دانشگاه اصفهان نشریه پژوهش های زبان شناسی 2322-3413 18 4 2026 12 22 On the Grammaticalization of the Verb āmadan: A Diachronic Approach On the Grammaticalization of the Verb āmadan: A Diachronic Approach 43 54 30433 10.22108/jrl.2026.148714.1953 FA Elahe Fathian Ph.D. candidate, Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Bu-Ali-Sina University, Hamadan, Iran Mehrdad Naghzguy-Kohan Professor, Department of Linguistics, Humanities Faculty, Bu-Ali-Sina University, Hamedan, Iran Journal Article 2026 04 27 The Middle Persian (MP) motion verb āmadan develops, alongside its lexical meaning, a secondary sense that encodes ‘change-of-state’—a semantic shift that marks the inception of its subsequent lexicalization and grammaticalization in New Persian (NP). In Early New Persian (ENP), in addition to functioning as a light verb in compound constructions and thereby giving rise to novel meanings, this grammaticalized verb emerges as a multifunctional grammatical marker, most notably encoding inchoative aspect. It also serves as a passive marker in ENP, a function that does not persist into Contemporary New Persian[1] (CNP). In the modern period, the grammatical scope of āmadan expands further: beyond its inchoative function, it acquires avertive readings in specific contexts, while also expressing hortative and epistemic modalities. Moreover, in CNP, it assumes a role as a discourse marker. This study traces the grammaticalization pathway of āmadan across three historical stages—Middle Persian (MP), Early New Persian (ENP), and Contemporary New Persian (CNP)—in order to illuminate the development of these diverse grammatical functions. [1] By Contemporary New Persian, we mean the standard and official language of Iran. The Middle Persian (MP) motion verb āmadan develops, alongside its lexical meaning, a secondary sense that encodes ‘change-of-state’—a semantic shift that marks the inception of its subsequent lexicalization and grammaticalization in New Persian (NP). In Early New Persian (ENP), in addition to functioning as a light verb in compound constructions and thereby giving rise to novel meanings, this grammaticalized verb emerges as a multifunctional grammatical marker, most notably encoding inchoative aspect. It also serves as a passive marker in ENP, a function that does not persist into Contemporary New Persian[1] (CNP). In the modern period, the grammatical scope of āmadan expands further: beyond its inchoative function, it acquires avertive readings in specific contexts, while also expressing hortative and epistemic modalities. Moreover, in CNP, it assumes a role as a discourse marker. This study traces the grammaticalization pathway of āmadan across three historical stages—Middle Persian (MP), Early New Persian (ENP), and Contemporary New Persian (CNP)—in order to illuminate the development of these diverse grammatical functions. [1] By Contemporary New Persian, we mean the standard and official language of Iran.

https://jrl.ui.ac.ir/article_30433_76c803a8262f252b1fc4c57e54c3a28b.pdf