Stilo, Donald L., transcription, translation, and annotation. Vafsi Folk Tales: Twenty Four Tales in the Gurchani Dialect of Vafsi as Narrated by Ghazanfar Mahmudi and Mashdi Mahdi and Collected by Lawrence P. Elwell-Sutton.(Book review)

 

 

Publication: Asian Folklore Studies

Publication Date: 01-APR-07

Author: Markus-Takeshita, Kinga

 

STILO, DONALD L., transcription, translation, and annotation. Vafsi Folk Tales: Twenty Four Tales in the Gurchani Dialect of Vafsi as Narrated by Ghazanfar Mahmudi and Mashdi Mahdi and Collected by Lawrence P. Elwell-Sutton. Supplied with folklorist notes and edited by Ulrich Marzolph. Beitrage zur Iranisti k Band 25. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 2004. viii + 288 pages. Grammar notes, glossary, bibliography. Cloth 88.00 [euro]; ISBN 3-89500-423-5. With two CDS.

 

This book is an important contribution to Iranian folklore and dialectology that contains twenty-four oral tales in Vafsi, a little-known unwritten northwestern Iranian language, with their English translations. The materials were collected in August 1958 in west-central Iran by the late Professor L. P. Elwell-Sutton, the distinguished British Iranist (1912-1984) who recorded the Vafsi texts and their Persian translations from two native speakers on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Elwell-Sutton later transcribed and researched the materials, but they remained unpublished in his lifetime. It is due to the efforts of Dr. Ulrich Marzolph, one of the most outstanding contemporary experts on Middle Eastern folk literature, that these unique oral texts have now become available to us. (1)

 

D. L. Stilo, an American expert on the Vafsi language, was engaged for the project through a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. Stilo reworked and computerized Elwell-Sutton's original tape recordings and transcriptions and made a detailed linguistic analysis. As new fieldwork was not possible due to political circumstances, a Vafsi speaker was invited to Germany and consulted in order to achieve more accuracy in the transcription and interpretation of the materials.

 

The main body of the book is divided into four parts. The Introduction (1-23) contains a short summary of the Vafsi that is spoken in four villages in west central Iran, namely in Vafs, Chehreqan, Gurchan, and Fark. The language of the tale texts is defined as the Gurchani dialect of Vafsi. This part also contains information on the original storytellers and on the recording process. Two villagers, the sixteen-year-old Ghazanfar Mahmudi (speaker A) and the approximately sixty-year-old Mashdi Mahdi (speaker B) were narrating in Vafsi for about 228 minutes, and also gave an approximate and spontaneous translation in Persian. As the recording time ran approximately four hours each, they took turns narrating. The history of the project, methodology, and procedures concerning the corrections of Elwell-Sutton's original transcription and criteria regarding the translation of the texts are also discussed in this part.

 

At the core of the book lie the tale texts that are presented in Stilo's phonetic transcriptions alongside their English translations (26-197). They unmistakably belong to the typical stock of Middle Eastern tales and correspond with many internationally known types and motifs of folk tales. They include animal tales (nos. A6, A10), tales of magic (nos. A11, B8, B10, B 12), religious legends about the Prophet Moses (nos. B7, B9), novella tales (no. B 11), with a good deal of them featuring well-known tricksters, such as the Mulla Nasreddin (nos. A1, A5, B4), the thin-bearded one (kose: no. B1), and the bald one (kacal: no. A 9). There are also stories concerning fools (nos. A7, B3), the vileness of women (nos.A3, B2, B5), and formula tales (nos. A2, A4). Annotations (199-222) consist of a great number of grammatical interpretations of the texts by Stilo and the learned concise folkloristic notes by Marzolph. These latter are of particular interest for the folklorist reader since they contain the classification of each tale text according to AARNE and THOMPSON (1964), MARZOLPH (1984), and THOMPSON (1955-1958), and also contain some additional bibliographical references.

 

Readers who would welcome further information concerning Iranian folktales and storytellers should consult the relevant articles of the late Elwell-Sutton himself, who published on these topics in various journals between the 1970s and the early 1980s. (2)

 

The Grammar Notes (223-44) include the morphology and syntax of Vafsi in a nutshell. (More detailed discussion is promised to come to light in Stilo's planned Grammar of Vafsi.) The Glossary (245-86) and a short Bibliography (287-88) conclude the book. Two compact discs of the audio recordings of the original Vafsi texts accompany the volume.

 

This careful study adds to our understanding of the linguistic diversity of Iran with its array of local languages, many of which exist only orally and have a dwindling number of speakers, and where Persian (i.e., Farsi, itself a Southwestern Iranian language) functions as the language of administration, communication, and literacy.

 

Nevertheless, the insertion of a short summary on the major languages spoken in Iran in general and on the various members of Iranian language family in particular might have been helpful for the non-Iranist readers.

 

REFERENCES CITED

 

AARNE, Antti, and Stith THOMPSON, ed. & trans. 1964 The Types of the Folktale. FFC 184. Helsinki. Academia Scientiarum Fennica.

 

MARKUS-TAKESHITA, Kinga 1995 Review of MARZOLPH and AMIRHOSSEINI-NITHAMMER, eds. Asian Folklore Studies 54: 353-55.

 

MARZOLPH, Ulrich 1984 Typologie des persischen Volksmarchens. Beiruter Texte und Studien 31. Beirut-Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag.

 

MARZOLPH, Ulrich, and Azar AMIRHOSSEINI-NITHAMMER, eds. 1994 Die Erziahlungen der Masdi Galin Hanom. Gesammelt von L.P. Elwell-Sutton. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. 1994. 2 volumes (Vol. 1. Persian texts. Vol. 2. German companion volume with introduction and notes on narrators and the typology of the tales.)

 

THOMPSON, Stith 1955-1958 Motif-index of Folk-Literature. 6 volumes. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

 

NOTES

 

(1.) Marzolph has done much to preserve the folkloristic legacy of Elwell-Sutton. He edited and supplied linguistical and folkloristic comments for the original texts of the tales of Mashdi Galin Khanum, an earlier collection of Elwell-Sutton from a gifted woman storyteller in Tehran, which is dated back to the years of the years 1943-1947 (MARZOLPH and AMIRHOSSEINI-NITHAMMER, eds. 1994; reviewed in this journal by MARKUS-TAKESHITA 1995).

 

(2.) For more references on Elwell-Sutton's works on Iranian folklore studies the bibliographical references in MARZOLPH (1984, 310) and in the edition of Mashdi Galin Khanum (MARZOLPH, AMIRHOSSEINI, NITHAMMER, AZAR 1994, vol.1.7) can be consulted.

 

Kinga MARKUS-TAKESHITA

Sagamihara City

Kanagawa, Japan

 

COPYRIGHT 2007 Asian Folklore Studies

 

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در روزهای 23 تا 25 نوامبر سال 2007 میلادی (حدود 5 ماه قبل) کنفرانسی با عنوان "Ditransitive Constructions " در موسسه ماکس پلانک آلمان برگزار شد. یکی از برنامه های این کنفرانس، صحبت های پروفسور دونالد استیلو  پیرامون زبان وفسی بود که با عنوان " Ditransitives in Vafsi " به ارائه آن پرداختند.

 

Ditransitives in Vafsi

Don Stilo

MPI EVA, Leipzig

 

Vafsi, an Indo-Eruopean language of the Tati family of NW Iranian, (as opposed to SW Iranian, represented by Persian/Farsi), has two main constructions to indicate the Recipient of Ditransitive verbs. These differ from each other in the type of flagging and in important differences in word order. Both lack any indexing behavior. A third (much less common) construction is only manifested in its indexing of the REC directly in the verb, using the Oblique (or Set2) PAMs. That is, the two flagging types do not share any formal strategies with the indexing type.

 

1) The Double Object Ditransitive Construction (DOC), found with most Ditransitive verbs, most commonly with ‘give’, lacks an adposition but puts RECs in the Oblique case. The postverbal position of the REC (as opposed to the preverbal Theme) is also a significant (but still optional) feature of the DOC. The following two examples show both inanimate and animate Themes:

 

æz pul æd-do-m hæsǽn-i.                      in gulle-y æd-do-m tini no toæn.

I money DUR-give=1SG1 P.N.-OBL.MASC                               this calf-OBL.MASC DUR-gave=1SG1 he.OBL 9 toman

‘I gave (±the) money to Hassan.’             ‘I’ll give him this calf for 9 tomans (unit of money).’

 

2) The Indirect Object Construction (IOC), depending on the verb used, takes one of two prepositions, dæ ‘to, on’ (most common with ‘say’), o ‘to, on’ (rare, used occasionally with ‘give’), or the postposition =ra, ‘for/Benefactive, with/Comitative-Instrumental’. Animate RECs with dæ and o require the Oblique case; =ra always requires an Oblique. The REC (and its adposition) is more commonly preverbal with dæ, but may be preverbal or postverbal with the other adpositions.

 

dæ tawan hic nǽ-r-vaz-e                        kell-í=san æd-do-nde o in.tini

to we.OBL nothing NEG-DUR-say-3SG1                            daughter-OBL.FEM=3PL2 DUR-give-3PL1 to he.OBL

‘He doesn’t tell us anything’                     ‘They’ll give (= marry) their (3PL2) daughter to him.’

 

=ra is used in Ditransitive clauses with a very limited set of verbs (esp. ‘write’ and ‘send’, but also ‘bring’, ‘take’, etc.) The REC with =ra is usually postverbal, occasionally preverbal:

 

kaqæ æn-nivis-om esdæ=ra.

paper DUR-write-1SG1 you.OBL=for

‘I’ll write you a letter.’

 

3) In the Oblique PAM Ditransitive Construction (OPD), the Oblique PAM enclitics~prefixes (Set2: 1SG2, 2SG2, 3SG2, 1PL2, etc.) index the REC directly in the verb. One variant of the OPD occurs only with simplex verb roots when no Theme NP is present (rare). The second variant is used with simplex verbs that have an overt Theme (slightly more common) or with the Non-verbal element (NVE) of Light Verbs (very common). The crucial feature of this second variant is that the Set2 PAM prefix obligatorily moves leftwards off the verb and cliticizes to the Theme or the NVE.

 

No Overt Theme    Overt Theme                         Light Verb Construction

is-ær-vaz-om            ketab=es   æd-do-m (*is-æd-do-m)  nešan=es æd-do-m (*is-æd-do-m)

3SG2-DU-say-1SG1            book=3SG2        du-give-1SG1                                              sign=1SG2   DUR-give

‘I’ll tell him.’              ‘I’ll give him a book’                ‘I’ll show (it) to him’

In the full paper, I will discuss various optional points, variations, and restrictions within, and the statistics of frequency of, each of the three Ditransitive Constructions. I will also discuss the typology of the three Ditransitive constructions and show both the similarities and the differences between strategies for expressing Recipient vs. Patient/Theme, Goal/Destination (with motion verbs, verbs of placing, etc.), and Benefactive.

 

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رئیس ستاد انتخابات استان مرکزی نتایج انتخابات هشتمین دوره مجلس شورای اسلامی در تمامی حوزه‌های انتخابیه این استان را اعلام کرد.
علی قربانی روز شنبه در گفتگو با خبرنگار مهر در اراک افزود: هفت نماینده استان مرکزی در دور اول به مجلس راه یافتند.
وی گفت: در حوزه انتخابیه اراک و کمیجان، عباس رجایی با ‪ ۶۲‬هزار و ‪ ۵۱۴‬و سید احمد لطفی با کسب ‪ ۵۶‬هزار و ‪ ۶۴۶‬رای از مجموع ‪ ۱۷۹‬هزار آراء ماخوذه به مجلس راه یافتند.
در حوزه انتخابیه شازند محمود احمدی بیغش با کسب ‪ ۱۸‬هزار و ‪ ۳۸۴‬رای از مجموع ‪ ۵۹‬هزارو ‪ ۲۵۹‬رای به عنوان نماینده مردم این شهرستان انتخاب شد.
در حوزه انتخابیه ساوه حجت‌الاسلام حسین اسلامی با ‪ ۴۱‬هزارو ‪۶۳۴‬ رای از مجموع ‪ ۸۷‬هزار و ‪ ۵۴۶‬آرای ماخوذه به مجلس راه یافت.
در حوزه انتخابیه دلیجان و محلات حجت‌الاسلام محمد سلیمی با کسب ‪۱۲‬ هزار و ‪ ۳۴۶‬رای از مجموع ‪ ۳۴‬هزار و ‪ ۹۶۵‬رای ماخوذه به مجلس هشتم راه یافت.
در حوزه انتخابیه خمین محمد حسین مقیمی با کسب ‪ ۲۹‬هزار و ‪ ۲۴۴‬رای از مجموع ‪ ۴۹‬هزار و ‪ ۸۲۱‬آرای ماخوذه به عنوان نماینده مردم این شهرستان انتخاب شد.
در حوزه انتخابیه تفرش و آشتیان بهمن اخوان با کسب ‪۱۷‬هزار و ‪۷۴۶‬ رای از مجموع ‪ ۴۱‬هزار و ‪ ۱۰۳‬رای ماخوذه به مجلس راه یافت.

مردم وفس برای تحقق خواسته های خود، باید به کدام نامزد انتخاباتی حوزه اراک، کمیجان و خنداب رای بدهند؟

چه فردی بیشتر برای وفس کار خواهد کرد؟

آیا یک نامزد اهل کمیجان، بیشتر برای وفس کار خواهد کرد و یا یک نامزد اهل اراک؟

نظر شما چیست؟

آقای سید حمیدرضا میری، دهیار وفس، قصد کناره گیری از مسئولیت خود را دارد. او استعفای خود را به اعضای شورا اعلام نموده است اما قرار بر این شده تا تعیین دهیار جدید در این مسئولیت باقی بماند.

به همین دلیل شورای وفس، از تمام علاقه مندان فعالیت در دهیاری وفس دعوت نموده تا تمایل خود را اعلام نمایند.

نظر شما چیست؟ 

رييس سازمان ميراث فرهنگي گردشگري و صنايع دستي استان مركزي گفت: يكصد روستاي هدف گردشگري در اين استان شناسايي شده است.

"سيد محمد حسيني" روز يكشنبه در گفت و گو با ايرنا افزود: مناطق روستايي با چشم اندازهاي بكر طبيعي، جاذبه‌هاي زيستي و خرده‌فرهنگهاي بومي به عنوان اهداف جدي سازمان ميراث فرهنگي، گردشگري و صنايع دستي در تبديل به قطبهاي گردشگري مدنظر است .

وي گفت: تاكنون ‪ ۱۰‬روستا در كارگروه ميراث فرهنگي، گردشگري و صنايع دستي استان مركزي مصوب شده‌واز طريق دفتر مناطق روستايي‌سازمان گردشگري و سازمان همياريهاي وزارت كشور مطالعات پايه و اجرايي آنها در دست اقدام است.

وي افزود: طرح مطالعاتي پنج روستاي مذكور شامل وفس، هزاوه، آوه، شهابيه و جاسب تهيه شده و پنج روستاي ديگر نيز مراحل پژوهشي پايه را طي مي‌كند.

وي گفت: به منظور حفظ و اشاعه فرهنگ عشايري استان مركزي رايزنيهايي با اداره امور عشايري جهاد كشاورزي صورت گرفته اما هنوز كار جدي انجام نشده است.

وي افزود: هشت ايل در استان مركزي وجود دارد كه برنامه‌ريزي براي معرفي جاذبه‌هاي زندگي كوچرو، صنايع دستي ، توليدات بومي و لباس و آرايه‌هاي فرهنگي آنان در برنامه سازمان ميراث فرهنگي، گردشگري و صنايع دستي استان است.

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