An Analysis of The Constituent Order in Mamasani Lori From A Typological Point of View

Typology of language deals with similarities and differences among different languages in the world. The current research aimed to study the typology of constituent order in Lori dialect of Mamasani as a south branch of Western Iranian languages in Fars province based on the framework of Greenberg (1963) and the revised framework of Dryer (1992). The methodology including qualitative and quantitative data were obtained employing face to face interview with 45 native speakers without considering their gender involving 65 hours of free speech and 45 questionnaires as well. The research shows that Mamasani  Lori contains both VO versus OV criteria and manifests strongest type of VO typological properties in Eurasia and world languages. The results also indicated that despite the general similarities of this dialect with standard written Persian, there are some differences in terms of prepositions, structural elements, and the order of verbs and adverb of manner. Furthermore, it was portrayed that some prepositions have different morphemes that can appear both before and after the nouns. The research data also revealed that the prepositions and the adverbs of manner in Mamasani Lori can be located both before and after the verbs, an occupancy behavior which is different from standard written Persian.   

In Language Typology, by examining linguistic similarities, researchers try to establish the universality of languages and, accordingly, provide the possibility of studying the main source of linguistic dispersion. One of the main features which received a considerable attention is the study of constituent order in languages. The aim of the present study is to describe the ordering categories of structures in Mamasani Lori, a Southwestern branch of Iranian languages in Fars province based on the 24 feature model of Dryer (1992). The purpose is to study the linguistic constructs and the position of the variable and the nucleus in relation to other linguistic features. In this regard, the questions of the present paper are as follows: a.“What kind of relationship does exist between different variables in Mamasani Lori?” and b. “Based on the under-studied typological features, what are the similarities between Persian and Mamasani Lori”?   

Extensive research has been performed on the typology of world languages, however, the initiator of this research field is rooted in the seminal work of Greenberg (1963). Language typology in which linguistic varieties are studied has devoted special attention to the study of prepositions. Dryer (1992), through a typological survey, introduces a new paradigm by encroaching on Greenberg's views, according to which the languages ​​of the world are classified into different head initial and head final languages. So the authors of this study follow Dryer’s (1992) variable typology which is a modified and extensive form of Greenberg’s (1963) typological universals. Based on this framework and among five main variables, the relevant position of direct object, adjective, preposition, and genitive constructions are explored in this study. Based on Dryer’s view, if X and Y present correlation with the verb and direct object they are called paired variables. The pair can be in relation to the verb or the direct object. In head final language, it is observed that postpositions occur predominantly, whereas in head initial languages, prepositions occur predominantly. Dryer believes that there is a significant distinction between VO vs. OV languages. In VO languages, subject and object are usually located after the verb, while in OV they are located before the verb. This general rule is also valid for those languages which present both OV and VO word orders.   

The statistical population of this study consist of people aged 32 to 101 years. The face-to-face interviews have been randomly carried out with 45 native people regardless of their gender and literacy in the form of 65 hours (3900 minutes) free speech. There were also 45 related questionnaires distributed. The questionnaire contains 330 sentences adopted from the work of Comrie (1981) to classify and compare the traces of world languages. The aforementioned questionnaire can be downloaded from the website of the Max Planck Leipzig Institute. The data were recorded alternately between the years 2016-2017 by one of the authors who is the resident of Mamasani and consequently were transcribed precisely by IPA (international phonetic alphabet).   

The data show that Mamsani Lori uses prepositions rather than postpositions. One of the postpositions is  ra which is generally used in the form of a cliticized =a attached to the verb stem and the noun so that  the other elements follow this clitic. Moreover, prepositions and postpositions can be used alternatively in Mamasani Lori in various positions before or after the verb. In complex sentences and clauses, the noun phrase is generally used before the relative clause and the genitive. Both the GEN-HEAD and the HEAD-GEN are common in Mamasani Lori.   5. Conclusions & Suggestions The data analysis shows that, regarding constituent order typology, Mamasani Lori cannot be placed in one single type. Rather, Mamasani Lori represents a split-behavior variety. For example, the prepositioned-type shows a great variety  in Mamasani Lori, however, postpositions and prepositions are both used. The number of prepositions are much higher than the number of postpositions, and according to the prepositional component, it should be considered as a head initial language. However, despite the nature of prepositions as defined in the typological universals, these prepositions can be placed anywhere in the sentence namely before or after the verb in Mamasani Lori. Such a variable contradicts to the classification of Dryer typology because the head initial languages must have predominantly a preposition and the preposition must be placed after the verb. As for the other components, the position of the relative clause shows the same great variety, but mostly their position is after the verb. Other components of Dryer are predominantly in a more stable position in Mamasani Lori. Some prepositions in Mamasani Lori have different allomorphic features that can occur both before and after the noun, as well as the prepositional phrases which are mentioned both before and after the verb. The Adverb of Manner in Mamasani Lori is mentioned both before and after the verb, which is contrary to the standard Persian.  It can finally be concluded  that Mamasani Lori is in the process of changing due to the linguistic interfering of Persian as the standard and educational language of Iran. This is a result of importance for the researchers of Iranian languages.