The Structure of the Past Tense Verbs in Velati and Isfahan Jewish" Dialects: A Comparison

Velati (Velayati) is a dialect used to be spoken all over Varnosfaderan, a region located in Khomeini Shahr, Isfahan Province in Iran. Unfortunately, like many other dialects, affected by miscellaneous factors, this dialect has been considerably wiped out and its usage is currently restricted to Bavalgan, one of the five regions of Varnosfaderan. In a research by Esmaeili (1379), the internal classification of the central Iranian dialects and common grouping of Velati and Isfahan Jewish dialects were mentioned. As no documented evidence regarding the linguistic comparison of the two dialects was available, the present study aimed at examining the structure of the past tense verbs in the two dialects in order to shed light on their similarities and differences. The results of the study indicated striking resemblances between Velati and Isfahan Jewish dialects at the phonetic, phonologic and morphologic levels. Moreover, it was found that transitive and intransitive past tense verbs involve distinct structures in both dialects which may point to the existence of the ergative structure. In sum, the similarities of the past-tense verb structures in the two dialects were so remarkable that they confirmed the hypothesis that they are of a common historical origin.