Magin_Edward-thesis

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5.4.1.1.1 Verb-Subject
In § 4.4.1.2, I showed that normal constituent order for intransitive clauses is
Subject-Verb (SV). The corpus contains many instances of deviation from this norm. For
example, in Sindî’s Bîrewerîa Barzanî Yê Nemir, ‘Memories of Immortal Barzanî,’ the
verb appears before the subject in each of the following two lines. In example (193), the
complex verb şîn bibin 73 means ‘grow’ and appears before the subject nêrgiz, ‘narcissus,’
a flower indigenous to the Kurdish region. In (194), the subject, ‘endelîb, an Arabic word
for a specific type of bird, appears after the verb bixuînin, ‘may sing.’
(193) şîn_bi-b-in nêrgiz ji nuve ber der-ê (BS1:11, 12)
grow_IRR-grow-IMP.PL narcissus from now.on before place-EZ.M
tekî-a
ber-ê
special.music-EZ.F old-OBL.F
‘May narcissuses grow new again before the door of the old places of worship.’
(194) cardin bi-xuîn-in ‘endelîb 74 ew ji ‘şq-a daber-ê
again IRR-sing-IMP.PL birds 3D from love-EZ.F sweetheart-OBL.F
‘Again may birds sing―that song from the love of the lover.’
Sindî also used VS order in line 24 of Dergehê Jîn u Hîvî Ya, ‘The Door of Life
and Hopes.’ Here the subject consists of the words gulên çîayan, ‘the flowers of the
mountains.’ These come after the passive verb kuzrîn, ‘has been burned.’
(195) kuzrî-n gul-ên çîa-yan nêrgiz-ên şeng (BS4:24)
burn.PST.PASS-3PL flower-EZ.PL mountain-OBL.PL narcissus-EZ.PL young
u şepal
and bright
‘The flowers of the mountains have been burned, the young and bright narcissuses.’
In line 24 of Mîrê Peyvan, ‘The Prince of Words,’ Sindî placed the subject dil,
‘heart,’ after the verb disujit, ‘is burning.’
(196) gelo lewra di-su-jit dil ku cih kew (BS7:24)
people that’s.why IPFV-burn.PRS-3SG heart because place partridge
73 The word şîn, by itself, has two meanings: (1) mourning, and (2) blue or green. The verb şîn bibin seems
to be a metaphorical use of şîn that became lexicalized as’grow’ or more literally ‘to become green.’
74 An Arabic word for a specific type of bird.