Mohammad Hasan Jalalian | University of Tabriz (original) (raw)

Papers by Mohammad Hasan Jalalian

زبان و ادبیات فارسی دانشگاه خوارزمی, 2024

The Haft-Xwân/Xâns of Rostam and Esfandiyâr are prominent episodes in the Shahnameh, which have g... more The Haft-Xwân/Xâns of Rostam and Esfandiyâr are prominent episodes in the Shahnameh, which have garnered significant attention throughout history of Persian literature. These episodes depict a series of battles involving warriors. However, there is debate regarding the correct spelling of the name. Traditionally, most manuscripts of the Shahnameh and other Persian works use the term “Haft-Xwân.” Nevertheless, some contemporary researchers argue that the warrior undergoes seven stages in these battles, leading them to propose an alternative spelling: “Haft-Xân.” Additionally, some scholars suggest that the second part of the word (Xwân) refers to a feast, as Esfandiyâr supposedly celebrates after each battle. In this article, we explore the accuracy and validity of both opinions, employing historical linguistics. Our interpretation aligns with the content of these battle narratives, considering the original form as “Haft-Xwân.” Furthermore, we propose a new derivation for Xwân, associating it with the concept of “battle and struggle.”
Keywords: Shahnameh, Xwân, Xân, Battle, Station, Historical Linguistics.

زبان و ادب فارسی دانشگاه تبریز, 2023

In three stories of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, a land in the northeastern regions of Iran correspondin... more In three stories of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, a land in the northeastern regions of Iran corresponding to Transoxiana is mentioned, whose name has been recorded in various forms in the existing manuscripts, and the editors of Shahnameh and researchers of its geography disagree with each other in choosing from these records. The destruction of the original form of the name of this land and the confusion and imprecise recording in Pahlavi texts and the existence of similar forms in the eastern and northeastern lands of Iran in historical and geographical sources after Islam, as well as incorrect and contradictory perceptions of the geographical extent of this region are the main reasons for the different selections by Shahnameh editors. Some of the selected or proposed forms for the name of this land are Kavaršān, Kušān, Karūšān, Kohestān, Kavarstān and Kūy-sārān. In this article, by paying attention to the details of the stories in which the name of this land is used, as well as using ancient Iranian and Middle Persian and Islamic texts, a reading different from those which have been proposed before will be presented in the form Gavestān. This form has the support of some manuscripts and also can be traced in Pahlavi script.

پژوهشهای ایرانشناسی, 2022

Middle Persian texts, including inscriptions, Manichaean, psalm, and Pahlavi texts, still contai... more Middle Persian texts, including inscriptions, Manichaean, psalm, and Pahlavi texts, still contain many unread or misread words. Due to the many problems of the Pahlavi script, among all the Middle Persian texts, there are more ambiguities in reading and more multiplicity and variety of translations of the Zoroastrian or Pahlavi texts. In this article, one word of Zand of Vandidad and Šāyast-nē-šāyast and three words of Bundahišn have been read and a new reading has been suggested for each of them. The solution of reading these words and similar words in Pahlavi texts, in addition to using textual evidence and linguistic issues, is to review their written form in the manuscripts and to consider various possibilities of their transliteration. Attempts have been made to make each reading in maximum conformity with the written form in the manuscripts, and in case of correction of the word and deviation from the manuscript recording, sufficient reasons whould be provided to justify the proposed reading.

Iranian Studies, 2022

Despite the impressive research of scholars on Middle Persian grammatical problems, there are sti... more Despite the impressive research of scholars on Middle Persian grammatical problems, there are still many words in surviving texts that are shrouded in ambiguity. One of these words, whose pronunciation in the inscriptions we owe to the Manichaean texts, is dastan. In this article, first the few available instances of this word in Middle Persian inscriptions and Manichaean texts are mentioned, and scholars’ interpretations of its meaning and grammatical category are discussed. Then it is revisited through the analysis of another word, tuwān, with which it is paired in the Manichaean instance. After a review of prior scholarly interpretations of this latter word, it is argued that in Middle Persian tuwān is a noun, and that it became a modal verb during the process of its application to the possessive structure. Finally, it is asserted that dastan also is a noun, due to its conjoinment with tuwān in the Manichaean example.

Shahnameh is one of the most detailed works of the first centuries of the officialization and spr... more Shahnameh is one of the most detailed works of the first centuries of the officialization and spread of Dari Persian after Islam. This precious treasure contains authentic and reliable evidence of the Persian language elements of this period and contains many keys in solving the unknown issues of the mother of Dari Persian language, i.e. Middle Persian. Conversely, due to the antiquity of its language, there are points in this work that cannot be known except through the knowledge of Middle Persian and other Middle and Old Iranian Languages. In this article, three words "šād", "may" and "pašēmān šudan" are discussed in Shahnameh and using the internal evidence of this work as well as some evidence of other Persian texts as well as evidence from ancient languages, different meanings for the first two words and a lesser-known construction for a specific structure of the third one is presented in Dari Persian. The suggested meaning for "šād" is "rich and wealthy". The word "may" is considered to be the original Persian form of "maγāk" and "pašēmān šudan" is considered as an impersonal verb.

Although many years have passed since its inception, the critical correction of Shahnameh, as one... more Although many years have passed since its inception, the critical correction of Shahnameh, as one of the greatest literary and epic works of Iran and the world, has a long way to go. The vast volume of this great work and the wide variety of the issues presented in it, alongside its language antiquity, require that in order to reach as close as possible to the poet's original creation, all the stories, verses and words of it be reviewed and reexamined and scholars with various specialties and approaches comment on its various aspects. From the grammatical pint of view, this article discusses some verses from different parts of Shahnameh. The commonality of these verses is in their optative verbs. In the first part, the pronounconstructed verbs of Shahnameh are discussed. The second part introduces a rare verb construction in which the optative morpheme of the third person singular is 'iyi'. The last part is about the optative form of bāyistan "have to, must" which requires an enclitic pronoun complement in some of its constructions. These parts were studied and analyzed by measuring the recordings of the manuscripts and by analyzing the previous readings. In the case of pronoun-constructed verbs, the form ending in 'ti' was suggested everywhere, and in the other two cases, based on the manuscript recordings and relying on grammatical points, the correctness of the readings presented before the publication by Khaleghi Motlagh, was emphasized.

One of the most important scientific controversies about Hafez’ poetry is the debate about the d... more One of the most important scientific controversies about Hafez’ poetry is the debate about the different readings of the verses of his Divan. Among the most famous cases of such disagreement is about the belonging of the adverb “همیشه” (always) to the main or the subordinate sentence of the second hemistich of the verse از آن به دیر مغانم عزیز می‌دارند//که آتشی که نمیرد همیشه در دل ماست. Most of the Hafez researchers and editors have considered the adverb as a part of the main sentence (که آتشـ[ی] در دل ماست).
In this study the evidences of various uses of the adverbs of continuity and permanency, such as “همیشه” and their cognates in various negative sentences in modern Persian are extracted. After categorizing them, the meaning “never” for such words is proved and the history of such structures in old and middle Iranian languages has been traced. After presenting the various ideas about the double reading aspects of the verse in question, it is concluded that not only it is not wrong to assume the adverb as relating to the verb “نمیرد”, but also it is more probable that the poet has considered it as the adverb of relative sentence (نمیرد همیشه).

Keywords: Adverb of the continuity and permanency, Negative sentence, Adverb of always and never.

One of the Manichaean Parthian texts consists of the passion of Christ and his crucifixion by th... more One of the Manichaean Parthian texts consists of the passion of Christ and his crucifixion by the conspiracy of the Jews. One part of this text is about the Judas’ betrayal of Jesus and is unfortunately lost from all the existing manuscripts. Some of the previous editions of this text does not match to what the manuscripts contain in this particular point. The others which have reflected the correct reading of the manuscripts have interpreted the text in such a manner that does not have any coordination with what we know from the Christian and other Manichaean narrations of this story. In this paper, by using the linguistic potentialities of the text and considering sound changes and word formation in Iranian languages, the author will try to offer a reading which is more consistent with the above-mentioned narrations

Jesus, Judas, Parthian, Manichaean, Kiss

Persian Language and Literature, University of Tabriz, 2019

Persian Compound Structures and M. Omid’s Compounds Compounding is one of the prosesses of word-f... more Persian Compound Structures and M. Omid’s Compounds
Compounding is one of the prosesses of word-formation in some languages. Because simple words and derivatives satisfy just a part of the speakers’ need of vocabulary, the speakers are forced to make compound words using the available language elements and compounding patterns. These patterns always have certain rules and criterions and each language uses them in it’s syntactic structures and historical backgrounds. Hence, no two languages, even two sibling languages or those that one of them is derived from the other one, can be found to have the same rules of compounding. Among the Persian contemporary poets, Mehdi Akhavan-sales with the full knowledge of Persian language, has created a large number of compound words and used them in his poetry . This knowledge, which is the product of scrutinizing the old and new Persian literary texts has resulted in the words being structured in accordance with the rules of compounding in Persian language. So far, no research has been carried out on the various types of Akhavan’s compounds. In this research by extracting compound words from several books of this poet, these words are categorized structurally and the poet’s approach to the structures are evaluated.

seeking mate or mate seeking (A proposal for a poem of Shahname) In this essay two verses of Shah... more seeking mate or mate seeking (A proposal for a poem of Shahname)
In this essay two verses of Shahname will be studied. These two verses are located at the beginning of the Mazandaran war in the Demon’s description of Mazandaran. In the Shahaname edited by Khaleqi Motlaq these verses ar as so:
نوازنــــده بلــبل به باغ اندرون گـرازنـده27 آهـــو به راغ انـدرون
همیشـه نیاساید1 از جفت‌جوی2 همه ساله هر جای رنگست و بوی3
The most important words of these verses which have caused different records in the manuscripts and also contradictory submits in edited Shahnames are همیشه “always” and جفت‌جوی “searching for a pair”. The last word is recorded in manuscripts as جفت‌و جوی, جست‌وجوی‌, خفت‌وخوی, کفت‌وکوی, جنب‌وجوی, … . In this essay by focusing on the existing records and also by using the historical linguistics the form جفت‌وجوی is selected as the more difficult reading (lectio difficillima) and the best record. This word like the other compounds which are built by the past and present stems has the infinitive meaning and its meaning is “mating, sexual intercourse’.

خط و نظام نوشتاری به‌کار‌رفته در متون فارسی میانۀ زرتشتی یا همان خط پهلوی به دلیل نواقص و مشکلات ... more خط و نظام نوشتاری به‌کار‌رفته در متون فارسی میانۀ زرتشتی یا همان خط پهلوی به دلیل نواقص و مشکلات بسیاری که داشته چه در زمان رواج و کاربردش در نگارش آثار و متون فارسی میانه و چه در حال حاضر که این متون مورد بررسی و پژوهش قرار می‌گیرند همواره باعث بدفهمی‌ها و قرائت‌های اشتباه فراوان شده است. این ابهامات خط و عدم درک کامل و دقیق متن باعث شده تا مؤلّفان و کاتبان گذشته و پژوهندگان کنونی گاه جهت رفع ابهام از واژه‌‌ها و توجیه برداشت و قرائت خود دست به پرداختن افسانه‌هایی بزنند که پشتوانه و اساسی ندارند. در این نوشتار پس از مروری بر صورتهای نگاشته‌شدۀ نام سرزمین سغد در متون پهلوی و ارائۀ پیشنهادی در نحوۀ واجنویسی یکی از این صورتها، به صفت «هفت‌آشیان» که در مورد این سرزمین در متن پهلوی شهرستانهای ایران و نیز در کتاب زین‌الاخبار گردیزی آمده پرداخته شده است و در نهایت صفت هفت‌آشیان به عنوان صورتی تحریف‌شده از برگردان واژۀ اوستایی suγδō.šayana-معرفی شده است.صورت اوستایی با پشت سر گذاشتن تحولات آوایی در زبان فارسی میانه به صورت suwdōšayan در آمده ولی به علت عدم آگاهی کاتبان از آن و شباهت نگارشی آن در خط پهلوی با haftāšyān ، در دستنویسهای پهلوی و متون پس از اسلام توسط این واژة اخیر پس زده شده و به کلی متروک شده است.

The script and orthography system which are used for the zoroastrian middle Persian (=Pahlavi) texts because of their many shortcomings and difficulties have always caused many misunderstandings and misinterpretations by the ancient users and modern researchers. This indeterminacy of the script and the lack of a complete and accurate understanding of the contents of the texts have caused the past writers and scribes of these texts and modern researchers make unfounded legends in order to legitimize their readings. In this article after surveying the different written forms of the name of Sogdiana in Pahlavi texts and offering a transcription for one of them, the hapax epithet of this land, haft-āšyan “with seven nests” is studied. This epithet is recorded in a Pahlavi text, šahestānīhā ī ērānšahr, and a persianhistory work, Gardizi’s Zain al-Axbār. At the end “haft-āšyān” is considered as a distorted rendering of the Avestan form suγδō.šayana-.The Avestan form is reached to Middle Persian as suwdōšayan, but this middle Persian form is finally abandoned in pahlavi manuscripts and Islamic texts due to the unawareness of the scribes and also its similarity to haftāšyān.

The study of the syntax of the Iranian languages has a long way to its perfection. Among these la... more The study of the syntax of the Iranian languages has a long way to its perfection. Among these languages the East Middle Iranian and especially Sogdian has gained less attention in this field. And it is due to the assumption that most of the remained texts of these languages are translations of other languages. Determining the scale of the influence of the syntax of the source language on these texts by itself needs to be proved by studying and comparing the similar constructions in various language variations. In this essay the author studies and classifies the complement verbs of two major Sogdian modal verbs: s’c- and k’m-. Although their importance as the main modal verbs of Sogdian is accepted, a comprehensive study of their syntax has not been done yet.

The Impersonal verb is a verb which is always in the third singular and its logical subject does ... more The Impersonal verb is a verb which is always in the third singular and its logical subject does not appear in the nominative case. These verbs often express physical or mental/cognitive experiences which the logical subject experiences without having any control on them. Thus the subject in these structures is called "experiencer". Another element which has a role in impersonal sentences is the source of the events, activities and experiences. It's presence in the sentence depends on the meaning of the verb. In Sogdian beside some of the modal verbs which are in accordance with the definition of impersonal verbs, there are two other verbs which are impersonal too. These are rēž- and nam-. As will be shown rēž- is appeared as an impersonal verb approximately in all the remaining evidences but nam- has impersonal use just in one of it's evidences. In this article I will study and analyze these two verbs.

Despite the few data about Mardâs in Shâhnâme, the very high attention of scholars to him and ... more Despite the few data about Mardâs in Shâhnâme, the very high attention of scholars to him and his name is indebted to the importance of his son, Zahhâk, in Iranian mythology. The lack of any information about this personality in Avesta, ambiguity of written forms of his name in Pahlavi script in middle Persian texts, multiplicity of the
recorded forms in Islamic texts and also the similarity of the written and probably phonetic forms of this name in Shâhnâme and the Arabic personal name are the issues which make Mardâs and his name more
and more ambiguous. In Vedic myths Zahhâkʼs equivalent is viśvarūpa. This latterʼs father, tvaṣṭṛ, is a deity. The vast mythology of this god can partly compensate our lack of information about Mardâs. In this article attempts has been made to provide a more precise view about Mardâs and his name by reviewing the data related to this person in Vedic texts on the one hand and surveying the recorded forms in middle Persian and Islamic texts and also by criticizing the
previous views.

دانشنامه زبان و ادب فارسي

مجموعه مقالات هزاره فردوسي

The study and classificasion of the Sogdian and Persian nominal compounds, in which the second pa... more The study and classificasion of the Sogdian and Persian nominal compounds, in which the second part is a present stem, and also a comparison between these compounds in these two languages is the aim of this paper. The study of this group of compounds, which is one of the most frequent compound categories in Indo-Iranian languages is a sample for understanding the similarities and differences of these compounds between the two languages under investigation, and also it is a step, though small, towards a comprehensive contrastive analysis of the other grammatical categories in Sogdian and Persian.

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In Avesta the preposition mat is used in some compounds such as mat.gutha-, mat.gaoshavara- ,... ... more In Avesta the preposition mat is used in some compounds such as mat.gutha-, mat.gaoshavara- ,... . There is no records of this preposition in middle Iranian words. In this article a middle persian and a sogdian word are proposed to have this preposition as their first components.
The author also guesses that the Bactrian maliz "fortress" also contains this preposition: mat.did/za-.