Differences between Turkic and Iranian languages
The syntactic differences between Turkic and Iranian languages are as follows:
| criteria | Turkic languages | Iranian languages |
|---|---|---|
| Adjectives | Adjectives come before the noun | Adjectives follow the noun |
| Genitive | Genitive come before the noun | Genitive follow the noun |
| Relative clauses | Relative clauses come before the noun | Relative clauses follow the nouns |
| Morphological case | Case indicators are appended | No morphemes that really indicate the case |
| prepositions | No prepositions, but postpositions | Prepositions and only one postposition ("را", denotes the specific accusative) |
| Subordinate clauses | Subordinate clauses have their markers at the end | Subordinate clauses are complementers or subordinate clause conjunctions initiated |
| modal verbs | Modal verbs follow the main verb | Some modal verbs follow the main verb, others do not. |
| Interrogative pronouns | Interrogative pronoun is at the end of a sentence | Interrogative pronouns, if present, are at the beginning of a sentence |
| Multi-part conjunctions | Parts of a multi-part conjunction follow the paired elements | A multi-part conjunction precedes the paired elements |
Individual evidence
- ^ Soper, John David: Loan syntax in Turkic and Iranian: The verb systems of Tajik, Uzbek, and Qashqay , Los Angeles, Univ. of California, Diss., 1987, p. 14.