Processing compound verbs in Persian (e-Book)

This is the first monograph investigating how Persian compound verbs are processed in the mental lexicon, through which it can be inferred how they are stored, organized, and accessed. The study examines Persian compound verbs in light of psycholinguistic theories on poly-morphemic word processing as well as linguistic theories of complex predicates. Dr. Pouneh Shabani-Jadidi is a Lecturer of Persian Language and Linguistics and the Head of Persian Language Program at the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University. Compound verbs, also known as complex predicates, show an overt decomposition of the verb by consisting of a preverbal element and a verbal component. Persian is very rich in this regard as the number of its simple verbs is limited, while the formation of complex predicates is highly productive in this language. This property of Persian has attracted the interest and attention of linguists over several decades who have offered various descriptive and theoretical analyses of these constructions. Although the processing of such complex phenomena has been the subject of many studies in various languages, the literature on Persian linguistics lacks this type of experimental analysis. The present book is a pioneering attempt to fill the existing gap. Professor Simin Karimi (University of Arizona) This is a solid scholarly research that explores the processing of Persian compound verbs in the mental lexicon. As such, this study contributes to the fields of Persian psycholinguistics as well as Persian linguistics. While the theoretical field of Persian linguistics such as syntax has received much attention, the applied aspects such as psycholinguistics remains to be further explored. The significance of the current study lies on the fact that it applies the findings of the existing theories to cutting edge empirical research. Dr. Anousha Sedighi (Associate Professor of Persian at Portland State University) Dr. Pouneh Shahabi-Jadidi provides us with the first study adopting experimental methods in the investigation of compound verb formation in Persian. Building on results of various experiments, this book takes a stand on some controversial issues discussed in previous studies and argues for a lexicalist approach. A valuable contribution to the topic, which offers a new perspective to future studies. Pollet Samvelian, (Professor of linguistics, Sorbonne Nouvelle University)