Derivative and Stylistic Features of Verbs of Words of Persian Origin in the Bosnian Language

Dublin Core

Title

Derivative and Stylistic Features of Verbs of Words of Persian Origin in the Bosnian Language

Author

Šehović, Amela
Haverić, Đenita

Abstract

Before it was fully adopted by the Bosnian language, a Persian loanword, from the moment it was borrowed from the source (Persian) to the receiver (Bosnian) language, would undergo various stages of adaptation on the phonological, morphological, and semantic plane. Due to the fact that many Persian words entered the Bosnian language through Turkish as the mediator language, a great number of semantic changes occurred when the word was borrowed from Persian and later used in Turkish. Later on, the same meaning from Turkish would be transferred to Bosnian language. Words of eastern origin, i.e. words from Turkish, Arabic or Persian, made their way into the Bosnian language due to various influences and during various periods of time. These words were introduced to the Bosnian language mostly through Turkish and are, for that reason, referred to as turcisms. However, a more scientifically approved term is orientalisms since not all of these words belong to the Turkish lexical material, and since they involve a great number of Arabic and Farsi phrases. This paper examines the significance and role of the Turkish language as the language mediator in the case of words of Persian origin entering the Bosnian language. As loanwords, turcisms were used mainly during the 500-year-long Ottoman rule in Bosnia-Herzegovina, when the contact with the Turkish language and culture was most immediate. For that reason, the number of turcisms in the Bosnian language is quite impressive. For instance, Škaljić’s Rječnik turcizama (Dictionary of Turcisms) contains 8,742 words (expressions) and 6,878 terms (1979: 23). During the Ottoman period, Persian was the language of literature, especially poetry. The most of the lexis of Persian origin entered the Bosnian language owing to great Iranian classics, but also, indirectly - through Turkish. Compared to Turkish and Arabic, lexis of Persian origin is the least present – more than 600 words in Škaljić’s Dictionary of Turcisms (Akopdžanjan 2010: 18). Keywords: Persian loanwords, Turkish language, Bosnian language, semantics changes

Keywords

Article
PeerReviewed

Date

2015

Extent

2782

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