THE USAGE OF TAJIK ORIGINAL WORDS AND THEIR MORPHOLOGICAL-LEXICAL PECULIARITIES IN MUHAMMAD IQBAL’S PERSIAN POETRY
THE USAGE OF TAJIK ORIGINAL WORDS AND THEIR MORPHOLOGICAL-LEXICAL PECULIARITIES IN MUHAMMAD IQBAL’S PERSIAN POETRY
Abstract
The given article dwells on the usage of Tajik-origin words and their morphological-lexical peculiarities in Muhammad Iqbal’s Persian poetry. Utilizing a corpus-based approach, 1,200 lines from Iqbal’s Jāvēdnāmeh, Zabūr-i-Ajam, and Payām-i Mashriq were analyzed through qualitative and quantitative methods. Results identify 482 lexical items of Tajik provenance revealing morphological adaptations (e.g., nouns: 68% garmoy/heatwave; adjectives: 10% surkh-rūy/rosy-cheeked; numerals: 15% yak/one; pronouns: 25% man/I). These findings underscore Iqbal’s intentional use of Tajik original lexicons to reconnect Persian with its Central Asian roots, challenge Indo-Persian linguistic conventions, and articulate pan-Islamic solidarity. The study bridges linguistic analysis with literary criticism, highlighting Iqbal’s role in revitalizing cross-dialectal Persian lexicography.
1. Introduction
1.1. Background and Context
Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938), a foundational figure in Urdu and Persian literature, strategically employed Persian as a lingua franca for Islamic intellectual revival. His Persian dīvāns (Zabūr-i-Ajam, Jāvēdnāmeh) integrate vocabulary from non-standard Persian dialects, notably Tajik – a variant spoken in Central Asia with distinct phonological and morphological traits . While Persian in South Asia absorbed Arabic, Turkish, and Sanskrit loans, Iqbal’s incorporation of Tajik lexemes marks a deliberate departure from Mughal-era Indo-Persian conventions .
The diverse creative output and multi-themed works of Allama Iqbal Lahori have long been the focus of study and research by scholars of the East and West, particularly researchers from India, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and other countries worldwide .
Research objectives:
- to catalog Tajik-origin words in Iqbal’s Persian poetry;
- to analyze their morphological integration and semantic evolution;
- to correlate lexical usage with morphological features;
- to evaluate Iqbal’s role in redefining Persian linguistic identity.
2. Research methods
2.1. Corpus Design
Primary Texts: 1,200 lines from Persian collection (in Cyrillic script) (1997) digitized using XML-TEI encoding.
Control Corpus: 500 lines from Muhammad Iqbal’s Persian poetry for baseline Persian lexicography.
2.2. Lexicon Identification
Step 1: Compiled Tajik lemmas from Farhangi Zaboni Tojikī and Grammar of Modern Tajik .
Step 2: Cross-referenced lemmas with Iqbal’s corpus via AntConc 3.5.9, using lemma-based tagging.
Step 3: Filtered words absent in The Spiritual Father of Pakistan and Tajik Lexicon in Modern Persian Texts .
2.3. Analytical Framework
Morphology: Adaptations classified via Sharma borrowing typology.
Semantics: Coded for metaphorization using Erkinov’s conceptual metaphor theory .
Statistical Tools: Logistic regression in R 4.2.0 to correlate word frequency with thematic clusters.
3. Main results and discussion
The study of the language of literary works constitutes one of the significant issues in linguistics. Dwelling on the language of a specific period of literary history holds considerable importance. It is precisely through this study that the language of a particular historical era is understood.
Every author, when composing a work, relies on the literary language, utilizing its possibilities according to their own knowledge and skill. Or, as linguist K.Mukhtori states, the analysis and study of the lexical composition and stylistic features of poetic language (nazm) within Tajik linguistics has an ancient history. Lexicographers and biographers (tazkirah writers) of the past had already undertaken this work. In all dictionaries where the semantic interpretation of words and their stylistic nuances are mentioned, excerpts from poetic texts are primarily cited as evidence to substantiate arguments. In the tazkirahs (biographical compendia) and theoretical literary-critical works of earlier periods, where various aspects of literary works — primarily poetry (nazm) — were examined, the language of these works has been discussed by every possible means .
The poet's vocabulary is primarily formed by Tajik original words, whose origins trace back to Old and Middle Persian languages. These are the foremost words that have emerged to express diverse concepts and are highly productive in Tajik word formation.
The original words in Iqbal's poetry can be categorized into the following groups based on their grammatico-morphological features:
1. Lexical Inventory.
482 Tajik words identified (4.2% of total corpus lexicon), distributed as:
Nouns: 68% (e.g., garmoy [heatwave], bofanda [weaver]).
Verbs: 22% (e.g., shudan [to become]).
Adjectives: 10% (e.g., surkh-rūy [rosy-cheeked]).
Numerals: 15% (e.g., yak [one]).
Pronouns: 25% (e.g., man [I]).
2. Top Semantic Domains of Tajik Original Words.
Nature/Topography: 28% (e.g., chashma [spring], kuh [mountain]).
Sufism: 32% (e.g., dilbarī [mystic love], sāqī [cupbearer]).
Social Critique: 19% (e.g., dehqon [peasant], zahmatkash [laborer]).
3.1. Grammatical and Morphological Adaptations
1. Nouns: gul , dil, sukhan, oftof, orzu , pir, sang, sar, sipand , po , parvona, dast , rang , dandon, gūsh , gardan, guli sadbarg, shutur, ob , bozor, ahgar , gūsfandon , gurgi, sabza , lab , lola , zard , po, gavhar, shutur , pisar , chaman , barno , chēhra , mijgon, gulzo , gulsiton , gil , ajdaho , shab, rūz , mard, ruhsor , girya, rag , gesū , pūlod , panba, gumon , shikam , garm , angur , mōr , zabon , zindagi, palang, nahang , tan, marg, paykar , gar, agar, khud, khudī , barg, dūst, shokh .
Zi oghozi khudī kasro khabar nest,
Khudī dar halqai shomu sahar nest.
Zi Khizr in nukta-i nodir shunidam
Ki bahr az mawji khud derintar ast .
***
Naqshi u gar sang girad, dil shavad,
Dil gar az yodash nasuzad, gil shavad .
2. Abstract nouns: orzu, sukhan .
Orzuro dar dili khud zinda dor,
To nagardad mushti khoki tu mazoor,
Orzu joni jahonii rangu bust,
Fitrati har shayt emin orzust .
3. Concrete nouns:
a) nouns denoting kinship relations pir , pisar , barno , mard , dust ;
b) nouns referring to human bodies dil , sar , po , dast , dandon, guš , gardan , lab , chehra , mijgon , ruhsor , rag , gesu , shikam , zabon , tan , paykar ;
Dil ba dast avar, ki dar pahnoi dil,
Meshavad gum in saroi obu gil .
c) nouns indicating the names of plants, trees, and fruits gul , sipand , sadbarg , lola , panba , angur ;
d) nouns indicating the names of some foods and beverages ob ;
e) nouns indicating the names of birds, animals and insects parvana , mur , ajdahon , ushtur , palang, nahang ;
Khidmat u mehnat shiori ushtur ast,
Sabru istiqlol kori ushtur ast .
f) nouns that refer to different concepts oftob , gil , barg , shoh .
4. Other groups of Tajik original words are adjectives expressing various characteristics and signs: ravshantar, nav , puhtatar , nakū , durakhshon, dilshikan , pok .
Zarrāam, mehri munir oni man ast,
Sad sanhar andar gireboni man ast.
Khoki man ravshantar az jomi Jam ast,
Mahram az nozodhoi olam ast .
***
Oshiqoni u zi khubon khubtar,
Khushtaru zebotaru mahbubtar .
In the above couplet, the poet uses adjectives to express his thoughts, using four adjectives in one couplet, which is very striking.
Tani garmu nozuk ba tinu guzar
Ragi sakht chun shohi onhu biyor .
***
Oshiqoni u zi khubon khubtar,
Khushtaru zebotaru mahbubtar .
5. Numerals
Bahri yak gul khuni sad gulshan kunad,
Az pai yak naghma sad shevan kunad,
Yak falakro sad hilol ovardast,
Bahri harfе sad maqol ovardast .
***
Fard puri shastu haftod astu bas,
Qavmro yak sol misli yak nafas .
6. Pronouns
1) personal pronouns: man , u , tu, khud ;
2) negative pronouns: hej kas :
Hej kas roze, ki man guyam naguft,
Hamchu fikri man dur(р)i ma’nї nasuft .
Into the bargain, one of the important means that has preserved the greatness of the great orator of the East, Allama Iqbal, to our time is the simple and fluent language of his works. Both in the field of rhetoric and oratory, and in the development of linguistics and literary studies, Jami's contribution is worthy of praise and merit. The language of Allama Iqbal's works, like the language of other famous classics of Persian and Tajik literature — Rudaki, Firdawsi, Saadi and Jalaluddin Rumi, is very close to our modern language. For this reason, today's reader can easily read, understand and enjoy every line of the works of such great literary figures of different periods.
4. Conclusion
Thus, the language employed in Allama Iqbal's works is exceptionally rich and eloquent, encompassing all facets of human social existence.
The study and analysis of historical linguistic artifacts from past eras illuminate a segment of the language's diachronic trajectory. The poetry of Allama Iqbal, as a prominent exemplar of artistic works within Persian-Tajik literature, constitutes a superior representation of the linguistic landscape of the 19th and 20th centuries. The poet's invaluable verses embody the persona of a skilled wordsmith and connoisseur of language, as well as a composer of ethical ideals. The language of the poet's verse, serving as a representative sample of the linguistic milieu of that era, provides data concerning the compositional state of its lexicon. As the language of a specific creative artist, it possesses numerous distinctive characteristics.
The foundation of the lexical composition of the poet's extant works is constituted by native vocabulary, a phenomenon consistent with expectation. The application of inherently Tajik words in Allama Iqbal's poetry is noteworthy, with a significant proportion of these terms remaining in active usage within the contemporary literary Tajik language.
Iqbal’s integration of Tajik lexemes transcends ornamental borrowing, serving as:
1. Linguistic Revitalization: to preserve endangered Tajik forms within literary Persian.
2. Ideological Resistance: to counter Eurocentric and Arabic-centric linguistic hierarchies.
3. Literary Innovation: to hybrid grammar expands Persian’s expressive range.
Future research should quantify Tajik’s influence on post-Iqbal Urdu poets and digitize marginalia from Iqbal’s Tajik lexicon sources.