Native Word Formation
Persian is very powerful in word building and versatile in ways a word can be built from combining affixes, stems, nouns and adjectives. Having many affixes to form new words (over a hundred), and the ability to build affixes and specially prefixes from nouns, Persian language is also claimed to be and demonstrated as an agglutinative language since it also frequently uses derivational agglutination to form new words from nouns, adjectives, and verbal stems. New words are also extensively formed by compounding – two existing words combining into a new one, as is common in German, Sanskrit and hence most of the Indian languages. Professor Mahmoud Hessaby demonstrated that Persian can derive more than 226 million words.
An example set of words derived from a present stem combined with some of available affixes:
| Persian | Components | English | Word class |
|---|---|---|---|
| dān دان | dān دان | Present stem of dānestan (to know) | Verbal stem |
| dāneš دانش | dān + -eš دان + ش | knowledge | Noun |
| dānešmand دانشمند | dān + -eš + -mand دان + ش + مند | Scientist | Noun |
| dānešgâh دانشگاه | dān + -eš + -gâh دان + ش + گاه | university | Noun |
| dānešgâhi دانشگاهی | dān + -eš + -gāh + -i دان + ش + گاه + ی | pertaining to university; scholar; scholarly | Adjective |
| hamdānešgāhi همدانشگاهی | ham- + dān + -eš + -gāh + -i هم + دان + ش + گاه + ی | university-mate | Noun |
| dāneškade دانشکده | dān + -eš + -kade دان + ش + کده | faculty | Noun |
| dānā دانا | dān + -ā دان + ا | wise, learned | Adjective |
| dānāyi دانایی | dān + -ā + -i دان + ا + ی | wisdom | Noun |
| nādān نادان | nā- + dān نا + دان | ignorant; foolish | Adjective |
| nādāni نادانی | nā- + dān + -i نا + دان + ی | ignorance; foolishness | Noun |
| dānande داننده | dān + -ande دان + نده | one who knows | Adjective |
| dānandegi دانندگی | dān + -ande + -i دان + نده + ی | knowing | Noun |
An example set of words derived from a past stem combined with some of available affixes:
| Persian | Components | English | Word class |
|---|---|---|---|
| did دید | did دید | Past stem of didan (to see) | Verbal stem |
| did دید | did دید | sight; vision | Noun |
| didan دیدن | did + -an دید + ن | to see | Infinitive |
| didani دیدنی | did + -an + -i دید + ن + ی | worth seeing | Adjective |
| didār دیدار | did + -ār دید + ار | visit; act of meeting | Noun |
| didāri دیداری | did + -ār + -i دید + ار + ی | visional, of the sense of sight | Adjective |
| dide دیده | did + -e دید + ه | seen; what seen | Past participle; Noun |
| nādide ندیده | nâ- + did + -e ن + دید + ه | what unseen | Noun |
| didgāh دیدگاه | did + -gâh دید + گاه | point of view | Noun |
| didebān دیدبان | dide + -bān دید + بان | watchman | Noun |
| didebāni دیدبانی | dide + -bān + -i دید + بان + ی | watchman-ship | Noun |
Read more about this topic: Persian Vocabulary
Famous quotes containing the words native, word and/or formation:
“And so we ask for peace for the gods of our fathers, for the gods of our native land. It is reasonable that whatever each of us worships is really to be considered one and the same. We gaze up at the same stars, the sky covers us all, the same universe compasses us. What does it matter what practical systems we adopt in our search for the truth. Not by one avenue only can we arrive at so tremendous a secret.”
—Quintus Aurelius Symmachus (A.D. c. 340–402)
“What studied torments, tyrant, hast for me?
What wheels, racks, fires? What flaying, boiling
In leads or oils? What old or newer torture
Must I receive, whose every word deserves
To taste of thy most worst?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Those who were skillful in Anatomy among the Ancients, concluded from the outward and inward Make of an Human Body, that it was the Work of a Being transcendently Wise and Powerful. As the World grew more enlightened in this Art, their Discoveries gave them fresh Opportunities of admiring the Conduct of Providence in the Formation of an Human Body.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)