- What are distal and proximal demonstratives?
- What is a demonstrative adjective?
- Do demonstratives adjectives agree in number with nouns?
- What kind of compound demonstrative adjectives does Persian have?
Persian has a two-way distinction between demonstratives: proximal and distal. Proximal demonstratives like English “this” and “these”, indicate being close to the speaker and distal demonstratives like English “that” and “those”, indicate being away from the speaker. When a demonstrative word is used with a noun, it is called a demonstrative adjective and when it substitutes a noun, it is called a demonstrative pronoun.
In Persian, demonstrative adjectives, like other adjectives, have only one form. They agree neither in gender nor in number with the noun they modify. For example, we say “this books” instead of “these books”. The plural form i.e. “books” itself indicates that we are referring to more than one book.
Simple demonstratives combine with certain words and form compound demonstratives. Therefore, Persian has the following sets of demonstrative adjectives:
- Simple demonstrative adjectives
- Compound demonstrative adjectives
- Demonstrative adjectives of exactitude
- Demonstrative adjectives of similitude
Simple Demonstrative Adjectives
The simple demonstrative adjectives of Persian are این (in) and آن (ân).
| Proximal | Distal |
|---|---|
| این in this, these |
آن ân that, those |
| Proximal | Distal | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | این میز in miz this table |
آن میز ân miz that table |
| Plural | این میزها in mizhâ these tables (literally: this tables) |
آن میزها ân mizhâ those tables (literally: that tables) |
More examples:
| آن پسر برادرش است Ân pesar barâdar-ash ast That boy is his brother |
| از این پیراهن خوشت می‌آید؟ Az in pirâhan khosh-at miâyad? Do you like this shirt? |
| آن لباس چند است؟ Ân lebâs chand ast? How much is that dress? |
Demonstrative Adjectives of Exactitude
Demonstrative adjectives of exactitude are formed by prefixing هم (“ham”, same) to simple demonstrative adjectives. They denote “exactly” and function like English “this/that very”, “this/that same”, “the same” and “the very same”.
| Proximal | Distal |
|---|---|
| همین hamin this same, these same, the same |
همان hamân that same, those same, the same |
Examples:
| همین خانه hamin khâne this same house |
| همان مردم hamân mardom those same people |
| دقیقا همین حرف را زد Daghighan hamin harf râ zad He said exactly the same thing |
| همان داستان همیشگی hamân dâstân-e hamishegi the same old story |
Demonstrative Adjectives of Similitude
Demonstrative adjectives of similitude are formed by prefixing چون (“chon”, like) to simple demonstratives. They are similar to English “such” and “like this/that”. Demonstratives of similitude make their noun specific. Therefore, the indefinite article always accompanies the noun.
| Proximal | Distal |
|---|---|
| چونین chonin like this/these; such (a) |
چونان chonân like that/those; such (a) |
Examples:
| چونین کتابی chonin ketâb-i such a book, a book like this |
| چونین کتابهایی chonin ketâbhâ-yi such books, books like these |
| چونین رفتاری chonin raftâr-i such behavior, behavior like this |
چونین and چونان are often written as چنین and چنان. Additionally, they are often pronounced as chenin and chenân. However, there is no word as چن in Persian nor it is pronounced chen.
Summary of Demonstrative Adjectives
The following table summarizes all demonstrative adjectives of Persian language.
| Simple | Exactitude | Similitude | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proximal | این in |
همین hamin |
چونین chonin |
| Distal | آن ân |
همان hamân |
چونان chonân |