A Functional Analysis of WH-Constructions in Persian

This article is a functional and syntactic analysis of simple and complex wh-questions in Persian, following the theoretical framework of a functionalist named Talmy Givon (2001). On the functional dimension, a set of interrogative pronouns are classified into different types based on grammatical functions such as subject, object, indirect object, manner, time, verb, reason, possessor, quantity, instrument, alternation, association. Moreover, semantic features of interrogative pronouns are explained in terms of the answers replaced by wh- pronouns. The semantic features, are (in)definiteness, (non)referentiality, (in)animacy. On the syntactic and typological dimension, wh-position is the position of the focused element in the sentence. Two types of focus are informative and contrastive, and the paper indicates that a conditional association exists between the two.