formsʾwd'and',ʾw-š'and he' andʾw-šʾn'and they', which may be transcribed asẅ,š̈andš̈ʾn.Elisions and plural may also be marked with double dots.

Grammar

Theelisionof unstressed word-final syllables during the transition from Old to Middle Persian has eliminated many grammatical endings. As a result, compared to thesyntheticgrammar of Old Persian, Middle Persian belongs to a much moreanalyticlanguage type, with relatively littleinflectionand widespread expression of grammatical meanings through syntactic means instead (specifically, use ofprepositionsandperiphrases).

Nominal morphology

Case and number inflection

Early Middle Persian inflection as found in the Sassanid rock inscriptions (3rd–4th centuries CE) still retained a minimal case system for the nominal parts of speech, i.e. nouns, adjectives, pronouns and numerals. It included a direct or subject case (originating from the old nominative) used for the subject and thepredicative nominaland an oblique case used for other functions (indirect object, genitive possessor, complement of a preposition, subject/'agent' of the ergative construction).The case distinction was only present in the plural of nouns, in nouns of relationship (family terms) that end in-taror-darin the oblique, and in the first person singular pronounaz/an(ANE). The attested system is shown in the table below, using the wordsmard(GBRA) 'man' andpid(AB') 'father' as examples.

	direct case	oblique case
regular nominals (singular)	mard-∅(GBRA)	mard-∅(GBRA)
regular nominals (plural)	mard-∅(GBRA)	mard-ān(GBRAʾn') (in some exceptional words-īn,-ūn)
family terms (singular)	pid-∅(AB')	pidar-∅ (ABYtl')
family terms (plural)	pidar-∅ (ABYtl')	pidar-ān (ABYtlʾn')
1st person singular pronoun	az/an (ANE)	man (L)

The endings-īnand-ūnoccur in the place of-ānin a decreasing number of exceptions. In Inscriptional Pahlavi, forms such asfrazendīn(przndyn') 'of the children' anddušmenūn(dwšm(y)nwn') 'of the enemies' are still found. In Manichaean Middle Persian, likewise, forms such aszanīn(speltznyn), 'women',ruwānīn'souls' anddušmenūn(dwšmynwn) are preserved.It also has the formawīnas an equivalent ofawēšān'they, those'.In Book Pahlavi, the generalisation of-ānhas advanced to the point where only-īnis preserved, namely in the inflections of the wordsharw(KRA) andharwisp(hlwsp̄') 'every, all' – pluralharwīnandharwisp-īnorharwistīn,respectively, as well as optionally ofdō(2,TLYN'), 'two' – pluraldōwīnordōnīn.

There is some disagreement and uncertainty about whether the case of thedirectobjectin this early inflectional system was direct or oblique. Originally, it should have been direct in theergative-absolutiveconstructions, but possibly oblique in thenominative-accusativeones. It has been claimed that 'the direct object could stand in both cases'or that it is unclear which case specifically thepluraldirect object took, with a suggested distinction betweenindefinite and definitedirect object taking the direct and the oblique cases, respectively.

For an even more archaic stage, some have claimed that the singular of regular nominals had its own oblique case form, too, and that it was marked by the ending-ē(spelt-y), which still occurs on nouns in Inscriptional and Psalter Pahlavi, albeit somewhat unsystematically. This would have been expected, assuming that both oblique forms continue the Old Iranian genitives in*-ahyaand*-ānam,respectively. However, this theory has been disputed and rejected by many scholars.

The case system broke down in the course of the Middle Persian period, as the oblique case forms were gradually generalised and displaced the direct ones. First, the oblique plural form in-ān(-īnand-ūn) was generalised as a general plural form; a few instances of this usage are found as early as in the 6th–8th century Pahlavi Psalter, and while the preserved parts of the 3rd centuryShābuhragānmay retain it,most other Manichaean texts use-ānas a general plural form and only retain the case distinction in the family terms and the 1st singular pronoun. Finally, even though the Middle Persian translations of the Avesta still retain the old system, most clearly so in the family terms, the other Book Pahlavi Zoroastrian texts display the new system with no case distinctions at all and solely a contrast between singular and plural. At this stage, the old direct and oblique cases of the nouns of relationship such aspidandpidarwere preserved only as free variants.At the same time, even when morphologically unexpressed, the 'underlying' case of a nominal phrase remains relevant throughout the Middle Persian period for the agreement on the verb and the use of the pronominal enclitics, to be described in the relevant sections.

In addition to the plural ending-ān,a new plural suffix-īhāis increasingly common both in later Manichaean texts,where also the variant-īhānoccurs, and especially in Book Pahlavi.It is used with inanimate nounsand has been said to express 'individual plurality': 'the various, individual Xs'.At the same time,-ānis still used with inanimate as well as with animate nouns, and is far more common than-īhā.Some examples arešahr-īhā(štryhʾ) 'countries' anddar-īhā(BBAyhʾ) 'doors', but alsočiš-ān(MNDOMʾn) 'things'. The resulting late Middle Persian system looks as follows, as exemplified with the wordsmard'man' andkо̄f'mountain':

singular	default plural	individual plural
mard-∅(GBRA) kо̄f-∅(kwp)	mard-ān(GBRAʾn') kо̄f-ān(kwpʾn) (in some exceptional words-īn)	kо̄f-īhā(kwpyhʾ) (Manichaean-īhān)

As long as case declension was still preserved, a possessor noun stood in the oblique case. In this older construction, itprecededthe possessed noun. After the breakdown of the case system, what remained of this construction was a simple juxtaposition between a possessor noun and a possessed noun, and that was indeed preserved as one possible expression of possession: e.g.dūdag sālār(dwtk' srdʾl) 'the head of a family', 'the family('s) head',Ōhrmazd nām(ʾwhrmzd ŠM) 'the name ofAhuramazda'.However, there was also a more explicit option using the relative particleī,which introduced afollowingpossessor nominal phrase (also in the oblique case, as long as the distinction existed): e.g.sālār ī dūdag(srdʾl Y dwtk'),nām ī Ōhrmazd(ŠM y ʾwhrmzd).This is discussed in more detail in the section on the relative particle.

Definiteness

Indefiniteness may be expressed by the encliticisation of the wordē(w)(spelt '1' orHD) 'one' to a noun:mard-ēw(GBRA-1) 'a (certain) man'.This usage has been described by certain scholars as an 'indefinite article',while others do not regard it as such, since its use is far less common than that of the English worda(n).

Adjectives

Agreement

Originally, adjectives had the same inflectional categories as nouns and took the same endings. When used independently as nouns, they still have number inflection:weh-ān(ŠPYLʾn) 'the good (people)'.When they are used as attributive modifers of nouns, however, agreement is optional and, while it remains common in Manichaean Middle Persian, it is increasingly rare in Book Pahlavi, where, e.g. bothabārīgān gyāgān(ʾp̄ʾrykʾn gywʾkʾn) 'other places' andabārīg dēwān(ʾp̄ʾryk' ŠDYAʾn) 'other demons' have been attested. When the modifying adjective is introduced by the relative particleī,as well as in predicative position, it never takes the plural suffix: e.g.mardān ī weh(GBRAʾn Y ŠPYL) 'good men'. Some sources also assert that the original singular oblique case ending-ē(-y) is seen in attributive preposed adjectives in some examples: e.g.čē-š asar karb az asarērо̄šnīh frāz brēhēnīd(MEš ʾsl klp MN ʾsly lwšnyh prʾcblyhynyt) 'for he created the eternal form from eternal light'.

Comparison

Comparison of adjectives (as well as adverbs) is regularly expressed with the comparative degree suffix-tar(spelt-tl) and the superlative degree suffix-tom(spelt-twm),or possibly-tum;in Manichaean, they also have the allomorphs-darand-domafter voiced consonants. For example,abēzag(ʾp̄yck') 'pure'is comparedabēzag-tar'purer'–abēzag-tom'purest'.

There are also some irregular or relict forms reflecting more ancient suffixes (comparative-yor-īyor resultingfronting of the preceding vowel,superlative-ist) and/orsuppletion:

positive	comparative	superlative	meaning
xо̄b/xūb(xwp)	weh(ŠPYL), Manichaean alsowahyorwahīy (sp.why)	pahlom(pʾhlwm), pāšom/pašom(p(ʾ)šwm); cf.wahišt(whšt') 'paradise'	'good'
wazurg/wuzurg(LBA,wc(w)lg)	meh(ms), mahistar(mhstl); Manichaean alsomahyormahīy(sp.mhy)	mahist(msst')	'big'
kо̄dag/kо̄dak(kwtk')	keh (ks)	kahist(ksst')	'small'
was(KBD)	wēš(wyš), frāy(plʾy), freh(plyh)	frāyist(plʾyst'), frahist(plh(y)st')	'much', 'a lot', 'many'
kam(km)	kem(kym)	kamist(kmyst')	'a little', 'few'
garān(glʾn')	grāy (glʾy)	grāyist(glʾyst')	'heavy, serious'
nazd(nzd)	-------	nazdist(nzdst')	'near', in superlative also 'first'
dо̄šag(dwšk')	-------	Manichaean: dо̄šist(dwšyst)	'beloved'

In some cases, only a 'superlative' form exists without corresponding positive and comparative forms:bālist(bʾlyst') 'supreme, highermost',nidom(nytwm) 'lowermost',bēdom(bytwm)outermost,fradom(AWLA) 'first',abdom(ʾp̄dwm) 'last'.

The object of comparison for an adjective in the comparative degree is introduced by the prepositionaz(hc) 'from', the subordinating conjunctionkū(AYK) 'where, that'or, more rarely,čiyо̄n(cygwn') 'as':о̄y az/kū/čiyо̄n tо̄ о̄zо̄mandtar(OLE MN/AYK/cygwn' LK ʾwcʾmndtl) 'he is stronger than you.' The object of comparison for an adjective in the superlative degree is introduced by the prepositionaz(hc) or simply by a possessive construction:о̄y (az) mardʾn о̄zо̄mandtom(sp.OLE (MN) GBRAʾn ʾwcʾmndtwm)'he is the strongest of the men'.

Placement

When adjectives modify a noun without the help of any linking particle, they usually precede them,but may occasionally follow them, too.A far more common possibility than either is for the adjective to be introduced by the relative particleī,on which see the relevant section. Thus, e.g. 'a/the big house' can be expressed aswazurg mān(LBA mʾn'), mān wazurg(mʾn' LBA) ormān ī wazurg(mʾn' Y LBA).

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

The personal pronouns have a stressed form and an enclitic form. They are as follows:

	singular			plural
	stressed		enclitic	stressed		enclitic
1st person	direct case	oblique case	-(i)m(sp. -m)	amā(h) (sp.LNE)		-(i)mān(sp. -mʾn') Inscriptional Pahlavi:-(i)n(sp. -n')
	az/an(sp.ANE)	man(sp.L,LY)
2nd person	tо̄(sp.LK)		-(i)t(sp. -t)	ašmā(h) (sp.LKWM)		-(i)tān(sp.-tʾn')
3rd person	о̄y(sp.OLE)		-(i)š(sp. -š)	direct case	oblique case	-(i)šān(sp.-šʾn')
				о̄y(sp.OLE)	awēšān(sp.OLEšʾn')
				Manichaean:awīn(sp.ʾwyn)

The enclitic allomorphs with initial/i/(-im,etc.) are used after consonants. The vowel/u/or/o/can also appear instead of/i/,albeit rarely (-um,-om).The spelling variantLYofmanis used before the particle-iz(c) 'too':man-izis speltLYc.

Case forms and syntactic function

Of the personal pronouns proper, only the first stressed form has an attested case distinction, but the use of the direct case is already archaic in Book Pahlavi, where the formman(L) is generalised. The pronunciation of the direct case form is controversial – Manichaean has onlyan(ʾn), whereas the formazhas been said to be due to influence from Parthian and its existence has been questioned.In addition, the third person pronoun is originally a demonstrative pronoun and is declined like a noun, so originally the form with the plural suffix-ān– and, presumably, the Manichaean one in-īn– appeared only in the oblique case; however, again, the oblique was generalised in Manichaean and Book Pahlavi. Apart from that, the stressed forms can have all the same syntactic functions as a noun: subject (man wēnēm,sp.L HZYTWNym,'I see'), object (man wēnēd,sp.L HZYTWNyt','he sees me'), complement of a preposition (о̄ man,sp.OL L,'to me'), and a modifier expressing a possessor. As with nouns, the last option is possible in two ways. The first one, which is significantly rarer, is for the pronoun to be placed before another noun. Much more frequently, it is postposed and linked to the head noun with the relative particleī.Thus, 'my house' can be expressed asman mān(L mʾn'), but more commonly asmān ī man(mʾn' Y L).

In contrast, the enclitic forms can only have oblique functions: i.e., they cannot correspond to the (non-ergative) subject of the sentence,although a few such cases have been attested in late texts, possibly due to New Persian influence.They can, however, express:

1. an indirect object, e.g.u-šguft Ohrmazd...(APš gwpt'/YMRRWNt' ʾwhrmzd), 'and Ohrmazd toldhim... ';
2. a possessor, e.g.ka-tčašm о̄ zrēh о̄ftēd(AMTt AYNE OL zlyh ʾwptyt') 'whenyoureye (i.e. glance) falls on the sea';u-mmād Spandarmad(APm AM spndrmt') 'andmymother isSpenta Armaiti'
3. the complement of a preposition, e.g.čē-šandar(MEšBYN) 'which is init'
4. the agent in an ergative construction, e.g.xwamn ī-mdīd(hwmn' ZYm HZYTWN) 'the dream which I saw',
5. a direct object in a non-ergative construction, e.g.u-šо̄zan!(APš YKTLWN) 'and kill it!'

Placement of the enclitic pronouns

The enclitic form is usually attached to a word in the beginning of the clause, typically to the first one,and that is often a conjunction or a particle: specifically it occurs frequently after the conjunctionsud'and' (which appears before these enclitics as the allomorphu-and is speltAP),ka(AMT) 'when',kū(AYK) 'that, so that',čē(ME) 'because', after the relative particleī(then speltZY-), the relative pronounkē(MNW) 'who, which'and the particleā-(ʾ) 'then'.Two enclitics can occur after each other, in which case the 1st person enclitic comes first, and in the absence of such, the enclitic denoting the agent has priority:e.g.ān owо̄n-im-iš wahišt nimūd(ZK ʾwgwnmš whšt' nmwt') 'in that manner he showed me paradise.'

When the pronoun is logically the complement of a preposition, it is usually neverthelessnotattached to it.Still, such examples do occur occasionallyand tend then to be written phonetically instead of the usual spelling of the preposition with an Aramaeogram, e.g.az-iš'from her', spelthcšrather thanMNšas usually, andо̄-mān'to us', speltʾwmʾn'instead ofOLmʾn.More commonly, however, the enclitic is attached to the first word of the clause, so that the preposition that governs it ends up being placed after it,as in the already adduced examplečē-šandar'which is in it'. The exception are the prepositionspad(PWN) 'at',о̄(OL) 'to' andaz(MN) 'from', which do accept the 3rd person enclitic-(i)š,using it both with a singular and with a plural reference, andо̄then appears as the allomorphawbefore-iš:padiš(ptš),awiš(ʾwbš),aziš(hcš).However, if the logical complement is of a non-3rd person, the appropriate enclitic (-(i)m,etc.) is attached to the first word in the clause rather than the preposition, and it is 'resumed' on the preposition itself by the3rdperson enclitic: e.g.u-m awiš(APm ʾwbm'on me'). A relative pronoun can be 'resumed' like this, too:kē... padiš'on... which', and even a noun can, sometimes:Zardušt... padiš'for... Zarathustra'.

Reflexive pronouns

There are two reflexive pronouns – a nominal onexwad(BNPŠE) 'oneself' and an adjectival onexwēš(NPŠE) 'one's own' (earlierxwēbaš,hence Manichaeanxw(b)š.

Demonstrative pronouns

The demonstrative pronouns can be used with singular and plural referents, with the exception ofо̄y.They are the following:

1. ēn(ZNE) 'this', useddeicticallyas well as preparatively, with a meaning 'the following';
2. (h)ān(ZK,Manichaeanhʾn) 'that', with a pluralānēšānfound only in Manichaean, usedanaphoricallyand in adeterminativefunction to indicate a noun followed by a relative clause;
3. о̄y(OLE) 'that' with a pluralawēšān(OLEšʾn'), also used as a 3rd person pronoun;

Some rarer ones are:

1. ēd(HNA) 'this', used deictically, but rare;
2. im(LZNE) 'this' with a pluralimēšānandimīnused in Manichaean, occurring in Book Pahlavi mostly in set phrases such asim cim rāy(LZNE cym lʾd) 'for this reason',im rо̄z(LZNE YWM) 'today').

Some other demonstrative pronouns areham(hm) 'the same' andand(ʾnd) 'so much'.Demonstrative adverbs areēdо̄n(ʾytwn'),о̄wо̄n(ʾwgwn') andо̄h(KN), all three of which mean 'so, thus';ēdar'here' (LTME);awar'hither' (LPNME), which is also used as an imperative 'come here!' and has a plural formawarēd(LPNMEyt'),ōrōn(ʾwlwn') 'hither';ānо̄h(TME) 'there';nūn(KON) 'now';ēg(ADYN) 'then, thereupon';ā-(ʾ) 'then' (normally used with a following enclitic pronoun);hād(HWEt') 'now, then';pas(AHL) 'afterwards';pēšLOYN''before that, earlier'.

Interrogative pronouns

The interrogative pronouns can normally also be used as relative pronouns and introduce dependent clauses, and as well as indefinite pronouns. The main ones arekē(MNW) 'who',čē(ME) 'what', 'what kind of', 'which',kadām(ktʾm) 'what kind of, which',kadār(ktʾl) 'which' andčand(cnd) 'how much/many'. The first two and the last one are also used as relative pronouns, i.e. they introduce dependent clauses and mean 'which'. In that use, they can not be preceded by prepositions, so they are instead resumed in the dependent clause by the 3rd person singular enclitic or a demonstrative pronoun: 'from which' can be expressed bykē... azišand 'with which' can bekē'... abāg.Interrogative adverbs arečiyо̄n?(cygwn) 'how',kū?(AYK) 'where' andkay?(AYMT) 'when'.The first two can also introduce dependent clauses as relative pronominal adverbs, meaning 'as' and 'that', respectively. The relative adverb corresponding tokay?(AYMT) is, however,ka(AYT) 'when'.

Indefinite pronouns

The specialised indefinite pronouns are:

1. ēčorhēč(ʾyc) 'any' (attributive).
2. kas(AYŠ) 'anybody'. It is also used as a noun: 'a person'.
3. tis(a southwestern form) orčis(a northwestern form) (sp.MNDOM) 'something'. It is also used as a noun: 'a thing'.

As already mentioned, the interrogative wordčand(cnd) can also be used as an indefinite one: 'any number/amount', whereasē(w)-čand(ʾy(w)cnd) is unambiguously indefinite: 'some (number/amount), a few'. An indefinite adverb ishagriz(hklc) 'ever'. The indefinite meaning can be reinforced by the particle-iz,sp.-(y)c,meaning 'too'. Thuskas-iz'whoever', etc. The form ofčēin this case is extended točēgām-iz'whatever'.

Together with a negative particlenē'not' occurring in the same clause, the indefinite pronouns also function as negative ones: 'not... anybody' > 'nobody' etc.: e.g.kas nē bawēd(AYŠ LA YHWWNyt') 'there will be nobody.'

Alternative pronouns

Pronouns areanīy(AHRN) 'other' andabārīg(ʾp̄ʾlyk') 'other, further'; a corresponding pronominal adverb isenyā(ʾynyʾ) 'otherwise'.

Universal pronouns

There are many pronouns with universal meaning, includinghar(w)(KRA,hl,Manichaeanhrw) 'every' (pl.harwīn);ham(hm) 'altogether, all, whole',hamāg(hmʾk') 'whole, entire, all',hāmōyēn(hʾmwdyn') 'all, the whole',wisp(wsp) 'all, each, every',harwisphlwsp̄(pl.harwispīn) orharwist'all, each, every'.A pronominal adverb with universal meaning ishamē(w)(Book Pahlavihmʾy,Manichaeanhmyw) 'always'.

The relative particle

Within a nominal phrase, many different kinds of modifiers following the head were introduced by so-called relative particleī(speltZY-in Inscriptional and Psalter Pahlavi, butYin Book Pahlavi except in front of pronominal enclitics; in Manichaean alsoīg,sp.ʿyg), which could be roughly translated as 'which'. This is the predecessor of the New Persian construction known asEzāfe.It could introduce:

1. adjectives:kunišn ī nēk(kwnšn' Y nywk') 'good deed'
2. 'genitive' possessor noun or pronoun phrases:pus ī Ardawān(BRE Y ʾldwʾn) 'son of Ardawan'
3. prepositional phrases:awīn ī andar diz'those in the fortress'
4. dependent clauses:ēn warzīgar... ī pad ēn deh mānēd(ZNE wlcykl... Y PWNZNE MTA KTLWNyt') 'that farmer that lives in this village'

Besides following the head, the modifier can be attached to a demonstrative pronoun, usually(h)ān(ZK) 'that', but alsoēn(ZNE),ōy(OLE) andēd(HNA), which precedes the head of the phrase:

ān ī ahlaw kas(ZK Y ʾhlwb' AYŠ) 'the righteous person'

ān ī-š pādixšāyīhā zan(ZK Yš ŠLYTAyhʾ NYŠE) 'the wife he is lawfully married to', lit. 'the wife he lawfully has'.

Adverbs

Many adjectives can be used adverbially without any change:Ardawānsaxtawištāft'Ardawan was in a great hurry' (ʾldwn sht' ʾwštʾp̄t), lit. 'Ardawan was hurrying greatly'.However, adverbs can also be formed from adjectives, as well as from nouns and phrases, by adding the suffix-īhā(-yhʾ):tuxšāg-īhā(twxšʾkyhʾ) 'diligent-ly',dād-īhā(dʾtyhʾ) 'law-fully'.

Like adjectives, adverbs can be compared; e.g.azabar(hcpl) 'above' –azabartar(hcpltl) 'farther above' –azabartom(hcpltwm) 'farthest above'.Adverbs in-īhācan also be compared:kam-wināh-īhā-tar'with less sin', lit. 'more little-sin-fully'.

Some common locational adverbs areazabar(hcpl) 'above' andazēr(hcdlorʾdl) 'below',andarōn(BYNlwn'/ʾndlwn') 'inside',bērōn(bylwn') 'outside',pērāmōn(pylʾmwn') 'around' andparrōn(plwn''away, hence').Many of these are formed as compounds with the nounrōn(lwn') 'direction' as a second element.

For pronominal adverbs, see the sections on the pronouns of the respective types. For directional adverbs commonly co-occurring with verbs, see the section of preverbs.

Verbal morphology

Synthetic forms survive only in the present tense, although it does continue to distinguish to a greater or lesser extent four different moods. The past and perfect tenses are expressed periphrastically, even though there might be a few relicts of a synthetic imperfect in early inscriptions, and there may be a single synthetic imperfect form in Manichaean Middle Persian (see the section onThe preteritebelow).

Stems

A Middle Persian verb has two stems – a present stem and a past stem, which coincides with the past participle.Most other synthetic forms are based on the present stem, but the infinitive uses the past stem (as do a few derivational suffixes, see below). The past stem generally ends in-dor-t(after voiced and voiceless consonants, respectively). Sometimes this is the only difference between the stems – this is common for roots in-š(kuš–kušt,sp.NKSWN-,'to kill') and is also found e.g. in the verbxwardan(OŠTENtn') 'to eat' (xwar-–xward). However, much more commonly, there are other differences and the exact relationship between the two stems is often unpredictable. For example:

Verb meaning and Aramaeogram	Present stem	Past stem
'to do' (OBYDWN-)	kun-	kard-
'to go away' (OZLWN-)	šaw-	šud-
'to bear' (YBLWN-)	bar-	burd-

Some common patterns of alternation between the final consonants of the two stems are:

Verb meaning and Aramaeogram	Present stem	Past stem
	-z-	-xt
'to run, flow'	E.g.rēz-	rēxt
	-s-, -z-, -y-, -h-	-št, -st
'to want' (BOYHWN-)	E.g.xwāh-	xwast
	-t-, -d-, -n-, -h-	-st
'to bind' (ASLWN-) 'to sit' (YTYBWN-)	E.g.band- nišīn-	bast nišast
	-w-	-ft
'to speak' (YMRRWN-)	E.g.gōw-	guft

Other notable alternations are seen inward-–wašt'to turn',dār-–dāšt(YHSNN-) 'to hold',nimāy-–nimūd'to show',zan-–zad(MHYTWN-) 'to hit'.

Some verbs also derive the past stem merely by the addition of a suffix, which, however, does not consist solely of the consonant -t/d.Most commonly it is-īd(-yt'), but a number of verbs also take-ād(-ʾt') or-ist(-st'):

Verb meaning and Aramaeogram	Present stem	Past stem
'to work'	warz-	warzīd
'to stand' (YKOYMWN-)	est-	estād
'to seem' (MDMEN-)	sah-	sahist

The past stem formations in-īdand-istare typical of denominative verbs, passives in the suffix-īh-and causatives.

Finally, a few stem pairs are clearlysuppletive:

Verb meaning and Aramaeogram	Present stem	Past stem
'to see' (HZYTWN-)	wēn-	dīd
'to come' (YATWN-)	āy-	āmad

Another form of suppletion is found in the verb meaning 'to be, exist', which has the stemh-(speltHWE-) in the present tense, but in the preterite it uses the forms of the verbbūdan'to become, to be', which has the present stembaw-(often contracted simply tob-) and the past stembūd(speltYHWWN-).

Personal endings and present tense of the three moods

Overview

The present-tense forms of the four moods are formed by adding the following endings to the present stem:

	indicative	imperative	subjunctive	optative
1st sing.	-ēm(sp.-ym) (-am,sp. -m), -om,sp. -wm))		-ān
2nd sing.	-ēh(sp. -yh, -ē(sp. -yd)	-∅ (-ē,sp.yd, -ydy)	-āy (-ā(h))	-ēš(sp. -yš)
3rd sing.	-ēd(sp.-yt') (-ed,sp.-t')		-ād	-ēh(sp.-yh), -ē(sp.-yd)
1st pl.	-ēm(sp.-ym) (-am(sp.-m), -om(sp. -wm))		-ām
2nd pl.	-ēd(sp.-yt')	-ēd(sp.-yt')	-ād
3rd pl.	-ēnd(sp. -ynd) (-and,sp. -nd)		-ānd	-ēnd hē (sp.-ynd HNA)

For example, the verbraftan(SGYTWNtn') 'to go' will be conjugated asrawēm(SGYTWNym),rawē(SGYTWNyd),rawēd(SGYTWNyt'), etc. in the indicative,raw(SGYTWN), etc. in the imperative,rawān(SGYTWNʾn), rawāy(SGYTWNʾy), rawād(SGYTWNʾt), etc. in the subjunctive, and so on.

The vowel of the endings

The endings containing alternative vowels toēare not found in Manichaean Middle Persian, except for the 1st person plural-om,which has, conversely, been reported to be the only version there.For the 1st person singular ending, most authors list-ēmas the normal form, but some consider-amto have been the regular ending in non-Manichaean Middle Persian as opposed to the 1st person plural-ēm.Thus, sg.-am:pl.-ēmin Pahlavi would correspond to sg.-ēm:pl.-omin Manichaean. In general, the apparently random variation of the vowels has been interpreted either as relicts of the inflection of minority stem types or, conversely, as foreshadowings of the New Persian form of the endings.

Furthermore, a small number of verbs had alternative contracted forms for the 3rd singular present with no vowel in the ending at all: e.g.kundfor expectedkunēdofkardan.Verbs for which such forms are attested includedaštan(YHSNNtn') 'hold' –dad(dt'),raftan (SGYTWNtn')'go'– rawd(lpd), burdan (YBLWNtn') 'carry' –bard(bld), čāštan (cʾštn') 'teach'- čāšt(čʾšt'),hōšīdan(hwšytn') 'dry'- hōšt(hwšt') 'dries' andfragendan(plkndn') 'lay foundations' –fragend(plknd).In addition, the present stem ofbūdan (YHWWNtn')'become',baw-,is often shortened to b-:b-ēd(byt').

Although the 2nd singular imperative has no ending, a vowel-ā-'appears in it before enclitics in Manichaean and Psalter Pahlavi, e.g.ahrām-ā-m!(ʾhrʾmʾm) 'raise me up!'

Subjunctive and optative

The subjunctive forms for persons other than the third occur in Manichaean Middle Persian, but not in Book Pahlavi.The subjunctive may express a wish (in the present tense) or a hypothetical or conditioned event (the latter mostly in the past tenses) The optative is another way to express a wish. However, the same meaning is expressed by combining the present indicative with separate optative particles:ē(w),sp.ʾy(w)in Book Pahlavi (e.g.ē dārēd,sp.ʾy YHSNNyt''let him possess it') andhēbin Manichaean (e.h.hēb dārēdhyb dʾryd,the same)The present indicative and the present subjunctive may also express future tense (the former is used especially for near future).

Copula

The synthetic forms of thecopula verbfollow mostly the same pattern as other verbs, the present stem consisting of the consonanth-(sp.HWE-) alone: thus, 1st sg. ind.hēm(HWEym) orham(HWEm), subj.hān,etc. However, the 3rd person singular of the present indicative isast(sp.AYT),and this latter form is used mostly in the meaning 'to exist'; it is usually (but not always) omitted when the meaning is of purepredication,as inhe is a man–ōy mard(OLE GBRA), in contrast tothere is a man–mard ast(AYT GBRA). The 3rd pluralhēndis often omitted as well, and even a subjunctivehādmay be absent. Moreover, the existential 3rd person singular also has a special contracted negated form: instead of the regular *nē ast(LA AYT), it isnēst(LOYT')

The optative proper is regular:hē(HWEyd). The imperative function, however, appears to be performed by an optative form of the verbbūdan(YHWWNtn'), 'to be, become':bāšcontracted frombawēš,and in the plural imperative, the same verb is used:bawēd.

Finally, the copula could also occur in enclitic form without the initialh-,although this is not found very often in written texts:kōdak-am(sp.kwtkm) 'I am small'.

Imperfect

In addition to these endings, P. O. Skjærvø (2009: 219) identifies relicts of the Old Persian imperfect in Inscriptional Pahlavi: the markers, which are added to the present stem, are-ēnfor the 1st singular,-ēor-ēdfor the 3rd and-omfor the 1st plural. However, in the synthetic passive formed with the suffixes-īh-or-īy-,no ending is added at all in the imperfect:gugānīh-∅'was destroyed'. There is much uncertainty and debate about the exact interpretations of these and similar forms.

Number agreement

When a plural subject is inanimate, the verb may remain in the singular instead of agreeing with it, unless individuality is specially emphasised.

Periphrastic forms

Past tenses

All the past tenses use periphrastic constructions with the main verb in the past participle form; e.g.raftfrom the verbraftan(SGYTWN'go'). The finite auxiliary verb is conjugated for the appropriate person and mood; the rules for person agreement in particular are described in the section onErgativity in the past tenses.The constructions are as follows:

The preterite

Thepreteriteis formed by combining the past participle of the verb and the copulah-(HWE-) used as anauxiliary verbconjugated for the appropriate person and mood. The copula is, as usual, dropped in the third singular:

(az) raft hēm((ANE) SGYTWNt' HWEym) 'I went', but:

(ōy) raft((OLE) SGYTWNt') 'he went'.

Since the verbh-has no corresponding past participle of the same root, it uses suppletively the past participle ofbūdan:

(az) būd hēm((ANE) YHWWNt'/bwt' HWEym) 'I was', but:

(ōy) būd((OLE) YHWWNt / bwt') 'he was'. This tense expresses an action in the past.

In addition, a synthetically (and suppletively) formed past tense of the copula appears to be found in Manichaean Middle Persian: 3rd person singularanād'was' and 3rd person pluralanānd'were'. There is no obvious difference in function between this and the ordinary preterite.This has been said to be a relict of the Old Persian imperfect tense, and it has been conjectured that a mysterious ArmaeogramHWYTN-occurring in Inscriptional Pahlavi also designates the stem found in this form of the copula.

The past preterite

Thepast preteritealso uses the past participle, but it differs from the simple preterite in that the copulaitselfis in the preterite rather than the present here:

(az) raft būd hēm((ANE)SGYTWNt' YHWWNt'/bwt'HWEym) 'I had gone';

(ōy) raft būd((OLE)SGYTWNt' YHWWNt'/bwt') '(he) had gone'.

Since Manichaean Middle Persian (and possibly Inscriptional Pahlavi) retains synthetic past (imperfect) forms of the copula, it is also able to use them as auxiliaries in the past preterite construction (which has then been called 'past imperfect', although it does not seem to have a different function from the other construction):

(ōy) raft anād= '(he) had gone'.

(awēšān) raft anānd= '(they) had gone'.

The past preterite expresses an action preceding another action in the past.

The perfect

Theperfectalso uses the past participle, but it differs from the preterite in that the auxiliary verb uses is not the copula, butēstādan(YKOYMWNtn') 'to stand' in the present tense. Thus:

(az) raft ēstēm((ANE) SGYTWNt' YKOYMWNym) 'I have/am gone'

(ōy) raft ēstēd((OLE) SGYTWNt' YKOYMWNyt') '(he) has/is gone'.

This tense expresses a past action whoseresults are still observable in the present.

The past perfect

Thepast perfectorpluperfectdiffers from the simple perfect in that the verbēstādanitselfis in the preterite rather than the present here:

(az) raft ēstād hēm((ANE)SGYTWNt' YKOYMWNʾt' HWEym) 'I had/was gone';

(ōy) raft ēstād((OLE)SGYTWNt' YKOYMWNaʾt') '(he) had/was gone'.

This tense expresses a past action whoseresults were still observable at some point in the past.

Past pluperfect

Some authorsidentify yet another form, apast pluperfect:

(az) raft ēstād būd hēm((ANE)SGYTWNt' YKOYMWNʾt' YHWWNt'/bwt' HWEym) 'I had/was gone';

(ōy) raft ēstād būd((OLE)SGYTWNt' YKOYMWNʾt' YHWWNt'/bwt') '(he) had/was gone'.

Omission of the auxiliary verb

The auxiliarybūdanis sometimes omitted not only in the 3rd person singular, but even in the plural:u-mān ō padīrag āmad awēšān widerdagān ruwān(APmʾn' OL ptyrk' YATWNt' OLEšʾn' wtltkʾn' lwbʾn') 'and the souls of the departed came to meet us.'

Ergativity in the past tenses

Like the English and Latin past participles, the Middle Persian past participle describes the logicalsubjectof a verb when the verb is intransitive, but the logical object of the verb when the verb is transitive: e.g.raft(SGYTWNt') '(somebody who is) gone', butdīd(HZYTWNt') '(something that is) seen (by somebody)'. As a result, the construction with the copula (and with the auxiliaryēstādan) has 'active' meaning when the verb is intransitive –tō raft hē,sp.(LK) SGYTWNt' HWEyd,lit. 'you are gone' – but 'passive' meaning when the verb is transitive –(tō) mard dīd,sp.(LK) GBRA HZYTWNt',lit. 'the man is seen (by you)'. In other words, the participant that normally would have been the object is treated as the subject here, and the participant that normally would have been the subject is treated as an oblique modifier. Since in these transitive verb constructions, the participant that is treated like the single argument of an intransitive verb is not the more subject-like one, but the more object-like one, themorphosyntactic alignmentof these constructions isergative.Since this alignment is confined to the past tenses, it is further described assplit-ergative.

The most obvious consequence of this that while the verb in a past tense agrees with the (logical) subject if it is intransitive (just as it would in the present tense), it agrees with the (logical) object if it is transitive:

tō mardān dīd hēnd(LK GBRAʾn HZYTWNt' HWEnd)= 'you saw the men', lit. 'by you the men were seen';

Cf. present tense:tō mardān wēnē(LK GBRAʾn HZYTWNyd) = 'you see the men';

Cf. also the past tense of an intransitive verb:tō raft hē(LK SGYTWNt' HWEyd) 'you went'

mardān tō dīd hē(GBRAʾn LK HZYTWNt' HWEyd) = 'The men saw you', lit. 'by the men you were seen';

Cf. present tense:mardān tō wēnēnd(GBRAʾn LK HZYTWNt' HWEnd) = 'the men see you';

Cf. also the past tense of an intransitive verb:mardān raft hēnd(GBRAʾn SGYTWNt' HWEnd) 'the men went'

Another consequence is seen in the case inflection of nominals, inasmuch as it is preserved. In contrast to the use of the cases in the present tense, the ergative construction means that it is the logical object that is in the direct case and the logical subject that is in the oblique case. Thus, originally we would have, e.g.az mardān wēnēm'I see the men' in the present, butman mard dīd hēndin the past;mard man wēnēnd'the men see me' in the present, butmardān az dīd hēm'the men saw me' in the past. Even after the last vestiges of case inflection in nouns and the stressed forms of the pronouns had been lost and so their forms in ergative and nominative constructions had become identical, the fact that the very frequent pronominal enclitics were restricted to the oblique case meant that their use still reflected the alignment difference between the tenses:

u-t mard dīd(APt GBRA HZYTWNt') = 'and you saw the man'

Cf. present tense:u-t mard wēnēdAPt GBRA HZYTWNyt') = 'and the man sees you'

In contrast, *u-t raft hē'and you went' is impossible, as is *u-t mard dīd hē'and the man saw you'. That is because only the stressed form of the pronoun can function in the direct case.

Finally, it may be pointed out that the possibility of expressing the logical subject at all appears to have developed later in the perfect tenses withēstādanthan in the preterites withbūdan.It is not yet found in Inscriptional and Psalter Pahlavi, nor in Manichaean Middle Persian, where these constructions are impersonal and passive. However, in Book Pahlavi, it is already found regularly, so that clauses likeu-t mard dīd ēstēare fully possible.

Present passive

The present tense proper of the verbbūdan,bawēm,is also combined with the past participle to express a kind of present passive:dād bawēd(YHBWNt' YHWWNyt') 'it is, will have been given'. As in the ergative construction, the agent can occasionally be expressed with an oblique enclitic, e.g.ā-š kard bawēd'then it is done by him' (ʾš OBYDWNyt' YHWWNyt').

Future periphrasis

Albeit rarely, the verbkamistan'to want' combined with an infinitive may express future tense:dušpādixšāyīh ī awēšān sar kāmēd būdan(dwšSLYTAyh Y OLEšʾn' LOYŠE YCBENyt' YHWWNtn') 'their evil rule will end', lit. 'wants to end'.

Aspectual verbal particles

There are two particles occurring before the verb which may modify its aspectual meaning (apparently in opposite ways), even though their use is not obligatory.

One of them appears in Pahlavi asbe(BRA) and in Manichaean asba(bʾ). Its earliest meaning seems to have been directional and specificallyandative,i.e. 'away, out', and this is still said to be the case in Inscriptional and Psalter Pahlavi as well as in Manichaean,but in Book Pahlavi it also seems to have other meanings, which are less clear and more controversial. It has been argued to expressperfectiveaspect in the past or in the future.For example,mard ī šahr ka-š kas pad pusīh be padīrēd(GBRA y štr' AMTš AYŠ PWN BREyh BRA MKBLWNyt')'if somebody adopts a man of the kingdom as his son';Šābuhr be xandīd(šʾpwhl GHBHWNyt') 'Šābuhrlaughed'. It also occurs relatively frequently with imperatives in Book Pahlavi, but not in Manichaean Middle Persian.

The other particle ishamē(hmʾy), originally identical to the adverb meaning 'always'. It expressesimperfectiveand more specificallydurativeoriterativeaspect:kanīzag pad sar ī čāh būd ud... čahārpāyān rāy āb hamē dād(knyck' PWN LOYŠE y cʾh YHWWNt'... chʾlpʾdʾn rʾd MYA hmʾy YHBWNt') 'the girl was by the side of the well and was giving water to the animals'.Some have viewed its aspectual use as a late phenomenon indicative of the transition to New Persian.

Non-finite verb forms

Infinitive

The infinitive has two versions:

1. a 'long' one that is derived from the past stem by adding-an:e.g.kardan(kartn' / OBYDWNtn')
2. a 'short' one that is identical to the past stem, and thus to the past participle:kard(kart'/OBYDWNt')

It can function syntactically as a (verbal) noun:pad griftan īArdaxšīr(PWN OHDWNtn' Y ʾrthšyr) 'in order to seize Ardaxšīr' (lit. 'for the seizing of Ardaxšīr'),hangām ī xwarišn xwardan(hngʾm y OŠTENšn' OŠTENtn') 'the time to eat food' (lit. the time of food eating').

Participles

Thepast participle,which coincides with the past stem. It has passive meaning when the verb is transitive, but active meaning when the verb is intransitive:kard(krt'orOBYDWNt') 'made' butāxist(KDMWNt') 'risen'. It is most commonly used predicatively, but it can also be nominalised:duzīd(dwcyd) 'the stolen (goods)'.If it is an attribute modifier instead, it is usually introduced by the relative particle:čiš ī widard(MNDOM Y wtlt') 'a thing that has passed away, vanished'.

An extended form of the past participle is produced by the addition of the suffix-ag(-k) to the past stem. This form is used attributively more often than the previous one:duxt ī padīriftag(BRTE Y MKBLWNtk') 'an adopted daughter' and is also frequently nominalised:nibištag(YKTYBWNtk') 'something written, a document' (cf. Latinscriptum,Englishwrit).

There is also apresent active participlederived from the present stem with the ending in-ān(ʾn): e.g.griyān(BKYWNʾn),gldʾn), 'crying'. It may occur as a gerund –zarduxšt griyān passox guft(zrtwxšt gldʾn pshw' gwpt), 'Zarasthustra answered, weeping.' and is the usual verb form governed by the verbniwistan(nwystn) 'to begin', which, however, is mostly typical of Manichaean (albeit attested in Psalter Pahlavi).These constructions are rare in Book Pahlavi.Historically, the derivational deverbal suffix-endag/-andag(-ndk') as insōzendag(swcndk''burning') contains the Proto-Indo-European present active participle suffix and it does retain such a meaning, so the adjective derived with has also been called a 'participle'.So have deverbal adjectives formed with the productive suffix-āg(-ʾk') as insazāg(scʾk) 'fitting', which also have very similar semantics (see the section onWord formation).Both of these latter are mostly used attributively.

The suffix-išn(-šn) generally forms deverbal nouns of action from the present stem of the verb as inkunišn(kwnšn') 'doing, deed, action' fromkardan(OBYDWNtn'/krtn') 'to do'. However, such formations also function in predicative position asgerundivesand have since been referred to as 'participles of necessity':u-š čē kunišn'And what is he to do?', lit. 'What is an (appropriate) action for him?';mardōmān... mizd ī mēnōy bē nē hilišn(ANŠWTAʾn mzd Y mynwd BRE LA ŠBKWNšn') 'people must not relinquish their reward in the spiritual world'.Indeed, they have come to resemble adjectives in that they can be inflected for degree:zanišntar(MHYTWNšntl) 'more worthy of being hit/killed'.

Voice

The periphrastic present passive construction with a past participle andbūdanin the present tense (dād bawēd,'is given') has already been mentioned in the sectionPresent passive.The corresponding ergative preterite constructions and ergative perfect tense constructions withēstādan'stand' are not really passive, since they do not contrast with an active form in the same tense and are the standard and only way of expressing these tenses.Nevertheless, they can still be used without an overt agent, resulting in a passive meaning:pus... ōzad(BRE YKTLWNt') 'the son... was killed',mardōm... xwānd hēnd(ANŠWTA... KRYTWNt' HWEnd) 'the people... were called'.

Another periphrastic way of expressing the passive is by using a third person plural 'they' as an impersonal subject:kas pad wēmārīh nē mīrēd bē pad zarmānīh ayāb ōzanēnd(AYŠ PWN wymʾryh LA BRE YMYTWNyt' PWN zlmʾnyh ʾdwp YKTLWNynd) 'nobody will die of illness, but (only) from of old age or they will be killed (lit. or they kill them)'.

However, there is also asyntheticpassive form derived from the present stem with the suffix-īh-(-yh-), in older texts such as the Pahlavi Psalter also-īy-(sp. -yd-). The vowel might have been shortened in later Middle Persian pronunciation. The corresponding past stem may end in-istor in-īd.Some examples aredārīhēd(YHSNNyhyt') 'is held' (ofdāštan,present stemdār-,'to hold'),yazīhīd(YDBHWNyhyt') 'was recited' (ofyaštan,present stemyaz-,'to recite, celebrate').If the base verb has the factitive/causative suffix-ēn-(-yn-), it is removed before the addition of-īh-:rawāgēnīdan(lwbʾkynytn') 'propagate' >rawāgīhistan'be propagated' (lwbʾkyhystn')

Possession

Middle Persian does not have a verb 'to have'. Instead, possession is expressed by stating the existence of the possessed object using the verb 'to be' and by treating the possessor as an oblique argument (inflecting it in the oblique case, if possible):man paygāl ast(L pygʾl AYT') 'To me, a cup exists' = 'I have a cup';xwāstag ī-š ast(NKSYA Yš AYT') 'the property which he has', lit. 'which exists to him'.

Preverbs

Certain adverbial particles are combined with verbs to express direction, while remaining separate words. The most important ones are the following:

Preverb	Meaning
abar(QDM)	'up', 'over', 'onto'
ul(LALA)	'up'
frōd(plwt')	'down'
andar(BYN)	'in'
be(BRA)	'away', 'out'
frāz(prʾc)	'forth'
abāz(LAWHL)	'back', 'again'

Some of these (abarandandar) function as prepositions as well.

Prepositions

The most common simple prepositions are:

Preposition	Meaning
abar(QDM)	'on'
azēr(ʾcdl)	'under'
az(MN',hc)	'from'
ō(OL)	'to'
andar(BYN)	'in'
pad(PWN)	'at, to, for'
tar(LCDr')	'over', 'through'
abāg(LWTE)	'with'
ǰomā(ywmʾy)	'with'
be(BRE), Manichaeanba(bʾ)	'without', 'besides'
tā(OD), Manichaeandā(dʾ)	'until'

The special postposed forms ofpad,ōandazwith a resumptive pronoun-(i)š–padiš(ptš),awiš(ʾwbš),aziš(hcš) – have already been mentioned in the section on pronouns.

Certain adverbs and nouns can be used as prepositions, in which case they usually (but not always) use the relative particle or the prepositionazto introduce the noun: thus the adverbpēš(LOYN') can be extended aspēš ī'in front of',pēš az'before'. In turn, the adverb may be preceded by a preposition:ō pēš ī.A noun does not necessarily require a preceding preposition:mayān ī(mdyʾn Y) '(in) the middle of'. In this way, many prepositional meanings are expressed: 'before' (pēš ī,sp.LOYN' Y), 'after' (pas īAHL), 'around' (pērāmōn ī,sp.pylʾmwn' Y), 'beside' (kanārag ī,sp.knʾlk' Y), 'near, close to' (nazdīk ī,sp.nzdyk' Y), 'beside, around' (pad sar ī,sp.PWN LOYŠE Y), 'except, apart from'ǰud az(sp.ywdt' MN'), etc.Instead of being introduced byī,the component nominal phrase may also be placed before the noun, so it becomes possible to speak of an 'ambiposition':az / ō... rōn(MN / OL... lwn') 'from / in the direction of' (fromrōn'direction'); a similar structure is seen inbē... enyā(BRA... ʾynyʾ) 'except', whereenyā'otherwise' may also be omitted.

While prepositions can remain stranded after their complements because of some syntactic processes mentioned above, there is also aregularpostposition:rāy(lʾd), meaning 'for (the sake of)', 'because of', 'about', 'to'. The postpositional phrase can also be preceded by a preposition:az... rāy'because of',pad... rāy'concerning, in order to'.In some other combinations that have been identified as 'ambipositions', the first element can also be dropped, causing the second one to occur as a postposition: such is the case in(az)... hammis(t)('together with') and(bē)... tā'except'.

Conjunctions

The most common coordinating conjunctions are:

Conjunction	Meaning
ud(W); u-(AP-) in front of pronominal enclitics	'and'
ayāb(Pahlaviʾdwp,Manichaeanʾyʾb)	'or'
Pahlavibe(BRE), Manichaeanba(bʾ)	'but'
Manichaean only:anāyoranē(ʾnʾy)	'but'

The wordā-(ʾ) 'then' may be described as a demonstrative adverb, but it, too, operates as a sentence connector or introducing particle much likeu-,albeit less frequently: an important function of both seems to be to 'support' a pronominal enclitic, andā-generally occurs with one, e.g.ā-š dīd(ʾš HZYTWNt') 'then he saw'.

The common subordinating conjunctions are:

Conjunction	Meaning
agar(HT)	'if'
čē(ME)	'because'
čiyōn(cygwn')	'as, like' 'because' 'as soon as'
ka(AMT)	'when', 'if', 'although'
kū(AYK)	'that' 'so that' 'than'
tā(OD)	'until' 'so that'

The conjunctionudmay be reinforced with the particleham(hm):ham abar ahlawān ud ham abar druwandān(hm QDM ʾhlwbʾn W hm QDM dlwndʾn) 'both for the righteous and for the unrighteous'.

Particles

The particles are:

1. nē(LA) 'not', a negative particle; e.g.mardōm ham nē dēw(ANŠWTA HWEm LA ŠDYA) 'I am human, not a demon.' As already mentioned, it merges with the verb formast(AYT) 'exists, there is' in the contractionnēst'(LOYT') 'doesn't exist, there isn't'.
2. maormā(AL) 'do not', a prohibitative particle preceding verbs in the imperative and the conjunctive:ān xwāstag ma stan!(ZK NKSYA AL YNSBWN) 'Do not take this thing!'
3. -(i)z(-(y)c) 'also, too, even'. The vowel-initial version is used after consonants. This particle is enclitic and appended to whatever is being emphasised:ēn-iz paydāg(ZNEc pytʾk') 'This, too, is clear.'

Word formation

Suffixes that form nouns

The most productive suffixes that form nouns are

Action noun suffixes

1. -išn(-šn') is by far the most productive suffix that forms action nouns and nouns with related meanings from the present stems of verbs:menīdan(mynytn') 'to think' >menišn(mynšn') 'thinking, thought',xwardan(OŠTENtn') 'to eat' >xwarišn(OŠTENšn') 'food'. The verbal noun in-isn(-šn) also functions in predicative position as agerundive,expressing that the action 'ought to be' performed:andar hamahlān... hučašm bawišn(BYN hmʾlʾn... hwcšm bwšn) 'among comrades... one ought to be benevolent'.
2. -ag(-k) forms nouns (action nouns, but often with various concrete meanings) from verbs (both stems) and numerals:widardan(wtltn') 'pass, cross' >widarag(wtlg) 'path, passage',čāštan(cʾštn') 'teach' >čāštag(cʾštk) 'teaching',haft(hp̄t') 'seven' >haftag(hp̄tk) 'week'

This suffix is also thought to have haddiminutivemeaning and appears to have been added to already existing nouns with no change in meaning (ǰām>ǰāmag'glass') or with an unpredictable change (čašm,sp.AYNE,'an eye' >čašmag,sp.cšmk''a spring, well'). As such, it was a very productive and expanding suffix.It is identical to an adjective-forming suffix, and that it was its original function; on that, see the next section.

Abstract noun suffixes

1. -īh(-yh) is by far the most productive suffix that forms abstract nouns from adjectives, nouns and rarely from verbs:tārīgortārīk(tʾryk) 'dark' >tārīgīh(tʾrykyh) 'darkness';dōst(dwst') 'friend' >dōstīh(dwstyh) 'friendship';ast(AYT') 'exists' >astīh(AYTyh) 'existence' It can be combined with the action noun suffix-išnas-išnīh(-šnyh):drō-gōwišnīh(KDBA YMRRWNšnyh/dlwb' YMRRWNšnyh) 'speaking lies':
2. An unproductive suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives is-āy(-ʾd), most commonly expressing size or degree along a certain dimension:pahn(pʾhn) 'wide' >pahnāy(phnʾd) 'width'.

Agent noun suffixes

1. -ār(-ʾl) is a productive suffix that forms agent nouns from the past stems of verbs:dādan(YHBWNtn') 'give, create' >dādār(dʾtʾl) 'creator'. There are some surprising exceptions where the meaning is passive:griftan(OHDWNtn') 'seize' >griftār(glptʾl) 'prisoner'.

   The likewise productive suffix-āg(-ʾk) has also been said to derive agent nouns from verbs, but they might be seen as adjectives as well and are treated in the section on adjectives.

2. -gar(-kl) and-gār(-kʾl), both occasionally appearing with an initialī,productively derive nouns from nouns, expressing the meaning 'doer of something', as well as adjectives from nouns meaning 'doing something':warz(wlc) 'work, farming' >warzīgar(wlcykl) 'worker, farmer';wināh(wnʾs) 'sin' >wināhgār'sinner' (wnʾskl),ziyān(zydʾn') 'harm' >ziyāngār(zydʾnkʾl) 'harmful'. When the base noun ends in the suffix-ag,both the final consonant of the stem and the initial consonant of the suffix appear as/k/:kirbag(krpk') 'good deed' >kirbakkar(krpkkl) 'doer of good deeds, beneficent'.
3. -bān(pʾn') productively forms nouns meaning somebody in charge of what the base noun designates, a caretaker:stōr(stwl) 'horse' >stōrbān(stwlpʾn') 'groom'.
4. -bed(pt') forms titles with a similar meaning to the above suffix, but with a nuance of power and possession rather than caretaking:spāh(spʾh) 'army' >spāhbed(spʾhpt') 'army commander'.
5. -yār(-dʾl) is a rare suffix with a somewhat similar meaning to the previous one, as seen inšahr(štr') >šahryār(štr'dʾl).
6. -(a)gān(-kʾn') is a rare suffix that derives nouns from other nouns; the meaning is of a person or thing connected to what the base noun designates:wāzār(wʾcʾl) 'market' >wāzāragān(wʾcʾlkʾn') 'merchant'

Place nouns

1. -(e/i)stān(stʾn') is a productive suffix that forms place nouns:asp(SWSYA) 'horse' >aspestān(ʾs̄pstʾn') 'horse stable',hindūg(hndwk') 'Indian' >hindūstān(hndwstʾn') 'India'.It is also included in the names of seasons.
2. -dān(-dʾn') is a rare suffix forming place nouns:ast(ag)(ʾstk') 'bone' >astōdān(ʾstw(k)dʾn') 'ossuary'
3. -īgān(-ykʾn') apparently forms collective and place nouns:māh(BYRH) 'moon, month' >māhīgān'month' (BYRHykʾn),šāh(MLKA) 'king' >šāhīgān(šhykʾn') 'palace'.

Diminutive suffix

The diminutive suffix is-īzag(-yck'). E.g.murw(mwlw) 'bird' >murwīzag(mwlwyck') 'birdie'.

It has been conjectured that also the abovementioned suffix-ag(-k) had the same meaning, but it is difficult to find unambiguous attestations of this usage.Adjectives have their own diminutive suffix, on which see below.

Feminine suffix

Feminine gender could be expressed in proper names by-ag:J̌am>J̌amag.It could also be expressed by the Avestan suffixes-ānīy/-ēnīy:ahlaw'righteous' >ahlawēnīy'righteous woman'.

Suffixes that form adjectives

Adjectives derived from nominals

1. -īg(-yk'), sometimes possibly-īk:derives adjectives from nouns, often with a meaning 'belonging to' and 'originating from', but also 'having':āb(MYA) 'water' >ābīg(ʾp̄yk') 'aquatic';Pārs(pʾls) 'Fars' >pārsīg(pʾlsyk') 'Persian';zōr(zʾwl) 'power' >zōrīg(zʾwlyk') 'powerful';nazd(nzd) 'vicinity' >nazdīk(nzdyk') 'close, near';
2. When the adjective is derived from a geographical name, the suffix-īgis often preceded by-āy-(-ʾd-):hrōm(hlwm) 'Rome' >hrōmāyīg(hlwmʾdyk') 'Roman';Asūrestān'Assyria' >asūrāyīg'Assyrian'. That suffix-āyalso occurs alone in the nounhrōmāy,'a Roman'.
3. -ōmand,-mand(-ʾwmnd,-mnd): derives adjectives meaning 'having something', 'full of something':ōz(ʾwc) 'strength' >ōzōmand(ʾwc ʾwmnd) 'strong';xwarrah(GDE) 'fortune, glory' >xwarrahōmand(GDE ʾwmnd) 'fortunate, glorious',šōy(šwd) 'husband >šōymand(šwdmnd) 'having a husband';
4. -(ā)wandor-(ā)wend,spelt-(ʾwnd)(in Manichaean also-ʾwynd) is a rare, originally older version of the previous suffixand derives adjectives from nouns, often with the same meaning as-ōmand,but sometimes expressing a more general connection as inxwēš(NPŠE) 'own' >xwēšāwand(hwyšʾwnd) 'relative'.
5. -genor-gēn,spelt-k(y)n',is a rare suffix similar in function to-ōmand.
6. -war(-wl) and-wār(-wʾl) derive adjectives from nouns, expressing some kind of connection to what the noun designates, and these adjectives may in turn be converted into nouns. E.g.kēn(kyn) 'revenge' >kēnwar(kynwl) 'vengeful',asp(ŠWŠYA) 'horse' >aswār(PLŠYA,ʾspwʾl,aswbʾl) 'equestrian > horseman'.

   According to some descriptions,-wār(-wʾl) also derives adverbs from adjectives and nouns:sazagwār(sckwʾl) 'fittingly',xwadāywār(hwtʾdwʾl) 'in a lordly manner'.

7. -ēn(-yn') is a productive suffix that derives adjectives expressing the material something is made of:zarr(ZHBA) 'gold' >zarrēn(ZHBA-yn') 'golden'
8. -ag(-k'): besides forming nouns, this suffix also derives adjectives from nouns and the past stem of verbs:tišn(tyšn') 'thirst' >tišnag(tyšnk') 'thirsty'. Sometimes it is also productively added to an existing adjective with no apparent change of meaning:wad,sp.SLYA>wadag,sp.wtk''bad, evil'
9. -ōg(-wk') is a rare suffix which, like the previous one, is added to existing adjectives without a noticeable change in meaning, although they may also be converted into nouns.
10. -ān(-ʾn') forms possessive adjectives of names and, in particular,patronymics:ayādgār ī Zarērān(ʾbydʾt Y zryrʾn) 'memoir of Zarēr';Ardaxšīr(ʾrthšyr) >Ardaxšīrān(ʾrthšyrʾn) 'son of Ardaxšīr';not to be confused with the present participle suffix;
11. The suffix-agān(-kʾn') form patronymics as well:Pābag(pʾpk') >Pābagān(pʾpkʾn') 'son of Pābag/Pāpak';
12. As already mentioned,-gānagderives adjectives from numerals with the meaning '-fold'.
13. The suffix -ak(-k') formed diminutive adjectives:and(ʾnd) 'so much' >andak(ʾndk') 'a little'.

Suffixes that derive adjectives from verbs

1. -āg(-ʾk') is a productive suffix that derives adjectives from the present stems of verbs to describe the performer of the action of the verb; these adjectives are often used as nouns and have been described as agent nouns as well. For example,dānistan(YDOYTWNstn') 'to know' >dānāg(dʾnʾk') 'a knowing one, a wise man'.
2. -(a/e)ndag(-ndk',-yndk') is an unproductive suffix that has the same meaning as the above:zī(wi)stanzywstn''to live' >zīndagzywndk''alive, living'.
3. As already mentioned, there is also a present active participle ending in-ān(-ʾn'), with the same meaning as the above two. The boundary between participles and derived adjectives is not clear.

Suffixes that form verbs

1. The suffix-ēn-(-yn-) and less commonly-ān-,whose past stem always ends in-īdyt), has the following functions:

– It transforms nominal parts of speech into verbs withfactitivemeaning:pērōz(pylwc) 'victorious' >pērōzēnīdan(pylwcynytn') 'to make victorious';

– It makes verbs, to whose present stem it is added, into transitive verbs withcausativemeaning:tarsīdan(tlsytn') 'to be afraid' >tarsēnīdan(tlsynytn') 'to scare'

Apart from that, factitive verbs could be formed simply by creating a new past stem in-īdan:nām(ŠM) 'name' >nāmīdan'to name'. More commonly, phrasal verbs were used instead as innām kardan.On the other hand, there still survived some intransitive-transitive verb pairs with quality and quantity differences in the root, where the transitive one usually has the vowelā:intr.nibastan(ŠKBHWNstn'),nibay-'to lie down' – tr.nibāstan(npʾstn'),nibāy-'to lay down'; intr.nišastan,nišīn-'to sit (down) – tr.nišāstan,nišān-'to seat' (both spelt with the ArmaeogramYTYBWNstn',but distinguished in the phonetic spellingsnšstn'–nšʾstn').

2. There is also a suffix that forms intransitive verbs from transitive ones. Specifically, it derives present verb stems from transitive past stems in-ftand-xt,but apparently leaves the two verbs identical in the past stem. In Manichaean, the suffix is-sand removes the preceding dental of the past stem:buxtan(present stembōz-) 'save' > present stembuxs-'be saved'. In Pahlavi, the suffix is-t-;in other words, the new present stem coincides with the past one:bōxtan,sp.bwhtn',(present stembōz-) 'save' > present stembōxt-'be saved'

Prefixes

Nominal prefixes

1.a(n)-,sp.ʾ(n)-,expresses negation or absence of something. Simple negation is found in examples likepurnāy(pwlnʾd) 'adult' >aburnāy(ʾpwlnʾd) 'non-adult',dōstīh(dwstyh) 'friendship, amity' >adōstīh(ʾdwstyh) 'enmity',ēr(ʾyl) 'Iranian, Zoroastrian' >anēr(ʾnyl), 'non-Iranian', 'non-Zoroastrian'.

However, when added to most nouns, the prefixa(n)-converts them into adjectives or nouns meaning 'lacking something':kanārag(knʾlk') 'border' >akanārag(ʾknʾlk') 'borderless'It can also produce adjectives when added to present verb stems, indicating non-performance of the action:dānistan(YDOYTWNstn') 'to know' >adān(ʾdʾn') 'ignorant'.

2.abē-,sp.ʾp̄yis added to nouns to form adjectives expressing the lack of something, which also one of the functions of the previous suffix. Hence, they can even occur with the same stems and more or less the same meanings:bīm'fear' >abēbīm(ʾp̄ypym) as well as simplyabīm(ʾp̄ym) 'fearless'.

3.ham-(hm-) expresses togetherness and sameness. It, too converts nouns into adjectives or nouns meaning 'having / belonging to the same X': e.g.kār(kʾl) 'deed, labour' >hamkār(hmkʾl) 'collaborator'.

4.ǰud-(ywdt-) has partly the opposite meaning toham-,transforming nouns into adjectives or nouns meaning 'having / belonging to a different/opposite X', e.g.kāmag(kʾmk') 'desire' >ǰudkāmag(ywdt' kʾmk') 'disagreeing', lit. 'having a different desire'. However, it can also have the meaning 'keeping X away', as indēw(ŠDYA'demon') >ǰud-dēw(ywdtŠDYA) 'keeping the demons away', 'anti-demonic'.Finally, it has a meaning akin toabē-in cases likeǰud-āb(ywdt'MYA) 'waterless'.It is also an independent word meaning 'separate', 'different',so it can be viewed as the first member of a compound as well.

5.hu-(hw-) can derive nouns from other nouns to express the meaning 'good X', e.g.pādixšāy(ŠLYTA) 'king' >hupādixšāy(hwpʾthšʾd) 'good king'. Far more commonly, however, it forms adjectives and nouns meaning 'having good X': e.g.bōy(bwd) 'smell' >hubōy(hwbwd) 'fragrant';sraw(slwb') 'word' >husraw(hwslwb') 'having good fame'.

6.duš-/dus/duǰ-(sp.dwš-,dw(s)-), with the second allomorph occurring before /s/ and the third one before voiced stops, has the opposite meaning to the previous prefix: it forms adjectives and nouns meaning 'having bad X', or rarely, simply 'bad X'. For example,dušpādixšāy(dwšpʾthšʾd) 'bad king',dusraw(dwslwb') 'infamous',dēn(dyn') >duǰdēn(Pahlavidwšdyn',Manichaeandwjdyn) 'infidel'

7. Finally, a few adjectives begin inpad-(PWN-) and meaning 'having' or 'associated with': e.g.parrag(plk') 'wing' >pad-parrag(PWN plk') 'having wings';drō(KDBA,dlwb') 'a lie' >pad-drō(PWN dlwb) 'lying'.

Verbal prefixes

Some adverbial particles can co-occur with verbs, but remain separate words; on these, see the sectionPreverbs.Earlier Indo-European verbal prefixes have coalesced with the following roots and their original meaning is hardly ever discernible, even though they are very frequent. Thus, we have the following elements:

1. ā-expressing approaching something:burdan(YBLWMtn') 'carry' >āwurdan(YHYTYWNtn') 'bring',āmadan(YATWNtn') andmadan(mtn'), both meaning 'to come'.
2. ab(e)/ap-expressing movement away from something::burdan(YBLWMtn') 'carry' >appurdan(YHNCLWNtn') 'steal'
3. fra-expressing movement forward:franaftan(plnptn') 'go (forth), proceed, depart'.
4. gu-expressing togetherness:gumēxtan(gwmyhtn') '(co-)mix'.
5. ham-andhan-(the latter variant before non-labial consonants), also expressing togetherness or connection, 'with'. This prefix still occurs with the same form in nouns, but in verbs its meaning is seldom obvious:bastan(ASLWNtn') 'bind, tie' >hambastan(hnbstn') 'bind together, encircle, compose', but alsohambastan(hnbstn') 'collapse',hanǰāftan(hncʾptn') 'complete, conclude'.
6. ni-expressing movement downwards:nišastan(YTYBWNstn') 'sit (down)',nibastan(ŠKBHWNstn'), 'lie (down)',nibištan(YKTYBWNstn') 'write (down)'
7. ō-expressing bringing an action to completion:zadan(MHYTWNtn') 'hit' >ōzadan(YKTLWNtn') 'kill'
8. par-expressing movement 'around':bastan(ASLWNtn') 'bind, tie' >parwastan(plwatn') 'surround, enclose';pargandan(plkndn') 'scatter, disperse'.
9. pay-expressing direction towards something:bastan(ASLWNtn') 'bind, tie' >paywastan(ptwstn') 'join, connect'
10. us-,uz-expressing direction upwards or outwards:uzīdan(ʾwcytn') 'go out, end, expend',uzmūdan(ʾzmwtn') 'try out, experiment'
11. wi-expressing movement away or apart from something:rēxtan(lyhtn') 'flow' >wirēxtan(OLYKWNtn') 'escape, run away'.

Compounds

Compounding is very productive. The following types are common:

1.bahuvrihior possessive compound, a compound adjective or noun of the structure Modifier + Noun, designating the possessor of what the second member designates:

• wad-baxt(wt' bʾxt'), lit. 'bad' (SLYA) + 'fortune' = 'who has ill fortune', i.e. 'unfortunate';

pād-uzwān(pʾtʾwzwʾn'), lit. 'protected' (NTLWNt') + 'tongue' (ŠNA) = 'who has protected tongue', i.e. 'reticent';

čahār-pāy(chʾlpʾd), lit. 'four' (ALBA) + 'leg' (LGLE), 'which has four legs', i.e. 'quadruped, animal'.

The modifier is usually an adjective or another part of speech that typically modifies nouns.

2. A determinative compound noun of the structure Modifier + Noun, designating a subset of the class that the second member designates:

kār-nāmag(kʾl nʾmk'), lit. 'deed' + 'book', a 'book of deeds', i.e. a biography. The modifier is usually a noun, less cderived/ borrowed words from Middle Persian

commonly an adjective as inweh-dēn(ŠPYLdyn'), lit. 'good' + 'religion' = 'Zoroastrianism'.

3. A determinative compound adjective or noun of the structure Modifier + Deverbal Noun or Participle:

anāg-kerdār(ʾnʾk' kltʾl), lit. 'evil' + 'doer' = 'evildoer';

Ōhrmazd-dād(ʾwhrmzd dʾt), lit. 'Ahuramazda' + 'given' (YHBWNt') = 'given, created by Ahuramazda'.

4. A determinative compound adjective or noun of the structure Modifier + Present Verb Stem. The meaning is of an agent noun:

axtar(ʾhtl) 'star',āmārdan(ʾmʾldn') 'calculate' >axtar-(ā)mār,lit. 'star' + 'calculate' = 'astrologer'

An uncommon type is the copulative (dvandva) type that combines two stems on equal terms – some possible examples are:

rōz-šabān(lwc špʾn), lit. 'day' (YWM) + 'night' (LYLYA) +-ān= 'a 24-hour period'; and

uštar-gāw-palang(wštlgʾwp̄plng), lit. 'camel' (GMRA) + 'ox' (TWRA) + 'leopard' (płng).

Numerals

The numeral system is decimal. The numerals usually don't inflect, but may take the plural ending when preceding the noun they modify, e.g. Manichaeansēnān anōšagān'the three immortals'.The numerals are usually spelt in Pahlavi as digits, but there are also Aramaeograms for the cardinals from 1 to 10.

Cardinal numerals

The cardinal ones from one to ten are:

number	pronunciation	Aramaeogram
1	ē(w) 'a' yak(Manichaeanyk)	none foryak;'phonetic'ʾdwk' HDforē(w)
2	dō	TLYN
3	sē	TLTA
4	čahār	ALBA
5	panǰ(Manichaeanpanz)	HWMŠA,HWMŠYA
6	šaš	ŠTA
7	haft	ŠBA
8	hašt	TWMNYA
9	nō	TŠA,TŠYA
10	dah	ASLA,ASLYA

The teens are mostly formed by combining the relevant number of units and the worddah'ten', but there are some voicings, epentheses of/z/,elisions and unpredictable alternations at the morpheme boundaries.

number	pronunciation
11	yāzdah
12	dwāzdah
13	sēzdah
14	čahārdah
15	panzdah,pānzdah
16	šazdah
17	hafdah
18	hašdah
19	nōzdah

The tens often bear some resemblance to the correspondent units and sometimes end in -ādor -ad,but often aren't synchronically analysable:

number	pronunciation
10	dah
20	wīst
30	sīh
40	čihlorčihil
50	panǰah
60	šast
70	haftād
80	aštād
90	nawad
100	sad

The hundreds combine the relevant unit and the wordsad'hundred' (e.g.hašt sadfor 800), except for 200, which isduwēst.One thousand ishazār,and multiples of it are formed again on the patternhašt hazārand so on, but there is also a special numeral for 10 000,bēwar(speltbywl). Compound numerals may be formed with or without the conjunctionud'and':čihl ud čahārorčihl čahār.

Fractions simply conjoin the cardinal numerals of the denominator and the numerator:sē-yak (ī...)'one third (of...)', and may also take the 'indefinite article'-ēw.Another notable derivation is the one in-gānagmeaning '-fold', e.g.sēgānag(3-kʾnk) 'triple'.

Cardinal numerals may precede or follow the noun; the noun is usually in the singular, but may be in the plural, too.

Ordinal numerals

Ordinal numerals are formed regularly by adding the ending-om(sp.-wm) to the corresponding cardinal numeral: e.g.haft-om(7-wm) 'seven-th'. After vowels, a semivowel is inserted before-om:-y-after the front vowelseandi,and-w-after the back vowelo:thus, 3rd can besē-y-om,30th issī-y-om,2nd isdō-w-om.

While this regular pattern can be applied even to the first three numerals, they also have more common irregular variants:fradom(pltwm) 'first',dudīgarordidīgar(dtykl) 'second',sidīgar(stykl) 'third'. The finalarmay be absent in Manichaean texts:dudīg(dwdyg) andsidīg(sdyg). Furthermore, 'first' may also occur asnaxust(nhwst') andnazdist(nzdst') and 'second' may also occur asdid(TWB,dt'), which also means 'another',anddidom.'Fourth' can also betasom(tswm).

Like the cardinal numbers, the ordinal ones can occur before or after the noun, and in the latter case, they may be linked to it by the relative particleī.

Syntax

The usual word order issubject – object – verb,although there are deviations from it.As already mentioned, genitive and adjective modifiers usually precede their heads if unmarked as such, but adjectives can also be placed after their heads, and a modifier introduced by the relative particleīis placed after its head, unless appended to a demonstrative pronoun modifying the phrase head (pronoun +ī+ modifier + head). The language uses prepositions, but they may end up as postpositions if their logical complements are enclitic pronouns or relative pronouns. The enclitic pronouns are normally appended to the first word of the clause.Yes/no questionsare only distinguished from statements by means of intonation.Wh-questionsdo not need to be introduced by the interrogative word either:war... kū kard ēstēd?(wl... AYK krt' YKOYMWNyt') 'Where has the shelter been made?'

Certain verbs are used impersonally: the logical subject is absent or oblique, and the action is expressed by an infinitive or a dependent clause with a verb in the subjunctive. Thus the present tense ofabāyistan'be necessary, fitting' is used as follows:abāyēd raftan(ʾp̄ʾdt' SGYTWNtn'), 'it is necessary to go'. Other verbs used like this, obligatorily or optionally, aresahistan(MDMENstn') 'seem',saz-(sc) 'be proper' (present tense only),šāyistan(šʾdstn') 'be possible',kāmistan(YCBENstn') 'want' (constructed like 'be desirable to s.o.') andwurrōyistan(HYMNN-stn') 'believe' (constructed like 'seem credible to s.o.'). So are some nouns such astuwān'might, power':tuwān raftan(twbʾn' SGYTWNtn') 'one can go'.

There are many phrasal verbs consisting of a nominal part of speech and a relatively abstract verb, most commonlykardan(OBYDWNtn'/krtn') 'do', sometimes alsodādan(YHBWNtn') 'to give',burdan(YBLWNtn') 'to bear',zadan(MHYTWNtn') 'to hit', etc. Some examples areduz kardan(dwc krtn') 'to steal', lit. 'to do a theft',framān dādan(plmʾn' YHBWNtn'), 'to command', lit. 'to give a command',āgāh kardan(ʾkʾs krtn') 'inform', lit. 'make informed'.

The plural number was used in reference to kings, both in the first person (by the kings themselves), in the second person (when addressing a king) and in the third person (when referring to kings, e.g.awēšān bayān,sp.OLEšʾn' ORHYAʾn,'Their Majesty', originally only the oblique case form). An action performed by a superior was introduced by the dummy verbframūdan'order' governing an infinitive of the main verb:framāyē xwardan!(prmʾdydOŠTENʾn) 'deign eat!'.

Lexis

In contrast to the numerous Arameograms in Pahlavi spelling, there aren't many actual borrowings from Aramaic in Middle Persian; indeed, the number of borrowings in the language in general is remarkably small.An exception is the Middle Persian Psalter, which is a relatively literal translation of thePeshittaand does contain a sizable number of theology-related loans fromSyriac:e.g.purkānā'redemption'.

Pahlavi often has more forms borrowed from Parthian than Manichaean does: e.g. Pahlavizamestān(zmstʾn') vs Manichaeandamestān(dmstʾn) 'winter'. Naturally, theological terms borrowed from Avestan occur in Zoroastrian Pahlavi, sometimes even in the original script, but often in 'Pahlavised' form or as loan translations:

Avestan	Pahlavi	approximate translation
aṣ̌awwan(cf. Old Persianartāvan)	ahlaw,sp.ʾhlwb' (butardā,sp.ʾltʾyas an epithet)	'righteous'
daēnā	dēn,sp.dyn'	'religion'
frauuaṣ̌i-	frawahr,sp.plwʾhl fraward,sp.plwlt'	'fravashi;immortal soul/guardian angel'
gaēθiia-	gētīy/gētīg,sp.gytyd,lategytyk,Manichaeangytyg; but note:gēhān,sp.gyhʾn''world (of mortals)'	'material'
gāθā	gāh(gʾs)	'Gatha, hymn'
mainiiu-	mēnōy/mēnōg,sp.mynwd,latemynwk, Manichaeanmynwg	'spirit', 'spiritual'

Samples

A sample of Inscriptional Middle Persian: Kartir's inscription (Kartir KZ 1) on theKa'ba-ye Zartosht

Transliteration	Transcription	Translation
W ANE kltyl ZY mgwpt yzd’n shpwhry MLKA’n MLKA hwplsťy W hwk’mky HWYTNn.	ud az Kirdīr ī mowbed, yazdān ud šābuhr šāhān šāh huparistāy ud hukāmag anēn.	And I, Kartir, theMaguspriest, have been of good service and benevolent to the Gods and toShapur,the King of Kings.
APm PWN ZK sp’sy ZYm PWN yzďn W Shpwhry MLKA’n MLKA krty HWYTNt	u-m pad ān spās ī-m pad yazdān ud šābuhr šāhān šāh kard anād	And for that service that I had done to the Gods and to Shapur, the King of Kings
ZKm OBYDWN šhpwhry MLKA’n MLKA PWN kltk’n ZY yzďn	ān-im kunēd šābuhr šāhān šāh pad kardagān ī yazdān,	Shapur makes me, when it comes to the divine matters,
PWN BBA W štry OL štry gyw’k OL gyw’k h’mštry PWN mgwstn k’mk’ly W p’thš’y	pad dar ud šahr ō šahr, gyāg ō gyāg hām-šahr pad mōwestān kāmgār ud pādixšāy.	at court and in kingdom after kingdom, place after place, in the whole empire, powerful and authoritative over the Magian estate.
W PWN plm’n ZY šhpwhry MLKA’n MLKA W pwšty ZY yzďn W MLKA’n MLKA	ud pad framān ī šābuhr šāhān šāh ud pušt ī yazdān ud šāhān šāh	And by order of Shapur, King of Kings, and with the support of the Gods and the King of Kings
štry OL štry gyw’k OL gyw’k KBYR krtk’n yzďn ’pz’dyhy W KBYR ’twry ZY wlhľn YTYBWNd	šahr ō šahr, gyāg ō gyāg was kardagān ī yazdān abzāyīh ud was ādur ī warharān nišānīh/nišinēnd	in kingdom after kingdom, place after place, many services to the Gods were increased and manyWahrāmfires were instituted
W KBYR mgw GBRA ’wlw’hmy W ptyhwy YHWWNt	ud was moγ-mard urwāhm ud padēx būd	and many magi became joyful and prosperous
W KBD ’twr’n W mgwny p’thštly HTYMWNd	ud was ādurān ud magūn pādixšīr āwāšend/āwāšīh/āwišt	and many contracts for fires and magi were sealed.
W ’whrmzdy W yzďn LBA swty YHMTWN	ud ōhrmazd ud yazdān wuzurg sūd rasīd,	And great benefit came to Ahura Mazda and the Gods,
’hlmny W ŠDYA’n LBA mhyk’ly YHWWNt.	ud ahrēman ud dēwān wuzurg mihkār būd.	and there was great damage to Ahriman and thedemons.

A sample of Manichaean Middle Persian: excerpt from theShābuhragān

Transliteration	Transcription	Translation
՚wrwr, ՙsprhm, ՚wd mrw, wd ՚՚cyhr, ՚wd gwng-gwng ՚rwy kyšt ՚wd rwst.	urwar, isprahm, ud marw, ud *āzihr, ud gōnag-gōnag arōy kišt ud rust.	plants, flowers and herbs and seedless plants (?) and various growing things were sown and grew.
՚wš՚n xwd ՚՚z xwyš gryw ՚ndr ՚myxt.	u-šān xwad āz xwēš grīw andar āmixt.	And (the demon) Âz herself mixed her own self into them.
՚wd h՚n yk bhr ՙy ՚w dry՚b ՚wbyst, h՚nyš mzn ՙyw dwšcyhr ՚pr ՚wd shmyyn ՚cyš bwd.	ud ān yak bahr ī ō daryāb ōbist, hān-iš mazan ēw duščihr appar ud sahmēn aziš būd.	And that one part that fell into the sea—an ugly, predatory, and horrifying monster arose from it...
ps myhryzd, ՚c h՚n pnz yzd ՙy xwd ՚pwr	pas mihryazd, az hān panz yazd ī xwad āfur	Then the god Mihr, from among those five gods of his own creation,
h՚n yzd ՙyw ṯskyrb pryst՚d	hān yazd ēw taskirb frēstād	sent that four-shaped one,
ky ՚wy mzn ՚ndr ՚brg p՚dgws, ՚c xwr՚s՚n d՚ ՚w xwrnw՚r, pd hm՚g ՚brg pr՚r՚st	kē awē (= ōy) mazan andar abarag pādgōs, az xwarāsān dā ō xwarniwār, pad hamāg abarag frārāst	who stretched out that monster in the northern region, from east to west, in the entire north,
p՚y ՙspwxt ՚wd ՚bgnd, ՚wš ՚br ՙyst՚d, kw ՚ndr šhr wyn՚ẖ ny qwn՚d.	pāy ispōxt ud abgand, ō-š abar ēstād, ku andar šahr wināh nē kunād.	stamped his foot (on it), and hurled (it down), and stood on it, so that it could do no harm in the Realm (=world).
՚wd ՚wy yzd ՚br hm՚g zmyg ՚wd ՚sm՚n h՚mqyšwr, ՚br ՚brg ՚wd xwr՚s՚n, ՚yrg ՚wd xwrpr՚n...	ud awē (= ōy) yazd abar hamāg zamīg ud āsmān hāmkišwar, abar abarag ud xwarāsān, ērag ud xwarparān...	Over the entire earth, the sky, the universe, [over] north and east, south and west, that god...
wysbyd qyrd kw šhr p՚y՚d.	wisbed kird ku šahr pāyād.	was made village-master so that that he should protect the Realm (world).

A sample of Psalter Pahlavi Middle Persian: Psalm 129

Transliteration	Transcription	Translation
MNm (z)[pl](ʾ)dy KLYTNt HWEW MRWHY yzdty ZY LˊY	az-im zofrāy xwand, ay xwadāy yazd ī man.	Out of the depths have I cried, o Lord, my God.
APmyt OŠMENt wʾngy, l7 ʾywt nydwhšyˊt gwšy wʾngy ZYm l8 swtyklyhy.	u-m-it ašnūd wāng, ēw-t niyōxšēd gōš wāng ī-m sūdgarīh.	And my voice (be) heard by you, may your ear hear the voice of my prayer.
HT sydʾ NTLWNydy MRWHYʺ MNW twbʾn YKOYMWNt	agar syā(?) pāyē, xwadāy, kē tuwān estād?	If you watch for sinners, Lord, who can stand?
M)E MN LK ʾwlwny A(Y)TY hylšn[y] ptsʾš tlsy	čē az tō ōrōn ast hilišn padisā-š tars	But from you there is pardon, for the sake of fear of him.
pndy NTLWNt HYA ZY LY OL MRWHY; W pndy NTLWNt HYA ZY LY OLš MRYA	pand pād gyān ī man ō xwadāy; ud pand pād gyān ī man ō-š saxwan.	My soul attends to the advice of the Lord, and my soul attends to the advice of his word.
pndm NTLWNt ʿL MRWHY MN pʾsy ZY špk[y WOD O]L pʾsy ZY špky.	pand-am pād ō xwadāy az pās ī šabag tā ō pās ī šabag.	It attends to the advice of the Lord from one morning watch to another morning watch.
pndy N[TLW]Nt ʾdyly ʿL MRWHY MEš ʾcšy ʾwlwny HWEnd LHMYdy. APš KBYR ʾYTY LWTE pwlknʾ.	pand pād ēl ō xwadāy čē-š aziš ōrōn hēnd abaxšāyīh. U-š was ast abāgpurkānā,	Israel shall attend to the advice of the Lord: for from him there is mercy for us. And with him there is great redemption.
W BNPŠE bwcʾt OL ʾdyly MNš hʾmd(wy)n dlwby	ud xwad bōzēd ō ēl aziš hāmēwēn drō.	And he himself shall save Israel from all of its Lies.

A sample of Book Pahlavi Middle Persian (historical narrative): Beginning ofThe Book of Ardā Wirāz

Transliteration	Transcription	Translation
PWN ŠM Y yzd’n	pad nām ī yazdān	In the name of the Gods:
’ytwn' YMRRWNd AYK ’yw b’l ’hlwb' zltwhšt...	ēdōn gōwēnd kū ēw-bār ahlaw zardušt...	Thus they have said that once the righteous Zoroaster...
dyn' Y MKBLWNtBYN gyh’n lwb’k BRA krt	dēn ī padīrift andar gēhān rawāg be kard.	propagated in the world the religion that he had received.
W OD bwndkyh 300 ŠNT dyn'BYN ’p̄yckyh W ANŠWTABYN ’pygwm’nyh YHWWNt HWHd	ud tā bawandagīh [ī] sē sad sāl dēn andar abēzagīh ud mardōm andar abē-gumānīh būd hēnd	And within a period of 300 years (the) religion remained in purity and the people were without any doubt.
W AHL gcstk' gn’k mynwg dlwnd...	ud pas gizistag gannāg mēnōg [ī] druwand...	And then, the accursed, foul and deceitful spirit...
gwm’n' krtn' Y ANŠWTA’n' PWN ZNE dyn' l’d	gumān kardan ī mardōmān pad ēn dēn rāy,	in order to cause people to doubt this religion,
ZK gcstk ’lkskdl Y hlwm’dyk Y mwcl’dyk m’nšn' wyd’p’nynyt	ān gizistag *alek/sandar ī *hrōmāyīg ī muzrāyīg-mānišn wiyābānēnīd	led astray that Alexander the Roman, resident of Egypt,
Y PWN gl’n szd W nplt' W dhyyk OL ’yl’nštr' YATWNt...	ī pad garān sezd ud *nibard ud *wišēg ō ērān-šahr āmad...	who came to Iran with grave tyranny and violence and distress...
APš OLE ’уl’n dhywptYKTLWNt W BBA W hwťyh wšwpt W ’pyl’n krt	u-š ōy ērān dahibed ōzad ud dar ud xwadāyīh wišuft ud awērān kard.	and murdered the ruler of Iran and ruined the court and the lordship and made them desolate.
W ZNE dyn' cygwn hm’k ’pst’k W znd QDM TWRA pwstyh’ Y wyl’stk' PWN MYA Y ZHBA npštk	ud ēn dēn čiyōn hamāg abestāg ud zand [ī] abar gāw pōstīhā ī wirāstag pad āb ī zarr nibištag	and the (scriptures of the) religion, as all the Avesta and Zand, which were written on ox-hides decorated with water-of-gold (gold leaves)
BYN sťhl p’pk’n' PWN KLYTA npšt HNHTWNt YKOYMWN’t'	andar staxr [ī] pābagān pad diz [ī] *nibišt nihād ēstād –	and had been placed inStakhr of Papakin the 'citadel of the writings' –
OLE ptyďlk Y SLYA bht Y ’hlmwk Y dlwnd Y ’n’k krťl ’lkskdl hlwm’dyk	ōy petyārag ī wad-baxt ī ahlomōγ ī druwand ī anāg-kardār *aleksandar [ī] hrōmāyīg	that evil, ill-fated, heretical, false, maleficent Alexander, the Roman,
mwcl’dyk m’nšn' QDM YHYTYWNt W BRA swht	[ī] muzrāyīg-mānišn abar āwurd ud be sōxt.	who was dwelling in Egypt, stole them and burned them up.

A sample of Book Pahlavi Middle Persian (legendary narrative): an excerpt from the LesserBundahišn

Transliteration	Transcription	Translation
s’m l’d YMRRWNyt AYK ’hwš YHWWNyt'.	sām rāy gōwēd kū ahōš būd.	ConcerningSam,it (the religious tradition) says that he was immortal.
PWN ZK AMTš tlmynyt' dyn' Y m’zdsn’n'	pad ān ka-š tar-menīd dēn ī māzdēsnān,	At the time when he scorned the Mazdayasnian religion,
twlk-1 Y nwhyn' KLYTWNynd' AMT' HLMWNt' YKOYMWN’t', PWN tgl BRA wn’syt TME PWN dšt' Y pyš’nsyd	turk-ē ī nōhīn xwānēnd, ka xuft ēstād, pad tigr be wināhīd, ānōh pad dašt ī pēšānsē;	a Turk whom they call Nohīn wounded him with an arrow, when he was asleep there, in the plain of Pēšānsē;
APš ZK y ’p’lwn' bwš’sp QDM Y<u>B</su>LWNt' YKOYMWN’t.	u-š ān ī abārōn Būšāsp abar burd ēstād.	and it had brought upon him sinful Lethargy (Būšāsp).
mdy’n' Y dlmk' ŠKBHWNt	mayān ī darmag {*dramanag} nibast	In the midst of the wormwood bush he lay
APš wpl ’cpl nšst YKOYMWNyt'	u-š wafr azabar nišast ēstēd,	and snow has settled on him,
PWN ZK k’l AYK AMT' ’<u>c</u>ydh’k hl<u>c</u>k' bwyt	pad ān kār kū ka azdahāg harzag bawēd,	so that whenAzdahāgis freed,
OLE ’h(y)cyt' APš YKTLWNyt'	ōy āxēzēd u-š ōzanēd	he may arise and slay him;
APš bywl plw’hl ’hlwb’n' p’nk' HWEynd.	u-š bēwar frawahr ī ahlawān pānag hēnd.	and a myriadguardian spirits of the righteousprotect him.
dh’k MNW bywlspc KRYTWNd l’d YMRRWNyt'	dahāg kē bēwarasp-iz xwānēnd rāy, gōwēd	Of Dahāg, whom they also call Bēwarāsp, it says this:
AYK plytwn' AMTš OHDWNt' PWN kwštn' LA š’yst',	kū frēdōn ka-š dahāg be grift pad kuštan nē šāyist,	that whenFrēdōncaptured him, it was not possible to kill him,
APš AHL PWN kwp y dwmbwnd BRA bst'	u-š pas pad kōf ī dumbāwand be bast.	and he afterwards bound him toMount Dumbāwand.
AMT' hlck' YHWWNyt' s’m ’hycyt' APš gd znyt' W YKTLWYNyt'	ka harzag bawēd sām axēzēd u-š gad zanēd ud ōzanēd.	When he is freed, Sām will rise up and strike him with his mace and kill him.

Sample of Book Pahlavi Middle Persian (theological discourse): excerpt from the Lesser Bundahišn 2

Transliteration	Transcription	Translation
KRA 2 mynwd knʾlkʾwmnd W ʾknʾlkʾwmnd.	har dō mēnōg kanāragōmand ud a-kanāragōmand.	Both spirits (OhrmazdandAhriman) are limited and unlimited.
bʾɫyst ZK Y ʾsl lwšnyh YMRRWNd W zwpʾy ZK ʾsl tʾlyk	bālist ān ī a-sar-rōšnīh gōwēnd ud zofāy ān a-sar-tārīg.	(For) the supreme is that which they call endless light, and the abyss that which is endlessly dark,
AYKšʾn mdyʾn twhyk W ʾywk LWTE TWBLA ptwst YKWYMWNyt.	kū-šān mayān tuhīg ud yak abāg did nē paywast ēstēd.	so that between them is a void, and one has not been connected with the other;
W TWBKRA 2 mynwd PWN NPŠE tn' knʾlkʾwmnd HWEd.	ud did har dō mēnōg pad xwēš-tan kanāragōmand hēnd.	and, again, both spirits are limited as to their own bodies.
W TWBhlwsp ʾkʾsyh (Y) whrmzdlʾd	ud did harwisp-āgāhīh (ī) ohrmazd rāy,	And, further, on account of the omniscience of Ohrmazd,
KRA 2 MNDOMBYN dʾnšn Y whrmzd, knʾlkʾwmnd W ʾknʾlkʾwmnd	har dō čiš andar dānišn ī ohrmazd, kanāragōmand ud akanāragōmand;	both things are within the knowledge of Ohrmazd, finite and infinite;
MNW ZNE ZK Y BYN KRA 2ʾn mynwd ptmʾn YDOYTWNnd	čē ān ī andar har dōwān mēnōg paymān dānēnd.	for that which is in the covenant of both spirits, they (both) know.
W TWBbwndk pʾthšʾdyh dʾm Y ʾwhrmzdPWN tn' (Y) psyn YHWWNyt'	ud did bowandag pādixšāyīh ī dām ī ohrmazd pad tan <ī> pasēn bawēd,	And, further, the perfect dominion of the creation of Ohrmazd shall be in the Ultimate Incarnation,
ZKyc AYT [Y] OD hmʾk hmʾk lwbšnyh ʾknʾlkʾwmnd	ān-iz ast tā hamē-hamē-rawišnīh a-kanāragōmand.	and that also is unlimited for ever and everlasting.
W dʾm Y ʾhlmn PWN ZKzmʾn BRA ʾp̄sy[n](h)yt, MNW tn' (Y) psyn YHWWNyt. ZKyc AYT ʾknʾlkyh	ud dām ī ahreman pad ān zamān be abesīhēd, ka tan (ī) pasēn bawēd. ān-iz ast akanāragīh.	And the creation of Ahriman will be destroyed at the time when the Ultimate Incarnation occurs, and that also is eternity.

Poetry

A sample Middle Persian poem from manuscript of Jamasp Asana:

Original in Middle Persian: Dārom andarz-ē az dānāgān Az guft-ī pēšēnīgān Ō šmāh bē wizārom Pad rāstīh andar gēhān Agar ēn az man padīrēd Bavēd sūd-ī dō gēhān

Nearliteral translationinto Modern Persian: Dāram andarz-i az dānāyān دارم اندرزی از دانایان Az gofte-ye pišiniyān از گفتهٔ پیشینیان Be šomā be-gozāram به شما بگزارم Be rāstī andar jahān به راستی اندر جهان Agar īn az man pazīrid اگر این از من پذیرد Bovad sūd-e dō jahān بوَد سود دو جهان

Translation into English: I have a counsel from the wise, from the advises of the ancients, I will pass it upon you By truth in the world If you accept this counsel It will be your benefits for this life and the next

Vocabulary

Affixes

There are a number ofaffixesin Middle Persian:

Middle Persian	English	Other Indo-European	Example(s)
A-	Privative prefix, un-, non-, not-	Greeka-(e.g. atom)	a-spās'ungrateful',a-bim'fearless',a-čār'inevitable',a-dād'unjust'
An-	Prevocalic privative prefix, un-, non-	English-un,Germanant-	an-ērān'non-Iranian',an-ast'non-existent'
-ik(-igin Late Middle Persian)	Having to do with, having the nature of, made of, caused by, similar to	English-ic,Latin-icus,Greek–ikos,Slavic-ьkъ/-ьcь	Pārsīk'Persian',Āsōrik'Assyrian',Pahlavik'Parthian',Hrōmāyīk/Hrōmīk'Byzantine, Roman'

Location suffixes

Middle Persian	Other Indo-European	Example(s)
-gerd	Slavicgrad	Mithradatgerd"Mithridates City",Susangerd(City of Susan),Darabgerd"Darius City",Bahramjerd"Bahram City",Dastgerd,Virugerd,Borujerd
-vīl		Ardabil"Holy City",KabulandZabol
-āpāt(later-ābād)		Ashkābād >Ashgabat"Land of Arsaces"
-stān	Englishstead'town', Russianstan'settlement', common root with Germanicstand	Tapurstan,Sakastan

Comparison of Middle Persian and Modern Persian vocabulary

There are some phonological differences between Middle Persian and New Persian. Initialconsonant clusterswere very common in Middle Persian (e.g.سپاسspās "thanks" ). However,New Persiandoes not allow initial consonant clusters, whereas final consonant clusters are common (e.g.اسبasb"horse" ).

Early Middle Persian	English	Early New Persian	Notes	Indo-European derived/ borrowed words from Middle Persian
Ambar('mbl,'nbl)	Amber,Ambergris	–	Borrowed inArabicas:ʿanbarعَنْبَر
Arjat	Silver	sīm(سیم)		Latin:argentum(French:argent),Armenian:arsat,Old Irish:airget,PIE:h₂erǵn̥t-, an n-stem
Arž	Silver coinage	Arj(ارج) 'value/worth'	Erzan(ئەرزان) in Kurdish	Same asArg(АргЪ) 'price' inOssetian
Asēm 𐭠𐭮𐭩𐭬	Iron	Āhan(آهن)	Āsin(آسِن) in Kurdish	GermanEisen
Az 𐭬𐭭	From	Az(از),	Ji(ژ) in Kurdish
Brād,Brādar 𐭡𐭥𐭠𐭣𐭥	Brother	Barādar(برادر)		Old Ch. Slavonicbrat(r)u,Lithuanianbrolis,Latin:frāter,Old Irishbrathair,O. H. Germanbruoder,Kurdishbira
Duxtar 𐭣𐭥𐭧𐭲𐭫	Daughter	Duxtar(دختر)	Kurdishdot(mam),dotmam(دۆتمام) paternal female cousin in Kurdish	Gothicdauhtar,O. H. Germantochter,Old Prussianduckti,Armeniandowstr,Lithuaniandukte
Drōd 𐭣𐭫𐭥𐭣	Hello (lit. 'health')	Durōd(درود)
Ēvārak	Evening	Extinct in Modern Persian	Kurdish andLuriēvār (ایوار)
Fradāk	Tomorrow	Fardā(فردا)	Fra-'towards'	Greekpro-,Lithuanianpra,etc.
Fradom	First	-	PronininSangsari language	First,primary,Latin:primus,Greekπρίν,Sanskritprathama
Hāmīn 𐭧𐭠𐭬𐭩𐭭	Summer	-	Hāmīn exists inBalochi,andCentral Kurdish. Exists as hāvīn in Northern Kurdish.
Mātar 𐭬𐭠𐭲𐭥	Mother	Mādar(مادر)		Latin:māter,Old Church Slavonicmater,Lithuanianmotina,Kurdishmak,ma
Murd 𐭬𐭥𐭫𐭣	Died	Murd(مرد)		Latin:morta,Englishmurd-er,Old Russianmirtvu,Lithuanianmirtis,Kurdishmirin,mirdin
Nē 𐭫𐭠	No	Na(نه)
Ōhāy 𐭠𐭧𐭠𐭩	Yes	ārē(آری)
Pad 𐭯𐭥𐭭	To, at, in, on	Ba(به)
Pad-drōt 𐭯𐭥𐭭 𐭣𐭫𐭥𐭣	Goodbye	Ba durōd(به درود), laterbedrūd(بدرود)
Pidar 𐭯𐭣𐭫	Father	Pidar(پدر)		Latin:pater(Italianpadre), Old High Germanfater
Rōz 𐭩𐭥𐭬	Day	Rōz(روز)	Fromrōšn'light'. Kurdishrōž(رۆژ), alsorōč(رُوچ) in Balochi	Armenianlois'light',Latin:lux'light', Spanishluz'light'
Šagr𐭱𐭢𐭫,Šēr1	Lion	Šēr(شیر)	From Old Persian *šagra-. Tajiki Persianшерšerand Kurdish (شێر)šēr
Sāl 𐭱𐭭𐭲	Year	Sāl(سال)		Armeniansārd'sun', GermanSonne,Russianсолнце,Kurdishsalساڵ
Šīr𐭱𐭩𐭫1	Milk	Šīr(شیر)	From Old Persian **xšīra-.Tajikiширširand Kurdish (šīr,شیر)	fromPIE:*swēyd-
Spās 𐭮𐭯𐭠𐭮	Thanks	Sipās(سپاس)	Spāsin Kurdish	PIE:*speḱ-
Stārag 𐭮𐭲𐭠𐭫𐭪, Star 𐭮𐭲𐭫	Star	Sitāra(ستاره)	Stār, Stērkin Northern Kurdish	Latin:stella,Old English:steorra,Gothic:stairno,Old Norse:stjarna
Tābestān 𐭲𐭠𐭯𐭮𐭲𐭠𐭭	(adjective for) summer	تابستانTābistān		Kurdish:تاڤستان
Xwāh(ar) 𐭧𐭥𐭠𐭧	Sister	Xwāhar(خواهر)		Armenian:khoyr,Kurdish:xwah,xweng,xwişk

¹Since some vowels of Middle Persian did not continue in Modern Persian, a number ofhomophoneswere created in New Persian. For example,širandšer,meaning "milk" and "lion", respectively, are now both pronouncedšir.In this case, the older pronunciation is maintained in Kurdish, Dari and Tajiki Persian.

Middle Persian cognates in other languages

There is a number ofPersian loanwords in English,many of which can be traced to Middle Persian. The lexicon ofClassical Arabicalso contains many borrowings from Middle Persian. In such borrowings Iranian consonants that sound foreign to Arabic,g,č,p,andž,have been replaced byq/k,j,š,f/b,ands/z.The exact Arabic renderings of the suffixes-ik/-igand-ak/-agis often used to deduce the different periods of borrowing.The following is a parallel word list of cognates:

Middle Persian	English	Other Languages	Possible Arabic Borrowing	English
Srat	Street	Latinstrata'street',Welshsrat'plain'; from PIE rootstere-'to spread, extend, stretch out' (Avestanstar-,Latinsternere,Old Church Slavonicstira)	Sirāt(صراط)	Path
Burg	Tower	Germanicburg'castle' or 'fort'	Burj(برج)	Tower
Tāk	Arch, vault, window	Borrowed into Anatolian Turkish and Standard Azerbaijani intaqča'a little window, a niche'	Tāq(طاق)	Arch
Nav-xudā	Master of a ship, captain	From PIE root*nau-;cognates with Latinnavigia	Nāxu𝛿ā(نوخذة)	Captain
Nargis	Narcissus		Narjis(نرجس)	Narcissus
Gōš	Hearer, listener, ear	Of the same root is Aramaicgūšak'prognosticator, informer' (From Middle Persiangōšakwith-akas a suffix of nomen agentis)	Jāsūs(جاسوس)	Spy
A-sar;A-(negation prefix) +sar(end, beginning)	Infinite, endless	A-prefix in Greek; Sanskritsiras,Hittiteharsar'head'	Azal(أزل)	Infinite
A-pad;a-(prefix of negation) +pad(end)	Infinity		Abad(أبد)	Infinity, forever
Dēn	Religion	From Avestandaena	Dīn(دين)	Religion
Bōstān(bō'aroma, scent' +-stanplace-name element)	Garden		Bustān(بستان)	Garden
Čirāg	Lamp		Sirāj(سراج)	Lamp
Tāg	Crown, tiara		Tāj(تاج)	Crown
Pargār	Compass		Firjār(فرجار)	Compass (drawing tool)
Ravāg	Current		Rawāj(رواج)	Popularity
Ravāk(older form ofravāg;from the rootrav(v.raftan) 'to go')	Current		Riwāq(رواق)	Place of passage, corridor
Gund	Army, troop		Jund(جند)	Army
Šalwār	Trousers		Sirwāl(سروال)	Trousers
Rōstāk	Village, district, province		Ruzdāq(رزداق)	Village
Zar-parān	Saffron		Zaʿfarān(زعفران)	Saffron
Sādag	Simple		Sa𝛿ij(ساذج)	Simple
Banafšag	Violet		Banafsaj(بنفسج)	Violet
Pahrist	List, register, index		Fihris(فهرس)	List, index
Tašt	Basin, washtub		Tašt(طشت)	Basin, washtub
Dāyak	Nurse, midwife		Daya(داية)	Midwife
Xandak	Ditch, trench		Xandaq(خندق)	Ditch, trench

Comparison of Middle Persian and Modern Persian names

Middle Persian	New Persian	Old Persian	English
Anāhid	Nāhid	Anāhitā	Anahita
Artaxšēr	Ardašir	Artaxšaça	Artaxerxes
Mihr	Mehr	Miça	Mithra
Rokhsāna	Roksāne		Roxana
Pāpak	Bābak		Pabag
Āleksandar, Sukandar	Eskandar		Alexander
Pērōz, Pērōč	Pīruz		Feroze
Mihrdāt	Mehrdād	Miθradāta	Mithridates
Borān	Borān		Borān
Husraw, Xusraw	Khosrow		Chosroes
Zaratu(x)št	Zartōšt		Zoroaster
Ōhrmazd	Hormizd	A(h)uramazdā	Ahura Mazda,astr.Jupiter

See also

• Avestan
• Old Persian
• New Persian
• Parthian language
• Persian language
• Persian language#History
• Middle Persian literature

References

Bibliography

• MacKenzie, D. N. 1986.A concise Pahlavi dictionary.London: OUP
• Maggi, Mauro and Paola Orsatti. 2018. From Old to New Persian. In:The Oxford Handbook of Persian Linguistics.pp. 7–52
• Nyberg, H. S. (1964):A Manual of Pahlavi I – Texts, Alphabets, Index, Paradigms, Notes and an Introduction,Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
• Skjærvø, Prods Oktor. 1997. On the Middle Persian Imperfect. InSyntaxe des Langues Indoiraniennes anciennes,ed. E. Pirart, AuOrSup 6 (Barcelona), 161–88.
• Skjærvø, Prods Oktor. 2007.Introduction to Pahlavi.Cambridge, Mass.
• Skjærvø, Prods Oktor. 2009. Middle West Iranian. In Gernot Windfuhr (ed.),The Iranian Languages,196–278. London & New York: Routledge.
• Sundermann, Werner. 1989. Mittelpersisch. In:Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum.Herausgegeben von Rudiger Schmidt. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. pp. 138–165.
• Расторгуева, В. С. 1966.Среднеперсидский язык.Москва: Издательство "Наука"
• Расторгуева, В. С., Е. К. Молчанова. 1981. Среднеперсидский язык. In:Основы иранского языкознания, т. 2.Москва: Издательство "Наука". pp. 6–146

External links

• Lessons in Pahlavi-Pazendby S.D.Bharuchī and E.S.D.Bharucha (1908) at theInternet Archive–Part 1and2
• Middle Persian texts on TITUS
• Scholar Raham Asha's website, including many Middle Persian texts in original and translation
• An organization promoting the revival of Middle Persian as a literary and spoken language(contains a grammar and lessons)
• Edward Thomas(1868).Early Sassanian inscriptions, seals and coins.Trübner. p. 137.Retrieved2011-07-05.
• Introduction to Pahlavi by Prods Oktor Skjærvø(archived 2 November 2012)
• Parsig Database (an online database for Middle Persian terms and texts.)