The Study of Noun Phrase Structure in Kurdish Language (Kalhori) Based on X- bar Theory Syntax

Document Type : Research Paper

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Abstract

This article investigates the syntactic structure of noun phrase in Kurdish (Kalhori dialect), in comparison with Persian based on government and binding theory and X-bar theory introduced by Haegeman (1995) in his book “Introduction to Government and Binding Theory”. In this theoretical framework, noun is considered as a head in noun phrase, other elements which are placed beside the head are called head dependents, which include pre-dependents and post- dependents. Pre-dependents include (demonstratives, cardinal numbers, classifiers, questions, exclamations), indefinite (yek) titles for code nouns and superlative adjectives. Post-dependents include definite and indefinite markers, plurality markers, adjectives, Ezafe phrase, ordinal numbers, prepositional phrase, possessor, appositive and relative clause. These dependents consist of particular kinds which are placed in particular order. If each of them moves from its main place, it will cause a bad- structure and a meaningless noun phrase.

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