Nominal linkers in Sangesari

Abstract

This paper describes nominal constructions in Sangesari (Northwestern Iranian). In Sangesari, similar to the pattern found in Caspian languages, some nominal modifiers as well as the complement of nominal postpositions are linked to the head of the phrase by a linking elementknown as Reverse Ezafe (Stilo 2004). In this paper, we show that the Reverse Ezafe used with attributive adjectives is different from the one used with possessors and adpositions. The former has a restricted usage, limited only to certain lexical and phonological contexts, while the latter is obligatory in nominal contexts. The examination of adpositional phrases in particular illustrates a different property of Reverse Ezafe in Sangesari compared to its counterpart in other Reverse Ezafe languages examined in this volume (i.e., Balochi and Caspian languages).