St Petersburg International Conference of Afghan Studies

68 Санкт-Петербургская международная конференция по афганистике Секция 4. Языки Афганистана и трансграничных регионов... continuummay be divided into two major groups: Western and Eastern. The former includes the Persian dialects of western and central Iran, while the latter includes the remaining dialects, namely those of eastern Iran (Khorasan and Sistan), all Dari dialects of Afghanistan, and the Tajik of the former Soviet Central Asia. A brief look at this classification is enough to reveal an unequal distribution of dialects between the two groups, as the Eastern group covers a geographically much vaster area than the Western one. However, even this classification does not presume the Eastern dialects as homogenous, insofar as the Eastern group includes two subdivisions: 1) the Khorasani, which covers eastern Iran and western Afghanistan; and 2) the Dari-Tajik, which encompasses central and northern Afghanistan and the former Soviet Central Asia. The purpose of this study is to prove that the Khorasani dialects deserve a much more prominent place in the classification than that of just a sub-division, and that they form a group of their own. On the one hand, their similarity with Western dialects are no less significant than their proximity to Eastern dialects; on the other hand, their peculiarities within the Persian-Dari-Tajik continuum are of such a degree and quality as to make them equally different from both dialectal groups. Below are the main features which bring the Khorasani dialects closer to the Western group and distinguish them from the Eastern group: 1. The historic majhul vowels and diphthongs generally evolve with a progres- sive tendency towards gradual merging of the phonemes ê and i , ô and u , and the changing of the diphthongs ay > ey , av > ou , öu . 2. A progressive tendency towards changing of the final a / ä > ε / e. 3. The changing â > o , u after nasal consonants. 4. The historic vowels ī / ĭ , ū / ŭ do not change into the majhul vowels ê , ô before h , ḥ and ‘ . 5. The existence of one phoneme ğ in Khorasani versus two different phonemes q and γ in the Eastern dialects. 6. An active use of the indefinite enclitic -i / -ê, added to nouns and adjectives in combination with the numeral yak / yek or without it. 7. The ezafe can often be dropped. 8. The use of the suffix -e / -ε / - ǝ , pleonastically added to nouns without actually changing the meaning. 9. The adding of the prefix mi- / mê- to the verbal element in compound verbs with dar- , bar- / war- . 10. The Past Participle in Khorasani dialects has only the -a / -ε / -e ending; it does not take on the suffix -gi . Peculiarities of the Khorasani dialects are also considered in the present study.