More on Compounds

Once we learn about the difference between stative and dynamic compounds, a lot of confusion is removed.

Dynamic Compounds

• talk about an action/activity being done
• are made up of:
  • a noun describing an action/activity
  • a helper verb
• bring their own object (with transitive compounds the noun in the compound becomes the object of the phrase)
• use کول - kawúl (to do) or other helper verbs
• you can recognize them when there's a و - óo (perfective prefix) added to کول - kawúl (to do)

Stative Compounds

• talk about something changing (changing state)
• are made up of:
  • a complement that describes the change
  • a helper verb کول - kawul (to make) / کېدل - kedul (to become)
• the complement gets welded together as one block with the verb unless we're using the perfective aspect
• If the complement is a adjective or noun and has a hard ending, it usually gets squished together with the helper verb
• you will never see a و - óo (perfective prefix) added to the helper verb

But there are a couple of special cases to watch out for which can cause more confusion for the learner.

Some can be dynamic or stative

Some compounds can be used as either dynamic or stative compounds. For instance with the compound verb استري کول - istree kawul (to iron) you can use it either as:

• a stative compound
  • as in "to iron ____" (to make ____ ironed)
• a dynamic compound
  • as in "to do ironing" (to do the activity of ironing)

استري کول as stative

With the stative version we are using

• استري - istree (iron) as a complement noun.
• کول - kawul as "to make"

So we are talking about making an object ironed.

In the past tense, the verb will always agree with the object that's being ironed (the of the phrase).

Also we notice that since we are using کول - kawul (to make) as the helper verb, there is no و - óo prefix.

استري کول as dynamic

But we can also use a dynamic version of this compound if we use

• استري - istree (iron) as an action noun/object
• کول - kawul (to do) as the helper verb

Now instead of talking about making something ironed (stative), we are talking about doing the action of ironing

Now the object of the phrase is استري - istree (iron), so in the past tense, the verb will always agree with استري - istree (iron). Even if you add a possesor to استري - istree (iron) to say what she was ironing, استري - istree (iron) is still the object.

Other examples

Another compound that can be used as either stative or dynamic is قتل کول - qatul kawul (to murder). It can be either:

As stative:

In this example:

• قتل - qatul (murder) is a complement noun
• درې کسان - dre kasaan (three people) is the object
• the verb agrees with the object درې کسان - dre kasaan (three people)
• there is no و - óo prefix because we're using کول - kawul (to make)

As dynamic

In this example:

• قتل - qatul (murder) is the object
• the verb agrees with the object قتل - qatul (murder)
• there is a و - óo prefix because we're using کول - kawul (to do)

Generative stative compounds

There are a number of compound verbs like:

• چیغه کول - cheegha kawul (to scream)
• غږ کول - ghuG kawul (to call out)
• کیسه کول - keesa kawul (to tell a story)

that can be used either as dynamic compounds or as generative stative compounds.

That means that these can be used as stative compounds, but with an unspoken complement that describes something "existing."

So with چیغه کول - cheegha kawul (to scream) you could say:

or

You might also hear something like,

And these can work the the intransitive versions as well