Abstract
Conditional sentences are recognized as one of the Universals of Language and have been studied according to the language typologies. This article reviews grammatical tenses applied in the formation of Pahlavi conditional sentences, derived from Zand-ī Vohuman Yasn, Zātsparam, and Rivāyat-ī Pahlavi. This descriptive-quantitative analysis intends to prove the tendency between the possible world of conditional sentences with their applied grammatical tenses. 13 conditional sentences were located in the two first mentioned books and were suitable for the verb structure study. 160 sentences out of the 250 conditional sentences in Rivāyat-ī Pahlavi were chosen for the statistical survey. 85% of the subordinated clauses had verbs from the present system and 15% from the past system. The semantical analysis showed that in the Pahlavi language if the grammatical tenses in both clauses were made on the past system, the possible world would be factual in most cases. This result accords with Baqayi and Naqzgoo-Kohan's research outcome (2019), which was based on Declerck and Reed’s typology for New Persian conditional sentences. This study showed an abundant variety in the formation of conditional sentences aided by present and past tenses, nominal and, gerund forms. The Pahlavi unfulfilled conditional past tense was observed in the formation of other complex sentences, with indicative moods.
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