| Chapter : | Brief Introduction to the Herati Dialect |
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The negative copula is formed by adding the negative prefix ni- to the short copula: ni-yom, ni-yi, ni-yε, and so forth.
- 9. The verb endings (with phonetic variants) in the recorded texts are these:
| Present | Past | |||
| Person | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
| first | -om (rarely -am) | -im, -êm |
-om (rarely
-am) |
-im, -êm |
| second | -i |
-in, -ên, -im,
-im |
-i |
-in, -ên, - ện,
-im, -im |
| third | -ε, -ä, -a, -ə |
-an, -a, -ä,
-ε, -am, -am |
- |
-an, -än, -am,
-am |
*The latter two forms have apparently originated from (h)astak (see suffix -ak later).
**The latter two forms must have originated from (h)astan with the dropping of -n (see Phonology no. 15b).
- The main factor leading to the diversity of phonetic variants of plural endings is the dropping of -n and the possible subsequent augmentation of -m (see Phonology nos. 15b, 16).
- 10. There is no strict verbal agreement with the plural in the third and occasionally in the second person. A partial merging together of the singular and plural endings for the third person, which is largely due to phonetic transformations, contributes to this phenomenon. It also refers to copulas.
- 11. Another feature of the dialect is an optional use of the prefix be- (with phonetic variations be-/bι-/bo-/bə-) in the third-person past absolute, past narrative, and remote past: inâ bəm keft-e xo kärdim, bobordim (< bo- + bordim) bə sar darə-“we laid them [packs] over the shoulder and carried up the valley”; pâ-ye mə belaxčidε, kuzâ beškastε-“I slipped and the vessels broke”; ami bârâ ke boftâdε bud bəm ru-ye sangâ, ami bârâ bečindim-“we gathered all the packs, which had fallen on the stones.”
- No grammatical difference has so far been observed between the prefixed and unprefixed forms. Their interchangeable use within the same sentence confirms that no difference between them exists on the synchronic level.