Ezafe in Zazaki

Abstract

This chapter describes the Ezafe construction in Zazaki in which all nominal and non-nominal modifiers, including possessors, appear in the postnominal position and are linked to their head noun with the Ezafe marker. Ezafe in this language displays distinguishing properties such that it not only inflects for the phi-features and the definiteness of the head noun, but it also reflects the case that the whole noun phrase receives in the clause. The Direct and Oblique case distinctions observed in this language are thus reflected on the Ezafe forms in relevant syntactic positions. Besides, there is a separate series of Ezafe forms, which we refer to as D-forms, used only in Southern Zazaki whenever a modified noun phrase serves as the possessor or as the complement of certain adpositions, or after the indefinite suffix in the context of indefiniteness.