6 • The States of the Complements of the Verb (aḥwāl-i mutaʿalliqāt-i fiʿl)
abstract
This chapter, part of a series of eight, each of which addresses a different topic within the Persian science of meanings (ʿilm-i maʿānī), examines the ‘states of the complements of the verb’ (aḥwāl-i mutaʿalliqāt-i fiʿl). This chapter, which covers topics related to what linguistics would call valency, discusses general operations on the agent (fāʿil) and the patient (mafʿūl). It explores how the ellipsis of the arguments of a verb and changes in the position of the patient in the utterance can convey a range of effects. Examples, mainly from Persian poetry, are given as illustrations.