Passive Structure in Baboli Dialect

This article explores the structure of the so-called passives in Baboli dialect. A past participle or a noun phrase along with “bayyen” as a verb constitutes these structures. Using evidences like the position of negative marker “ne-” on “bayyen” and having the same structure as main verbs, we conclude that “bayyen” is a main light verb. Then getting benefitted from data like adjectival comparative suffix “-tar” and “xeylias” a premodifier for adjectives, we demonstrate that the elements preceding “bayyen” are in fact adjective and not verb. The analysis of the relation between these two elements in passives reveals that these elements combine to form compound verbs. Therefore, the so-called passives in this dialect are not passive; rather they are active sentences with complex predicates. Finally a different form of passive is diagnosed in this dialect which we call semantic passives. It means it has the structure of an active sentence but the subject of the sentence is not known. Therefore, it is passive just semantically.