Prototypicality in Compound Verbs with the Light Verb Gereftan: A Corpus-Based Analysis for Teaching Persian

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The light verb “gereftan” is among the most frequent verbs in Persian and is essential for constructing a vast array of compound verbs. The extensive polysemy of these constructions presents significant challenges for second-language learners. This study examines how argument structure shapes the polysemous network of gereftan-based compound verbs and explores its implications for prototypicality. Data were extracted from the Persian Semantic Role Corpus, categorized according to the semantic role of the second participant, and analyzed to identify core semantic nodes within each category. Prototypicality was not presupposed a priori; rather, it was empirically established on the basis of high-frequency semantic cores derived from corpus evidence. The findings reveal that the polysemy of these compound verbs is systematic and closely associated with argument structure, with different argument-structure configurations corresponding to different semantic cores. The semantic role of Arg2 plays a central role in shaping these semantic nodes. In particular, constructions with Arg2 functioning as Koneshbar, Patient, and Source exhibited the highest type frequencies and contributed substantially to the organization of their respective semantic networks. These findings suggest that the polysemy of gereftan is systematically associated with recurring argument-structure configurations. Accordingly, the study suggests that teaching Persian compound verbs may benefit from a pedagogical approach centered on high-frequency argument-structure configurations and their associated semantic cores, potentially facilitating their acquisition by non-Persian speakers.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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