Modal Verb Functions in Persian and Kurdish: A Comparative Analysis of Two Contemporary Novels

The analysis of modality and its various functions is one of the fundamental topics in the grammar of Iranian Languages, and the classification of modal operators, including the inflectional morphemes and modal adverbs and auxiliaries, constitute the central area of inquiry in this specific line of linguistic analysis. Drawing on the frameworks presented by Palmer (1990, 2001) and Van der Auwera and Plungian (1998), the present study seeks to classify the modal auxiliaries in Persian and Central Kurdish to determine the descriptive adequacy of the aforementioned classifying frameworks. Since the detailed analysis of modal tools in any language requires authentic data together with contextual information, the Persian data in this study have been taken from two novels, Negarān Nabāsh by Mahsa Moheb-e ali and Parand-eye Man by Fariba Vafi and the Kurdish data from, Hasār u Sagakān-i Bawkem by Shirzad Hassan and Geroy Bakht-i Halāla by Ata Nahaie. It is demonstrated, at the end, Van der Auwera and Plungian’s framework can present a more comprehensive picture of the modal auxiliaries and their functions in both languages. This fact is manifested explicitly in the participant-internal modality in Van der Auwera and Plungian’s classification, which receives no particular modal counterpart in that of Palmer’s.