Similative Constructions in Persian Language

The concept of comparison in our cognitive system can appear in the form of various constructions. One of the constructions that can be used to establish a comparison relationship between two (or more) referential nominal are "similative constructions". In such constructions, a referential phrase, which is called a standard, has a superior characteristic/attribute, and another referential phrase is compared to it (standard) due to having the same characteristic/attribute. In the present research, based on the opinions and methodology of Haspelmet and Bachholtz (1998), we analyzed the data of Persian language. These data are 739 samples, mainly from contemporary stories and screenplays. The findings confirm that the speakers generally use two morphological and syntactic strategies to encode the concept of similarity in the language. In the morphological construction strategy, we can consider three types of simile constructions with similative particle, similative predicate and Essive case. At the level of syntax, there are phrases and clauses that appear as adjunct and add the concept of similarity to the whole structure, they include disjunct constructions, role phrases, similative clause, simile clause, and accord clause. In addition, in this research, two types of equative constructions were identified in Persian language, which were neglected in other researches.