A New Investigation into the Onomatopoeic Suffix /-ast/ of New Persian

The onomatopoeic suffix /-ast/ is an archaic suffix of New Persian، which has mainly occurred in the Dari manuscripts belonging to Khorâsân dialectal region. Some researchers such as Jalal Matini، Ali Ravaghi، Najib Mayel-e-Heravi and others، with reference to these manuscripts and modern Khorâsâni dialects، have known this suffix as a Khorâsâni suffix. After that، Hasan Hatami has found examples of another variety of the suffix /-ast/، i. e. /ešt/، in Kâzerouni dialect، as a non-Khorâsâni dialect، without dealing with its history or origin. Accordingly، based on new findings from Khuzestâni dialects and Persian classical texts، the writers in the present article have attempted to hypothesize over the formation of the suffix /-ast/; according to which /-ast/ has been derived from the gerund-making suffix /-išt/. It seems that at a particular period of time، the suffix /-išt/ began to occur extensively in onomatopoeias. On the other hand، a gerund-making type of /-ast/ (or perhaps /-ist/)، has been seen in «Qorʼān-e Qods»، an old manuscript written in southern Iran (Sīstān)، which could be considered as the historical link between the Khorâsâni onomatopoeic suffix (/-ast/) and the southern one (i. e. /-ešt/).