Definiteness and Object Indexation in Persian

Object indexation is a grammatical phenomenon in which a clitic pronoun، co-referential with the free nominal object، appends to the verb. Optionality of indexation in Persian leads us to consider the role of pragmatic and discoursal factors such as definiteness، specificity، and identifiability in its occurence. The present study aimed at investigating the influence of definiteness hierarchy on direct object indexation in Persian. In order to have a relatively full picture of this process، we examined 455 cases of indexation in colloquial Persian. The high frequency of definite direct object indexation confirms the role of definiteness. Interestingly، in more than 90 percent of the cases the object is definite and just about 3 percent of the cases are indefinite nonspecific ones. More accurate investigations in the framework of Role and Reference Grammar show that only cognitively identifiable objects can be indexed. Hence، the basic requirement in direct object indexation in Persian is identifiability of its referent. Consequently، there is a convincing explanation for indexation of a few nonspecific objects in this language. The last point that merits consideration is the fact that all indexed objects، regardless of being definite or indefinite، go together with «Rā». Accordingly، «Rā» cannot be considered as definite or specific marker.