چکیده:
در این مقاله، نخست وجه و شیوههای بازنمایی آن در زبانها، معرفی و به نظرات جدید زبانشناسان در طبقهبندی وجه، و نیز مفهوم آن در علم منطق و سنت مطالعات ادبی اشاره میشود. پس از آن، برخی مفاهیم وجهی و صورتهای زبانی که بر آنها دلالت دارند، با ذکر مثالهای متعدد از متون فارسی میانة زردشتی معرفی میگردند. در زبان فارسی میانة زردشتی، وجه از طریق صرف فعل، افعال وجهی، برخی اسمها و صفتها و برخی ادوات بازنمایی شده است. افزون بر این، افعال، اسمها، صفتها، ادوات و عبارتهای دیگری نیز هستند که طی روند دستوریشدگی، به ابزاری برای بازنمایی وجه بدل شده و بر انواع مفاهیم وجهی مانند حدس و گمان، شک و تردید، و قصد و درخواست دلالت داشتهاند. نتیجة این پژوهش آن است که در فارسی میانه، وجه نه فقط از طریق صرف فعل، بلکه از طریق سایر صورتهای زبانی نیز بازنمایی میشود و گاهی هم از طریق بافت جمله معلوم میگردد
1. IntroductionThe speaker’s view or intention of expressing a sentence is called modality. In all languages, modality is represented in two ways: by adding a marker to a verb, which is called mood (such as indicative, subjunctive, imperative, and optative moods in Middle Persian), or by using lexical or syntactic means such as modal verbs, adverbs, nouns, and adjectives. In Middle Persian, both forms have been used, but modality has mostly been discussed in terms of mood. Mood, modal verbs, nouns, adjectives, and particles have been discussed in the grammar books of Middle Persian, but there are other linguistic forms representing modality, which have never been mentioned before. In this article, we are going to fill this gap.MethodologyFirst, we introduce modality and how it is represented, then we review linguists' opinions on the classification of modality, the concept of modality in logic and literary studies, and discuss the relation between modality and evidentiality. By presenting evidence from Zoroastrian Middle Persian texts, we introduce some modal concepts indicated by linguistic forms. Our goal is to answer the following questions: Is the representation of modality limited to those forms discussed in the literature? In addition to what has been discussed in the literature, what are the other ways of representing modality? In other words, in addition to mood and modal verbs, what are the other linguistic means of representing modality in Zoroastrian Middle Persian?DiscussionAlong with mood and modal verbs, there are other linguistic forms with modal functions in Zoroastrian Middle Persian. Each of those could indicate various modal concepts. A modal concept might also be represented by various linguistic forms. Therefore, to identify modality, we should consider the context of a sentence. There are many modal concepts, and there might be many common ways of representing them in Middle Persian.In Middle Persian, the modal concept of conjecture has been represented by the verbal phrases pad ed dastan and edon sahed / sahist ku. In Zand-e Bahman Yasn, after Zoroaster learned from Ormazd about people, sheep, and trees and plants, he thought he had a dream:zardust pad ed dast ku pad xwamn i xwas … did, az xwamn ne winard hem.Zoroaster thought that I saw it in a dream and did not wake up (Rashed-Mohassel, 1991: 3, 52).Another example of such usage in Bondahisn is as follows:to ke he, ke man edon sahed ku-t harwisp xwarih ud asanih padis?Who are you that I think all this comfort and peace is because of you? (Pakzad, 2005: 348).Doubts have been represented by ma agar:ardaxser … hame tarsid ku ma agar-im gired ud o ardawan abespared.Ardashir was afraid (that) lest he catch me and hand me over to Ardawan (Farahvashi, 1999: 44, 45).The modal concept of intention has been represented by xwah-/xwast and pad an menisn budan:ardaxser pad an menisn bud ku o arman ud adurpadkan sawem … be ciyon stambagih ud winahkarih i haftanbuxt asnud, handesid nazdist kar i pars abayed wirastan.Ardeshir wanted to go to Armenia and Azerbaijan, but when he heard about the tyranny and the guilt of Haftanboxt, he thought first I should taking care of Persia (Farahvashi, 1999: 54-57).In some contexts, some linguistic forms might lose their original meaning, and through grammaticalization, they become means of expressing modality. The original meaning of wurroyist is ‘to believe’ and ‘to select’, but in the context of the following sentence, it has been used to express intention.xwarisn ud mizag hazar an and cand an i nun bawed. ke-s wurroyed xwared, ke-s ne wurroyed ne xwared.The taste is a thousand times (better than) the current taste. Whoever wants to eat, eats and whoever doesn’t want, doesn’t eat (Williams, 1990/1: 182-183; 1990/2: 84).Sahed/Sahist has been used to express requests. Sometimes the gerund form has been used to represent the modal concept.In the following passage, which is addressed by Ardaviraf to the clergies, sahed is used to express a request.agar-itan sahed, eg-im akamagomand mang ma dahed.If you agree, do not give in to me against my will (please do not give me Mang against my will) (Gignoux, 2003: 45).To warn or to draw attention, niger- has been used at the beginning of the sentence in the imperative mood.niger ku roz ud sab az nazdik i storan o naxcir … ne sawe.Beware day and night, not leaving cattle to go hunting (Farahvashi, 1999: 18).Depending on the context, the verb menidan could have been used to mean 'to imagine' to indicate irrealis assumptions. Sometimes in Simile, the unrealisticness of a sentence has also been expressed by indicative mood and analogical particles.In some contexts, the verb hil-/hist, which its original meaning is “to abandon”, indicates the modal concept of permission.In Zoroastrian Middle Persian texts, which are religious texts, to validate an utterance, it was crucial to introduce the source of information to resolve any doubt in its validity among Zoroastrians. Since the speaker/writer's intention of expressing such utterances indicates concepts, such as certainty or permissibility, it could be considered as modality. There are several ways of representing the source of information. Sometimes the source of information are Avestan texts and, scholars refer to them to show certainty.az abestag paydag ku ka aner dusmen ayend ud pad sahr i eran wardag ud zyan i was kamend kardan … .It appears in Avesta that if non-Iranian enemies come and want to cause damage to the city of Iran ... (Williams, 1990/1: 92-93).Sometimes the source of information is the Avesta, which is marked by den.pad den owon paydag ku rosnih azabar ud tarikih azer … bud.As appear in the (Avestan) religion, the light was high and the darkness was low (Rashed Mohassel, 2006: 163).ast ke or ast i have been used to express different opinions, which could be translated to 'some'. They indicate that the speaker/writer has heard an utterance from another person, which reduces its certainty.pas awesan … eke wiraf / wiraz nam be wizid ud ast ke wehsapuhr gowend.Then they chose a person named Wiraf/Wiraz, whom some call Wehsapuhr (Gignoux, 2003: 45, 73).Sometimes the source of information is the speaker's inference and, therefore, the speaker's view and evaluation involve in expressing an utterance. In Karnamag-e Ardashir-e Babkan, after observing stars and planets, an astronomer says:edon nimayed ku xwadayih … i nog o paydagih ayed.It appears that a new king will arise (Farahvashi, 1999: 27, 28).In narrating stories, the third plural person conjugation has been used in a passive meaning representing the narrator's low certainty.edon gowend ku andar sab fraz o dih-e mad.It has been said that night he arrived in a village (Farahvashi, 1999: 32, 33).ConclusionThere are two methods representing modality in Zoroastrian Middle Persian: The first one is the mood, which has been discussed in the literature, and the other is the use of lexical forms such as modal verbs, gerunds, and particles, which have been introduced in the literature. In this article, we introduced some modal concepts and their linguistic forms. These linguistic forms are used to express modality at the sentence level. Sometimes the modality is only determined by the context of sentences. There are many modal concepts, and the linguistic forms representing them are varied. Every linguistic form does not correspond to a modal concept, but, depending on the context, a linguistic form could be used to represent various modal concepts. Also, some linguistic forms indicate the source of information and therefore indicating its validity and certainty. There are also some linguistic forms reflecting the speaker/writer's inference and evaluation of expressing an utterance, which should be considered as the means of expressing modality in Middle Persian.