Magin_Edward-thesis

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instances ellipsis of object pronouns in prepositional phrases. The missing pronouns are
in parentheses.
Poem Line # Pronoun Text
Table 23. Pronoun ellipsis.
BS4 25 wî Ristkên şenqê bu (wî) vedan can fîdayên rastî yê
Necklets of throats were ready for him to sacrifice his soul for
truth.
BS4 45 wî Nabitin biçim nik Xanî bu (wî) vekim dilê bi xwîn
I can’t go near Xanî and open for him my heart with blood
(sadness).
BS7 11 wî Kewek bu lê neçu ravê ji (wî) kewgiran nekew girbu
5.4.1.2.4 Ellipsis of copula
He was a partridge but he did not go hunting because for the
hunters this partridge is not a hunter.
Ellipsis of the third person, singular, present tense copula is quite common in
spoken language. Such is the case in the following examples from Cegerxwîn’s Silav Li
Sifra Hazire, ‘Salute the Feast Is Ready.’ Written Northern Kurdish would typically
include the 3SG copula, e, on the end of the words bihuşt, ‘heaven,’ in (260), and
namîdar, ‘famous,’ in (261). However, we have already seen how performance is an
important consideration for the poet when writing poetry. In this instance, leaving off the
copula reflects spoken language, and aids the poet in reaching his desired syllable count.
(260) mertal di dest(-êt) wan de bihuşt(=e) (CX2:7)
shield in hand(-EZ.PL) 3OP in heaven(=COP.PRS.3SG)
‘The shield in their hands (is) heaven.’
(261) lewra Cegerxwîn namîdar(=e) (CX2:30)
Thus Cegerxwîn famous (=COP.PRS.3SG)
‘Thus Cegerxwîn is famous.’
In other lines from the same poem, including the title, the copula is included. In
these examples the copula appears in its normal position, at the end of each line.