The given article dwells on the comparative analysis of the morphological peculiarities of the Tajik auxiliary verb kardan/кардан (to do/make) within compound verb constructions. The comparative analysis reveals a fundamental typological divergence: Tajik employs a synthetic-analytic verb formation, whereas English predominantly utilizes lexical verbs or periphrastic constructions. The study concludes that the grammaticalization of kardan presents significant translational challenges, often resolved through zero equivalence, lexical fusion, or functional shifts in voice and valency. The findings contribute to the fields of contrastive linguistics, translation studies, and Turkic-Iranian philology.
1. Introduction
It is known that the verb in comparative languages is an independent part of speech, expressing action, state and movement, and answers the questions what did he do? what does he do? what happened? what will happen?. Depending on the structure of verbs, their lexical, grammatical and stylistic values are determined. In modern linguistics, grammar is a science that studies the structure of language and its laws as a whole. Grammar as a structure of language represents a style (system) that combines word formation, morphology and syntax. In particular, morphology also studies the grammatical properties of a word and its forms, the grammatical and syntactic meanings of phrases, word formation structures and sentences, the location and order of words, as well as word formation structures — words that are based on another word with the same root, are substantiated and are determined in a sentence by meaning and form using special means specific to the language [3, P. 88].
This study aims to:
1) identify the morphological markers attached to kardan in authentic compound verb contexts;
2) classify the semantic-syntactic functions of the preverbal element;
3) analyze the strategies employed in English translations to render these constructions;
4) establish typological patterns of equivalence. The novelty of this research lies in its exclusive focus on the auxiliary kardan (excluding other operators such as namudan, sokhtan, or dodan).
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Research Material
The research material comprises authentic Tajik sentences extracted from academic historical works on the Mongol invasion and the Khwarazmian dynasty, specifically volumes 13-67 of a standard Tajik history compilation. These sentences were selected based on the presence of the auxiliary verb kardan/кардан in various morphological forms. Each Tajik sentence is paired with its published English translation, allowing for direct comparative analysis based on Aini, Sadriddin. Temur Malik Tajik People`s Hero. Muqanna`s Rebellion. Translation into English and introduction by Professor Abdusalom Mamadnazarov. — Dushanbe: R-graph, (2022).
2.2. Methodology
The study employs a four-tiered comparative methodology:
1. Morphological segmentation: Decomposition of the kardan form into root, tense, person, and aspect markers.
2. Functional identification: Classification of the preverbal element (noun, adjective, Arabic infinitive, etc.).
3. Translational equivalence typology: Identification of the English structural counterpart (single verb, phrasal verb, periphrastic construction, or omission).
4. Contrastive interpretation: Explanation of observed divergences within the framework of morphological typology.
3. Main results
3.1. Morphological Paradigm of Kardan in Compound Verbs
The analysis of the sixteen Tajik sentences reveals a complete morphological paradigm of kardan. The auxiliary verb consistently appears in final position and carries all verbal inflections.
3.2. Structural Classification of Preverbal Components
The elements preceding kardan demonstrate significant morphological diversity:
1. Arabic verbal nouns (maṣdar): ишғол (occupation), мудофиа (defense), интихоб (selection), исён (rebellion), итоат (obedience), талаб (demand), ҳимоят (defense/protection), мусодира (confiscation).
2. Tajik/Persian nominal elements: парвариш (nurturing), хирман (stockpile/stack), кор (work), гумон (suspicion/thought).
3. Adjectival elements: розӣ (satisfied/agreeing), баланд (high), пайдо (found/visible).
4. Prepositional/adverbial compound: ба худ (to self).
5. Complex verbal phrase: сар кардан (to begin).
3.3. English Translational Equivalents: A Typology
The English translations employ five distinct strategies. These are quantified and exemplified below.
3.3.1. Strategy A: Single Lexical Verb (50% of cases)
The most frequent strategy involves replacing the entire Tajik compound verb with a single English lexical verb.
(1) Tajik: Отсизи Хоразмшоҳ ба Султон Санҷари Салҷуқӣ исён карда бу [10, P. 18–19] — English: Atsiz Khorazmshah revolted against the Seljuk Sultan Sanjar.
The Tajik past perfect (carda bud) indicates an action completed prior to another past action. English reduces this to simple past "revolted." The nominal element isyon (rebellion) + kardan (to do) fuses into the Latinate verb "revolt." The valency structure (ba + person) shifts to "against + person."
(2) Tajik: Отсиз дар аввалҳои ҳукумати худ ... ба Султон Санҷари Салҷуқӣ итоат кард [10, P. 20] — English: Atsiz ... obeyed Seljuk Sultan Sanjar.
Morphological simplification. Tajik itoat kard (obedience did) becomes English "obeyed." The prepositional object marker ba is absorbed into the transitive verb's direct object.
(3) Tajik: Бухороро ... ишғол кард [10, P. 22] — he invaded Bukhara.
Ishƣol (occupation) + kard becomes "invaded." The direct object marker -ro is replaced by English post-verbal positioning.
(4) Tajik: Муғулон ... интихоб карданд [10, P. 47] — English: Mongols selected a mountain.
Intixob (choice) + kardand (did.3pl) becomes "selected." The durative or repetitive aspect implied by the plural subject is neutralized in English simple past.
(5) Tajik: Ӯ ... мардумро ... ба таслим розӣ кард [10, P. 50] — English: he ... managed to persuade the people to surrender.
This is a complex transformation. Rozi (agreed/satisfied) + kard (did) is a causative construction: "he made [them] agreeing." English uses the lexical verb "persuade," incorporating the modal nuance "managed to" from context.
(6) Tajik: Темурмалик ... давом мекард [10, P. 55] — English: Temur Malik continued his voyage.
Davom (continuation) + me-kard (did.IPFV) becomes "continued." The durative imperfective aspect is lost in the English simple past.
(7) Tajik: ... қуввати гуфтор пайдо карда... [10, P. 62] — English: ... found strength to speak...
Paydo (visible/found) + karda (did.PTCP) becomes "found." This is a perfective converb in Tajik, rendered as a finite verb in English.
3.3.2. Strategy B: Periphrastic or Phrasal Verb Construction (18.75%)
In several instances, English employs a multi-word verb, reflecting the analytic nature of the Tajik original.
(8) Tajik: Чингиз ... ба мубориза бо худ даъват мекард [10, P. 28] — English: Chingiz ... invited Sultan to fight him.
While "invited" is a single verb, the phrase "to fight him" translates the prepositional phrase ba muboriza bo xud. The compound da'vat mekard (invitation did.IPFV) becomes "invited." The aspect is neutralized.
(9) Tajik: ... баъд аз андешаи бисёр гумон кард [10, P. 43] — English: After a lot of thinking, he thought.
Gumon kard (suspicion did) becomes "thought." While a single verb, it is periphrastic in origin. This demonstrates lexicalization.
(10) Tajik: ... саргузашти худро ҳикоя кард [10, P. 62] — English: ... told his story.
Hikoya kard (story did) becomes "told his story." The English is also periphrastic (V + O), mirroring the Tajik structure more closely than cases of single verb equivalence.
3.3.3. Strategy C: Fusion with Valency Change (12.5%)
Some translations involve not only lexical fusion but also a change in the verb's argument structure.
(11) Tajik: Ӯ ... хешовандони худ ... ҳимоят кард [10, P. 32] — English: She always defended her relatives.
Himoyat kard (defense did) becomes "defended." The English verb is transitive, matching the Tajik -ro marked object. The adverb "always" compensates for the missing durative aspect.
(12) Tajik: ... мусодира мекард [10, P. 32] — English: confiscated their properties.
Musodira mekard (confiscation did.IPFV) becomes "confiscated." The durative/habitual aspect is implied by context.
(13) Tajik: Темурмалик ду тири боқимондаро ба ҳаво баланд карда... [10, P. 60] — English: Temur Malik raised the remaining two arrows in the air...
Baland karda (high did.PTCP) becomes "raised." This is a causative/inchoative construction. The English verb "raise" is the causative counterpart of "rise," perfectly mirroring the Tajik function.
3.3.4. Strategy D: Omission or Lexical Shift (12.5%)
In some cases, the verb kardan is not directly translated but is absorbed into the semantics of another element.
(14) Tajik: Чингизиён ... ҳаракат карданд [10, P. 48] — English: the army of Chingiz Khan moved toward Khujand city.
Harakat kardand (movement did.3pl) becomes "moved." This is a standard lexicalization. However, the subject shifts from "Chingizids" to "the army," representing a translator's lexical choice rather than a direct grammatical equivalence.
(15) Tajik: Вақте ки қалби лашкари душманро торумор кард... [10, P. 59] — English: When he destroyed the central part of the enemy...
Torumor kard (routed/destroyed did) becomes "destroyed." The Tajik word torumor is itself a compound (thread + ant?), and the English "destroyed" captures the resultative semantics.
3.3.5. Strategy E: Passive or Stative Interpretation (6.25%)
(16) Tajik: Гӯсфанди хомсӯз ба сархушҳо ... хизмат мекард [10, P. 64] — English: The half-fried sheep also served the intoxicated Mongols as food.
Xizmat mekard (service did.IPFV) becomes "served." While active in form in both languages, the English "served" in this context carries a passive, instrumental nuance ("was used as"). The subject is inanimate, forcing a functional reading.
4. Discussion
4.1. The Grammaticalization Continuum of Kardan
The data confirms that kardan exists on a grammaticalization cline. At one end, it retains full lexical meaning ("to do/make"). In our corpus, however, it predominantly functions as a light verb. Its semantic contribution is minimal; its primary role is to host verbal inflections. The English data shows that this light verb is almost never translated as "do" or "make." Instead, the semantic load of the preverb is transferred entirely onto an English lexical verb [7], [8].
4.2. Morphological Asymmetry and Translation Loss
The most significant finding is the systematic loss of Tajik aspectual morphology in English translations.
Tajik possesses a robust imperfective marker ме- (me-). In examples (7), (8), (12), and (16), мекард/мекарданд indicates durative, habitual, or iterative action. The English translations uniformly employ the simple past ("continued," "invited," "confiscated," "served"). This creates a zero equivalence situation for aspect. English, lacking a grammaticalized imperfective aspect for past actions (aside from the periphrastic "used to" or "was/were +ing"), cannot formally mark this distinction. The information is either implied by context or lost.
Similarly, the past perfect (карда буд), indicating an action prior to another past action, is reduced to simple past in English (example 1), relying on narrative sequence for temporal disambiguation.
4.3. Valency and Voice
Tajik compound verbs with kardan are predominantly active and transitive. The preverb often derives from an Arabic passive participle, yet the construction remains active. For instance, musodira kardan (confiscation doing) is active. English, preferring lexical verbs, retains the active voice but simplifies the derivational morphology.
A notable exception is the causative construction (розӣ кард - to make satisfied). English lacks a morphological causative for adjectives "satisfied" and must resort to a lexical causative ("persuade") or a periphrastic one ("make happy"). This represents a functional equivalence achieved through lexical substitution rather than structural parallelism [9].
4.4. The Preverbal Element: Noun or Verb?
A persistent debate in Iranian linguistics concerns the categorical status of the preverbal element. Our data supports the "split" hypothesis. Elements like ишғол, исён, итоат are clearly nominal (Arabic infinitives). Elements like баланд (high) are adjectival. Elements like розӣ (agreed) are adjectival/stative. English resolves this by converting all such categories into finite verb roots.
4.5. Theoretical Implications for Translation Studies
From a translation perspective, the rendering of kardan compounds requires the application of Vinay and Darbelnet's transposition procedure. A shift occurs from the grammatical structure of SL (N + V) to the grammatical structure of TL (V). This transposition is obligatory due to the typological divergence between Iranian and Germanic languages.
5. Conclusion
This comparative analysis of the Tajik auxiliary verb kardan within compound constructions and their English equivalents reveals profound morphological and structural divergences. The Tajik verb kardan functions as a grammaticalized operator, primarily serving as a carrier for tense, aspect, person, and mood markers, while the semantic nucleus resides in the invariant preverbal element. The Tajik light verb construction has no direct structural equivalent in English. English prefers synthetic lexical verbs. The rich aspectual system of Tajik (me- imperfective, -a bud perfect) is consistently neutralized in English translations, representing the most significant systematic loss.
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