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This paper argues that contrary to what most recent scholarly works assume, the metrical system u... more This paper argues that contrary to what most recent scholarly works assume, the metrical system used in Persian folk songs and pop song lyrics is quantitative and follows the same general principles as Classical Persian metrics. I propose that the apparent differences that are observed between the two system originate from the availability of a process of optional vowels shortening in the scansion of lines that are composed in Colloquial Persian. In addition to introducing optional vowel shortening, I name several minor deviations in these songs from the requirements of Classical Persian metrics, showing that these deviations are also systematic and can in fact be helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of Persian metrics.
The metrical requirements of Persian poetry are highly restrictive. Traditionally, the rigidity ... more The metrical requirements of Persian poetry are highly restrictive. Traditionally, the rigidity of the metrical system was compensated for by a high degree of flexibility in the poetic language in terms of lexicon, phonology, and morpho-syntax. Using statistical data from different periods of Persian poetry, this paper argues that the flexibility of the language used in metrical Persian poetry has been in constant decrease, moving towards what may potentially be a language crisis for metrical Persian poetry. This study traces the linguistic and meta-linguistic origins of the initial flexibility of the poetic language and its subsequent change, suggesting that some of the recent trends in Persian poetry may be viewed in part as reactions to this potential crisis.
Thesis Chapters by Mohsen Mahdavi Mazdeh
This work presents a theory of Persian poetic meters that reduces its main components to interact... more This work presents a theory of Persian poetic meters that reduces its main components to interactions between constraints that are rooted in universal rhythmic intuitions and form the essence of all quantitative metrical traditions. The theory presents a fully systematic account that can predict the degree of metrical well-formedness of any given Persian phrase. It argues for a hierarchical metrical structure composed of head-initial constituents where the metrical identity of a meter is primarily determined by the mora count of the lowest constituents in the hierarchy. While in qualitative meter the accent structure of a metrical phrase is to a large degree pre-determined by its linguistic content, it is argued that in quantitative meter strong and weak metrical positions are assigned to syllables (or more precisely, moras) by the listener and only indirectly (although systematically and predictably) guided by the information available in the syllable sequence of the linguistic phrase. Building on these theoretical arguments, this dissertation presents an account of the infinite meter inventory of Persian. It also accounts for other metrically relevant phenomena such as poetic licenses, verse-final pauses, and tapping patterns associated with different meters. Finally, evidence is provided in support of the claim that other quantitative metrical traditions such as those of Japanese and Arabic poetry can be accounted for using the same principles with modifications in certain parameters.
Papers by Mohsen Mahdavi Mazdeh
Glossa, 2025
This paper offers a new theory of nuclear stress assignment, focusing on data from Persian (an SO... more This paper offers a new theory of nuclear stress assignment, focusing on data from Persian (an SOV language) and English (an SVO language). The proposed theory bypasses phrases and assigns nuclear stress to the last element of the sentence by default. Deviations from this pattern (which are abundant in Persian) are explained through "stress reconstruction" effects; even non-final elements that receive nuclear stress are base-generated at the lowermost position. Relying on the theory of antisymmetry, it is argued that the syntactic movements that are responsible for the SOV surface order are also responsible for non-final nuclear stress. In this manner, a combination of three assumptions already existing in the literature (antisymmetry, stress reconstruction, and rightmost prominence) is used to account for the Persian stress facts. The argument involves new data that challenge existing accounts of the language. Most importantly, it is shown that Persian ACC-marked objects behave in the same way as other objects in terms of stress assignment. Second, a range of sentence types with nuclear stress on post-verbal elements in Persian are discussed, challenging ) phase-based theory, which places nuclear accent on the highest element in the vP phase. Third, it is shown that the stress patterns in Persian scrambled sentences are most easily accounted for through stress reconstruction.
Journal of Iranian Linguistics, 2024
Similar patterns of vowel change in loanword adaptation have been documented for several Iranian ... more Similar patterns of vowel change in loanword adaptation have been documented for several Iranian languages and language varieties
including Mazandarani. However, no convincing accounts of the nature of these processes in Mazandarani have been presented in the literature. We
argue that for this language, these vowel alternations are best explained as low vowel dissimilation, a process affecting adjacent syllables with low vowels whereby one of the vowels is raised. Low vowel dissimilation is typologically rare, with the overwhelming majority of the cases identified
belonging to the Oceanic family. To show that the vowel changes in question are indeed cases of low vowel dissimilation, we invoke evidence from the language’s verbal morphophonology where vowel changes show a more regular behavior and then expand the analysis to loanword adaptation. The
dialects discussed in the article are those of Amol, Reineh, and Babol. The two vowels that trigger the process in Mazandarani are the low vowels /æ/ and /ɒ/, but only the former can undergo change. We show that unlike almost all other known cases of this phenomenon, it is the second vowel that undergoes raising in the Mazandarani case in many situations, with this being the preferred way in the dialect of Babol. We end the paper with a discussion of why the two low vowels behave differently, suggesting that
/ɒ/’s resistance to change is due to the fact that it is a long vowel phonologically, even if not phonetically.
Journal of Linguistics
In determining the metrical structure of quantitative poetic metres, heavy syllables are usually ... more In determining the metrical structure of quantitative poetic metres, heavy syllables are usually associated with metrically strong positions. In this study, examining the case of Persian metres, I argue that the metres must be treated as temporal patterns in music, where research on rhythm perception has shown that the metrical strength of an event is not directly determined by the inter-onset interval following it but sensitive to the overall arrangement of the attack points. To identify metrically strong positions, I introduce a different method based on the performance practices of participants in the poetic tradition. The strength hierarchy is then used to offer constituency trees for the metrical forms and classify them. The structures identified for metrical forms are different from those suggested in previous accounts of Persian metres, in that they allow incomplete constituents at the left edges of metres. Building upon this general framework, a set of constraints chiefly based on well-known universal rhythmic tendencies is introduced and the Persian metre inventory is accounted for as emerging from the interaction of these constraints.
This paper argues that contrary to what most recent scholarly works assume, the metrical system u... more This paper argues that contrary to what most recent scholarly works assume, the metrical system used in Persian folk songs and pop song lyrics is quantitative and follows the same general principles as Classical Persian metrics. I propose that the apparent differences that are observed between the two system originate from the availability of a process of optional vowels shortening in the scansion of lines that are composed in Colloquial Persian. In addition to introducing optional vowel shortening, I name several minor deviations in these songs from the requirements of Classical Persian metrics, showing that these deviations are also systematic and can in fact be helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of Persian metrics.
The metrical requirements of Persian poetry are highly restrictive. Traditionally, the rigidity ... more The metrical requirements of Persian poetry are highly restrictive. Traditionally, the rigidity of the metrical system was compensated for by a high degree of flexibility in the poetic language in terms of lexicon, phonology, and morpho-syntax. Using statistical data from different periods of Persian poetry, this paper argues that the flexibility of the language used in metrical Persian poetry has been in constant decrease, moving towards what may potentially be a language crisis for metrical Persian poetry. This study traces the linguistic and meta-linguistic origins of the initial flexibility of the poetic language and its subsequent change, suggesting that some of the recent trends in Persian poetry may be viewed in part as reactions to this potential crisis.
This work presents a theory of Persian poetic meters that reduces its main components to interact... more This work presents a theory of Persian poetic meters that reduces its main components to interactions between constraints that are rooted in universal rhythmic intuitions and form the essence of all quantitative metrical traditions. The theory presents a fully systematic account that can predict the degree of metrical well-formedness of any given Persian phrase. It argues for a hierarchical metrical structure composed of head-initial constituents where the metrical identity of a meter is primarily determined by the mora count of the lowest constituents in the hierarchy. While in qualitative meter the accent structure of a metrical phrase is to a large degree pre-determined by its linguistic content, it is argued that in quantitative meter strong and weak metrical positions are assigned to syllables (or more precisely, moras) by the listener and only indirectly (although systematically and predictably) guided by the information available in the syllable sequence of the linguistic phrase. Building on these theoretical arguments, this dissertation presents an account of the infinite meter inventory of Persian. It also accounts for other metrically relevant phenomena such as poetic licenses, verse-final pauses, and tapping patterns associated with different meters. Finally, evidence is provided in support of the claim that other quantitative metrical traditions such as those of Japanese and Arabic poetry can be accounted for using the same principles with modifications in certain parameters.
Glossa, 2025
This paper offers a new theory of nuclear stress assignment, focusing on data from Persian (an SO... more This paper offers a new theory of nuclear stress assignment, focusing on data from Persian (an SOV language) and English (an SVO language). The proposed theory bypasses phrases and assigns nuclear stress to the last element of the sentence by default. Deviations from this pattern (which are abundant in Persian) are explained through "stress reconstruction" effects; even non-final elements that receive nuclear stress are base-generated at the lowermost position. Relying on the theory of antisymmetry, it is argued that the syntactic movements that are responsible for the SOV surface order are also responsible for non-final nuclear stress. In this manner, a combination of three assumptions already existing in the literature (antisymmetry, stress reconstruction, and rightmost prominence) is used to account for the Persian stress facts. The argument involves new data that challenge existing accounts of the language. Most importantly, it is shown that Persian ACC-marked objects behave in the same way as other objects in terms of stress assignment. Second, a range of sentence types with nuclear stress on post-verbal elements in Persian are discussed, challenging ) phase-based theory, which places nuclear accent on the highest element in the vP phase. Third, it is shown that the stress patterns in Persian scrambled sentences are most easily accounted for through stress reconstruction.
Journal of Iranian Linguistics, 2024
Similar patterns of vowel change in loanword adaptation have been documented for several Iranian ... more Similar patterns of vowel change in loanword adaptation have been documented for several Iranian languages and language varieties
including Mazandarani. However, no convincing accounts of the nature of these processes in Mazandarani have been presented in the literature. We
argue that for this language, these vowel alternations are best explained as low vowel dissimilation, a process affecting adjacent syllables with low vowels whereby one of the vowels is raised. Low vowel dissimilation is typologically rare, with the overwhelming majority of the cases identified
belonging to the Oceanic family. To show that the vowel changes in question are indeed cases of low vowel dissimilation, we invoke evidence from the language’s verbal morphophonology where vowel changes show a more regular behavior and then expand the analysis to loanword adaptation. The
dialects discussed in the article are those of Amol, Reineh, and Babol. The two vowels that trigger the process in Mazandarani are the low vowels /æ/ and /ɒ/, but only the former can undergo change. We show that unlike almost all other known cases of this phenomenon, it is the second vowel that undergoes raising in the Mazandarani case in many situations, with this being the preferred way in the dialect of Babol. We end the paper with a discussion of why the two low vowels behave differently, suggesting that
/ɒ/’s resistance to change is due to the fact that it is a long vowel phonologically, even if not phonetically.
Journal of Linguistics
In determining the metrical structure of quantitative poetic metres, heavy syllables are usually ... more In determining the metrical structure of quantitative poetic metres, heavy syllables are usually associated with metrically strong positions. In this study, examining the case of Persian metres, I argue that the metres must be treated as temporal patterns in music, where research on rhythm perception has shown that the metrical strength of an event is not directly determined by the inter-onset interval following it but sensitive to the overall arrangement of the attack points. To identify metrically strong positions, I introduce a different method based on the performance practices of participants in the poetic tradition. The strength hierarchy is then used to offer constituency trees for the metrical forms and classify them. The structures identified for metrical forms are different from those suggested in previous accounts of Persian metres, in that they allow incomplete constituents at the left edges of metres. Building upon this general framework, a set of constraints chiefly based on well-known universal rhythmic tendencies is introduced and the Persian metre inventory is accounted for as emerging from the interaction of these constraints.