<Extracted from the Part II, section 2, Composition of the book Pārsīg Language (The so-called Pahlavi): Parts of Speech, Word Formation, and Phonology, Sade publication, 2017, written by Raham Asha>
2. Composition
Nominal composition produces three kinds of compounds: those which have a head, “endocentric compounds”; those without a head, “exocentric compounds”; and co-ordinate compounds. In the formation of compound abstracts the Pārsīg often uses the suffix -īh.
Determinative compounds
A dependent determinative compound is endocentric with the second element as referent. For example, kadagxvadāy/ kadexvadāy ‘house-lord, master of the house, lord’: The referent is ‘lord, master’ (xvadāy); of what is determined by the first element, ‘house’ (kadag). vīrāstār ud ābādāndāštār ī kadagxvadāy kadag. Dk iii, M 242
ābzōhr ‘libation to the waters’, āb ‘water’, zōhr ‘libation’ (Av. zaoθra- nt). kū-m ābzōhr dayād kū zōrmand bavān. TM 95
dēvāndād ‘established by the Daēva’ (Av. daēvō.dāta-). zimestān-z ī dēvāndād [stahmagdar baved]. Vd 1.2
gyānabespār ‘soul-deliverer, devoted’, gyān ‘breath soul, life’, abespār-/ abespārdan ‘to deliver up, commit’. ped tis ī yazdān ud amehrspendān toxšāg ud gyānabespār bāš! HAM 10
jādaggōb ‘speaking the part (of a client), advocate, intercessor; legal representative’, jādag ‘lote, share; cause, case’ (Av. yāta-), gōb-/ guftan ‘to say, speak’. driyušān jādaggōb ud dādvar. A Persian stamp jādaggōb aviš mad ēsted. PK 9
kārnāmag ‘book of deeds’, kār ‘work’, nāmag ‘book’. kārnāmag ī ardašēr ī pābagān. KAP
mardān-pahlum ‘best of men’ (cf. Skt. narottamaḥ, narāṇām uttamaḥ). hamāgzōr šāhān šāh ī mardān pahlum. SS 9
marddōst ‘who loves her husband’, mard ‘man’, dōst ‘friend’. zan-ē hān veh ī ped menišn marddōst. HKR 96
dānāgīhdōst ‘friend of wisdom, philosoher’, dānāgīh ‘wisdom, knowledge’, dōst ‘friend’. guft pid ī dānāgīhdōst. PDK 4
mārgan ‘serpent-scourge, a weapon for smiting snakes’, mār ‘serpent, snake’, gan-/ zan-/ zadan ‘to strike, kill’. xrafstargan [mārgan]. Vd 14.8
mazdesn (also, māzdes an epithet adopted for Manichaeism) ‘Ahura-Mazdā-worshipping, Zoroastrian’ (Av. mazdayasna-). dēn mazdesn. KSM 13 mazdesn ī zardušt. ŠGV 16.4 pēšobāy ī dēn māzdes. TM 543
rāzmard ‘builder, mason’, rāz ‘building’, mard ‘man’. rāzmird kē kāmed āyvan kirdan. TM 7983 II rāzkirrōgrāzkirrōg kē kadag dēsed. VZ 29.2 rāz-dēsāgkirdag bē az kirdār, ud vizīdag bē az vizīdār būdan ōn nē šāyed cōn nibištag bē az nibištār virāstan, mān bē <az> rāzdēsāg. ŠGV 6.10
šāhān-šāh ‘king of kings’ (Sogd. šānšāy, cf. Skt. rājādhirājaḥ as Sapatamī Tatpuruṣa). ped šāhānšāhīh ped amāh hamāg šāhānšāh hed. VC 3 šāhānšāh ī mardān pahlum. SS 9
vayburd ‘carried by birds’ (Av. vayō.bǝrǝta- adj.). nasāh ī sagburd ī vayburd ī gurgburd ī vādburd ī maxšburd. Vd 5.4
vispuhr ‘son of the royal house, prince’ < *u̯isah puθra. abārīg vāspuhr ud vazurg ud kadagxvadāy ud āzād. N P 16
Appositive compounds
An appositive compound is formed through the apposition of two parts, one qualifying, and the other qualified (cf. Karmadhāraya in Sanskrit).
āzādmard ‘free man, noble’, āzād ‘high-born; free, noble’. az framān ī āzādmardān brīnend vizīr ī abēr. HVF 30
dānāgayyār ‘wise-helper, a helper of the wise’, ayyār ‘friend, helper’, dānāg ‘knowing, wise’. mardōm ēn si ēvēnag ō vahišt rasend: ēk hān ī dānāg, ēk hān ī dānāgayyār, ud ēk hān ī dānāgnēhamēstār. Dk vi, M 516
dušyār (also dušyārī) ‘bad year, famine’ (OPers. dušiyāra- nt., Parth. dušyār). It could be considered as a derivative. dušyārī ud nixrust cannānd. TM 477 hištnāmag (also hilišnnāmag) ‘divorce document’, hišt ‘abandoned, discharged’, hilišn ‘discharge, divorce’, nāmag ‘written document, book’ .682 MHD 87.
mihr-yazd ‘the divinity Miθra’, also yazd-mihr. mihryazd az rah ī xvarxšēd ō hāmkišvar … TM 472 yazdmihr kē ped gyāndādārīh ī ō mardōm ī-šān zīndag-dāštār ī tan. Dk iii, M 194
mayxvaš ‘bitter-sweet (fruit), sweet and sour’. Here both terms are qualifying (cf. Viśeṣaṇobhayapada in Sanskrit). pālūdag ī az āb ī sēb ī mayxvaš kird ēsted. HKR 41
Governing compounds
A governing compound is endocentric with the first element as referent.
āgāhdād ‘acquainted with the law, law-knowing’ (cf. Av. vīduš.dāta- adj.), āgāh ‘knowing, aware’, dād ‘law, justice’. dādvar ī āgāhdād. F 5
azērzamīg ‘subterranean’ (Av. aδairi.zǝma- adj., Paz. azə̄ r.zamī). azēr ‘below, under’, zamīg ‘earth’. mēx ī azērzamīg. Bd 69
kirdespās ‘server’, kird ‘made’, spās ‘service’. kirdespāsān mizd dādan. Dk viii, M 732
ustāndast ‘with hands upstretched’ (Av. ustānazasta- adj.). hān [mizd ī ōy ī ohrmazd xvēš] xvāham ped niyāyišn [ka jādaggōbīh ī yazdān ud vehān kunum] ustāndast [menišnīg] ped rāmišn [ī xvēš]. Y 28.1
Possessive compounds
A possessive compound (also called Bahuvrīhi) is an exocentric compound compound of AB structure which indicates what the (external) referent has, that is, ‘one whose B is an A’ or ‘one whose A is a B’.
Adjective-substantive:
bārīgvēnišn ‘acute, a subtle observer’, that is, one whose vēnišn ‘sight; visibility’ (cf. Av. darǝsa- m. ‘sight’ rendered by Pers. vēnišn, and the compound hvarǝ.darǝsa- rendered by xvaršēd-nigerišn) is bārīg ‘keen, thin, fine’. pahrēz-veh-cihrag, ruvān-dōst, bārīk-vēnišn, vas-xvānišn, varm-nibēg, ud vas-uzmāyišn. Dk iii, M 161
hamnāf (also hāmnāf) ‘of the same family, kinsman; kin’ (cf. Av. hama.nāfaēna- adj., hāmō.nāfa- adj.). hamnāf dahyubedīh ud dēn. Dk iii kē ō xvēš brādar ud hāmnāf dōst baved. TM 5794 II
nēvdil ‘whose heart is good, brave, plucky’ (opp. tarsōg), nēv ‘good; brave’, dil ‘heart’. nērōgumand ī nēvdil. Dk iii, M 75
Substantive-adjective:
meyān-bārīg ‘having slender waist’, meyān ‘middle;waist’, bārīk/ bārīg ‘keen, fine; slender’. meyān-bārīg, ud azēr-pāy-višādag; ud angustān-dagrand. HKR 96
tandrust ‘whose body is sound, healthy’, tan ‘body’, drust ‘wholesome, sound’. tandrust ud dagrzīvišn. SS 16
Substantive-substantive:
ēsmdast ‘having the ritual fire-wood in the hand’ (Av. aēsmō.zasta- adj.). kē tō bāstān frāz yazād ēsmdast ud barsmandast ud gōštdast [jīv. ast kē peyvāsag gōbed ud hāvandast. Y 62.1
mardmenišn ‘having manly (heroic) thought (heart)’, an epithet of Kǝrǝsāspa (Av. naire.manah-). mardmenišn sāmān kersāsp. Dk iii, M 198
Pronoun-substantive:
cē-nām ‘having (/ of) what name’. cē-nām hē? Dk vi, M 574 pas man pursēd: cē-nām hē? guft kū: bagard nām hum, vimandbān ī xvarāsān. TM 2 I
xvēšdēn ‘(a person) of his own religion, coreligionist’ (Av. xvā- daēnā- adj.). Also hamdēn. frāz rādīh ud bē-dahišnīh [gōbam] andarg xvēšdēnān ahlavān. P 35
The dvigu-compound: when one compounded element is a numeral.
do-pāy/ dobāy ‘who has two feet, biped; human being’. hazār gām ī dopāy. Bd 161 dopāy ud tasbāy ud parrvar ud zahrēn ud frestardēs. TM 7981 I
ēksālag ‘one-year-old’. gōdar ī ēksālag. HKR 30
sadōzim (also sadzim) ‘having a hundred winters, century’ (cf. Skt. śatáhāyana). dahum sadōzim. Dk iii hān sadōzim bē sazed. Dk vii, M 666
Copulative-compounds
A copulative-compound (Dvandva) is formed by juxtaposing two or more elements which, if they stand by themselves, would be connected by the copulative conjunction ud/ u ‘and’. These compounds are often employed for proper names.
ēsm-bōy ‘fire-wood-and-fragrance’ placed on small stone blocks beside the firestand. ēsm-bōy si-tāg. RP 56.7
mihrābān pr. n. from mihr (Av. miθra- m.) and ābān (cf. Av. apąm). mihrābān spendyād mihrābān. Col. Y
pah-vīr ‘cattle-and-man’ from pah (Av. pasu- m., Osset. I fys, D fus, Bal. pas) and vīr (Av. vīra- m.). pasu vīra: pah-vīrōg. Dk iii, M 114
tan-gyān ‘body-and-soul’, cf. tangyānīg ‘of body and soul’. hān ped ōy tan-gyān andar bast. TM 7982 hanjaft tangyānīg bāšāhān. TM 4a II