Ossetic verbal paradigms in a cross-linguistic perspective

Abstract

The article discusses Ossetic verbal paradigms. Ossetic data is compared with the data of other New Iranian languages (both East and West Iranian). The study is based on the synchronic approach. Ossetic verb has a number of features atypical of other New Iranian languages — in particular, morphological Future, Impersonal, morphological transitivity, and special forms for the third person Imperative. The person-number endings play a key role in the formation of the tense and mood forms in Ossetic. On the contrary, in other New Iranian languages, verbal roots or special affixes perform the main function in the building of tense and mood forms, while the person-number endings rarely convey any other meanings besides person and number. Ossetic lacks some of the categories and grammatical features typical of New Iranian languages (Perfect and Pluperfect, aspectual forms, analytical or complex forms). This study contributes not only to the grammar of Ossetic, but also to the typology of verbal categories of New Iranian languages.