Agent in Kurdish language (Bahdini subdialect)

Abstract

The agent in the Kurdish language, especially in modern grammar, is known as a semantic role, limiting its function to the sentence level. To contradict this view, an attempt has been made in this study to explain the agent at both morphological and syntactic levels. At the morphological level, some derivational bound morphemes play a major role in forming some nouns that carry within themselves the concept of the agent known as agent nouns. Also at the sentence level, in addition to the semantic features of the noun phrase that identify and distinguish the agent role from other roles, it is expected that the verb phrase can contribute greatly in the identification and recognition of the agent. For this purpose, Larson's theory (1988) has been employed to deconstruct the VP-shell into the main verb phrase VP and the light verb phrase (carrier of the concept of agent in the VP). The sentences are analyzed according to Chomsky's minimalist program principles. Research data is collected from the everyday speech of Bahdini dialect speakers. Results show that Larson's theory of deconstructing the VP could be considered the best and only way to analyze the agent in the Bahdini sentence; and the morpheme (ان), in addition to its agentive and causative functions, can also function as a light verb.