Reanalysis of the Pronominal Clitic =(e)š in Colloquial Persian
Résumé
This paper offers an analysis of colloquial Persian words involving the third person singular pronominal clitic =(e)š which seems to be devoid of grammatical functions. The discussed forms are the stems kuš- ‘be where?’, ināhāš- ‘be here’ and unāhāš- ‘be there’ respectively originated from the interrogative ku ‘where is’, and the presentatives ināhā ‘here is’ and unāhā ‘there is’. Moreover, the paper also introduces and discusses the functions of the interjections āxeyš and xodāiš, etymologically related to the interjections āxey and xodāi. It is proposed that the pronominal clitic =(e)š in the stems kuš-, ināhāš- and unāhāš- is in line with the so-called Watkins’s Law and that the pronominal clitic found in āxeyš and xodāiš has expressive functions.