View source for Middle Persian

{{Short description|Southwestern Iranian language}}
{{cleanup lang|date=October 2021|iso=pal}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Middle Persian
| altname          = 
| nativename       = {{lang|pal|𐭯𐭠𐭫𐭮𐭩𐭪}} ({{Transliteration|pal|Pārsīk}}, {{Transliteration|pal|Pārsīg}})
| region           = [[Sasanian Empire]] (224–651)
| ethnicity        = [[Persians]]
| era              = Evolved into [[Persian language#New Persian|Early New Persian]] by the 9th century; thereafter used only by [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] priests for [[exegesis]] and religious instruction
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
| fam3             = [[Iranian languages|Iranian]]
| fam4             = [[Western Iranian languages|Western]]
| fam5             = [[Western Iranian languages#Southwestern|Southwestern]]
| ancestor         = [[Old Persian]]
| script           = [[Pahlavi scripts]], [[Manichaean script]], [[Avestan alphabet]], [[Pazend]]
| iso2             = pal
| lc1              = pal
| ld1              = Zoroastrian Middle Persian ("Pahlavi")
| lc2              = xmn
| ld2              = Manichaean Middle Persian (Manichaean script)
| glotto           = pahl1241
| glottoname       = 
| lingua           = 58-AAC-ca
| image            = Middle Persian.png
}}
{{long|date=September 2025}}
{{Contains special characters|Perso-Arabic}}
'''Middle Persian''', also known by its [[endonym]] '''Pārsīk''' or '''Pārsīg'''  ([[Inscriptional Pahlavi|Inscriptional Pahlavi script]]: {{lang|pal|𐭯𐭠𐭫𐭮𐭩𐭪}}, [[Manichaean script]]: {{lang|pal|{{script|Mani|𐫛𐫀𐫡𐫘𐫏𐫐}}}}, [[Avestan script]]: {{lang|pal|{{script|Avst|𐬞𐬀𐬭𐬯𐬍𐬐}}}}) in its later form,<ref name = Mushegh>{{cite journal |first=Mushegh |last=Asatrian |year=2006 |title=Iranian Elements in Arabic: The State of Research |journal=Iran & the Caucasus |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=87–106 |doi=10.1163/157338406777979386 }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=MacKenzie |first=D. N. |title=A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary |publisher=OUP |year=1986 |page=45}}</ref> is a Western [[Iranian languages#Middle Iranian|Middle Iranian language]] which became the literary language of the [[Sasanian Empire]]. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Persian continued to function as a [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige language]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Versteegh |first=K. |year=2001 |title=Linguistic Contacts between Arabic and Other Languages |journal=Arabica |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=470–508 |doi=10.1163/157005801323163825 }}</ref> It descended from [[Old Persian]], the language of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] and is the linguistic ancestor of [[Persian language#Modern Persian|Modern Persian]], the official language of [[Iran|Iran (also known as Persia)]], [[Afghanistan]] ([[Dari]]) and [[Tajikistan]] ([[Tajik language|Tajik]]).

==Name==

"Middle Iranian" is the name given to the middle stage of development of the [[Iranian languages|numerous Iranian languages and dialects]].<ref>{{citation|last=Henning|first=Walter Bruno|year=1958|title=Mitteliranisch|series=Handbuch der Orientalistik I, IV, I|location=Leiden|publisher=Brill}}.</ref>{{rp|1}} The middle stage of the Iranian languages begins around 450 BCE and ends around 650 CE. One of those Middle Iranian languages is Middle Persian, i.e. the middle stage of the language of the Persians, an Iranian people of [[Persis|Persia proper]], which lies in the [[Zagros Mountains|south-western Iran highlands]] on the border with [[Babylonia]]. The Persians called their language ''Parsig'', meaning "Persian".

Another Middle Iranian language was [[Parthian language|Parthian]], i.e. the language of the [[Western Iranian languages|northwestern Iranian]] peoples of [[Parthia|Parthia proper]], which lies along the southern/south-eastern edge of the [[Caspian Sea|Caspian sea]] and is adjacent to the boundary between western and eastern Iranian languages. The Parthians called their language ''Parthawig'', meaning "Parthian". Via regular sound changes ''Parthawig'' became ''Pahlawig'', from which the word 'Pahlavi' eventually evolved.  The ''-ig'' in ''parsig'' and ''parthawig'' was a regular Middle Iranian [[wikt:appurtenance|appurtenant]] suffix for "pertaining to". The New Persian equivalent of ''-ig'' is ''-i''.<ref name=":0" />

When the [[Parthian Empire|Arsacids]] (who were Parthians) came to power in the 3rd-century BCE, they inherited the use of written Greek (from the successors of [[Alexander the Great]]) as the language of government. Under the cultural influence of the Greeks ([[Hellenization]]), some Middle Iranian languages, such as [[Bactrian language|Bactrian]], also had begun to be written in [[Greek alphabet|Greek script]]. But yet other Middle Iranian languages began to be written in a script derived from [[Aramaic script|Aramaic]]. This occurred primarily because ''written'' Aramaic had previously been the written language of government of the former [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenids]], and the government scribes had carried that practice all over the empire. This practice had led to others adopting [[Imperial Aramaic]] as the language of communications, both between Iranians and non-Iranians.<ref name="IGCHI">{{citation|last=Gershevitch|first=Ilya|chapter=Bactrian Literature|pages=1250–1260|title=The Seleucid, Parthian and Sassanian Periods|series=Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(2)|editor-last=Yarshatar|editor-first=Ehsan|year=1983|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-24693-8}}.</ref>{{rp|1251–1253}} The transition from Imperial Aramaic to Middle Iranian took place very slowly, with a slow increase of more and more Iranian words so that Aramaic with Iranian elements gradually changed into Iranian with Aramaic elements.<ref name="PWL">{{citation|last=Boyce|first=Mary|chapter=Parthian Writings and Literature|pages=1151–1165|title=The Seleucid, Parthian and Sassanian Periods|series=Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(2)|editor-last=Yarshatar|editor-first=Ehsan|year=1983|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-24693-8}}.</ref>{{rp|1151}} Under Arsacid [[hegemony]], this Aramaic-derived writing system for Iranian languages came to be associated with the Parthians in particular (it may have originated in the Parthian chancellories<ref name="PWL" />{{rp|1151}}), and thus the writing system came to be called ''pahlavi'' "Parthian" too.<ref name="Boyce_MPL" />{{rp|33}}

Aside from Parthian, Aramaic-derived writing was adopted for at least four other Middle Iranian languages, one of which was Middle Persian. In the 3rd-century CE, the Parthian Arsacids were overthrown by the [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanids]], who were natives of the south-west and thus spoke Middle Persian as their native language. Under Sassanid hegemony, the Middle Persian language became a [[prestige dialect]] and thus also came to be used by non-Persian Iranians. In the 7th-century, the Sassanids were overthrown by the Arabs. Under Arab influence, Iranian languages began to be written in [[Arabic script]] (adapted to Iranian [[phonology]]), while Middle Persian began to rapidly evolve into New Persian and the name ''parsik'' became Arabicized ''farsi''. Not all Iranians were comfortable with these Arabic-influenced developments, in particular, members of the literate elite, which in Sassanid times consisted primarily of Zoroastrian priests. Those former elites vigorously rejected what they perceived as '[[Aniran|Un-Iran]]ian', and continued to use the "old" language (i.e. Middle Persian) and Aramaic-derived writing system.<ref name="Boyce_MPL" />{{rp|33}} Numerous examples can be identified through the myriad of Middle Persian Zoroastrian scriptures, such as the Denkard, Shkand-gumãnig Vizār, and many more. In time, the name of the writing system, ''pahlavi'' "Parthian", began to be applied to the "old" Middle Persian language as well, thus distinguishing it from the "new" language, ''[[Persian language|farsi]]''.<ref name="Boyce_MPL">{{citation|last=Boyce|first=Mary|year=1968|title=Middle Persian Literature|series=Handbuch der Orientalistik 1, IV, 2|location=Leiden|publisher=Brill|pages=31–66}}.</ref>{{rp|32–33}} Consequently, 'pahlavi' came to denote the particularly Zoroastrian, exclusively written, late form of Middle Persian.<ref>{{citation|last=Cereti|first=Carlo|year=2009|chapter=Pahlavi Literature|title=Encyclopedia Iranica|publisher=(online edition)}}.</ref> Since almost all surviving [[Middle Persian literature]] is in this particular late form of exclusively written [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] Middle Persian, the term 'Pahlavi' became synonymous with Middle Persian itself.

The [[ISO 639]] language code for Middle Persian is ''pal'', which reflects the post-Sasanian era use of the term Pahlavi to refer to the language and not only the script.

== History ==

=== Transition from Old Persian ===
In the classification of the Iranian languages, the Middle Period includes those languages which were common in Iran from the fall of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] in the fourth century BCE up to the fall of the Sasanian Empire in the seventh century CE.

The most important and distinct development in the structure of Iranian languages of this period is the transformation from the synthetic form of the Old Period ([[Old Persian]] and [[Avestan]]) to an [[Analytic language|analytic]] form:
* [[noun]]s, [[pronoun]]s, and [[adjective]]s lost almost all of their [[Grammatical case|case]] [[inflection]]s 
* [[preposition]]s were used to indicate the different roles of words.
* many [[Grammatical tense|tenses]] began to be formed from a composite form
* the language developed a [[split ergative]] [[morphosyntactic alignment]]<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book |last=Dabir-Moghaddam |first=Mohammad |year=2018 |chapter=Typological Approaches and Dialects |title=The Oxford Handbook of Persian Linguistics |editor-first=Anousha |editor-last=Sedighi |editor2-first=Pouneh |editor2-last=Shabani-Jadidi |publisher=OUP |page=80 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/ala/article/download/73/60/ |last=Karimi |first=Yadgar |year=2012 |title=The Evolution of Ergativity in the Iranian Languages |journal=[[Acta Linguistica Asiatica]] |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=23–44 |doi=10.4312/ala.2.1.23-44 |issn=2232-3317 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Noda |first=Keigou |year=1983 |title=Ergativity in Middle Persian |journal=Gengo Kenkyu |volume=84 |pages=105–125 |doi=10.11435/gengo1939.1983.84_105 |s2cid=127682687 }}</ref>

There were also a number of phonological developments during this period, including:

* Contraction of vowels across [[Semivowel|semivowels]]; iya → ī, uwa → ū
* [[Lenition]] of [[Voiced consonant|voiced]] [[Plosive|stops]] following vowels and [[Sonorant|resonants]]; b, d, j, g → β, ð, ʒ, ɣ
* Creation of new /l/ from previous clusters of /r/ and a fricative; i.e.  /rð, rz/ → /l/ and /rθ, rs/ → /hl/
* [[Metathesis (linguistics)|Metathesis]] -ry- to -yr-, with the /j/ subsequently combining with preceding vowels through processes of monophthongisation
* Monophthongisation of ay(a), aw(a) → ē, ō
* Loss of /θ/ : becoming /s/ word initially and /h/ elsewhere
* Loss of word-final vowels
* Lenition of voiceless stops p, t, č, k to voiced b, d, j (→ z), g

=== Transition to New Persian ===
The modern-day descendants of Middle Persian are [[Persian language#New Persian|New Persian]] and [[Luri language|Luri]]. The changes between late Middle and Early New Persian were very gradual, and in the 10th–11th centuries, Middle Persian texts were still intelligible to speakers of Early New Persian.  However, there are definite differences that had taken place already by the 10th century:

* sound changes, such as
**the dropping of unstressed initial [[vowel]]s
**the [[epenthesis]] of vowels in initial [[consonant]] clusters
**the loss of -g when word final
**change of initial w- to either b- or gw- → g-
* changes in the verbal system, notably the loss of distinctive subjunctive and optative forms, and the increasing use of verbal prefixes to express verbal moods
* a transition from [[split ergative]] back to consistent [[nominative-accusative]] [[morphosyntactic alignment]]<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>{{cite conference |first=Martin Joachim |last=Kümmel |year=2018 |title=Areal developments in the history of Iranic: West vs. East |conference=University of Jena. Talk given at Workshop 7, Discovering (micro-)areal patterns in Eurasia |page=27 |url=https://societaslinguistica.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SLE-2018-Book-of-abstracts.pdf#page=445 }}</ref>
* changes in the vocabulary, particularly the establishment of a [[stratum (linguistics)|superstratum or adstratum]] of Arabic loanwords replacing many Aramaic loans and native terms.
* the substitution of the Pahlavi script for the Arabic script

==Surviving literature==
Texts in Middle Persian are found in remnants of [[List of Parthian and Sasanian inscriptions|Sasanian inscriptions]] and Egyptian [[papyrus|papyri]], coins and seals, fragments of [[Manichaean scripture|Manichaean writings]], and [[Avesta|Zoroastrian literature]], most of which was written down after the Sasanian era. The language of Zoroastrian literature (and of the Sasanian inscriptions) is sometimes referred to as Pahlavi – a name that originally referred to the [[Pahlavi scripts]],<ref name="LLDescrip"/><ref>See also [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/mpersian.htm Omniglot.com's page on Middle Persian scripts]</ref> which were also the preferred writing system for several other Middle Iranian languages. ''Pahlavi Middle Persian'' is the language of quite a large body of literature which details the traditions and prescriptions of [[Zoroastrianism]], which was the state religion of Sasanian Iran (224 to c. 650) before the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]]. The earliest texts in Zoroastrian Middle Persian were probably written down in late Sasanian times (6th–7th centuries), although they represent the codification of earlier oral tradition.<ref>Sundermann, Werner. 1989. Mittelpersisch. P. 141. In ''Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum'' (ed. Rüdiger Schmitt).</ref> However, most texts date from the ninth to the 11th century, when Middle Persian had long ceased to be a spoken language, so they reflect the state of affairs in living Middle Persian only indirectly. The surviving manuscripts are usually 14th-century copies.<ref name="LLDescrip">{{cite web|url=http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=pal|title=Linguist List – Description of Pehlevi|year=2007|publisher=Eastern Michigan University|location=Detroit|access-date=2007-05-14|archive-date=2012-02-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211075033/http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=pal|url-status=dead}}</ref> Other, less abundantly attested varieties are ''[[Manichaean script|Manichaean Middle Persian]]'', used for a sizable amount of [[Manichaeism|Manichaean]] religious writings, including many [[Theology|theological]] texts, [[homily|homilies]] and [[hymn]]s (3rd–9th, possibly 13th century), and the Middle Persian of the [[Church of the East]], evidenced in the [[Pahlavi Psalter]] (7th century); these were used until the beginning of the second millennium in many places in [[Central Asia]], including [[Turpan]] and even localities in [[South India]].<ref>Sundermann, Werner. 1989. Mittelpersisch. P. 138. In ''Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum'' (ed. Rüdiger Schmitt).</ref> All three differ minimally from one another and indeed the less ambiguous and archaizing scripts of the latter two have helped to elucidate some aspects of the Sasanian-era pronunciation of the former.<ref>Sundermann, Werner. 1989. Mittelpersisch. P. 143. In ''Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum'' (ed. Rüdiger Schmitt).</ref>

==Phonology==

===Vowels===

The vowels of Middle Persian were the following:<ref>Based on Maggi & Orsatti 2014: 20, Sundermann 1989: 144, Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 19–20, Расторгуева 1966: 27, MacKenzie 1986: xi-xvm Skjærvø 2009: 200, Skjærvø 2007: 7</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPA link|iː}}, {{IPA link|i}}
|
|{{IPA link|uː}}, {{IPA link|u}}
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|{{IPA link|e̞ː|eː}}, ({{IPA link|e}})
|
|{{IPA link|o̞|oː}}, ({{IPA link|o}})
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|{{IPA link|ä|aː}}, {{IPA link|a}}
|
|}

It has been doubted whether the Middle Persian short mid vowels {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/o/}} were [[Phoneme|phonemic]], since they do not appear to have a unique continuation in later forms of Persian and no minimal pairs have been found.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 19–20, MacKenzie 1986: xi–xv, Skjærvø 2007: 7, Skjærvø 2009: 200</ref><ref name="Sundermann 1989a">Sundermann 1989: 144</ref> The evidence for them is variation between spelling with and without the [[matres lectionis]] ''y'' and ''w'', as well as [[Etymology|etymological]] considerations.<ref name="Skjærvø 2009">Skjærvø 2009: 200</ref> They are thought to have arisen from earlier {{IPA|/a/}} in certain conditions, including, for {{IPA|/e/}}, the presence of a following {{IPA|/n/}}, [[sibilant]] or front vowel in the next syllable, and for {{IPA|/o/}}, the presence of a following labial consonant or the vowel {{IPA|/u/}} in the next syllable.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 29–29</ref> Long {{IPA|/eː/}} and {{IPA|/oː/}} had appeared first in Middle Persian, since they had developed from the Old Persian diphthongs {{IPA|/ai/}} and {{IPA|/aw/}}.<ref>Maggi & Orsatti 2014: 20</ref>

===Consonants===

The consonant phonemes were the following:<ref>Based on Maggi & Orsatti 2014: 20, Sundermann 1989: 144, Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 21, Расторгуева 1966: 27, MacKenzie 1986: xv,  Skjærvø 2009: 200, Skjærvø 2007: 7</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|-
! colspan="2" | 
! Labial
! Dental
! Palatal
! Velar
! Glottal
|-
! colspan="2" | Nasal
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
| 
| 
| 
|-
! rowspan="2" | Plosive/<br />Affricate
! {{small|voiceless}}
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}
| {{IPA link|k}}
| 
|-
! {{small|voiced}}
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|d}}
| {{IPA link|d͡ʒ}}
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
| 
|-
! rowspan="2" | Fricative
! {{small|voiceless}}
| {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|s}}<br />({{IPA link|θ}}) <small>[early]</small>
| {{IPA link|ʃ}}
| {{IPA link|x}}<br /> ({{IPA link|x}}{{IPA link|w}})
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
! {{small|voiced}}
| 
| {{IPA link|z}}
| ({{IPA link|ʒ}})
| ({{IPA link|ɣ}})
| 
|-
! colspan="2" | Trill
| 
| {{IPA link|r}}
| 
| 
| 
|-
! colspan="2" | Lateral
| 
| {{IPA link|l}}
| 
| 
| 
|-
! colspan="2" | Semivowel
| 
| 
| {{IPA link|j}}
| {{IPA link|w}}
| 
|}

A major distinction between the pronunciation of the early Middle Persian of the [[Arsacid]] period (until the 3rd century CE) and the Middle Persian of the [[Sassanid]] period (3rd – 7th century CE) is due to a process of consonant [[lenition]] after voiced sounds that took place during the transition between the two.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 21, 29–35, Расторгуева 1966: 28; also Sundermann (1989 :143) referring to its non-reflection in the script.</ref> Its effects were as follows:<ref name="Maggi">Maggi & Orsatti 2018: 19</ref><ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 21, 29–35</ref>

1. Voiced stops, when occurring after vowels, became [[semivowel]]s: 
:{{IPA|/b/}} > {{IPA|/w/}}, {{IPA|/d/}} > {{IPA|/j/}}, {{IPA|/ɡ/}} > {{IPA|/w/}} or {{IPA|/j/}} (the latter after {{IPA|/i/}}<ref name="Расторгуева">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 45</ref>)

This process may have taken place very early, but it is nevertheless often the old pronunciation or a transitional one that is reflected in the Pahlavi spelling.

:Old Persian ''naiba-'' > Middle Persian ''nēw'' (Pahlavi ''T<u>B</u>'' or ''nyw<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), but:
:Old Persian ''asabāra-'' > Middle Persian ''asvār'' 'horseman' (Pahlavi ''PLŠYA'', ''ʾswblʾ'').
:Proto-Iranian *''pād-'' > Middle Persian ''pāy'' 'foot' (Pahlavi ''LGLE'', ''pʾd'', Manichaean ''pʾy'').
:Old Persian ''magu-'' > Middle Persian ''mow-'' '[[Magian]]' (Pahlavi ''mgw''-).
:Proto-Iranian *''ni-gauš-'' > Middle Persian ''niyōš-'' 'listen' (Pahlavi ''nydwhš-'', also ''nydwk(h)š-''<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 173</ref>), Manichaean ''nywš'').

2. Voiceless stops and affricates, when occurring after vowels as well as other voiced sounds, became voiced: 
:{{IPA|/p/}} > {{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/t/}} > {{IPA|/d/}}, {{IPA|/k/}} > {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}} > {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}}

This process is thought not to have been taken place before Sassanid Pahlavi, and it generally is not reflected in Pahlavi spelling.

A further stage in this lenition process is expressed in a synchronic alternation: at least at some stage in late Middle Persian (later than the 3rd century), the consonants {{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/d/}}, {{IPA|/ɡ/}} appear to have had, after vowels, the [[fricative consonant|fricative]] [[allophone]]s {{IPAblink|β}}, {{IPAblink|ð}}, {{IPA|[ɣ]}}.<ref name="Maggi"/><ref name="MacKenzie 1986">MacKenzie 1986: xv</ref><ref>Sundermann 1989: 144–145</ref><ref>But note the absence of such a claim in Skjærvø (2009: 200–201).</ref> This is slightly more controversial for {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, since there appears to have been a separate phoneme {{IPA|/ɣ/}} as well.<ref>Cf. Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 21, 33–34, Sundermann 1989: 144, as against Расторгуева 1966: 28, Maggi & Orsatti 2018: 19, MacKenzie 1986: xv</ref> A parallel development seems to have affected {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}} in the same position, possibly earlier; not only was it weakened to a fricative {{IPA|[ʒ]}}, but it was also depalatalised to {{IPA|[z]}}. In fact, old Persian {{IPA|[d͡ʒ]}} and {{IPA|[ʒ]}} in any position also produced {{IPA|[z]}}. Unlike the case with the spirantisation of stops, this change is uncontroversially recognised for Sassanid times.<ref name="Maggi"/><ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 34, 40</ref>

The lenition of voiceless stops and affricates remained largely unexpressed in Pahlavi spelling,<ref>Расторгуева 1966: 24</ref> which continues to reflect the Arsacid sound values, but is known from the more phonetic Manichaean spelling of texts from Sassanid times.

:Arsacid ''šap'' > Sassanid ''šab'' (late {{IPA|[ʃaβ]}}) 'night' (Pahlavi ''LYLYA'', ''šp<nowiki>'</nowiki>''; Manichaean ''šb'')<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 31</ref>

:Arsacid ''pit'' > Sassanid ''pid'' (late {{IPA|[pið]}}) 'father' (Pahlavi ''AB'', ''p(y)t<nowiki>'</nowiki>'', Manichaean ''pyd'')<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 32</ref>

:Arsacid ''pārak'' > Sassanid ''pārag'' (late {{IPA|[paːraɣ]}}) 'gift' (Pahlavi ''pʾlk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'')<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 33</ref>

:Arsacid ''hač'' > Sassanid ''az'' 'from' (Pahlavi ''MN'', ''hc'', Manichaean ''ʾc'' or ''ʾz'')

As a result of these changes, the voiceless stops and affricates {{IPA|/p/}}, {{IPA|/t/}}, {{IPA|/k/}}, {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}} rarely occurred after vowels – mostly when geminated, which has protected them from the lenition (e.g. ''waččag'', sp. ''wck<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' 'child'), and due to some other sound changes.<ref name="Skjærvø 2009b">Skjærvø 2009: 201</ref>

Another difference between Arsacid and Sassanid-era pronunciation is that Arsacid word-initial {{IPA|/j/}} produced Sassanid {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}} (another change that is not reflected in the Pahlavi spelling).<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 34, 45</ref> The sound probably passed through the phase {{IPA|/ʒ/}}, which may have continued until very late Middle Persian, since Manichaean texts did not identify [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indic]] {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}} with it and introduced a separate sign for the former instead of using the letter for their native sound.<ref name="Sundermann 1989b">Sundermann 1989: 145</ref> Nonetheless, word-initial {{IPA|/j/}} was retained/reintroduced in learned borrowings from [[Avestan language|Avestan]].<ref name="Расторгуева"/>

:Arsacid ''yām'' > Sassanid ''ǰām'' 'glass' (Pahlavi ''yʾm'', Manichaean ''jʾm''); but:
:Avestan ''yazata'' > Middle Persian ''yazd'' 'god' (Pahlavi ''y<u>z</u>dt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'')

Furthermore, some forms of Middle Persian appear to have preserved ''ǰ'' (from [[Proto-Iranian]] {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}} or {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}}) after ''n'' due to [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] influence, instead of the usual weakening to ''z''. This pronunciation is reflected in Book Pahlavi, but not in Manichaean texts:

:Proto-Iranian *''panča'' > ''panǰ'' (spelt ''pnc'' in Book Pahlavi) or ''panz'' (spelt ''pnz'' in Manichaean)<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 35</ref>

Judging from the spelling, the consonant {{IPA|/θ/}} may have been pronounced before {{IPA|/r/}} in certain borrowings from Parthian in Arsacid times (unlike native words, which had {{IPA|/h/}} for earlier ''*θ'' in general and {{IPA|/s/}} for the cluster ''*θr'' in particular), but it had been replaced by {{IPA|/h/}} by the Sassanid period:

:Arsacid ''miθr'' > Sassanid ''mihr'' 'Mithra, contract' (Pahlavi ''mtr<nowiki>'</nowiki>'', Manichaean ''myhr'').<ref>Расторгуева 1966: 26–28</ref><ref name="Skjærvø 2009d1">Skjærvø 2009: 204</ref><ref name=r&m49_50>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 49–50</ref>

The phoneme {{IPA|/ɣ/}} (as opposed to the late allophone of {{IPA|/ɡ/}}) is rare and occurs almost only in learned borrowings from Avestan and [[Parthian language|Parthian]], e.g. ''moγ'' (Pahlavi ''mgw'' or ''mwg'' 'Magian'), ''maγ'' (Pahlavi ''mγ'') 'hole, pit'.<ref name="Sundermann 1989b"/><ref name="MacKenzie 1986"/><ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 33–34</ref><ref name="Skjærvø 2007">Skjærvø 2007: 7</ref>

The sound {{IPA|/ʒ/}} may also have functioned as a marginal phoneme in borrowings as well.<ref name="Skjærvø 2009b"/>

The phoneme {{IPA|/l/}} was still relatively rare as well, especially so in Manichaean texts,<ref name="Sundermann 1989b"/><ref name="Skjærvø 2009b"/> mostly resulting from [[Proto-Iranian]] *rd, *rz and, more rarely, *r.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 46</ref> It also occurred in the combination {{IPA|/hl/}}, which was a reflex of Old Persian {{IPA|/rθ/}} and {{IPA|/rs/}} (cf. the words 'Pahlavi' and 'Parthian').<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 43–44</ref>

The sound {{IPA|/xw/}} may be viewed as a phoneme<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 42</ref><ref name="Maggib">Maggi & Orsatti 2018: 20</ref> or merely as a combination of {{IPA|/x/}} and {{IPA|/w/}}.<ref name="Sundermann 1989a"/><ref name="MacKenzie 1986"/>
Usually {{IPA|/x/}}, {{IPA|/xw/}} and {{IPA|/ɣ/}} are considered to have been [[Velar consonant|velar]]; a less common view is that {{IPA|/x/}} and {{IPA|/ɣ/}} were uvular instead.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 21</ref>

Finally, it may be pointed out that most scholars consider the phoneme {{IPA|/w/}} as being still a labial approximant,<ref name="Maggib"/><ref name="Sundermann 1989a"/><ref name="MacKenzie 1986"/><ref name="Skjærvø 2009"/> but a few regard it as a voiced labial fricative {{IPA|/v/}}.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 21, 35–36</ref><ref>Расторгуева 1966: 27</ref>

The initial clusters of {{IPA|/s/}} and a stop ({{IPA|/sp-/}}, {{IPA|/st-/}}, {{IPA|/sk-/}}) had acquired a [[Prothesis (linguistics)|prosthetic vowel]] {{IPA|/i/}} by the time of the Manichaean Middle Persian texts: ''istāyišn'' (''ՙst՚yšn'') 'praise' vs Pahlavi ''stāyišn'' (''ՙst՚dšn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'praise'.

===Prosody===

Stress was on the last syllable.<ref name="Sundermann 1989b"/><ref>Расторгуева 1966: 29</ref> That was due to the fact that any Old Persian post-stress syllables had been [[apocope|apocopated]]:<ref name="Maggib"/>

: Old Persian ''pati'' 'at' > Middle Persian ''pad''
: Old Persian ''martiya-'' 'man' > Middle Persian ''mard''
: Old Persian ''martiyā́nām'' 'man' (genitive-dative plural) > Middle Persian ''mardān''

It has been suggested that words such as ''anīy'' 'other' (Pahlavi spelling ''AHRN'', ''AHRNy<u>d</u>'', Manichaean ''՚ny'') and ''mahīy'' 'bigger' (Manichaean ''mhy'') may have been exceptionally stressed on the first syllable, since the last one was apocopated already in the course of the Middle Persian period: the later forms are ''an'' (Manichaean ''՚n''), and ''meh'' (Pahlavi ''ms'' and Manichaean ''myh'');<ref name="Skjærvø 2009e">Skjærvø 2009: 202</ref> indeed, some scholars have reconstructed them as monosyllabic ''any'', ''mahy'' even for Middle Persian.<ref>Cited in Skjærvø 2009:202; relevant entries in MacKenzie 1986</ref>

==Scripts==
{{Main|Pahlavi script}}
{{Main|Manichaean script}}
{{Main|Pazend}}

Middle Persian has been written in a number of different scripts.<ref name=sundermann140-143>Sundermann 1989: 140–143</ref> The corpora in different scripts also exhibit other linguistic differences that are partly due to their different ages, dialects and scribal traditions.

The '''[[Pahlavi scripts]]''' are [[abjad]]s derived from the [[Imperial Aramaic|imperial]] variety of the [[Aramaic alphabet]] used in the chancelleries of the [[Achaemenid Empire]]. As is typical of abjads, they express primarily the consonants in a word form. What sets them apart from other abjads, however, is the use of [[Heterogram (linguistics)|Heterograms]], and more specifically [[Aramaeograms]], i.e. words written in Aramaic (sometimes, in later periods, with distortions) but pronounced in Middle Persian: e.g. ''LY'' (Aramaic 'to me') for ''man'' 'me, I'. There were about a thousand of these in the Book Pahlavi variety. In addition, their spelling remained very conservative, expressing the pronunciation of the Arsacid period.<ref name=sundermann140-143/> The two most important subvarieties are:

# '''[[Inscriptional Pahlavi]]''', used in the inscriptions of Sassanid kings and officials from the 3rd–4th centuries CE. The 22 letters are written separately and still relatively well distinguished compared to later versions: the only formal coincidences of original Aramaic signs are the pair ''m'' and ''q'' and the triplet ''w'', ''ʿ'' and ''r''.<ref name="MacKenzie 1986b">MacKenzie 1986: xi</ref>
# '''[[Book Pahlavi]]''', used primarily in Zoroastrian books from the 5th century CE on. Most texts are thought to reflect the stage of the language from the 6th to the 10th centuries CE.<ref name=sundermann155>Sundermann 1989: 155</ref> (6th–7th centuries for the translations of the Avesta and perhaps some didactic and entertainment literature, 9–10th centuries for the dogmatic and legal texts that form most of the corpus)<ref>Sundermann 1989: 141</ref> This is the script that the overwhelming majority of Middle Persian texts is recorded in. It is a cursive script characterised by many [[Ligature (writing)|ligature]]s and by the formal coincidence of originally different Aramaic letters, reducing the number to just 14 distinct signs. Now, also ''n'' coincides with the triplet ''w'' = ''ʿ'' = ''r'', and in addition, another triplet ''g'', ''d'' and ''y'' merges too, as does the pair ''ʾ'' and ''ḥ''. Aramaic ''ṭ'' had also disappeared. In later times, some mergers were disambiguated by means of diacritic signs, following the example of the [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic abjad]]: thus, ''g'', ''d'' and ''y'' were distinguished again; however, this wasn't applied consistently.

Other known Pahlavi varieties are the early Pahlavi found in inscriptions on coins issued in the province of Pars from the 2nd century BC to the 3rd century CE; the relatively conservative [[Psalter Pahlavi]] (6th–8th centuries CE), used in a Christian [[Psalter]] fragment, which still retains all the letter distinctions that Inscriptional Pahlavi had except the one between ''t'' and ''ṭ'';<ref name="MacKenzie 1986b"/> and the Pahlavi found in [[papyrus|papyri]] from the early 7th century CE, which displays even more letter coincidences than Book Pahlavi.<ref name=sundermann140-143/>

The '''[[Manichaean script]]''' was an abjad introduced for the writing of Middle Persian by the prophet [[Mani (prophet)|Mani]] (216–274 CE), who based it on his native variety of the Aramaic script of [[Palmyrene alphabet|Palmyrene]] origin. Mani used this script to write the known book ''[[Shabuhragan|Šābuhrāgān]]'' and it continued to be used by Manichaeans until the 9th century to write in Middle Persian, and in various other Iranian languages for even longer.<ref name=sundermann140-143/> Specifically the Middle Persian Manichaean texts are numerous and thought to reflect mostly the period from the 3rd to the 7th centuries CE.<ref name=sundermann155/> In contrast to the Pahlavi scripts, it is a regular and unambiguous phonetic script that expresses clearly the pronunciation of 3rd century Middle Persian and distinguishes clearly between different letters and sounds, so it provides valuable evidence to modern linguists.<ref name=sundermann140-143/> Not only did it not display any of the Pahlavi coalescences mentioned above, it also had special letters that enabled it to distinguish {{IPA|[p]}} and {{IPA|[f]}} (although it didn't always do so), as well as {{IPA|[j]}} and {{IPA|[d͡ʒ]}}, unique designations for {{IPA|[β]}}, {{IPA|[ð]}}, and {{IPA|[ɣ]}}, and consistent distinctions between the pairs {{IPA|[x]}} – {{IPA|[h]}} and {{IPA|[r]}} – {{IPA|[l]}}.<ref name="Расторгуеваb">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 18</ref><ref name="Skjærvø 2009f">Skjærvø 2009: 199</ref>

Since knowledge of Pahlavi decreased after the [[Muslim conquest of Iran]], the Zoroastrians occasionally transcribed their religious texts into other, more accessible or unambiguous scripts. One approach was to use the [[Avestan alphabet]], a practice known as '''[[Pazend|Pazand]]'''; another was to resort to the same '''[[Persian alphabet|Perso-Arabic script]]''' that was already being used for [[New Persian]], and that was referred to as Pārsī. Since these methods were used at a relatively late linguistic stage, these transcriptions often reflect a very late pronunciation close to New Persian.<ref name=sundermann140-143/>

In general, Inscriptional Pahlavi texts have the most archaic linguistic features, Manichaean texts and the Psalter exhibit slightly later, but still relatively early language stages, and while the Pahlavi translations of the Avesta also retain some old features, most other Zoroastrian Book Pahlavi texts (which form the overwhelming majority of the Middle Persian corpus as a whole) are linguistically more innovative.

==Transliteration and transcription==

===Transliteration of Pahlavi script===

In view of the many ambiguities of the Pahlavi script, even its [[transliteration]] does not usually limit itself to rendering merely the letters as written; rather, letters are usually transliterated in accordance with their origin regardless of the coinciding forms: thus, even though Book Pahlavi has the same letter shapes for original ''n'', ''w'' and ''r'', for original ''ʾ'' and ''ḥ'' and for original ''d'', ''g'' and ''y'', besides having some ligatures that coincide in shape with certain individual letters, these are all transliterated differently.<ref name="MacKenzie 1986c">MacKenzie 1986: x–xiv</ref><ref name="Sundermann 1989c">Sundermann 1989: 146–147</ref> For instance, the spelling of ''gōspand'' 'domestic animal' is transliterated ''gwspnd'' in spite of the fact that the ''w'' and ''n'' have the same graphic appearance.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 10</ref>

Furthermore, letters used as part of Aramaic heterograms and not intended to be interpreted phonetically are written in capitals: thus the heterogram for the word ''ān'' is rendered ''ZK'', whereas its phonetic spelling is transliterated as ''ʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' (the final vertical line reflects the so-called 'otiose' stroke, see below<ref name="Skjærvø 2007d1">Skjærvø 2007: 15</ref>). Finally, there is a convention of representing 'distorted/corrupt' letters, which 'should' have appeared in a different shape from a historical point of view, by under- or overlining them: e.g. the heterogram for ''andar'' 'in' is transliterated ''<u>B</u>YN'', since it corresponds to Aramaic ''byn'', but the sign that 'should' have been ''b'' actually looks like a ''g''.<ref name="MacKenzie 1986c"/><ref name="Sundermann 1989c"/>

Within Arameograms, scholars have traditionally used the standard Semitological designations of the Aramaic (and generally Semitic) letters, and these include a large number of [[diacritic]]s and special signs expressing the different Semitic phonemes, which were not distinguished in Middle Persian. In order to reduce the need for these, a different system was introduced by [[David Neil MacKenzie|D. N. MacKenzie]], which dispenses with diacritics as much as possible, often replacing them with vowel letters: ''A'' for ''ʾ'', ''O'' for ''ʿ'', ''E'' for ''H'', ''H'' for ''Ḥ'', ''C'' for ''Ṣ'', for example ''ORHYA'' for ''ʿRḤYʾ'' (''bay'' 'god, majesty, lord').<ref>MacKenzie 1986: x–xiv, also used in Skjærvø 2007</ref><ref name="Sundermann 1989c"/><ref name="Skjærvø 2009d1"/> For <nowiki>''ṭ''</nowiki>, which still occurs in heterograms in Inscriptional Pahlavi, Θ may be used. Within Iranian words, however, both systems use ''c'' for original Aramaic ''ṣ'' and ''h'' for original Aramaic ''ḥ'', in accordance with their Iranian pronunciation (see below). The letter ''l'', when modified with a special horizontal stroke that shows that the pronunciation is /l/ and not /r/, is rendered in the MacKenzie system as ''ɫ''. The traditional system continues to be used by many, especially European scholars.<ref>E.g. [http://turfan.bbaw.de/bilder/texte/psaltermpsyrgrengversesglossarysept2012.pdf Durkin-Meisterernst, D. 2012. ''The Pahlavi Psalter arranged according to units of the text; glossary and index''];; Чунакова, О.М. 2001. Пехлевийская божественная комедия</ref> The MacKenzie system is the one used in this article.

===Transliteration of Manichaean script===

As for Pahlavi, ''c'' is used for the transliteration of original Aramaic ''ṣ'' and ''h'' for the transliteration of original ''ḥ''. Original Aramaic ''h'', on the other hand, is sometimes rendered as ''ẖ''. For original ''ṭ'', the sign ''ṯ'' is used. The special Manichaean letters for {{IPA|/x/}}, {{IPA|/f/}}, {{IPA|[β]}}, {{IPA|/ɣ/}} and {{IPA|[ð]}} are transcribed in accordance with their pronunciation as ''x'', ''f'', ''β'', ''γ'' and ''δ''.
Unlike Pahlavi, the Manichaean script uses the letter [[Ayin]] also in Iranian words (see below) and it is transliterated in the usual Semitological way as ''ՙ''.<ref name="Foundation">{{Cite web|url=https://iranicaonline.org/|title=Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica|first=Encyclopaedia Iranica|last=Foundation|website=iranicaonline.org}}</ref><ref name="Расторгуеваb"/><ref name="Skjærvø 2009f"/>

===Transcription===

Since, like most abjads, even the Manichaean script and a maximally disambiguated transliterated form of Pahlavi do not provide exhaustive information about the phonemic structure of Middle Persian words, a system of transcription is also necessary. There are two traditions of transcription of Pahlavi Middle Persian texts: one closer to the spelling and reflecting the Arsacid-era pronunciation, as used by Ch. Bartholomae and H. S. Nyberg (1964)<ref>Also found in Расторгуева 1966</ref> and a currently more popular one reflecting the Sassanid-era pronunciation, as used by C. Saleman, W. B. Henning and, in a somewhat revised form, by D. N. MacKenzie (1986).<ref>Sundermann 1989: 147</ref><ref>Skjærvø 2009: 203–204</ref>

The less obvious features of the usual transcription<ref name="MacKenzie 1986"/><ref name="Skjærvø 2007"/><ref name="Sundermann 1989a"/> are:

# long vowels are marked with a [[Macron (diacritic)|macron]]: ''ā'', ''ē'', ''ī'', ''ō'', ''ū'' for {{IPA|/aː/}}, {{IPA|/eː/}}, {{IPA|/iː/}}, {{IPA|/oː/}}, {{IPA|/uː/}}.
# The semivowels are marked as follows: ''w'' for {{IPA|/w/}} and ''y'' for {{IPA|/j/}}.
# The palatal obstruents are marked with [[caron]]s as follows: ''š'' for {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, ''č'' for {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}}, ''ǰ'' for {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}} and ''ž'' for {{IPA|/ʒ/}}.
# The [[voiceless velar fricative]] {{IPA|/x/}} is marked as ''x'', its labialised counterpart {{IPA|/xw/}} is ''xw'', and the (phonemic) [[voiced velar fricative]] {{IPA|/ɣ/}} is ''γ''.

==Spelling==

A common feature of Pahlavi as well as Manichaean spelling was that the Aramaic letters ''ṣ'' and ''ḥ'' were adapted to express the sounds {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}} and {{IPA|/h/}}, respectively. In addition, both could use the letter ''p'' to express {{IPA|/f/}}, and ''ṣ'' to express ''z'' after a vowel.

===Pahlavi===

====Arameograms====

The widespread use of Aramaeograms in Pahlavi, often existing in parallel with 'phonetic' spellings, has already been mentioned: thus, the same word ''hašt'' 'eight' can be spelt ''hšt''<ref>MacKenzie 1986: 43</ref> or ''TWMNYA''.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007d2">Skjærvø 2007: 97</ref> A curious feature of the system is that simple word stems sometimes have spellings derived from Aramaic inflected forms: the spellings of verb stems include Aramaic inflectional affixes such as ''-WN'', ''-TWN'' or ''-N'' and ''Y-'';<ref name="Skjærvø 2007e">Skjærvø 2007: 57</ref> the spellings of pronouns are often derived from Aramaic prepositional phrases (''tо̄'' 'you' is ''LK'', originally Aramaic ''lk'' 'to you', ''о̄y'' 'he' is ''OLE'', originally Aramaic ''ʿlh'' 'onto him'); and [[inalienable noun]]s are often noun phrases with pronominal modifiers (''pidar'' 'father' is ''ABYtl'', originally Aramaic ''ʾby'' 'my father', ''pāy'' 'foot' is ''LGLE'', originally Aramaic ''rglh'' 'his foot').<ref>See relevant entries in MacKenzie 1986.</ref> Furthermore, the Aramaic distinctions between ''ḥ'' and ''h'' and between ''k'' and ''q'' were not always maintained, with the first often replacing the second, and the one between ''t'' and ''ṭ'' was lost in all but Inscriptional Pahlavi: thus ''YKTLWN'' (pronounced ''о̄zadan'') for Aramaic ''yqṭlwn'' 'kill', and ''YHWWN'' (pronounced ''būdan'') for Aramaic ''yhwwn'' 'be', even though Aramaic ''h'' is elsewhere rendered ''E''.<ref>MacKenzie 1986: xi and relevant entries</ref> In the rest of this article, the Pahlavi spellings will be indicated due to their unpredictability, and the Aramaeograms will be given priority over the 'phonetic' alternatives for the same reason.

If a word expressed by an Arameogram has a grammatical ending or, in many cases, a word-formation suffix, these are generally expressed by phonetic elements: ''LYLYA'''ʾn''''' for ''šab'''ʾn''''' 'nights'. However, verbs in Inscriptional Pahlavi are sometimes written as 'bare ideograms', whose interpretation is a major difficulty for scholars.<ref>Sundemann 1989: 149</ref>

====Historical and ambiguous spelling====

It has also been pointed out that the Pahlavi spelling does not express the 3rd century lenitions, so the letters ''p'', ''t'', ''k'' and ''c'' express {{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/d/}}, {{IPA|/ɡ/}} and {{IPA|/z/}} after vowels, e.g. ''šp<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' for ''šab'' 'night' and ''hc'' for ''az'' 'from'. The rare phoneme {{IPA|/ɣ/}} was also expressed by the same letter shape as ''k'' (however, this sound value is usually expressed in the transliteration).<ref>MacKenzie 1986: xiii</ref> Similarly, the letter ''d'' may stand for {{IPA|/j/}} after a vowel, e.g. ''pʾd'' for ''pāy'' 'foot' – this is no longer apparent in Book Pahlavi due to the coincidence of the shapes of the original letters ''y'', ''d'' and ''g'', but is already clearly seen in Inscriptional and Psalter Pahlavi. Indeed, it even appears to have been the general rule word-finally, regardless of the word's origins,<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 44–45</ref> although modern transliterations of words like ''xwadāy'' (''xwtʾd'') and ''mēnōy''  (''mynwd'') do not always reflect this analogical / pseudo-historical spelling.<ref>Cf. the relevant entries in MacKenzie 1986</ref> Final ''īy'' was regularly written ''y<u>d</u>''.<ref name="Skjærvø 2009c">Skjærvø 2009: 203</ref> In the same way, ''(w)b'' may also correspond to a ''w'' in the pronunciation after a vowel.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 55</ref> The fortition of initial {{IPA|/j/}} to {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}} (or {{IPA|/ʒ/}}) is not reflected either, so ''y'' can express initial {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}}, e.g. ''yʾm'' for ''ǰām'' 'glass' (while it still expresses {{IPA|/j/}} in the learned word ''y<u>z</u>dt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' for ''yazd'' 'god').

Some even earlier sound changes are not consistently reflected either, such as the transition of {{IPA|/θ/}} to {{IPA|/h/}} in some words (in front of {{IPA|/r/}} this reflex is due to Parthian influence, since the Middle Persian reflex should have been {{IPA|/s/}}). In such words, the spelling may have ''s''<ref name="Skjærvø 2009c"/> or, in front of ''r'' – ''t''. For example, ''gāh'' 'place, time' is spelt ''gʾs'' (cf. Old Persian ''gāθu'') and ''nigāh'' '(a) look' is spelt ''nkʾs'';<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 33, 43</ref> ''šahr'' 'country, town' is spelt ''štr<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' (cf. Avestan ''xsaθra'') and ''mihr'' 'Mithra, contract, friendship' is spelt ''mtr<nowiki>'</nowiki>''. In contrast, the Manichaean spellings are ''gʾh'', ''ngʾh'', ''šhr'', ''myhr''. Some other words with earlier {{IPA|/θ/}} are spelt phonetically in Pahlavi, too: e.g. ''gēhān'', spelt ''gyhʾn'' 'material world', and ''čihr'', spelt ''cyhl'' 'face'.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 43</ref> There are also some instances where {{IPA|/h/}} and {{IPA|/j/}} are spelt {{IPA|/t/}} when occurring after ''p''. For instance, when the suffix of a word originates from Old Persian ''pati'' such as in: ''ptkʾl'' for ''pahikār'' 'strife', ''ptwnd'' for ''paywand'' 'connection'.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 54</ref>

There are some other phoneme pairs besides {{IPA|/j/}} and {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}} that are not distinguished: ''h'' (the original Aramaic ''ḥ'') may stand either for {{IPA|/h/}} or for {{IPA|/x/}} (''hm'' for ''ham'' 'also' as well as ''hl'' for ''xar'' 'donkey'), whereas the use of original Aramaic ''h'' is restricted to heterograms (transliterated ''E'' in MacKenzie's system, e.g. ''LGLE'' for pāy 'foot'). Not only {{IPA|/p/}}, but also the frequent sound {{IPA|/f/}} is expressed by the letter ''p'', e.g. ''plhw<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' for ''farrox'' 'fortunate'.<ref name="Расторгуева-4">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 16</ref> While the original letter ''r'' is retained in some words as an expression of the sound {{IPA|/r/}}, especially in older frequent words and Aramaeograms (e.g. ''štr<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' for ''šahr'' 'country, town', ''BRTE'' for ''duxt'' 'daughter'),<ref name="Skjærvø 2009e"/> it is far more common for the letter ''l'' to have that function, as in the example ''plhw<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' for ''farrox''. In the relatively rare cases where ''l'' does express {{IPA|/l/}}, it can be marked as ''ɫ''.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 8</ref>

====Expression of vowels====

Like many abjads, the system may express not only consonants, but also some vowels by means of certain consonant signs, the so-called [[matres lectionis]]. This is usually limited to long vowels:<ref name="Расторгуева-4"/> thus, original ''ʾ'' can stand for the vowel {{IPA|/aː/}} (e.g. in ''pʾd'' for ''pād''), ''y'' can stand for {{IPA|/iː/}} and {{IPA|/eː/}} (e.g.''pym'' for ''pīm'' 'pain' and ''nym'' for ''nēm'' 'half'), and ''w'' can stand for {{IPA|/uː/}} or {{IPA|/oː/}} (''swt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' for ''sūd'' 'profit' and ''swl'' for ''sōr'' 'salty'). However, short {{IPA|/u/}} is also typically expressed like long {{IPA|/uː/}} (e.g. ''swd'' for ''suy'' 'hunger'), whereas short {{IPA|/i/}} and the assumed {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/o/}} vary between being expressed like their long counterparts or remaining unexpressed: ''p(y)t'' for ''pid'' 'father', ''sl(y)šk'' for ''srešk'' 'tear', ''nhwm'' for ''nohom'' 'ninth'.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 8; examples from MacKenzie 1981</ref> Due to elision of {{IPA|/w/}}, written ''yw'' can also correspond to {{IPA|/eː/}}: ''nywk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' 'good'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2009c"/> Gemination of ''consonants'' was not expressed, e.g. ''waččag'', sp. ''wck<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' 'child').<ref name="Skjærvø 2009b"/>

In Inscriptional and Psalter Pahlavi, a ''-y'' that was not pronounced appears word-finally, e.g. ''šhpwhry'' for ''Šahpuhr''. Its origin and function are disputed. In Book Pahlavi, it developed into a peculiar convention, the so-called 'otiose' stroke, which resembles ''w''/''n''/''r'' and is added to demarcate the end of the word after those letters that never connect to the left: ''mān<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' 'house'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007d1"/><ref name="Skjærvø 2009c"/><ref name="Расторгуев-3">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 58–59</ref><ref name=sundermann155/><ref name="Foundation"/>

Like many abjads, Pahlavi ''ʾ'' can express simply the fact that a word begins in a vowel, e.g. ''ʾp̄ʾyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' for ''abāyēd'' 'it is necessary' (though two alephs usually aren't written in a row to express an initial long vowel).

===Manichaean===

In contrast to the historical and ideographic features of Pahlavi, Manichaean spelling is relatively straightforward.<ref name="Skjærvø 2009"/><ref>Sundermann 1989: 143</ref> Like Pahlavi, the Manichaean script designates vowel-initial words with ''ʾ'', but a further spelling convention in it is that it is the letter ''ՙ'', rather than ''ʾ'', that is written before initial front vowels, e.g. ''ՙym'' for ''im'' 'this' (in contrast to Pahlavi ''ʾm'' (or ''L<u>Z</u>NE''). Vowels are marked by matres lectionis in the Manichaean script in the usual way, and long vowels are more likely to be marked.

In spite of the availability of signs for each sound, Manichaean spelling did not always make perfectly phonetic use of them. In particular, not only in Pahlavi but even in Manichaean, the letter ''p'' was often used to express {{IPA|/f/}}, and {{IPA|/z/}} after vowels was written etymologically as ''c'': thus, ''frāz'' 'forth' was spelt ''prʾc'', just as in Pahlavi.<ref name="Skjærvø 2009"/> If the voiced fricatives really occurred as allopohones of {{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, {{IPA|/d/}} in Middle Persian, the special Manichaean signs for fricatives ''β'', ''γ'' and ''δ'' usually were not used to express this either. Conversely, the Semitic letters for the consonants ''q'', ''ṭ'' and ''h'' (transliterated ''ẖ'' in Manichaean) were retained and used, occasionally, even though they only expressed the same Middle Persian sounds as ''k'' and ''t'', and ''ḥ'' (transliterated ''h'' in Manichaean). The Manichaean script also has abbreviation marking double dots for the forms ''ʾwd'' 'and', ''ʾw-š'' 'and he' and ''ʾw-šʾn'' 'and they', which may be transcribed as ''ẅ'', ''š̈'' and ''š̈ʾn''. Elisions and plural may also be marked with double dots.<ref name="Foundation"/>

==Grammar==

The [[elision]] of unstressed word-final syllables during the transition from Old to Middle Persian has eliminated many grammatical endings. As a result, compared to the [[Synthetic language|synthetic]] grammar of Old Persian, Middle Persian belongs to a much more [[Analytic language|analytic]] language type, with relatively little [[inflection]] and widespread expression of grammatical meanings through syntactic means instead (specifically, use of [[preposition]]s and [[Periphrasis|periphrases]]).<ref>Maggi & Orsatti 2014: 20–21</ref>

=== Nominal morphology ===

====Case and number inflection====

Early Middle Persian inflection as found in the Sassanid rock inscriptions (3rd–4th centuries CE) still retained a minimal case system for the nominal parts of speech, i.e. nouns, adjectives, pronouns and numerals. It included a direct or subject case (originating from the old nominative) used for the subject and the [[Predicative expression|predicative nominal]] and an oblique case used for other functions (indirect object, genitive possessor, complement of a preposition, subject/'agent' of the ergative construction).<ref>Maggi & Orsatti 2014: 21–22</ref><ref>Sundermann 1989: 154–155</ref><ref name="Расторгуев-3"/><ref name="Skjærvø 2007h">Skjærvø 2007: 139–140</ref> The case distinction was only present in the plural of nouns, in nouns of relationship (family terms) that end in ''-tar'' or ''-dar'' in the oblique, and in the first person singular pronoun ''az''/''an'' (''ANE''). The attested system is shown in the table below, using the words ''mard'' (''GBRA'') 'man' and ''pid'' (''AB<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'father' as examples.
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+
!
!direct case
!oblique case
|-
!regular nominals (singular)
|''mard-∅'' (''GBRA'')
|''mard-∅'' (''GBRA'')
|-
!regular nominals (plural)
|''mard-∅'' (''GBRA'')
|''mard-ān'' (''GBRAʾn''')
(in some exceptional words ''-īn'', ''-ūn'')
|-
!family terms (singular)
|''pid-∅'' (''AB''')
|''pidar-∅''
(''ABYtl''')
|-
!family terms (plural)
|''pidar-∅''
(''ABYtl''')
|''pidar-ān''
(''ABYtlʾn''')
|-
!1st person singular pronoun
|''az'' / ''an''<ref>See section on ''Pronouns''</ref>

(''ANE'')
|''man''
(''L'')
|}

The endings ''-īn'' and ''-ūn'' occur in the place of ''-ān'' in a decreasing number of exceptions. In Inscriptional Pahlavi, forms such as ''frazend'''īn''''' (''pr<u>z</u>ndyn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'of the children' and ''dušmen'''ūn''''' (''dwšm(y)nwn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'of the enemies' are still found. In Manichaean Middle Persian, likewise, forms such as ''zan'''īn''''' (spelt ''znyn''), 'women', ''ruwān'''īn''''' 'souls' and ''dušmen'''ūn''''' (''dwšmynwn'') are preserved.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 61</ref> It also has the form ''aw'''īn''''' as an equivalent of ''awē'''šān''''' 'they, those'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2009g">Skjærvø 2009: 208</ref> In Book Pahlavi, the generalisation of ''-ān'' has advanced to the point where only ''-īn'' is preserved, namely in the inflections of the words ''harw'' (''KRA'') and ''harwisp'' (''hlwsp̄<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'every, all' – plural ''harw'''īn''''' and ''harwisp-'''īn''''' or ''harwist'''īn''''', respectively, as well as optionally of ''dō'' (''2'', ''TLYN<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), 'two' – plural ''dōw'''īn''''' or ''dōn'''īn'''''.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 140</ref>

There is some disagreement and uncertainty about whether the case of the [[direct object|''direct'' object]] in this early inflectional system was direct or oblique. Originally, it should have been direct in the [[ergative-absolutive alignment|ergative-absolutive]] constructions, but possibly oblique in the [[nominative-accusative alignment|nominative-accusative]] ones. It has been claimed that 'the direct object could stand in both cases'<ref name=sundermann155/> or that it is unclear which case specifically the ''plural'' direct object took, with a suggested distinction between [[definiteness|indefinite and definite]] direct object taking the direct and the oblique cases, respectively.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 139</ref>

For an even more archaic stage, some have claimed that the singular of regular nominals had its own oblique case form, too, and that it was marked by the ending ''-ē'' (spelt ''-y''), which still occurs on nouns in Inscriptional and Psalter Pahlavi, albeit somewhat unsystematically. This would have been expected, assuming that both oblique forms continue the Old Iranian genitives in ''*-ahya'' and ''*-ānam'', respectively. However, this theory has been disputed and rejected by many scholars.<ref name="Расторгуев-3"/><ref name=sundermann155/>

The case system broke down in the course of the Middle Persian period, as the oblique case forms were gradually generalised and displaced the direct ones. First, the oblique plural form in ''-ān'' (''-īn'' and ''-ūn'') was generalised as a general plural form; a few instances of this usage are found as early as in the 6th–8th century Pahlavi Psalter, and while the preserved parts of the 3rd century ''Shābuhragān'' may retain it,<ref name=sundermann155/> most other Manichaean texts use ''-ān'' as a general plural form and only retain the case distinction in the family terms and the 1st singular pronoun. Finally, even though the Middle Persian translations of the Avesta still retain the old system, most clearly so in the family terms, the other Book Pahlavi Zoroastrian texts display the new system with no case distinctions at all and solely a contrast between singular and plural. At this stage, the old direct and oblique cases of the nouns of relationship such as ''pid'' and ''pidar'' were preserved only as free variants.<ref name="Maggic">Maggi & Orsatti 2014: 22</ref> At the same time, even when morphologically unexpressed, the 'underlying' case of a nominal phrase remains relevant throughout the Middle Persian period for the agreement on the verb and the use of the pronominal enclitics, to be described in the relevant sections.

In addition to the plural ending ''-ān'', a new plural suffix ''-īhā'' is increasingly common both in later Manichaean texts,<ref name="Maggic"/> where also the variant ''-īhān'' occurs, and especially in Book Pahlavi.<ref name=sundermann155/> It is used with inanimate nouns<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 61–62</ref> and has been said to express 'individual plurality': 'the various, individual Xs'.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 84</ref><ref>Skjærvø 2009: 205</ref> At the same time, ''-ān'' is still used with inanimate as well as with animate nouns, and is far more common than ''-īhā''.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 61–62, Расторгуева 1966: 50–51</ref> Some examples are ''šahr-'''īhā''''' (''štryhʾ'') 'countries'  and ''dar-'''īhā''''' (''BBAyhʾ'') 'doors', but also ''čiš-'''ān''''' (''MNDOMʾn'') 'things'. The resulting late Middle Persian system looks as follows, as exemplified with the words ''mard'' 'man' and ''kо̄f'' 'mountain':
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+
!singular
!default plural
!individual plural
|-
|''mard-∅'' (''GBRA'')

''kо̄f-∅'' (''kwp'')
|''mard-ān'' (''GBRAʾn''')
''kо̄f-ān'' (''kwpʾn'')

(in some exceptional words ''-īn'')
|''kо̄f-īhā'' (''kwpyhʾ'')

(Manichaean ''-īhān'')
|}

As long as case declension was still preserved, a possessor noun stood in the oblique case. In this older construction, it ''preceded'' the possessed noun. After the breakdown of the case system, what remained of this construction was a simple juxtaposition between a possessor noun and a possessed noun, and that was indeed preserved as one possible expression of possession: e.g. ''dūdag sālār'' (''dwtk<nowiki>'</nowiki> srdʾl'') 'the head of a family', 'the family('s) head', ''Ōhrmazd nām'' (''ʾwhrm<u>z</u>d ŠM'') 'the name of [[Ahuramazda]]'.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 59</ref><ref name="Skjærvø 2007i">Skjærvø 2007: 18</ref> However, there was also a more explicit option using the relative particle ''ī'', which introduced a ''following'' possessor nominal phrase (also in the oblique case, as long as the distinction existed): e.g. ''sālār ī dūdag'' (''srdʾl Y dwtk<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), ''nām ī Ōhrmazd'' (''ŠM y ʾwhrm<u>z</u>d'').<ref name="Skjærvø 2007j">Skjærvø 2007: 33</ref> This is discussed in more detail in the section on the relative particle.

====Definiteness====

Indefiniteness may be expressed by the encliticisation of the word ''ē(w)'' (spelt '1' or ''HD'') 'one' to a noun: ''mard-ēw'' (''GBRA-1'') 'a (certain) man'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007k1">Skjærvø 2007: 17</ref> This usage has been described by certain scholars as an 'indefinite article',<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 62</ref> while others do not regard it as such, since its use is far less common than that of the English word ''a(n)''.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007k1"/>

====Adjectives====

=====Agreement=====

Originally, adjectives had the same inflectional categories as nouns and took the same endings. When used independently as nouns, they still have number inflection: ''weh-ān'' (''ŠPYLʾn'') 'the good (people)'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007h"/> When they are used as attributive modifers of nouns, however, agreement is optional and, while it remains common in Manichaean Middle Persian, it is increasingly rare in Book Pahlavi, where, e.g. both ''abārīgān gyāgān'' (''ʾp̄ʾrykʾn gywʾkʾn'' ) 'other places' and ''abārīg dēwān'' (''ʾp̄ʾryk<nowiki>'</nowiki> ŠDYAʾn'') 'other demons' have been attested. When the modifying adjective is introduced by the relative particle ''ī'', as well as in predicative position, it never takes the plural suffix: e.g. ''mardān ī weh'' (''GBRAʾn Y ŠPYL'') 'good men'.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 63–64</ref><ref name="Sundermann 1989d">Sundermann 1989: 156</ref>
Some sources also assert that the original singular oblique case ending ''-ē'' (''-y'') is seen in attributive preposed adjectives in some examples: e.g. ''čē-š asar karb az asar'''ē''' rо̄šnīh frāz brēhēnīd'' (''MEš ʾsl klp MN ʾsly lwšnyh prʾ<u>c</u> blyhynyt'') 'for he created the eternal form from eternal light'.<ref name="Расторгуева 1966c">Расторгуева 1966: 52</ref>

=====Comparison=====

Comparison of adjectives (as well as adverbs) is regularly expressed with the comparative degree suffix ''-tar'' (spelt ''-tl'') and the superlative degree suffix ''-tom'' (spelt ''-twm''),<ref name="Sundermann 1989d"/><ref name="Skjærvø 2007g">Skjærvø 2007: 85</ref> or possibly ''-tum'';<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 64</ref> in Manichaean, they also have the allomorphs ''-dar'' and ''-dom'' after voiced consonants. For example, ''abēzag'' (''ʾp̄yck') 'pure' ''is compared ''abēzag-tar'' 'purer''' – ''abēzag-''tom'' 'purest'<nowiki/>''.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007g"/> ''

There are also some irregular or relict forms reflecting more ancient suffixes (comparative ''-y'' or ''-īy'' or resulting [[I-umlaut|fronting of the preceding vowel]], superlative ''-ist'') and/or [[suppletion]]:<ref name="Skjærvø 2007g"/><ref name="Расторгуеваe">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 64–65</ref><ref name="Sundermann 1989d"/>

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
!positive
!comparative
!superlative
!meaning
|-
|''xо̄b''/''xūb'' (''xwp'')
|''weh'' (''ŠPYL''),

Manichaean also ''wahy'' or ''wahīy''

(sp. ''why'')
|''pahlom'' (''pʾhlwm''),

''pāšom''/''pašom'' (''p''(''ʾ'')''šwm'');

cf. ''wahišt'' (''whšt''')

'paradise'
|'good'
|-
|''wazurg''/''wuzurg'' (''LBA'', ''wc''(''w'')''lg'')
|''meh'' (''ms''),

''mahistar'' (''mhstl'');

Manichaean also ''mahy'' or ''mahīy'' (sp. ''mhy'')
|''mahist'' (''msst''')
|'big'
|-
|''kо̄dag''/''kо̄dak'' (''kwtk''')
|''keh''

(''ks'')
|''kahist'' (''ksst''')
|'small'
|-
|''was'' (''KBD'')
|''wēš'' (''wyš''),

''frāy'' (''plʾy''),

''freh'' (''plyh'')
|''frāyist'' (''plʾyst'''),

''frahist'' (''plh''(''y'')''st''')
|'much',  'a lot', 'many'
|-
|''kam'' (''km'')
|''kem'' (''kym'')
|''kamist'' (''kmyst''')
|'a little', 'few'
|-
|''garān'' (''glʾn''')
|''grāy''

(''glʾy'')
|''grāyist'' (''glʾyst''')
|'heavy,  serious'
|-
|''nazd'' (''nzd'')
|<nowiki>-------</nowiki>
|''nazdist'' (''nzdst''')
|'near', in superlative also 'first'
|-
|''dо̄šag'' (''dwšk''')
|<nowiki>-------</nowiki>
|Manichaean:

''dо̄šist'' (''dwšyst'')
|'beloved'
|}

In some cases, only a 'superlative' form exists without corresponding positive and comparative forms: ''bālist'' (''bʾlyst<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'supreme, highermost', ''nidom'' (''nytwm'') 'lowermost', ''bēdom'' (''bytwm'') ''outermost'', ''fradom'' (''AWLA'') 'first', ''abdom'' (''ʾp̄dwm'')  'last'.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 85, 86</ref>

The object of comparison for an adjective in the comparative degree is introduced by the preposition ''az'' (''hc'') 'from', the subordinating conjunction ''kū'' (''AYK'') 'where, that'<ref name="Расторгуеваe"/> or, more rarely, ''čiyо̄n'' (''cygwn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'as':<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 86</ref> ''о̄y az/kū/čiyо̄n tо̄ о̄zо̄mandtar'' (''OLE MN/AYK/cygwn<nowiki>'</nowiki> LK ʾwcʾmndtl'') 'he is stronger than you.'
The object of comparison for an adjective in the superlative degree is introduced by the preposition ''az'' (''hc'') or simply by a possessive construction: ''о̄y (az) mardʾn о̄zо̄mandtom'' (sp. ''OLE (MN) GBRAʾn ʾwcʾmndtwm'') ''<nowiki/>'''he is the strongest of the men'.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 86–87, Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 64. Examples original.</ref>

=====Placement=====

When adjectives modify a noun without the help of any linking particle, they usually precede them,<ref name="Skjærvø 2007o">Skjærvø 2007: 26</ref> but may occasionally follow them, too.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 65</ref><ref name="Sundermann 1989d"/> A far more common possibility than either is for the adjective to be introduced by the relative particle ''ī'', on which see the relevant section. Thus, e.g. 'a/the big house' can be expressed as ''wazurg mān'' (''LBA mʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>), mān wazurg'' (''mʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki> LBA'') or ''mān ī wazurg'' (''mʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki> Y LBA'').

====Pronouns====

=====Personal pronouns=====

The personal pronouns have a stressed form and an enclitic form. They are as follows:<ref name="Расторгуева-5">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 81–82</ref><ref>Skjærvø 2007: 11, 33–34</ref><ref name="Skjærvø 2009g"/>

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="3" |singular
! colspan="3" |plural
|-
! colspan="2" |stressed
!enclitic
! colspan="2" |stressed
!enclitic
|-
! rowspan="2" |1st person
!direct case
!oblique

case
| rowspan="2" |

''-''(''i'')''m'' (sp. -''m'')
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |

''amā''(''h'') (sp. ''LNE'')
| rowspan="2" |-(''i'')''mān'' (sp. -''mʾn''')

Inscriptional Pahlavi: ''-(i)n'' (sp. -''n<nowiki>'</nowiki>'')
|-
|''az'' / ''an'' (sp. ''ANE'')
|''man'' (sp. ''L'', ''LY'')
|-
!2nd person
| colspan="2" |        ''tо̄'' (sp. ''LK'')
|''-''(''i'')''t'' (sp. -''t'')
| colspan="2" |''ašmā''(''h'') (sp. ''LKWM'')
|<nowiki>-(</nowiki>''i'')''tān'' (sp. ''-tʾn''')
|-
! rowspan="3" |3rd person
| colspan="2" rowspan="3" |''о̄y'' (sp. ''OLE'')
| rowspan="3" |''-''(''i'')''š'' (sp. -''š'')
!direct case

!oblique

case
| rowspan="3" |-(''i'')''šān'' (sp. ''-šʾn''')
|-
|''о̄y'' (sp. ''OLE'')
|''awēšān'' (sp. ''OLEšʾn''')
|-
| colspan="2" |Manichaean: ''awīn'' (sp.''ʾwyn'')
|}

The enclitic allomorphs with initial {{IPA|/i/}} (''-im'', etc.) are used after consonants. The vowel {{IPA|/u/}} or {{IPA|/o/}} can also appear instead of {{IPA|/i/}}, albeit rarely (''-um'', ''-om'').<ref name="Skjærvø 2009g"/> The spelling variant ''LY'' of ''man'' is used before the particle ''-iz'' (''c'') 'too': ''man-iz'' is spelt ''LYc''.

======Case forms and syntactic function======

Of the personal pronouns proper, only the first stressed form has an attested case distinction, but the use of the direct case is already archaic in Book Pahlavi, where the form ''man'' (''L'') is generalised. The pronunciation of the direct case form is controversial – Manichaean has only ''an'' (''ʾn''), whereas the form ''az'' has been said to be due to influence from Parthian and its existence has been questioned.<ref>Sundermann 1989: 157</ref> In addition, the third person pronoun is originally a demonstrative pronoun and is declined like a noun, so originally the form with the plural suffix ''-ān'' – and, presumably, the Manichaean one in ''-īn'' – appeared only in the oblique case; however, again, the oblique was generalised in Manichaean and Book Pahlavi. Apart from that, the stressed forms can have all the same syntactic functions as a noun: subject (''man wēnēm'', sp. ''L H<u>Z</u>YTWNym'', 'I see'), object (''man wēnēd'', sp. ''L H<u>Z</u>YTWNyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'', 'he sees me'), complement of a preposition (''о̄ man'', sp. ''OL L'', 'to me'), and a modifier expressing a possessor. As with nouns, the last option is possible in two ways. The first one, which is significantly rarer, is for the pronoun to be placed before another noun. Much more frequently, it is postposed and linked to the head noun with the relative particle ''ī''. Thus, 'my house' can be expressed as ''man mān'' (''L mʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), but more commonly as ''mān ī man'' (''mʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki> Y L'').<ref name="Расторгуева-5"/>

In contrast, the enclitic forms can only have oblique functions: i.e., they cannot correspond to the (non-ergative) subject of the sentence,<ref name="Skjærvø 2007j"/> although a few such cases have been attested in late texts, possibly due to New Persian influence.<ref>Cf. Расторгуева 1966: 60</ref> They can, however, express:

# an indirect object, e.g. ''u-'''š''' guft Ohrmazd ...'' (''APš gwpt<nowiki>'</nowiki>/YMRRWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> ʾwhrm<u>z</u>d''), 'and Ohrmazd told '''him'''... ';<ref>Расторгуева 1966: 57</ref>
# a possessor, e.g. ''ka-'''t''' čašm о̄ zrēh о̄ftēd'' (''AMTt AYNE OL zlyh ʾwptyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'when '''your''' eye (i.e. glance) falls on the sea';<ref name="Расторгуева 1966b">Расторгуева 1966: 59</ref> ''u-'''m''' mād Spandarmad'' (''APm AM spndrmt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'and '''my''' mother is [[Spenta Armaiti]]'<ref name="Расторгуева 1966b"/>
# the complement of a preposition, e.g. ''čē-'''š''' andar'' (''MEš <u>B</u>YN'') 'which is in '''it''' '<ref name="Расторгуева-6">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 82</ref>
# the agent in an ergative construction, e.g. ''xwamn ī-'''m''' dīd'' (''hwmn<nowiki>'</nowiki> ZYm H<u>Z</u>YTWN'') 'the dream which I saw',<ref>Расторгуева 1966: 60</ref>
# a direct object in a non-ergative construction, e.g. ''u-'''š''' о̄zan!'' (''APš YKTLWN'') 'and kill it!'<ref name="Расторгуева-6"/>

======Placement of the enclitic pronouns======

The enclitic form is usually attached to a word in the beginning of the clause, typically to the first one,<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 11, 34</ref> and that is often a conjunction or a particle: specifically it occurs frequently after the conjunctions ''ud'' 'and' (which appears before these enclitics as the allomorph ''u-'' and is spelt ''AP''), ''ka'' (''AMT'') 'when', ''kū'' (''AYK'')  'that, so that', ''čē'' (''ME'') 'because', after the relative particle ''ī'' (then spelt ''ZY-''), the relative pronoun ''kē'' (''MNW'') 'who, which'<ref>Расторгуева 1966: 57–58</ref> and the particle ''ā-'' (''ʾ'') 'then'.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 34</ref> Two enclitics can occur after each other, in which case the 1st person enclitic comes first, and in the absence of such, the enclitic denoting the agent has priority:<ref name="Sundermann 1989e">Sundermann 1989: 131</ref> e.g. ''ān owо̄n-im-iš wahišt nimūd'' (''ZK ʾwgwnmš whšt<nowiki>'</nowiki> nmwt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'in that manner he showed me paradise.'<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 34</ref>

When the pronoun is logically the complement of a preposition, it is usually nevertheless ''not'' attached to it.<ref name="Sundermann 1989e"/> Still, such examples do occur occasionally<ref>Расторгуева 1966: 58–59</ref> and tend then to be written phonetically instead of the usual spelling of the preposition with an Aramaeogram, e.g. ''az-iš'' 'from her', spelt ''hcš'' rather than ''MNš'' as usually, and ''о̄-mān'' 'to us', spelt ''ʾwmʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' instead of ''OLmʾn''.<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 224–225</ref> More commonly, however, the enclitic is attached to the first word of the clause, so that the preposition that governs it ends up being placed after it,<ref name="Skjærvø 2007j"/> as in the already adduced example ''čē-'''š''' andar'' 'which is in it'. The exception are the prepositions ''pad'' (''PWN'') 'at', ''о̄'' (''OL'') 'to' and ''az'' (''MN'') 'from', which do accept the 3rd person enclitic ''-(i)š'', using it both with a singular and with a plural reference, and ''о̄'' then appears as the allomorph ''aw'' before ''-iš'': ''padiš'' (''ptš''), ''awiš'' (''ʾwbš''), ''aziš'' (''hcš'').<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 143–144</ref> However, if the logical complement is of a non-3rd person, the appropriate enclitic (''-(i)m'', etc.) is attached to the first word in the clause rather than the preposition, and it is 'resumed' on the preposition itself by the ''3rd'' person enclitic: e.g. ''u-m awiš'' (''APm ʾwbm'' 'on me'). A relative pronoun can be 'resumed' like this, too: ''kē ... padiš'' 'on ... which', and even a noun can, sometimes: ''Zardušt ... padiš'' 'for... Zarathustra'.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 144–146</ref><ref name="Расторгуева-h">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 81–83</ref>

=====Reflexive pronouns=====

There are two reflexive pronouns – a nominal one ''xwad'' (''BNPŠE'') 'oneself' and an adjectival one ''xwēš'' (''NPŠE'') 'one's own' (earlier ''xwēbaš'', hence Manichaean ''xw(b)š''.<ref>Sundermann 1989: 158</ref><ref name="Расторгуева-h"/>

=====Demonstrative pronouns=====

The demonstrative pronouns can be used with singular and plural referents, with the exception of ''о̄y''. They are the following:

# ''ēn'' (''<u>Z</u>NE'') 'this', used [[deixis|deictically]] as well as preparatively, with a meaning 'the following';
# ''(h)ān'' (''ZK'', Manichaean ''hʾn'') 'that', with a plural ''ānēšān'' found only in Manichaean, used [[Anaphora (linguistics)|anaphorically]] and in a [[determinative]] function to indicate a noun followed by a relative clause;
# ''о̄y'' (''OLE'') 'that' with a plural ''awēšān'' (''OLEšʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), also used as a 3rd person pronoun;

Some rarer ones are:

# ''ēd'' (''HNA'') 'this', used deictically, but rare;
# ''im'' (''L<u>Z</u>NE'') 'this' with a plural ''imēšān'' and ''imīn'' used in Manichaean, occurring in Book Pahlavi mostly in set phrases such as ''im cim rāy'' (''L<u>Z</u>NE cym lʾd'') 'for this reason', ''im rо̄z'' (''L<u>Z</u>NE YWM'') 'today').<ref>Sundermann 1989: 157–158</ref><ref name="Расторгуева-8">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 84–89</ref><ref name="Skjærvø 2007k2">Skjærvø 2007: 119</ref>

Some other demonstrative pronouns are ''ham'' (''hm'') 'the same' and ''and'' (''ʾnd'') 'so much'.<ref name="Расторгуева-8"/> Demonstrative adverbs are ''ēdо̄n'' (''ʾytwn<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), ''о̄wо̄n'' (''ʾwgwn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') and ''о̄h'' (''KN''), all three of which mean 'so, thus'; ''ēdar'' 'here' (''LTME''); ''awar'' 'hither' (''LPNME''), which is also used as an imperative 'come here!' and has a plural form ''awarēd'' (''LPNMEyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>''),<ref name="Skjærvø 2007l">Skjærvø 2007: 58</ref> ''ōrōn'' (''ʾwlwn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'hither'; ''ānо̄h'' (''TME'') 'there'; ''nūn'' (''KON'') 'now'; ''ēg'' (''ADYN'') 'then, thereupon'; ''ā-'' (''ʾ'') 'then' (normally used with a following enclitic pronoun); ''hād'' (''HWEt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'now, then'; ''pas'' (''AHL'') 'afterwards'; ''pēš'' ''LOYN<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' 'before that, earlier'.<ref name="Расторгуева-9">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 96–97</ref>

=====Interrogative pronouns=====

The interrogative pronouns can normally also be used as relative pronouns and introduce dependent clauses, and as well as indefinite pronouns. The main ones are ''kē'' (''MNW'') 'who', ''čē'' (''ME'') 'what', 'what kind of', 'which', ''kadām'' (''ktʾm'') 'what kind of, which', ''kadār'' (''ktʾl'') 'which' and ''čand'' (''cnd'') 'how much/many'. The first two and the last one are also used as relative pronouns, i.e. they introduce dependent clauses and mean 'which'. In that use, they can not be preceded by prepositions, so they are instead resumed in the dependent clause by the 3rd person singular enclitic or a demonstrative pronoun: 'from which' can be expressed by ''kē ... aziš'' and 'with which' can be ''kē' ... abāg''.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 89–91</ref> Interrogative adverbs are ''čiyо̄n?'' (''cygwn'') 'how', ''kū?'' (''AYK'') 'where' and ''kay?'' (''AYMT'') 'when'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007n">Skjærvø 2007: 141</ref> The first two can also introduce dependent clauses as relative pronominal adverbs, meaning 'as' and 'that', respectively. The relative adverb corresponding to ''kay?'' (''AYMT'') is, however, ''ka'' (''AYT'') 'when'.<ref>Relevant entries in MacKenzie 1981</ref><ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 95–97</ref>

=====Indefinite pronouns=====

The specialised indefinite pronouns are:<ref name="Расторгуева-10">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 95</ref>

# ''ēč'' or ''hēč'' (''ʾyc'') 'any' (attributive).
# ''kas'' (''AYŠ'') 'anybody'. It is also used as a noun: 'a person'.
# ''tis'' (a southwestern form) or ''čis'' (a northwestern form) (sp. ''MNDOM'') 'something'. It is also used as a noun: 'a thing'.

As already mentioned, the interrogative word ''čand'' (''cnd'') can also be used as an indefinite one: 'any number/amount', whereas ''ē(w)-čand'' (''ʾy(w)cnd'') is unambiguously indefinite: 'some (number/amount), a few'. An indefinite adverb is ''hagriz'' (''hklc'') 'ever'.
The indefinite meaning can be reinforced by the particle ''-iz'', sp. ''-(y)c'', meaning 'too'. Thus ''kas-iz'' 'whoever', etc. The form of ''čē'' in this case is extended to ''čēgām-iz'' 'whatever'.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 157</ref>

Together with a negative particle ''nē'' 'not' occurring in the same clause, the indefinite pronouns also function as negative ones: 'not ... anybody' > 'nobody' etc.: e.g. ''kas nē bawēd'' (''AYŠ LA YHWWNyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'there will be nobody.'<ref name="Расторгуева-10"/>

=====Alternative pronouns=====

Pronouns are ''anīy'' (''AHRN'') 'other' and ''abārīg'' (''ʾp̄ʾlyk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'other, further'; a corresponding pronominal adverb is ''enyā'' (''ʾynyʾ'') 'otherwise'.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 92–93, 96</ref>

=====Universal pronouns=====

There are many pronouns with universal meaning, including ''har(w)'' (''KRA'', ''hl'', Manichaean ''hrw'') 'every' (pl. ''harwīn'') ; ''ham'' (''hm'') 'altogether, all, whole', ''hamāg'' (''hmʾk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'whole, entire, all', ''hāmōyēn'' (''hʾmwdyn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'all, the whole', ''wisp'' (''wsp'') 'all, each, every', ''harwisp'' ''hlwsp̄'' (pl. ''harwispīn'') or ''harwist'' 'all, each, every'.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 92–93</ref> A pronominal adverb with universal meaning is ''hamē(w)'' (Book Pahlavi ''hmʾy'', Manichaean ''hmyw'') 'always'.<ref name="Расторгуева-11">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 120</ref>

====The relative particle====

Within a nominal phrase, many different kinds of modifiers following the head were introduced by so-called relative particle ''ī'' (spelt ''ZY-'' in Inscriptional and Psalter Pahlavi, but ''Y'' in Book Pahlavi except in front of pronominal enclitics; in Manichaean also ''īg'', sp. '' ʿyg''), which could be roughly translated as 'which'. This is the predecessor of the New Persian construction known as [[Ezāfe]]. It could introduce:<ref>Maggi & Orsatti 2014: 23</ref><ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 59–60</ref>

# adjectives: ''kunišn ī nēk'' (''kwnšn<nowiki>'</nowiki> Y nywk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'good deed'
# 'genitive' possessor noun or pronoun phrases: ''pus ī Ardawān'' (''BRE Y ʾldwʾn'') 'son of Ardawan'
# prepositional phrases: ''awīn ī andar diz'' 'those in the fortress'
# dependent clauses: ''ēn warzīgar ... ī pad ēn deh mānēd'' (''<u>Z</u>NE wlcykl ... Y PWN <u>Z</u>NE MTA KTLWNyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'that farmer that lives in this village'

Besides following the head, the modifier can be attached to a demonstrative pronoun, usually ''(h)ān'' (''ZK'') 'that', but also ''ēn'' (''<u>Z</u>NE''), ''ōy'' (''OLE'') and ''ēd'' (''HNA''), which precedes the head of the phrase:

''ān ī ahlaw kas'' (''ZK Y ʾhlwb' AYŠ'') 'the righteous person'

''ān ī-š pādixšāyīhā zan'' (''ZK Yš ŠLYTAyhʾ NYŠE'') 'the wife he is lawfully married to', lit. 'the wife he lawfully has'.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 87–88</ref><ref>Skjærvø 2007: 27</ref>

===Adverbs===

Many adjectives can be used adverbially without any change: ''Ardawān '''saxt''' awištāft'' 'Ardawan was in a great hurry' (''ʾldwn sht<nowiki>'</nowiki> ʾwštʾp̄t''), lit. 'Ardawan was hurrying greatly'.<ref name="Расторгуева 1966c"/><ref>Skjærvø 2007: 102</ref> However, adverbs can also be formed from adjectives, as well as from nouns and phrases, by adding the suffix ''-īhā'' (''-yhʾ''): ''tuxšāg-īhā'' (''twxšʾkyhʾ'') 'diligent-ly', ''dād-īhā'' (''dʾtyhʾ'') 'law-fully'.<ref name="Расторгуева-9"/>

Like adjectives, adverbs can be compared; e.g. ''azabar'' (''hcpl'') 'above' – ''azabartar'' (''hcpltl'') 'farther above' – ''azabartom'' (''hcpltwm'') 'farthest above'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007o"/> Adverbs in ''-īhā'' can also be compared: ''kam-wināh-īhā-tar'' 'with less sin', lit. 'more little-sin-fully'.

Some common locational adverbs are ''azabar'' (''hcpl'') 'above' and ''azēr'' (''hcdl'' or ''ʾdl'') 'below', ''andarōn'' (''BYNlwn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' / ''ʾndlwn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'inside', ''bērōn'' (''bylwn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'outside',<ref name="Skjærvø 2007e"/> ''pērāmōn'' (''pylʾmwn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'around' and ''parrōn'' (''plwn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' 'away, hence').<ref>MacKenzie 1986: 65</ref> Many of these are formed as compounds with the noun ''rōn'' (''lwn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'direction' as a second element.

For pronominal adverbs, see the sections on the pronouns of the respective types. For directional adverbs commonly co-occurring with verbs, see the section of preverbs.

=== Verbal morphology ===
Synthetic forms survive only in the present tense, although it does continue to distinguish to a greater or lesser extent four different moods. The past and perfect tenses are expressed periphrastically, even though there might be a few relicts of a synthetic imperfect in early inscriptions, and there may be a single synthetic imperfect form in Manichaean Middle Persian (see the section on ''The preterite'' below).<ref name="Maggid">Maggi & Orsatti 2014: 25</ref>

==== Stems ====
A Middle Persian verb has two stems – a present stem and a past stem, which coincides with the past participle.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 97–98</ref><ref>Расторгуева 1966: 78</ref> Most other synthetic forms are based on the present stem, but the infinitive uses the past stem (as do a few derivational suffixes, see below). The past stem generally ends in ''-d'' or ''-t'' (after voiced and voiceless consonants, respectively). Sometimes this is the only difference between the stems – this is common for roots in '''-š''' (''ku'''š''''' – ''kuš'''t''''', sp. ''NKSWN-'', 'to kill') and is also found e.g. in the verb ''xwardan'' (''OŠTENtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'to eat' (''xwar-'' – ''xwar'''d'''''). However, much more commonly, there are other differences and the exact relationship between the two stems is often unpredictable. For example:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!Verb meaning and Aramaeogram
!Present stem
!Past stem
|-
|'to do' (''OBYDWN''-)
|''kun''-
|''kard''-
|-
|'to go away' (''OZLWN''-)
|''šaw''-
|''šud''-
|-
|'to bear' (''YBLWN''-)
|''bar''-
|''burd''-
|}
Some common patterns of alternation between the final consonants of the two stems are:<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 107</ref><ref>Расторгуева 1966: 79</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!Verb meaning and Aramaeogram
!Present stem
!Past stem
|-
|
|''-z-''
|''-xt''
|-
|'to run, flow'
|E.g. ''rē'''z'''-''
|''rē'''xt'''''
|-
|
|''-s-, -z-, -y-, -h-''
|''-št,  -st''
|-
|'to want' (''BOYHWN''-)
|E.g. ''xwā'''h'''-''
|''xwa'''s'''t''
|-
|
|''-t-, -d-, -n-, -h-''
|''-st''
|-
|'to bind' (''ASLWN''-)
'to sit' (''YTYBWN''-)
|E.g. ''ban'''d'''-''
''nišī'''n'''-''
|''ba'''st'''''
''niša'''st'''''
|-
|
|''-w-''
|''-ft''
|-
|'to speak' (''YMRRWN''-)
|E.g. ''gō'''w'''-''
|''gu'''ft'''''
|}
Other notable alternations are seen in ''wa'''rd'''-'' – ''wa'''št''''' 'to turn', ''dā'''r'''-'' – ''dā'''št''''' (''YHSNN-'') 'to hold', ''nim'''āy'''-'' – ''nim'''ūd''''' 'to show', ''za'''n'''-'' – ''za'''d''''' (''MHYTWN-'') 'to hit'.

Some verbs also derive the past stem merely by the addition of a suffix, which, however, does not consist solely of the consonant -''t''/''d''. Most commonly it is ''-īd'' (''-yt'<nowiki/>''), but a number of verbs also take ''-ād'' (''-ʾt'<nowiki/>'') or ''-ist'' (''-st'''):
{| class="wikitable"
!Verb meaning and Aramaeogram
!Present stem
!Past stem
|-
|'to work'
|''warz-''
|''warz'''īd'''''
|-
|'to stand' (''YKOYMWN''-)
|''est-''
|''est'''ād'''''
|-
|'to seem' (''MDMEN''-)
|''sah-''
|''sah'''ist'''''
|}

The past stem formations in ''-īd'' and ''-ist'' are typical of denominative verbs, passives in the suffix ''-īh-'' and causatives.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 109</ref>

Finally, a few stem pairs are clearly [[Suppletion|suppletive]]:<ref>Расторгуева 1966: 80</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Verb meaning and Aramaeogram
!Present stem
!Past stem
|-
|'to see' (''H<u>Z</u>YTWN''-)
|''wēn-''
|''dīd''
|-
|'to come' (''YATWN-'')
|''āy-''
|''āmad''
|}
Another form of suppletion is found in the verb meaning 'to be, exist', which has the stem ''h-'' (spelt ''HWE-'') in the present tense, but in the preterite it uses the forms of the verb ''būdan'' 'to become, to be', which has the present stem ''baw-'' (often contracted simply to ''b-'') and the past stem ''būd'' (spelt ''YHWWN-'').<ref name="Skjærvø 2007o"/>

==== Personal endings and present tense of the three moods ====

===== Overview =====
The present-tense forms of the four moods are formed by adding the following endings to the present stem:<ref>Maggi & Orsatti 2014: 24</ref><ref name="sundermann149150">Sundermann 1989: 149–150</ref><ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 109–112, 123–124</ref><ref>Skjærvø 2009: 216–219</ref><ref name="Skjærvø 2007p">Skjærvø 2007: 68–69</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!
!indicative
!imperative
!subjunctive
!optative
|-
!1st sing.
|''-ēm''  (sp. ''-ym'')
(-''am'',  sp. -m),

-''om'', sp. -''wm''))
|
|
''-ān''
|
|-
!2nd sing.
| -''ēh''  (sp. -''yh'',
-''ē'' (sp. -''y<u>d</u>'')
|''-∅''
(-''ē'', sp. ''y<u>d</u>'',

-<u>''ydy''</u>)
|
''-āy''

(''-ā(h)'')
|
-''ēš'' (sp. -''yš'')
|-
!3rd sing.
| -''ēd'' (sp. ''-yt''')
(-''ed'',  sp. ''-t''')
|
|
''-ād''
|''-ēh'' (sp. ''-yh''),
''-ē'' (sp. ''-y<u>d</u>'')
|-
!1st pl.
| -''ēm''  (sp. ''-ym'')
(-''am''  (sp. ''-m''),

''-om''  (sp. -''wm''))
|
|
''-ām''
|
|-
!2nd pl.
| -''ēd''  (sp. ''-yt''<nowiki/>')
| -''ēd''  (sp. ''-yt''')
|''-ād''
|
|-
!3rd pl.
|''-ēnd''  (sp. -''ynd'')
(-''and'',  sp. -''nd'')
|
|''-ānd''
| -''ēnd hē''
(sp. ''-ynd HNA'')
|}
For example, the verb ''raftan'' (''SGYTWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'to go' will be conjugated as ''raw'''ēm''''' (''SGYTWNym''), ''raw'''ē''''' (''SGYTWNy<u>d</u>''), ''raw'''ēd''''' (''SGYTWNyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), etc. in the indicative, ''raw'' (''SGYTWN''), etc. in the imperative, ''raw'''ān''''' (''SGYTWNʾn''), raw'''āy''' (''SGYTWNʾy''), raw'''ād''' (''SGYTWNʾt''), etc. in the subjunctive, and so on.

===== The vowel of the endings =====
The endings containing alternative vowels to ''ē'' are not found in Manichaean Middle Persian, except for the 1st person plural ''-om'', which has, conversely, been reported to be the only version there.<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 218</ref><ref name="sundermann149150" /> For the 1st person singular ending, most authors list ''-ēm'' as the normal form, but some consider ''-am'' to have been the regular ending in non-Manichaean Middle Persian as opposed to the 1st person plural ''-ēm''.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007p"/> Thus, sg. ''-am'' : pl.''-ēm'' in Pahlavi would correspond to sg. ''-ēm'' : pl. ''-om'' in Manichaean. In general, the apparently random variation of the vowels has been interpreted either as relicts of the inflection of minority stem types or, conversely, as foreshadowings of the New Persian form of the endings.

Furthermore, a small number of verbs had alternative contracted forms for the 3rd singular present with no vowel in the ending at all: e.g. ''kun'''d''''' for expected ''kun'''ēd''''' of ''kardan''. Verbs for which such forms are attested include ''daštan'' (''YHSNNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'hold' – ''da'''d''''' (''dt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'')'', raftan (''SGYTWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'')'' 'go' ''– raw'''d''' (lpd), burdan (Y<u>B</u>LWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'carry' – ''bar'''d''' (bld), čāštan (cʾštn<nowiki>'</nowiki>) '<nowiki/>''teach' ''- čāš'''t''''' (''čʾšt<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), ''hōšīdan'' (''hwšytn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'dry' ''- hōš'''t''''' (''hwšt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'dries' and ''fragendan'' (''plkndn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'lay foundations' – ''fragen'''d''''' (''plknd'')''.'' In addition, the present stem of ''būdan (YHWWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>)'' 'become'<nowiki/>'', baw-,'' is often shortened to b-'': b-'''ēd''' (byt<nowiki>'</nowiki>).<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 103, 2009: 217</ref>''

Although the 2nd singular imperative has no ending, a vowel ''-ā-''' appears in it before enclitics in Manichaean and Psalter Pahlavi, e.g. ''ahrām-ā-m!'' (''ʾhrʾmʾm'') 'raise me up!'<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 217</ref>

===== Subjunctive and optative =====
The subjunctive forms for persons other than the third occur in Manichaean Middle Persian, but not in Book Pahlavi.<ref name="sundermann149150" /> The subjunctive may express a wish (in the present tense) or a hypothetical or conditioned event (the latter mostly in the past tenses) The optative is another way to express a wish. However, the same meaning is expressed by combining the present indicative with separate optative particles: ''ē(w)'', sp.''ʾy(w)'' in Book Pahlavi (e.g. ''ē dārēd'', sp. ''ʾy YHSNNyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' 'let him possess it') and ''hēb'' in Manichaean (e.h. ''hēb dārēd'' ''hyb dʾryd'', the same)<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 121–122</ref> The present indicative and the present subjunctive may also express future tense (the former is used especially for near future).<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 68, 70, 2009: 229, 234</ref>

===== Copula =====
The synthetic forms of the [[copula verb]] follow mostly the same pattern as other verbs, the present stem consisting of the consonant ''h-'' (sp. ''HWE-'') alone: thus, 1st sg. ind. ''h'''ēm''''' (''HWEym'') or ''h'''am''''' (''HWEm''), subj. ''h'''ān''''', etc. However, the 3rd person singular of the present indicative is ''ast'' (sp. ''AYT''),<ref name="r&m110">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 110</ref> and this latter form is used mostly in the meaning 'to exist'; it is usually (but not always) omitted when the meaning is of pure [[Predicate (grammar)|predication]], as in ''he is a man'' – ''ōy mard'' (''OLE GBRA''), in contrast to ''there is a man'' – ''mard ast'' (''AYT GBRA''). The 3rd plural ''hēnd'' is often omitted as well, and even a subjunctive ''hād'' may be absent. Moreover, the existential 3rd person singular also has a special contracted negated form: instead of the regular *''nē ast'' (''LA AYT''), it is ''nēst'' (''LOYT<nowiki>'</nowiki>'')<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 226</ref><ref>Skjærvø 2007: 11, 26</ref>

The optative proper is regular: ''h'''ē''''' (''HWEy<u>d</u>''). The imperative function, however, appears to be performed by an optative form of the verb ''būdan'' (''YHWWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), 'to be, become': ''bāš'' contracted from ''baw'''ēš''''', and in the plural imperative, the same verb is used: ''baw'''ēd'''''.<ref name="r&m110" />

Finally, the copula could also occur in enclitic form without the initial ''h-'', although this is not found very often in written texts: ''kōdak-am'' (sp. ''kwtkm'') 'I am small'.<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 216–217</ref>

===== Imperfect =====
In addition to these endings, P. O. Skjærvø (2009: 219) identifies relicts of the Old Persian imperfect in Inscriptional Pahlavi: the markers, which are added to the present stem, are ''-ēn'' for the 1st singular, ''-ē'' or ''-ēd'' for the 3rd and ''-om'' for the 1st plural. However, in the synthetic passive formed with the suffixes ''-īh-'' or ''-īy-'', no ending is added at all in the imperfect: ''gugānīh-'''∅''''' 'was destroyed'. There is much uncertainty and debate about the exact interpretations of these and similar forms.<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 229</ref><ref>[https://orbi.ulg.ac.be/bitstream/2268/206528/1/tesisFerrer_2013.pdf Ferrer Losilla, Juan José. 2013. Las desinencias verbales en Iranio Medio Occidental, p. 66, 67, 318, 328, 370]{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===== Number agreement =====
When a plural subject is inanimate, the verb may remain in the singular instead of agreeing with it, unless individuality is specially emphasised.<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 227</ref>

==== Periphrastic forms ====

===== Past tenses =====
All the past tenses use periphrastic constructions with the main verb in the past participle form; e.g. ''raft'' from the verb ''raftan'' (''SGYTWN'' 'go'). The finite auxiliary verb is conjugated for the appropriate person and mood; the rules for person agreement in particular are described in the section on ''Ergativity in the past tenses''. The constructions are as follows:<ref name="Maggid"/><ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 113–117</ref>

====== The preterite ======
The '''preterite''' is formed by combining the past participle of the verb and the copula ''h-'' (''HWE-'') used as an [[auxiliary verb]] conjugated for the appropriate person and mood. The copula is, as usual, dropped in the third singular:

: ''(az) raft hēm'' (''(ANE) SGYTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> HWEym'') 'I went', but:
: ''(ōy) raft'' (''(OLE) SGYTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'he went'.

Since the verb ''h-'' has no corresponding past participle of the same root, it uses suppletively the past participle of ''būdan'':

: ''(az) būd hēm'' (''(ANE) YHWWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' / ''bwt<nowiki>'</nowiki> HWEym'') 'I was', but:
: ''(ōy) būd'' (''(OLE) YHWWNt / bwt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'he was'. This tense expresses an action in the past.

In addition, a synthetically (and suppletively) formed past tense of the copula appears to be found in Manichaean Middle Persian: 3rd person singular ''anād'' 'was' and 3rd person plural ''anānd'' 'were'. There is no obvious difference in function between this and the ordinary preterite.<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 229, 170</ref> This has been said to be a relict of the Old Persian imperfect tense, and it has been conjectured that a mysterious Armaeogram ''HWYTN-'' occurring in Inscriptional Pahlavi also designates the stem found in this form of the copula.<ref>Skjærvø 1997: 164–165, 170</ref>

====== The past preterite ======
The '''past preterite''' also uses the past participle, but it differs from the simple preterite in that the copula ''itself'' is in the preterite rather than the present here:

''(az) raft būd hēm'' ((''ANE'') ''SGYTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> YHWWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' / ''bwt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' HWEym) 'I had gone';

: ''(ōy) raft būd'' ((''OLE'') ''SGYTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> YHWWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' / ''bwt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') '(he) had gone'.

Since Manichaean Middle Persian (and possibly Inscriptional Pahlavi) retains synthetic past (imperfect) forms of the copula, it is also able to use them as auxiliaries in the past preterite construction (which has then been called 'past imperfect', although it does not seem to have a different function from the other construction):<ref>Skjærvø 1997: 165–167</ref>

: ''(ōy) raft anād'' = '(he) had gone'.
: ''(awēšān) raft anānd'' = '(they) had gone'.

The past preterite expresses an action preceding another action in the past.

====== The perfect ======
The '''perfect''' also uses the past participle, but it differs from the preterite in that the auxiliary verb uses is not the copula, but ''ēstādan'' (''YKOYMWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'to stand' in the present tense. Thus:

: ''(az) raft ēstēm'' (''(ANE) SGYTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> YKOYMWNym'') 'I have/am gone'
: ''(ōy) raft ēstēd'' (''(OLE) SGYTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> YKOYMWNyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') '(he) has/is gone'.

This tense expresses a past action whose [[Resultative|results are still observable in the present]].<ref>There are, however, some cases of a formally identical construction with modal meaning: ''šōy nē guft ēstēd...'' (''šwd LA YMRRWNt' YKOYMWNyt''') 'the husband ought not to say', see Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 116; unless the form in ''-t'' here is actually a short infinitive (see the section on the infinitive below).</ref>

====== The past perfect ======
The '''past perfect''' or '''pluperfect''' differs from the simple perfect in that the verb ''ēstādan'' ''itself'' is in the preterite rather than the present here:

: ''(az) raft ēstād hēm'' ((''ANE'') ''SGYTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> YKOYMWNʾt<nowiki>'</nowiki> HWEym'') 'I had/was gone';
: ''(ōy) raft ēstād'' ((''OLE'') ''SGYTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> YKOYMWNaʾt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') '(he) had/was gone'.

This tense expresses a past action whose [[Resultative|results were still observable at some point in the past]].

====== Past pluperfect ======
Some authors<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 117</ref> identify yet another form, a '''past pluperfect''':

: ''(az) raft ēstād būd hēm'' ((''ANE'') ''SGYTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> YKOYMWNʾt<nowiki>'</nowiki> YHWWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' / ''bwt<nowiki>'</nowiki> HWEym'') 'I had/was gone';
: ''(ōy) raft ēstād būd'' ((''OLE'') ''SGYTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> YKOYMWNʾt<nowiki>'</nowiki> YHWWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' / ''bwt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') '(he) had/was gone'.

====== Omission of the auxiliary verb ======
The auxiliary ''būdan'' is sometimes omitted not only in the 3rd person singular, but even in the plural: ''u-mān ō padīrag āmad awēšān widerdagān ruwān'' (''APmʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki> OL ptyrk<nowiki>'</nowiki> YATWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> OLEšʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki> wtltkʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki> lwbʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'and the souls of the departed came to meet us.'<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 71, Skjærvø 2009: 227</ref>

====== Ergativity in the past tenses ======
Like the English and Latin past participles, the Middle Persian past participle describes the logical ''subject'' of a verb when the verb is intransitive, but the logical object of the verb when the verb is transitive: e.g. ''raft'' (''SGYTWNt''') '(somebody who is) gone', but ''dīd'' (''H<u>Z</u>YTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') '(something that is) seen (by somebody)'. As a result, the construction with the copula (and with the auxiliary ''ēstādan'') has 'active' meaning when the verb is intransitive – ''tō raft hē'', sp. ''(LK) SGYTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> HWEy<u>d</u>'', lit. 'you are gone' – but 'passive' meaning when the verb is transitive – ''(tō) mard dīd'', sp. ''(LK) GBRA H<u>Z</u>YTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'', lit. 'the man is seen (by you)'. In other words, the participant that normally would have been the object is treated as the subject here, and the participant that normally would have been the subject is treated as an oblique modifier. Since in these transitive verb constructions, the participant that is treated like the single argument of an intransitive verb is not the more subject-like one, but the more object-like one, the [[morphosyntactic alignment]] of these constructions is [[Ergative–absolutive language|ergative]]. Since this alignment is confined to the past tenses, it is further described as [[split-ergative]].<ref>Maggi & Orsatti 2014: 26</ref><ref>Skjærvø 2007: 158–162. Cf. Sundermann 1989: 152–153, Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 111–113</ref>

The most obvious consequence of this that while the verb in a past tense agrees with the (logical) subject if it is intransitive (just as it would in the present tense), it agrees with the (logical) object if it is transitive:

: ''tō mardān dīd h'''ēnd''''' (''LK GBRAʾn H<u>Z</u>YTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> HWEnd)'' = 'you saw the men', lit. 'by you the men were seen';

Cf. present tense: ''tō mardān wēn'''ē''''' (''LK GBRAʾn H<u>Z</u>YTWNy<u>d</u>)  = '<nowiki/>''you see the men';

Cf. also the past tense of an intransitive verb: ''tō raft h'''ē''''' (''LK SGYTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> HWEy<u>d</u>'') 'you went'

: ''mardān tō dīd h'''ē''''' (''GBRAʾn LK H<u>Z</u>YTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> HWEy<u>d</u>'') = 'The men saw you', lit. 'by the men you were seen';

Cf. present tense: ''mardān tō wēn'''ēnd'''''  (''GBRAʾn LK H<u>Z</u>YTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> HWEnd'') = 'the men see you';

Cf. also the past tense of an intransitive verb: ''mardān raft h'''ēnd''''' (''GBRAʾn SGYTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> HWEnd'') 'the men went'

Another consequence is seen in the case inflection of nominals, inasmuch as it is preserved. In contrast to the use of the cases in the present tense, the ergative construction means that it is the logical object that is in the direct case and the logical subject that is in the oblique case. Thus, originally we would have, e.g. ''az mardān wēnēm'' 'I see the men' in the present, but ''man mard dīd h'''ēnd''''' in the past; ''mard man wēn'''ēnd''''' 'the men see me' in the present, but ''mardān az dīd h'''ēm''''' 'the men saw me' in the past. Even after the last vestiges of case inflection in nouns and the stressed forms of the pronouns had been lost and so their forms in ergative and nominative constructions had become identical, the fact that the very frequent pronominal enclitics were restricted to the oblique case meant that their use still reflected the alignment difference between the tenses:

: ''u-t mard dīd'' (''APt GBRA H<u>Z</u>YTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') = 'and you saw the man'

Cf. present tense: ''u-t mard wēn'''ēd'''''  ''APt GBRA H<u>Z</u>YTWNyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') = 'and the man sees you'

In contrast, *''u-t raft h'''ē''''' 'and you went' is impossible, as is *''u-t mard dīd hē'' 'and the man saw you'. That is because only the stressed form of the pronoun can function in the direct case.

Finally, it may be pointed out that the possibility of expressing the logical subject at all appears to have developed later in the perfect tenses with ''ēstādan'' than in the preterites with ''būdan''. It is not yet found in Inscriptional and Psalter Pahlavi, nor in Manichaean Middle Persian, where these constructions are impersonal and passive. However, in Book Pahlavi, it is already found regularly, so that clauses like ''u-t mard dīd ēstē'' are fully possible.<ref>Skjærvø 1997: 169</ref>

===== Present passive =====
The present tense proper of the verb ''būdan'', ''bawēm'', is also combined with the past participle to express a kind of present passive: ''dād bawēd'' (''YHBWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> YHWWNyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'it is, will have been given'. As in the ergative construction, the agent can occasionally be expressed with an oblique enclitic, e.g. ''ā-š kard bawēd'' 'then it is done by him' (''ʾš O<u>B</u>YDWNyt<nowiki>'</nowiki> YHWWNyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'').<ref>Sundermann 1989: 152</ref><ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 125–128</ref><ref name="Skjærvø 1997">Skjærvø 1997: 104</ref>

===== Future periphrasis =====
Albeit rarely, the verb ''kamistan'' 'to want' combined with an infinitive may express future tense: ''dušpādixšāyīh ī awēšān sar kāmēd būdan'' (''dwšSLYTAyh Y OLEšʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki> LOYŠE YCBENyt<nowiki>'</nowiki> YHWWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'their evil rule will end', lit. 'wants to end'.<ref>Skjærvø 1997: 121</ref>

==== Aspectual verbal particles ====
There are two particles occurring before the verb which may modify its aspectual meaning (apparently in opposite ways), even though their use is not obligatory.

One of them appears in Pahlavi as ''be'' (''BRA'') and in Manichaean as ''ba'' (''bʾ''). Its earliest meaning seems to have been directional and specifically [[andative]], i.e. 'away, out', and this is still said to be the case in Inscriptional and Psalter Pahlavi as well as in Manichaean,<ref name="Sundermann 1989f">Sundermann 1989: 154</ref> but in Book Pahlavi it also seems to have other meanings, which are less clear and more controversial. It has been argued to express '''[[Perfective aspect|perfective]]''' aspect in the past or in the future.<ref>Skjærvø 1997: 25</ref><ref name="r&m118119">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 118–119</ref> For example, ''mard ī šahr ka-š kas pad pusīh be padīrēd'' (''GBRA y štr<nowiki>'</nowiki> AMTš AYŠ PWN BREyh BRA MK<u>B</u>LWNyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>)'' 'if somebody adopts a man of the kingdom as his son'; ''Šābuhr be xandīd'' (''šʾpwhl GHBHWNyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') '[[Shapur I|Šābuhr]] laughed'. It also occurs relatively frequently with imperatives in Book Pahlavi, but not in Manichaean Middle Persian.<ref name="r&m118119" />

The other particle is ''hamē'' (''hmʾy''), originally identical to the adverb meaning 'always'. It expresses '''imperfective''' and more specifically [[durative]] or [[iterative]] aspect: ''kanīzag pad sar ī čāh būd ud ... čahārpāyān rāy āb hamē dād'' (''knyck<nowiki>'</nowiki> PWN LOYŠE y cʾh YHWWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> ... chʾlpʾdʾn rʾd MYA hmʾy YHBWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'the girl was by the side of the well and was giving water to the animals'.<ref name="Расторгуева-11"/> Some have viewed its aspectual use as a late phenomenon indicative of the transition to New Persian.<ref name="Sundermann 1989f"/>

==== Non-finite verb forms ====

===== Infinitive =====
The infinitive has two versions:<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 130–131</ref><ref name="skj120">Skjærvø 1997: 120–122</ref>

# a 'long' one that is derived from the past stem by adding ''-an'': e.g. ''kard'''an''''' (''kartn<nowiki>'</nowiki> / O<u>B</u>YDWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'')
# a 'short' one that is identical to the past stem, and thus to the past participle: ''kard'' (''kart<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' / ''O<u>B</u>YDWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>)''

It can function syntactically as a (verbal) noun:<ref>Расторгуева 1966: 117</ref> ''pad griftan ī [[Ardashir I|Ardaxšīr]]'' (''PWN OHDWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki> Y ʾrthšyr'') 'in order to seize Ardaxšīr' (lit. 'for the seizing of Ardaxšīr'), ''hangām ī xwarišn xwardan'' (''hngʾm y OŠTENšn<nowiki>'</nowiki> OŠTENtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'the time to eat food' (lit. the time of food eating')''.<ref name="skj120" />''

===== Participles =====
The '''past participle''', which coincides with the past stem. It has passive meaning when the verb is transitive, but active meaning when the verb is intransitive: ''kard'' (''krt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' or ''O<u>B</u>YDWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'made' but ''āxist'' (''KDMWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'risen'. It is most commonly used predicatively, but it can also be nominalised: ''duzīd'' (''dwcyd'') 'the stolen (goods)'.<ref name="r&m129">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 129</ref> If it is an attribute modifier instead, it is usually introduced by the relative particle: ''čiš ī widard'' (''MNDOM Y wtlt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'a thing that has passed away, vanished'.<ref>Расторгуева 1966: 115</ref>

An extended form of the past participle is produced by the addition of the suffix ''-ag'' (''-k'') to the past stem. This form is used attributively more often than the previous one: ''duxt ī padīrift'''ag''''' (''BRTE Y MK<u>B</u>LWNtk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'an adopted daughter' and is also frequently nominalised: ''nibištag'' (''<u>Y</u>KTYBWNtk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'something written, a document' (cf. Latin ''scriptum'', English ''writ'').<ref name="Sundermann 1989f"/><ref name="r&m129" />

There is also a '''present active participle''' derived from the present stem with the ending in ''-ān'' (''ʾn''): e.g. ''griy'''ān''''' (''B<u>K</u>YWNʾn''), ''gldʾn''), 'crying'. It may occur as a gerund – ''zarduxšt griyān passox guft'' (''zrtwxšt gldʾn pshw<nowiki>'</nowiki> gwpt''), 'Zarasthustra answered, weeping.' and is the usual verb form governed by the verb ''niwistan'' (''nwystn'') 'to begin', which, however, is mostly typical of Manichaean (albeit attested in Psalter Pahlavi).<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 245</ref> These constructions are rare in Book Pahlavi.<ref name="r&m129" /> Historically, the derivational deverbal suffix ''-endag'' / ''-andag'' (-''ndk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') as in ''sōz'''endag''''' (''swcndk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' 'burning') contains the Proto-Indo-European present active participle suffix and it does retain such a meaning, so the adjective derived with has also been called a 'participle'.<ref name="skj2009_215">Skjærvø 2009: 215</ref> So have deverbal adjectives formed with the productive suffix ''-āg'' (-''ʾk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') as in ''saz'''āg''''' (''scʾk'') 'fitting', which also have very similar semantics (see the section on ''Word formation'').<ref name="Расторгуеваm">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 73</ref> Both of these latter are mostly used attributively.<ref name="skj2009_215" />

The suffix ''-išn'' (''-šn'') generally forms deverbal nouns of action from the present stem of the verb as in ''kunišn'' (''kwnšn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'doing, deed, action' from ''kardan'' (''OBYDWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' / ''krtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'to do'. However, such formations also function in predicative position as [[gerundive]]s and have since been referred to as 'participles of necessity': ''u-š čē kunišn'' 'And what is he to do?', lit. 'What is an (appropriate) action for him?'; ''mardōmān ... mizd ī mēnōy bē nē hilišn'' (''ANŠWTAʾn mzd Y mynwd BRE LA Š<u>B</u>KWNšn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'people must not relinquish their reward in the spiritual world'.<ref name="skj2009_215" /> Indeed, they have come to resemble adjectives in that they can be inflected for degree: ''zanišn'''tar''''' (''MHYTWNšn'''tl''''') 'more worthy of being hit/killed'.<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 206</ref>

===== Voice =====
The periphrastic present passive construction with a past participle and ''būdan'' in the present tense (''dād bawēd'', 'is given') has already been mentioned in the section ''Present passive''. The corresponding ergative preterite constructions and ergative perfect tense constructions with ''ēstādan'' 'stand' are not really passive, since they do not contrast with an active form in the same tense and are the standard and only way of expressing these tenses.<ref>Skjærvø 1997: 160</ref> Nevertheless, they can still be used without an overt agent, resulting in a passive meaning: ''pus ... ōzad'' (''BRE YKTLWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'the son ... was killed', ''mardōm ... xwānd hēnd'' (''ANŠWTA ... KRYTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki> HWEnd'') 'the people ... were called'.<ref>Skjærvø 1997: 104, 147</ref>

Another periphrastic way of expressing the passive is by using a third person plural 'they' as an impersonal subject: ''kas pad wēmārīh nē mīrēd bē pad zarmānīh ayāb ōzanēnd'' (''AYŠ PWN wymʾryh LA BRE YMYTWNyt<nowiki>'</nowiki> PWN zlmʾnyh ʾdwp YKTLWNynd'') 'nobody will die of illness, but (only) from of old age or they will be killed (lit. or they kill them)'.<ref name="Skjærvø 1997"/>

However, there is also a ''synthetic'' passive form derived from the present stem with the suffix ''-īh-'' (''-yh-''), in older texts such as the Pahlavi Psalter also ''-īy-'' (sp. -''yd''-). The vowel might have been shortened in later Middle Persian pronunciation. The corresponding past stem may end in ''-ist'' or in ''-īd''. Some examples are ''dār'''īh'''ēd'' (''YHSNNyhyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'is held' (of ''dāštan'', present stem ''dār-'', 'to hold'), ''yaz'''īh'''īd'' (''Y<u>D</u>BHWNyhyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'was recited' (of ''yaštan'', present stem ''yaz-'', 'to recite, celebrate').<ref>Sundemann 1989: 151</ref><ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 124</ref> If the base verb has the factitive/causative suffix ''-ēn-'' (''-yn-''), it is removed before the addition of ''-īh-'': ''rawāgēnīdan'' (''lwbʾkynytn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'propagate' > ''rawāgīhistan'' 'be propagated' (''lwbʾkyhystn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'')<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 221</ref>

===== Possession =====
Middle Persian does not have a verb 'to have'. Instead, possession is expressed by stating the existence of the possessed object using the verb 'to be' and by treating the possessor as an oblique argument (inflecting it in the oblique case, if possible): ''man paygāl ast'' (''L pygʾl AYT<nowiki>'</nowiki>) 'To me, a cup exists' = 'I have a cup';'' xwāstag ī-š ast ''(''NKSYA Yš AYT<nowiki>'</nowiki>) 'the property which he has', lit. 'which exists to him'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007i"/>

=== Preverbs ===
Certain adverbial particles are combined with verbs to express direction, while remaining separate words. The most important ones are the following:<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 132–134</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Preverb
!Meaning
|-
|''abar'' (''QDM'')
|'up',  'over', 'onto'
|-
|''ul'' (''LALA'')
|'up'
|-
|''frōd'' (''plwt''')
|'down'
|-
|''andar'' (''<u>B</u>YN'')
|'in'
|-
|''be'' (''BRA'')
|'away',  'out'
|-
|''frāz'' (''prʾc'')
|'forth'
|-
|''abāz'' (''LAWHL'')
|'back',  'again'
|}
Some of these (''abar'' and ''andar'') function as prepositions as well.

=== Prepositions ===
The most common simple prepositions are:<ref name="r&m1361412"/>
{| class="wikitable"
!Preposition
!Meaning
|-
|''abar'' (''QDM'')
|'on'
|-
|''azēr'' (''ʾcdl'')
|'under'
|-
|''az'' (''MN''', ''hc'')
|'from'
|-
|''ō'' (''OL'')
|'to'
|-
|''andar'' (''<u>B</u>YN'')
|'in'
|-
|''pad'' (''PWN'')
|'at,  to, for'
|-
|''tar'' (''LCDr''')
|'over',  'through'
|-
|''abāg'' (''LWTE'')
|'with'
|-
|''ǰomā'' (''ywmʾy'')
|'with'
|-
|''be'' (''BRE''), Manichaean ''ba'' (''bʾ'')
|'without',  'besides'
|-
|''tā'' (OD), Manichaean ''dā'' (''dʾ'')
|'until'
|}
The special postposed forms of ''pad'', ''ō'' and ''az'' with a resumptive pronoun ''-(i)š'' – ''padiš'' (''ptš''), ''awiš'' (''ʾwbš''), ''aziš'' (''hcš'') – have already been mentioned in the section on pronouns.

Certain adverbs and nouns can be used as prepositions, in which case they usually (but not always) use the relative particle or the preposition ''az'' to introduce the noun: thus the adverb ''pēš'' (''LOYN<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') can be extended as ''pēš ī'' 'in front of', ''pēš az'' 'before'. In turn, the adverb may be preceded by a preposition: ''ō pēš ī''. A noun does not necessarily require a preceding preposition: ''mayān ī'' (''mdyʾn Y'') '(in) the middle of'. In this way, many prepositional meanings are expressed: 'before' (''pēš ī,'' sp. ''LOYN<nowiki>'</nowiki> Y''), 'after' (''pas ī'' ''AHL''), 'around' (''pērāmōn ī,'' sp. ''pylʾmwn<nowiki>'</nowiki> Y''), 'beside' (''kanārag ī'', sp. ''knʾlk<nowiki>'</nowiki> Y''), 'near, close to' (''nazdīk ī'', sp. ''nzdyk<nowiki>'</nowiki> Y''), 'beside, around' (''pad sar ī,'' sp. ''PWN LOYŠE Y''), 'except, apart from' ''ǰud az'' (sp. ''ywdt<nowiki>'</nowiki> MN<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), etc.<ref name="r&m1361412">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 136–141</ref><ref name="Skjærvø 2007l"/> Instead of being introduced by ''ī'', the component nominal phrase may also be placed before the noun, so it becomes possible to speak of an '[[ambiposition]]': ''az / ō ... rōn'' (''MN / OL ... lwn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'from / in the direction of' (from ''rōn'' 'direction'); a similar structure is seen in ''bē ... enyā'' (''BRA ... ʾynyʾ'') 'except', where ''enyā'' 'otherwise' may also be omitted.<ref name="Skjærvø 2009h1">Skjærvø 2009: 210</ref>

While prepositions can remain stranded after their complements because of some syntactic processes mentioned above, there is also a ''regular'' postposition: ''rāy'' (''lʾd''), meaning 'for (the sake of)', 'because of', 'about', 'to'. The postpositional phrase can also be preceded by a preposition: ''az ... rāy'' 'because of', ''pad ... rāy'' 'concerning, in order to'.<ref name="r&m1361412"/><ref>Skjærvø 2007: 122</ref> In some other combinations that have been identified as 'ambipositions', the first element can also be dropped, causing the second one to occur as a postposition: such is the case in ''(az) ... hammis(t)'' ('together with') and ''(bē) ... tā'' 'except'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2009h1"/>

=== Conjunctions ===
The most common coordinating conjunctions are:<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 141–143</ref><ref name="Skjærvø 2009g"/>
{| class="wikitable"
!Conjunction
!Meaning
|-
|''ud'' (''W'');

''u-'' (''AP-'') in front of pronominal enclitics
|'and'
|-
|''ayāb'' (Pahlavi ''ʾdwp'', Manichaean ''ʾyʾb'')
|'or'
|-
|Pahlavi ''be'' (''BRE''), Manichaean ''ba'' (''bʾ'')
|'but'
|-
| Manichaean only: ''anāy''<ref name="Skjærvø 2009g"/> or ''anē''<ref>Durkin-Meisterernst, D. 2004. Dictionary of Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian, p.208</ref> (''ʾnʾy'')
|'but'
|}

The word ''ā-'' (''ʾ'') 'then' may be described as a demonstrative adverb, but it, too, operates as a sentence connector or introducing particle much like ''u-'', albeit less frequently: an important function of both seems to be to 'support' a pronominal enclitic, and ''ā-'' generally occurs with one, e.g. ''ā-š dīd'' (''ʾš H<u>Z</u>YTWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'then he saw'.<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 250</ref>

The common subordinating conjunctions are:<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 143–145</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Conjunction
!Meaning
|-
|''agar'' (''HT'')
|'if'
|-
|''čē'' (''ME'')
|'because'
|-
|''čiyōn'' (''cygwn''')
|
# 'as, like'
# 'because'
# 'as soon as'
|-
|''ka'' (''AMT'')
|'when',  'if', 'although'
|-
|''kū'' (''AYK'')
|
# 'that'
# 'so that'
# 'than'
|-
|''tā'' (''OD'')
|
# 'until'
# 'so that'
|}
The conjunction ''ud'' may be reinforced with the particle ''ham'' (''hm''): ''ham abar ahlawān ud ham abar druwandān'' (''hm QDM ʾhlwbʾn W hm QDM dlwndʾn'') 'both for the righteous and for the unrighteous'.

=== Particles ===
The particles are:<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 145–146</ref>

# ''nē'' (''LA'') 'not', a negative particle; e.g. ''mardōm ham nē dēw'' (''ANŠWTA HWEm LA ŠDYA'') 'I am human, not a demon.' As already mentioned, it merges with the verb form ''ast'' (''AYT'') 'exists, there is' in the contraction ''nēst<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' (''LOYT<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'doesn't exist, there isn't'.
# ''ma'' or ''mā'' (''AL'') 'do not', a prohibitative particle preceding verbs in the imperative and the conjunctive: ''ān xwāstag ma stan!'' (''ZK NKSYA AL YNS<u>B</u>WN'') 'Do not take this thing!'
# ''-(i)z'' (-(''y'')''c'') 'also, too, even'. The vowel-initial version is used after consonants. This particle is enclitic and appended to whatever is being emphasised: ''ēn-iz paydāg'' (''ZNEc pytʾk''') 'This, too, is clear.'

===Word formation===

====Suffixes that form nouns====

The most productive suffixes that form nouns are

=====Action noun suffixes=====
# ''-išn'' (''-šn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') is by far the most productive suffix that forms action nouns and nouns with related meanings from the present stems of verbs: ''menīdan'' (''mynytn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'to think' > ''men'''išn''''' (''mynšn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'thinking, thought', ''xwardan'' (''OŠTENtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'to eat' > ''xwar'''išn''''' (''OŠTENšn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'food'. The verbal noun in ''-isn'' (''-šn'') also functions in predicative position as a [[gerundive]], expressing that the action 'ought to be' performed: ''andar hamahlān ... hučašm bawišn'' (''<u>B</u>YN hmʾlʾn ... hwcšm bwšn'') 'among comrades ... one ought to be benevolent'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007q">Skjærvø 2007: 65–66</ref><ref name="Расторгуева-13">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 66</ref>
# ''-ag'' (''-k'') forms nouns (action nouns, but often with various concrete meanings) from verbs (both stems) and numerals: ''widardan'' (''wtltn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'pass, cross' > ''widarag'' (''wtlg'') 'path, passage', ''čāštan'' (''cʾštn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'teach' > ''čāšt'''ag''''' (''cʾštk'') 'teaching', ''haft'' (''hp̄t<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'seven' > ''haft'''ag''''' (''hp̄tk'') 'week'
This suffix is also thought to have had [[diminutive]] meaning and appears to have been added to already existing nouns with no change in meaning (''ǰām'' > ''ǰām'''ag''''' 'glass') or with an unpredictable change (''čašm'', sp. ''AYNE'', 'an eye' > ''čašm'''ag''''', sp. ''cšmk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' 'a spring, well'). As such, it was a very productive and expanding suffix.<ref name="Расторгуева-14">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 68–69</ref> It is identical to an adjective-forming suffix, and that it was its original function; on that, see the next section.

=====Abstract noun suffixes=====
# ''-īh'' (''-yh'') is by far the most productive suffix that forms abstract nouns from adjectives, nouns and rarely from verbs: ''tārīg'' or ''tārīk'' (''tʾryk'') 'dark' > ''tārīgīh'' (''tʾryk'''yh''''') 'darkness'; ''dōst'' (''dwst<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'friend' > ''dōst'''īh''''' (''dwstyh'') 'friendship'; ''ast'' (''AYT<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'exists' > ''ast'''īh''''' (''AYTyh'') 'existence' It can be combined with the action noun suffix ''-išn'' as ''-išnīh'' (''-šnyh''): ''drō-gōw'''išnīh''''' (''KDBA YMRRWNšnyh'' / ''dlwb<nowiki>'</nowiki> YMRRWNšnyh'') 'speaking lies':<ref name="Skjærvø 2007q"/><ref name="Расторгуева-13"/>
# An unproductive suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives is ''-āy'' (''-ʾd''), most commonly expressing size or degree along a certain dimension: ''pahn'' (''pʾhn'') 'wide' > ''pahn'''āy''''' (''phnʾd'') 'width'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007k2"/><ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 67–68</ref>

=====Agent noun suffixes=====
# ''-ār'' (''-ʾl'') is a productive suffix that forms agent nouns from the past stems of verbs: ''dādan'' (''YHBWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'give, create' > ''dād'''ār''''' (''dʾtʾl'') 'creator'. There are some surprising exceptions where the meaning is passive: ''griftan'' (''OHDWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'seize' > ''grif'''tār''''' (''glptʾl'') 'prisoner'.<ref name=r&m66-72>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 66, 72–73</ref><ref>See also Skjærvø 2007: 117–118</ref>
#: The likewise productive suffix ''-āg'' (''-ʾk'') has also been said to derive agent nouns from verbs, but they might be seen as adjectives as well and are treated in the section on adjectives. 
# ''-gar'' (''-kl'') and ''-gār'' (''-kʾl''), both occasionally appearing with an initial ''ī'', productively derive nouns from nouns, expressing the meaning 'doer of something', as well as adjectives from nouns meaning 'doing something': ''warz'' (''wlc'') 'work, farming' > ''warzī'''gar''''' (''wlcykl'') 'worker, farmer'; ''wināh'' (''wnʾs'') 'sin' > ''wināh'''gār''''' 'sinner' (''wnʾskl''), ''ziyān'' (''zydʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'harm' > ''ziyān'''gār''''' (''zydʾnkʾl'') 'harmful'. When the base noun ends in the suffix ''-ag'', both the final consonant of the stem and the initial consonant of the suffix appear as ''/k/'': ''kirbag'' (''krpk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'good deed' > ''kirbak'''kar''''' (''krpk<u>k</u>l'') 'doer of good deeds, beneficent'.<ref name=r&m66-72/><ref>See also Skjærvø 2007: 118</ref>
# ''-bān'' (''pʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') productively forms nouns meaning somebody in charge of what the base noun designates, a caretaker: ''stōr'' (''stwl'') 'horse' > ''stōr'''bān''''' (''stwlpʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'groom'.<ref name=r&m66-72/><ref name="Расторгуева 1966">Расторгуева 1966: 34</ref>
# ''-bed'' (''pt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') forms titles with a similar meaning to the above suffix, but with a nuance of power and possession rather than caretaking: ''spāh'' (''spʾh'') 'army' > ''spāh'''bed''''' (''spʾhpt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'army commander'.<ref name=r&m66-72/><ref name="Расторгуева 1966"/>
# ''-yār'' (''-dʾl'') is a rare suffix with a somewhat similar meaning to the previous one, as seen in ''šahr'' (''štr<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') > ''šahr'''yār''''' (''štr<nowiki>'</nowiki>dʾl'').<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 72</ref>
# ''-(a)gān'' (-''kʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') is a rare suffix that derives nouns from other nouns; the meaning is of a person or thing connected to what the base noun designates: ''wāzār'' (''wʾcʾl'') 'market' > ''wāzār'''agān''''' ('' wʾcʾlkʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'merchant'<ref name="Расторгуева-15">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 70</ref>

=====Place nouns=====
# ''-(e/i)stān'' (''stʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') is a productive suffix that forms place nouns: ''asp'' (''SWSYA'') 'horse' > ''asp'''estān''''' (''ʾs̄pstʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'horse stable',<ref name="Skjærvø 2007r1">Skjærvø 2007: 118</ref> ''hindūg''  (''hndwk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'Indian' > ''hindū'''stān''''' (''hndwstʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'India'.<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 261</ref> It is also included in the names of seasons.<ref name="Расторгуева 1966"/>
# ''-dān'' (''-dʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') is a rare suffix forming place nouns: ''ast(ag)'' (''ʾstk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'bone' > ''astō'''dān''''' (''ʾstw''(''k'')''dʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'ossuary'
# ''-īgān'' (''-ykʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') apparently forms collective and place nouns: ''māh'' (''BYRH'') 'moon, month' > ''māh'''īgān''''' 'month' (''BYRHykʾn''), ''šāh'' (''MLKA'') 'king' > ''šāh'''īgān''''' (''šhykʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'palace'.<ref name="Расторгуева-16">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 69</ref>

=====Diminutive suffix=====

The diminutive suffix is ''-īzag'' (''-yck<nowiki>'</nowiki>''). E.g. ''murw'' (''mwlw'') 'bird' > ''murw'''īzag''''' (''mwlwyck<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'birdie'.<ref name="Расторгуева-17">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 74</ref>

It has been conjectured that also the abovementioned suffix ''-ag'' (''-k'') had the same meaning, but it is difficult to find unambiguous attestations of this usage.<ref name="Расторгуева-16"/> Adjectives have their own diminutive suffix, on which see below.

=====Feminine suffix=====

Feminine gender could be expressed in proper names by ''-ag'': ''J̌am'' > ''J̌amag''. It could also be expressed by the Avestan suffixes ''-ānīy'' / ''-ēnīy'': ''ahlaw'' 'righteous' > ''ahlaw'''ēnīy''''' 'righteous woman'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2009d1"/>

====Suffixes that form adjectives====

=====Adjectives derived from nominals=====
# ''-īg'' (''-yk<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), sometimes possibly ''-īk'': derives adjectives from nouns, often with a meaning 'belonging to' and 'originating from', but also 'having': ''āb'' (''MYA'') 'water' > ''āb'''īg''''' (''ʾp̄yk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'aquatic'; ''Pārs'' (''pʾls'') 'Fars' > ''pārs'''īg''''' (''pʾlsyk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'Persian'; ''zōr'' (''zʾwl'') 'power' > ''zōr'''īg''''' (''zʾwlyk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'powerful'; ''nazd'' (''nzd'') 'vicinity' > ''nazd'''īk''''' (''nzdyk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'close, near';<ref>See also Skjærvø 2007: 83</ref>
# When the adjective is derived from a geographical name, the suffix ''-īg'' is often preceded by ''-āy-'' (''-ʾd-''): ''hrōm'' (''hlwm'') 'Rome' > ''hrōm'''āyīg''''' (''hlwmʾdyk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'Roman'; ''Asūrestān'' 'Assyria' > ''asūr'''āyīg''''' 'Assyrian'. That suffix ''-āy'' also occurs alone in the noun ''hrōm'''āy''''', 'a Roman'.
# ''-ōmand'', ''-mand'' (''-ʾwmnd'', -''mnd''): derives adjectives meaning 'having something', 'full of something': ''ōz'' (''ʾwc'') 'strength' > ''ōz'''ōmand''''' (''ʾwc ʾwmnd'') 'strong'; ''xwarrah'' (''GDE'') 'fortune, glory' > ''xwarrah'''ōmand''''' (''GDE ʾwmnd'') 'fortunate, glorious', ''šōy'' (''šwd'') 'husband > ''šōymand'' (''šwd'''mnd''''') 'having a husband';<ref>See also Skjærvø 2007: 100</ref>
# ''-(ā)wand'' or ''-(ā)wend'', spelt ''-(ʾwnd)'' (in Manichaean also ''-ʾwynd'') is a rare, originally older version of the previous suffix<ref name="Skjærvø 2007c">Skjærvø 2007: 100</ref> and derives adjectives from nouns, often with the same meaning as ''-ōmand'', but sometimes expressing a more general connection as in ''xwēš'' (''NPŠE'') 'own' > ''xwēš'''āwand''''' (''hwyšʾwnd'') 'relative'.<ref name="Расторгуева-14"/>
# ''-gen'' or ''-gēn'', spelt ''-k(y)n<nowiki>'</nowiki>'', is a rare suffix similar in function to ''-ōmand''.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 101</ref><ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 71</ref>
# ''-war'' (-''wl'') and ''-wār'' (-''wʾl'') derive adjectives from nouns, expressing some kind of connection to what the noun designates, and these adjectives may in turn be converted into nouns. E.g. ''kēn'' (''kyn'') 'revenge' > ''kēn'''war''''' (''kynwl'') 'vengeful', ''asp'' (''ŠWŠYA'') 'horse' > ''as'''wār''''' (''PLŠYA'', ''ʾspwʾl'',  ''aswbʾl'') 'equestrian > horseman'.<ref name="Расторгуева-17"/><ref name="Skjærvø 2007r1"/>
#: According to some descriptions, ''-wār'' (-''wʾl'') also derives adverbs from adjectives and nouns: ''sazag'''wār''''' (''sckwʾl'') 'fitting'''ly'''', ''xwadāy'''wār''''' (''hwtʾdwʾl'') 'in a lordly manner'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2009h2">Skjærvø 2009: 263</ref>
# ''-ēn'' (''-yn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') is a productive suffix that derives adjectives expressing the material something is made of: ''zarr'' (''ZHBA'') 'gold' > ''zarr'''ēn''''' (''ZHBA-yn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'golden'
# ''-ag'' (''-k<nowiki>'</nowiki>''): besides forming nouns, this suffix also derives adjectives from nouns and the past stem of verbs: ''tišn'' (''tyšn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'thirst' > ''tišn'''ag''''' (''tyšnk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'thirsty'. Sometimes it is also productively added to an existing adjective with no apparent change of meaning: ''wad'', sp. ''SLYA'' > ''wad'''ag''''', sp. ''wtk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' 'bad, evil'<ref name="Расторгуева-14"/>
# ''-ōg'' (''-wk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') is a rare suffix which, like the previous one, is added to existing adjectives without a noticeable change in meaning, although they may also be converted into nouns.<ref name="Расторгуева-15"/>
# ''-ān'' (''-ʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') forms possessive adjectives of names and, in particular, [[patronymic]]s: ''ayādgār ī Zarēr'''ān''''' (''ʾbydʾt Y zryrʾn'') 'memoir of Zarēr'; ''Ardaxšīr'' (''ʾrthšyr'') > ''Ardaxšīr'''ān''''' (''ʾrthšyrʾn'') 'son of Ardaxšīr';<ref name="Skjærvø 2007c"/> not to be confused with the present participle suffix;
# The suffix ''-agān'' (''-kʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') form patronymics as well: ''Pābag'' (''pʾpk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') > ''Pābag'''ān''''' (''pʾpkʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'son of Pābag/Pāpak';<ref name="Skjærvø 2007c"/>
# As already mentioned, ''-gānag'' derives adjectives from numerals with the meaning '-fold'. 
# The suffix -''ak'' (''-k<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') formed diminutive adjectives: ''and'' (''ʾnd'') 'so much' > ''andak'' (''ʾndk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'a little'.<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 262</ref>

=====Suffixes that derive adjectives from verbs=====
# ''-āg'' (''-ʾk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') is a productive suffix that derives adjectives from the present stems of verbs to describe the performer of the action of the verb; these adjectives are often used as nouns and have been described as agent nouns as well. For example, ''dānistan'' (''YDOYTWNstn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'to know' > ''dān'''āg''''' (''dʾnʾk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'a knowing one, a wise man'.<ref name="Расторгуеваm"/><ref>Skjærvø 2009: 215, 244–245</ref>
# ''-(a/e)ndag'' (''-ndk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'', ''-yndk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') is an unproductive suffix that has the same meaning as the above: ''zī(wi)stan'' ''zywstn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' 'to live' > ''zī'''ndag''''' ''zywndk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' 'alive, living'.<ref name="Расторгуеваm"/>
# As already mentioned, there is also a present active participle ending in ''-ān'' (''-ʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), with the same meaning as the above two. The boundary between participles and derived adjectives is not clear.

====Suffixes that form verbs====

1. The suffix ''-ēn-'' (''-yn-'') and less commonly ''-ān-'', whose past stem always ends in ''-īd'' ''yt''), has the following functions:<ref>Maggi & Orsatti 2014: 24–25</ref><ref>Sundermann 1989: 151</ref><ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 134</ref>

– It transforms nominal parts of speech into verbs with [[factitive]] meaning: ''pērōz'' (''pylwc'') 'victorious' > ''pērōzēnīdan'' (''pylwcynytn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'to make victorious';

– It makes verbs, to whose present stem it is added, into transitive verbs with [[causative verb|causative]] meaning: ''tarsīdan'' (''tlsytn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'to be afraid' > ''tarsēnīdan'' (''tlsynytn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'to scare'

Apart from that, factitive verbs could be formed simply by creating a new past stem in ''-īdan'': ''nām'' (''ŠM'') 'name' > ''nāmīdan'' 'to name'. More commonly, phrasal verbs were used instead as in ''nām kardan''.<ref>Sundermann 1989: 151–152</ref> On the other hand, there still survived some intransitive-transitive verb pairs with quality and quantity differences in the root, where the transitive one usually has the vowel ''ā'': intr. ''nibastan'' (''ŠKBHWNstn<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), ''nibay-'' 'to lie down' – tr. ''nibāstan'' (''npʾstn<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), ''nibāy-'' 'to lay down'; intr. ''nišastan'', ''nišīn-'' 'to sit (down) – tr. ''nišāstan'', ''nišān-'' 'to seat' (both spelt with the Armaeogram ''YTYBWNstn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'', but distinguished in the phonetic spellings ''nšstn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' – ''nšʾstn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'').<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 220</ref>

2. There is also a suffix that forms intransitive verbs from transitive ones. Specifically, it derives present verb stems from transitive past stems in ''-ft'' and ''-xt'', but apparently leaves the two verbs identical in the past stem. In Manichaean, the suffix is ''-s'' and removes the preceding dental of the past stem: ''buxtan'' (present stem ''bōz-'') 'save' > present stem ''bux'''s'''-'' 'be saved'. In Pahlavi, the suffix is ''-t-''; in other words, the new present stem coincides with the past one: ''bōxtan'', sp. ''bwhtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'', (present stem ''bōz-'') 'save' > present stem ''bōx'''t'''-'' 'be saved'<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 220–221</ref>

====Prefixes====

=====Nominal prefixes=====

1. ''a(n)-'', sp. ''ʾ(n)-'', expresses negation or absence of something. Simple negation is found in examples like ''purnāy'' (''pwlnʾd'') 'adult' > ''aburnāy'' (''ʾpwlnʾd'') 'non-adult', ''dōstīh'' (''dwstyh'') 'friendship, amity' > ''adōstīh'' (''ʾdwstyh'') 'enmity', ''ēr'' (''ʾyl'') 'Iranian, Zoroastrian' > ''anēr'' (''ʾnyl''), 'non-Iranian', 'non-Zoroastrian'.<ref name="Расторгуева-18">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 75</ref><ref name="Расторгуева 1966d">Расторгуева 1966: 35</ref>

However, when added to most nouns, the prefix ''a(n)-'' converts them into adjectives or nouns meaning 'lacking something': ''kanārag'' (''knʾlk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'border' > ''akanārag'' (''ʾknʾlk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'borderless'<ref name="Skjærvø 2007b">Skjærvø 2007: 82</ref><ref name="Skjærvø 2009j">Skjærvø 2009: 260</ref> It can also produce adjectives when added to present verb stems, indicating non-performance of the action: ''dānistan'' (''YDOYTWNstn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'to know' > ''adān'' (''ʾdʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'ignorant'.

2. ''abē-'', sp. ''ʾp̄y'' is added to nouns to form adjectives expressing the lack of something, which also one of the functions of the previous suffix. Hence, they can even occur with the same stems and more or less the same meanings: ''bīm'' 'fear' > ''abēbīm'' (''ʾp̄ypym'') as well as simply ''abīm'' (''ʾp̄ym'') 'fearless'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007b"/><ref name="Расторгуева 1966d"/>

3. ''ham-'' (''hm-'') expresses togetherness and sameness. It, too converts nouns into adjectives or nouns meaning 'having / belonging to the same X': e.g. ''kār'' (''kʾl'') 'deed, labour' > ''hamkār''  (''hmkʾl'') 'collaborator'.

4. ''ǰud-'' (''ywdt-'') has partly the opposite meaning to ''ham-'', transforming nouns into adjectives or nouns meaning 'having / belonging to a different/opposite X', e.g. ''kāmag'' (''kʾmk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'desire' > ''ǰudkāmag'' (''ywdt<nowiki>'</nowiki> kʾmk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'disagreeing', lit. 'having a different desire'. However, it can also have the meaning 'keeping X away', as in ''dēw'' (''ŠDYA'' 'demon') > ''ǰud-dēw'' (''ywdtŠDYA'') 'keeping the demons away', 'anti-demonic'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007r2">Skjærvø 2007: 99</ref> Finally, it has a meaning akin to ''abē-'' in cases like ''ǰud-āb'' (''ywdt<nowiki>'</nowiki>MYA'') 'waterless'.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 94</ref> It is also an independent word meaning 'separate', 'different',<ref>MacKenzie 1986: 47</ref> so it can be viewed as the first member of a compound as well.

5. ''hu-'' (''hw-'') can derive nouns from other nouns to express the meaning 'good X', e.g. ''pādixšāy'' (''ŠLYTA'') 'king' > ''hupādixšāy'' (''hwpʾthšʾd'') 'good king'. Far more commonly, however, it forms adjectives and nouns meaning 'having good X': e.g. ''bōy'' (''bwd'') 'smell' > ''hubōy'' (''hwbwd'') 'fragrant'; ''sraw'' (''slwb<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'word' > ''husraw'' (''hwslwb<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'having good fame'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007b"/><ref name="Skjærvø 2009j"/><ref name="Расторгуева-18"/>

6. ''duš-'' / ''dus'' / ''duǰ-'' (sp. ''dwš-'', ''dw(s)-''), with the second allomorph occurring before /s/ and the third one before voiced stops, has the opposite meaning to the previous prefix: it forms adjectives and nouns meaning 'having bad X', or rarely, simply 'bad X'. For example, ''dušpādixšāy'' (''dwšpʾthšʾd'') 'bad king', ''dusraw'' (''dwslwb<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'infamous', ''dēn'' (''dyn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') > ''duǰdēn'' (Pahlavi ''dwšdyn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'', Manichaean ''dwjdyn'') 'infidel'<ref name="Skjærvø 2007b"/>

7. Finally, a few adjectives begin in ''pad-'' (''PWN-'') and meaning 'having' or 'associated with': e.g. ''parrag'' (''plk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'wing' > ''pad-parrag'' (''PWN plk<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'having wings'; ''drō'' (''KDBA'', ''dlwb<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'a lie' > ''pad-drō'' (''PWN dlwb'') 'lying'.<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 94</ref>

=====Verbal prefixes=====

Some adverbial particles can co-occur with verbs, but remain separate words; on these, see the section ''Preverbs''. Earlier Indo-European verbal prefixes have coalesced with the following roots and their original meaning is hardly ever discernible, even though they are very frequent. Thus, we have the following elements:<ref>Расторгуева 1966: 83–84. Some examples replaced.</ref><ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 102–106</ref>

# ''ā-'' expressing approaching something: ''burdan'' (''Y<u>B</u>LWMtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'carry' > ''āwurdan'' (''YHYTYWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'bring', ''āmadan'' (''YATWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') and ''madan'' (''mtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), both meaning 'to come'.
# ''ab(e)/ap-'' expressing movement away from something: : ''burdan'' (''Y<u>B</u>LWMtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'carry' > ''appurdan'' (''YHNCLWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'steal'
# ''fra-'' expressing movement forward: ''franaftan'' (''plnptn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'go (forth), proceed, depart'.
# ''gu-'' expressing togetherness: ''gumēxtan'' (''gwmyhtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') '(co-)mix'.
# ''ham-'' and ''han-'' (the latter variant before non-labial consonants), also expressing togetherness or connection, 'with'. This prefix still occurs with the same form in nouns, but in verbs its meaning is seldom obvious: ''bastan'' (''ASLWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'bind, tie' > ''hambastan'' (''hnbstn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'bind together, encircle, compose', but also ''hambastan'' (''hnbstn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'collapse', ''hanǰāftan'' (''hncʾptn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'complete, conclude'.
# ''ni-'' expressing movement downwards: ''nišastan'' (''YTYBWNstn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'sit (down)', ''nibastan'' (''ŠKBHWNstn<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), 'lie (down)', ''nibištan'' (''<u>Y</u>KTYBWNstn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'write (down)'
# ''ō-'' expressing bringing an action to completion: ''zadan'' (''MHYTWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'hit' > ''ōzadan'' (''YKTLWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'kill'
# ''par-'' expressing movement 'around': ''bastan'' (''ASLWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'bind, tie' > ''parwastan'' (''plwatn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'surround, enclose'; ''pargandan'' (''plkndn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'scatter, disperse'.
# ''pay-'' expressing direction towards something: ''bastan'' (''ASLWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'bind, tie' > ''paywastan'' (''ptwstn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'join, connect'
# ''us-'', ''uz-'' expressing direction upwards or outwards: ''uzīdan'' (''ʾwcytn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'go out, end, expend', ''uzmūdan'' (ʾzmwtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>) 'try out, experiment'
# ''wi-'' expressing movement away or apart from something: ''rēxtan'' (''lyhtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'flow' > ''wirēxtan'' (''OLYKWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'escape, run away'.

====Compounds====

Compounding is very productive. The following types are common:<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 76–77</ref><ref name="Skjærvø 2009h2"/><ref>Skjærvø 2007: 83–84</ref>

1. [[bahuvrihi]] or possessive compound, a compound adjective or noun of the structure Modifier + Noun, designating the possessor of what the second member designates:

* ''wad-baxt'' (''wt<nowiki>'</nowiki> bʾxt<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), lit. 'bad' (''SLYA'') + 'fortune' = 'who has ill fortune', i.e. 'unfortunate';

: ''pād-uzwān'' (''pʾtʾwzwʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), lit. 'protected' (''NTLWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') + 'tongue' (''ŠNA'') = 'who has protected tongue', i.e. 'reticent'; 
:''čahār-pāy'' (''chʾlpʾd''), lit. 'four' (''ALBA'') + 'leg' (''LGLE''), 'which has four legs', i.e. 'quadruped, animal'.

The modifier is usually an adjective or another part of speech that typically modifies nouns.

2. A determinative compound noun of the structure Modifier + Noun, designating a subset of the class that the second member designates:

: ''kār-nāmag'' (''kʾl nʾmk<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), lit. 'deed' + 'book', a 'book of deeds', i.e. a biography. The modifier is usually a noun, less cderived/ borrowed words from Middle Persian

commonly an adjective as in ''weh-dēn'' (''ŠPYLdyn<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), lit. 'good' + 'religion' = 'Zoroastrianism'.

3. A determinative compound adjective or noun of the structure Modifier + Deverbal Noun or Participle:

: ''anāg-kerdār'' (''ʾnʾk<nowiki>'</nowiki> kltʾl''), lit. 'evil' + 'doer' = 'evildoer';
:''Ōhrmazd-dād'' (''ʾwhrm<u>z</u>d dʾt''), lit. 'Ahuramazda' + 'given' (''YHBWNt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') = 'given, created by Ahuramazda'.

4. A determinative compound adjective or noun of the structure Modifier + Present Verb Stem. The meaning is of an agent noun:

: ''axtar'' (''ʾhtl'') 'star', ''āmārdan'' (''ʾmʾldn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'calculate' > ''axtar-(ā)mār'', lit. 'star' + 'calculate' = 'astrologer'

An uncommon type is the copulative ([[dvandva]]) type that combines two stems on equal terms – some possible examples are:

: ''rōz-šabān'' (''lwc špʾn''), lit. 'day' (''YWM'') + 'night' (''LYLYA'') + ''-ān'' = 'a 24-hour period'; and
:''uštar-gāw-palang'' (''wštlgʾwp̄plng''), lit. 'camel' (''GMRA'') + 'ox' (''TWRA'') + 'leopard' (''płng'').

===Numerals===

The numeral system is decimal. The numerals usually don't inflect, but may take the plural ending when preceding the noun they modify, e.g. Manichaean ''sēnān anōšagān'' 'the three immortals'.<ref name="Расторгуева-19">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 79</ref> The numerals are usually spelt in Pahlavi as digits, but there are also Aramaeograms for the cardinals from 1 to 10.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007d2"/><ref name="Расторгуева-20">Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 77–78</ref>

====Cardinal numerals====

The cardinal ones from one to ten are:<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 97, 2009: 211</ref><ref name="Расторгуева-20"/>
{| class="wikitable"
!number
!pronunciation
!Aramaeogram
|-
|1
|
''ē''(''w'') 'a'

''yak'' (Manichaean ''yk'')
|none for ''yak''; 'phonetic' ''ʾdwk'''

''HD'' for ''ē(w)''
|-
|2
|''dō''
|''TLYN''
|-
|3
|''sē''
|''TLTA''
|-
|4
|''čahār''
|''ALBA''
|-
|5
|''panǰ'' (Manichaean ''panz'')
|''HWMŠA'', ''HWMŠYA''
|-
|6
|''šaš''
|''ŠTA''
|-
|7
|''haft''
|''ŠBA''
|-
|8
|''hašt''
|''TWMNYA''
|-
|9
|''nō''
|''TŠA'', ''TŠYA''
|-
|10
|''dah''
|''ASLA'', ''ASLYA''
|}
The teens are mostly formed by combining the relevant number of units and the word ''dah'' 'ten', but there are some voicings, epentheses of {{IPA|/z/}}, elisions and unpredictable alternations at the morpheme boundaries.
{| class="wikitable"
!number
!pronunciation
|-
|11
|''yāzdah''
|-
|12
|''dwāzdah''
|-
|13
|''sēzdah''
|-
|14
|''čahārdah''
|-
|15
|''panzdah'', ''pānzdah''
|-
|16
|''šazdah''
|-
|17
|''hafdah''
|-
|18
|''hašdah''
|-
|19
|''nōzdah''
|}
The tens often bear some resemblance to the correspondent units and sometimes end in -''ād'' or -''ad'', but often aren't synchronically analysable:
{| class="wikitable"
!number
!pronunciation
|-
|10
|''dah''
|-
|20
|''wīst''
|-
|30
|''sīh''
|-
|40
|''čihl'' or ''čihil''
|-
|50
|''panǰah''
|-
|60
|''šast''
|-
|70
|''haftād''
|-
|80
|''aštād''
|-
|90
|''nawad''
|-
|100
|''sad''
|}

The hundreds combine the relevant unit and the word ''sad'' 'hundred' (e.g. ''hašt sad'' for 800), except for 200, which is ''duwēst''. One thousand is ''hazār'', and multiples of it are formed again on the pattern ''hašt hazār'' and so on, but there is also a special numeral for 10 000, ''bēwar'' (spelt ''bywl''). Compound numerals may be formed with or without the conjunction ''ud'' 'and': ''čihl ud čahār'' or ''čihl čahār''.<ref>Skjærvø 2007: 98</ref>

Fractions simply conjoin the cardinal numerals of the denominator and the numerator: ''sē-yak (ī ...)'' 'one third (of ...)', and may also take the 'indefinite article' ''-ēw''. Another notable derivation is the one in ''-gānag'' meaning '-fold', e.g. ''sēgānag'' (''3-kʾnk'') 'triple'.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007r2"/>

Cardinal numerals may precede or follow the noun; the noun is usually in the singular, but may be in the plural, too.<ref name="Расторгуева-19"/>

====Ordinal numerals====

Ordinal numerals are formed regularly by adding the ending ''-om'' (sp. ''-wm'') to the corresponding cardinal numeral: e.g. ''haft-om'' (''7-wm'') 'seven-th'. After vowels, a semivowel is inserted before ''-om'': ''-y-'' after the front vowels ''e'' and ''i'', and ''-w-'' after the back vowel ''o'': thus, 3rd can be ''sē-y-om'', 30th is ''sī-y-om'', 2nd is ''dō-w-om''.

While this regular pattern can be applied even to the first three numerals, they also have more common irregular variants: ''fradom'' (''pltwm'') 'first', ''dudīgar'' or ''didīgar'' (''dtykl'') 'second', ''sidīgar'' (''stykl'') 'third'. The final ''ar'' may be absent in Manichaean texts: ''dudīg'' (''dwdyg'') and ''sidīg'' (''sdyg''). Furthermore, 'first' may also occur as ''naxust'' (''nhwst<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') and ''nazdist'' (''nzdst''') and  'second' may also occur as ''did'' (''TW<u>B</u>'', ''dt<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), which also means 'another',<ref name="Расторгуева-19"/> and ''didom''.<ref>MacKenzie 1986: 26</ref> 'Fourth' can also be ''tasom'' (''tswm'').

Like the cardinal numbers, the ordinal ones can occur before or after the noun, and in the latter case, they may be linked to it by the relative particle ''ī''.<ref name="Расторгуева-19"/>

===Syntax===

The usual word order is [[Subject–object–verb|subject – object – verb]], although there are deviations from it.<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 246</ref> As already mentioned, genitive and adjective modifiers usually precede their heads if unmarked as such, but adjectives can also be placed after their heads, and a modifier introduced by the relative particle ''ī'' is placed after its head, unless appended to a demonstrative pronoun modifying the phrase head (pronoun + ''ī'' + modifier + head). The language uses prepositions, but they may end up as postpositions if their logical complements are enclitic pronouns or relative pronouns. The enclitic pronouns are normally appended to the first word of the clause. [[Yes/no question]]s are only distinguished from statements by means of intonation.<ref name="Skjærvø 2007n"/> [[Wh-question]]s do not need to be introduced by the interrogative word either: ''war ... kū kard ēstēd?'' (''wl ... AYK krt<nowiki>'</nowiki> YKOYMWNyt<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'Where has the shelter been made?'<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 249</ref>

Certain verbs are used impersonally: the logical subject is absent or oblique, and the action is expressed by an infinitive or a dependent clause with a verb in the subjunctive. Thus the present tense of ''abāyistan'' 'be necessary, fitting' is used as follows: ''abāyēd raftan'' (''ʾp̄ʾdt<nowiki>'</nowiki> SGYTWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' ), 'it is necessary to go'. Other verbs used like this, obligatorily or optionally, are ''sahistan'' (''MDMENstn'<nowiki/>'') 'seem', ''saz-'' (''sc'') 'be proper' (present tense only), ''šāyistan'' (''šʾdstn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'be possible', ''kāmistan'' (''YCBENstn'<nowiki/>'') 'want' (constructed like 'be desirable to s.o.') and ''wurrōyistan'' (''HYMNN-stn''') 'believe' (constructed like 'seem credible to s.o.'). So are some nouns such as ''tuwān'' 'might, power': ''tuwān raftan'' (''twbʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki> SGYTWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'one can go'.<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 241–242</ref>

There are many phrasal verbs consisting of a nominal part of speech and a relatively abstract verb, most commonly ''kardan'' (''O<u>B</u>YDWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' / ''krtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'do', sometimes also ''dādan'' (''YHBWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'to give', ''burdan'' (''Y<u>B</u>LWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'to bear', ''zadan'' (''MHYTWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'to hit', etc. Some examples are ''duz kardan'' (''dwc krtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'to steal', lit. 'to do a theft', ''framān dādan'' (''plmʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki> YHBWNtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>''), 'to command', lit. 'to give a command', ''āgāh kardan'' (''ʾkʾs krtn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') 'inform', lit. 'make informed'.<ref>Расторгуева & Молчанова 1981: 135–136</ref>

The plural number was used in reference to kings, both in the first person (by the kings themselves), in the second person (when addressing a king) and in the third person (when referring to kings, e.g. ''awēšān bayān'', sp. ''OLEšʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki> ORHYAʾn'', 'Their Majesty', originally only the oblique case form). An action performed by a superior was introduced by the dummy verb ''framūdan'' 'order' governing an infinitive of the main verb: ''framāyē xwardan!'' (''prmʾdy<u>d</u> OŠTENʾn'') 'deign eat!'.<ref>Skjærvø 2009: 265</ref>

===Lexis===

In contrast to the numerous Arameograms in Pahlavi spelling, there aren't many actual borrowings from Aramaic in Middle Persian; indeed, the number of borrowings in the language in general is remarkably small.<ref>Sundermann 1989: 161</ref> An exception is the Middle Persian Psalter, which is a relatively literal translation of the [[Peshitta]] and does contain a sizable number of theology-related loans from [[Syriac language|Syriac]]: e.g. ''purkānā'' 'redemption'.<ref>Sims-Williams, N. 2009. Christian Literature in the Middle Iranian Languages. In: Emmerick, Ronald E. and Maria Macuch (eds). The Literature of Pre-Islamic Iran: Companion Volume I.</ref>

Pahlavi often has more forms borrowed from Parthian than Manichaean does: e.g. Pahlavi ''zamestān'' (''<u>z</u>mstʾn<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') vs Manichaean ''damestān'' (''dmstʾn'') 'winter'. Naturally, theological terms borrowed from Avestan occur in Zoroastrian Pahlavi, sometimes even in the original script, but often in 'Pahlavised' form or as loan translations:<ref name="Skjærvø 2009h2"/><ref>MacKenzie 1986, relevant entries</ref> 
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Avestan
!Pahlavi
!approximate translation
|-
|''aṣ̌awwan'' (cf. Old Persian ''artāvan'')
|''ahlaw'', sp. ''ʾhlwb'''
(but ''ardā'', sp. ''ʾltʾy'' as an epithet)
|'righteous'
|-
|''daēnā''
|''dēn'', sp. ''dyn'''
|'religion'
|-
|''frauuaṣ̌i-''
|''frawahr'', sp. ''plwʾhl''
''fraward'', sp. ''plwlt'''
|'[[fravashi]]; immortal soul/guardian angel'
|-
|''gaēθiia-''
|''gētīy'' / ''gētīg'', sp. ''gyty<u>d</u>'', late ''gyty<u>k</u>'', Manichaean ''gytyg'';
but note: ''gēhān'', sp. ''gyhʾn''' 'world (of mortals)'
|'material'
|-
|''gāθā''
|''gāh'' (''gʾs'')
|'Gatha, hymn'
|-
|''mainiiu-''
|''mēnōy'' / ''mēnōg'', sp. ''mynwd'', late ''mynw<u>k</u>'',
Manichaean ''mynwg''
|'spirit', 'spiritual'
|}

==Samples==
===A sample of Inscriptional Middle Persian: Kartir's inscription (Kartir KZ 1) on the [[Ka'ba-ye Zartosht]]===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Transliteration
!Transcription
!Translation<ref>Transliteration and transcription from A Geographical Handbook of Pahlavi Inscriptions of Fars Province by Farhad Solat, translation based on Sprengling, Martin, 1953, Third Century Iran, Sapor and Kartir, with modifications in both based on [https://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/personal/tjuegel/kirdir.pdf Jügel, Thomas Konkordanz der Kirdīr-Inschriften Kapitel 1 (Stand April 2010)]</ref>
|-
|W ANE kltyl ZY mgwpt yzd’n shpwhry MLKA’n MLKA hwplsťy W hwk’mky HWYTNn.
|ud az Kirdīr ī mowbed, yazdān ud šābuhr šāhān šāh huparistāy ud hukāmag anēn.
|And I, Kartir, the [[Mobad|Magus]] priest, have been of good service and benevolent to the Gods and to [[Shapur I|Shapur]], the King of Kings.
|-
|APm PWN ZK sp’sy ZYm PWN yzďn W Shpwhry MLKA’n MLKA krty HWYTNt 
|u-m pad ān spās ī-m pad yazdān ud šābuhr šāhān šāh kard anād
|And for that service that I had done to the Gods and to Shapur, the King of Kings
|-
|ZKm OBYDWN šhpwhry MLKA’n MLKA PWN kltk’n ZY yzďn 
|ān-im kunēd šābuhr šāhān šāh pad kardagān ī yazdān,
|Shapur makes me, when it comes to the divine matters,
|-
|PWN BBA W štry OL štry gyw’k OL gyw’k h’mštry PWN mgwstn k’mk’ly W p’thš’y 
|pad dar ud šahr ō šahr, gyāg ō gyāg hām-šahr pad mōwestān kāmgār ud pādixšāy.
|at court and in kingdom after kingdom, place after place, in the whole empire, powerful and authoritative over the Magian estate.
|-
|W PWN plm’n ZY šhpwhry MLKA’n MLKA W pwšty ZY yzďn W MLKA’n MLKA 
|ud pad framān ī šābuhr šāhān šāh ud pušt ī yazdān ud šāhān šāh
|And by order of Shapur, King of Kings, and with the support of the Gods and the King of Kings
|-
|štry OL štry gyw’k OL gyw’k KBYR krtk’n yzďn ’pz’dyhy W KBYR ’twry ZY wlhľn YTYBWNd 
|šahr ō šahr, gyāg ō gyāg was kardagān ī yazdān abzāyīh ud was ādur ī warharān nišānīh/nišinēnd
|in kingdom after kingdom, place after place, many services to the Gods were increased and many [[Verethragna|Wahrām]] fires were instituted
|-
|W KBYR mgw GBRA ’wlw’hmy W ptyhwy YHWWNt 
|ud was moγ-mard urwāhm ud padēx būd
|and many magi became joyful and prosperous
|-
|W KBD ’twr’n W mgwny p’thštly HTYMWNd 
|ud was ādurān ud magūn pādixšīr āwāšend/āwāšīh/āwišt
|and many contracts for fires and magi were sealed.
|-
|W ’whrmzdy W yzďn LBA swty YHMTWN 
|ud ōhrmazd ud yazdān wuzurg sūd rasīd,
|And great benefit came to Ahura Mazda and the Gods,
|-
|’hlmny W ŠDYA’n LBA mhyk’ly YHWWNt.
|ud ahrēman ud dēwān wuzurg mihkār būd.
|and there was great damage to Ahriman and the [[Daeva|demons]].
|}

=== A sample of Manichaean Middle Persian: excerpt from the [[Shabuhragan|Shābuhragān]] ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Transliteration
!Transcription
!Translation<ref>Transliteration and transcription from [https://titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/iran/miran/manich/manreadc/manre.htm Manichaean Reader (arr. by texts), M_7981_I = b_I Recto]. Translation from Skjærvø, Introduction to Manicheism, [https://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~iranian/Manicheism/Manicheism_II_Texts.pdf Texts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928070641/https://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~iranian/Manicheism/Manicheism_II_Texts.pdf |date=2021-09-28 }}, p.31, with small modifications.]</ref>
|-
|՚wrwr, ՙsprhm, ՚wd mrw, wd ՚՚cyhr, ՚wd gwng-gwng ՚rwy kyšt ՚wd rwst.
|urwar, isprahm, ud marw, ud *āzihr, ud gōnag-gōnag arōy kišt ud rust.
|plants, flowers and herbs and seedless plants (?) and various growing things were sown and grew. 
|-
|՚wš՚n xwd ՚՚z xwyš gryw ՚ndr ՚myxt.
|u-šān xwad āz xwēš grīw andar āmixt.
|And (the demon) Âz herself mixed her own self into them.
|-
|՚wd h՚n yk bhr ՙy ՚w dry՚b ՚wbyst, h՚nyš mzn ՙyw dwšcyhr ՚pr ՚wd shmyyn ՚cyš bwd.
|ud ān yak bahr ī ō daryāb ōbist, hān-iš mazan ēw duščihr appar ud sahmēn aziš būd.
|And that one part that fell into the sea—an ugly, predatory, and horrifying monster arose from it...
|-
|ps myhryzd, ՚c h՚n pnz yzd ՙy xwd ՚pwr
|pas mihryazd, az hān panz yazd ī xwad āfur
|Then the god Mihr, from among those five gods of his own creation, 
|-
|h՚n yzd ՙyw ṯskyrb pryst՚d
|hān yazd ēw taskirb frēstād
|sent that four-shaped one, 
|-
|ky ՚wy mzn ՚ndr ՚brg p՚dgws, ՚c xwr՚s՚n d՚ ՚w xwrnw՚r, pd hm՚g ՚brg pr՚r՚st
|kē awē (= ōy) mazan andar abarag pādgōs, az xwarāsān dā ō xwarniwār, pad hamāg abarag frārāst
|who stretched out that monster in the northern region, from east to west, in the entire north, 
|-
|p՚y ՙspwxt ՚wd ՚bgnd, ՚wš ՚br ՙyst՚d, kw ՚ndr šhr wyn՚ẖ ny qwn՚d.
|pāy ispōxt ud abgand, ō-š abar ēstād, ku andar šahr wināh nē kunād.
|stamped his foot (on it), and hurled (it down), and stood on it, so that it could do no harm in the Realm (=world). 
|-
|՚wd ՚wy yzd ՚br hm՚g zmyg ՚wd ՚sm՚n h՚mqyšwr, ՚br ՚brg ՚wd xwr՚s՚n, ՚yrg ՚wd xwrpr՚n ... 
|ud awē (= ōy) yazd abar hamāg zamīg ud āsmān hāmkišwar, abar abarag ud xwarāsān, ērag ud xwarparān ...
|Over the entire earth, the sky, the universe, [over] north and east, south and west, that god ...
|-
|wysbyd qyrd kw šhr p՚y՚d.
|wisbed kird ku šahr pāyād.
|was made village-master so that that he should protect the Realm (world).
|}

===A sample of Psalter Pahlavi Middle Persian: Psalm 129===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Transliteration
!Transcription
!Translation<ref>Source: based on [http://turfan.bbaw.de/bilder/texte/psaltermpsyrgrengversesglossarysept2012.pdf The Pahlavi Psalter arranged according to units of the text; glossary and index by D. Durkin-Meisterernst, 2012]</ref>
|-
|MNm (z)[pl](ʾ)dy KLYTNt HWEW MRWHY yzdty ZY LˊY
|az-im zofrāy xwand, ay xwadāy yazd ī man.
|Out of the depths have I cried, o Lord, my God.
|-
|APmyt OŠMENt wʾngy, l7 ʾywt nydwhšyˊt gwšy wʾngy ZYm l8 swtyklyhy.
|u-m-it ašnūd wāng, ēw-t niyōxšēd gōš wāng ī-m sūdgarīh.
|And my voice (be) heard by you, may your ear hear the voice of my prayer.
|-
|HT sydʾ NTLWNydy MRWHYʺ MNW twbʾn YKOYMWNt
|agar syā(?) pāyē, xwadāy, kē tuwān estād?
|If you watch for sinners, Lord, who can stand?
|-
|M)E MN LK ʾwlwny A(Y)TY hylšn[y] ptsʾš tlsy
|čē az tō ōrōn ast hilišn padisā-š tars
|But from you there is pardon, for the sake of fear of him.
|-
|pndy NTLWNt HYA ZY LY OL MRWHY; W pndy NTLWNt HYA ZY LY OLš MRYA
|pand pād gyān ī man ō xwadāy; ud pand pād gyān ī man ō-š saxwan. 
|My soul attends to the advice of the Lord, and my soul attends to the advice of his word.
|-
|pndm NTLWNt ʿL MRWHY MN pʾsy ZY špk[y WOD O]L pʾsy ZY špky.
|pand-am pād ō xwadāy az pās ī šabag tā ō pās ī šabag.
|It attends to the advice of the Lord from one morning watch to another morning watch.
|-
|pndy N[TLW]Nt ʾdyly ʿL MRWHY MEš ʾcšy ʾwlwny HWEnd LHMYdy. APš
KBYR ʾYTY LWTE pwlknʾ.
|pand pād ēl ō xwadāy čē-š aziš ōrōn hēnd abaxšāyīh. U-š was ast abāg ''purkānā'',
|Israel shall attend to the advice of the Lord: for from him there is mercy for us. And with him there is great redemption.
|-
|W BNPŠE bwcʾt OL ʾdyly MNš hʾmd(wy)n dlwby
|ud xwad bōzēd ō ēl aziš hāmēwēn drō.
|And he himself shall save Israel from all of its Lies.
|}

=== A sample of Book Pahlavi Middle Persian (historical narrative): Beginning of [[Arda Viraf|The Book of Ardā Wirāz]] ===

{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Transliteration
!Transcription
!Translation<ref>Transliteration from Чунакова, О.М. 2001. Пехлевийская божественная комедия, p. 28. Transcription from [https://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/iran/miran/mpers/arda/arda.htm TITUS, Ardā Virāz Nāmag]. Translation based on Чунакова 2001. Cf. also Cantera, Alberto. 2007. Studien zur Pahlavi-Übersetzung des Avesta, p. 116. See also a facsimile of a manuscript of the text at [https://web.archive.org/web/20080312211533/http://www.sfu.ca/~rmehri/Parsik/index.htm R. Mehri's Parsik/Pahlavi Web page (archived copy)] at the [[Internet Archive]]</ref>
|-
|PWN ŠM Y yzd’n
|pad nām ī yazdān
|In the name of the Gods:<ref>See Skjærvø (2007: 18, 19), Чунакова (2001: 96) for the plural form</ref>
|-
|’ytwn' YMRRWNd AYK ’yw b’l ’hlwb' zltwhšt ...
|ēdōn gōwēnd kū ēw-bār ahlaw zardušt ...
|Thus they have said that once the righteous Zoroaster ...
|-
|dyn' Y MK<u>B</u>LWNt <u>B</u>YN gyh’n lwb’k BRA krt
|dēn ī padīrift andar gēhān rawāg be kard.
|propagated in the world the religion that he had received.
|-
|W OD bwndkyh 300 ŠNT dyn' <u>B</u>YN ’p̄yckyh W ANŠWTA <u>B</u>YN ’pygwm’nyh YHWWNt HWHd
|ud tā bawandagīh [ī] sē sad sāl dēn andar abēzagīh ud mardōm andar abē-gumānīh būd hēnd
|And within a period of 300 years (the) religion remained in purity and the people were without any doubt.
|-
|W AHL gcstk' gn’k mynwg dlwnd ...
|ud pas gizistag gannāg mēnōg [ī] druwand ...
|And then, the accursed, foul and deceitful spirit ...
|-
|gwm’n' krtn' Y ANŠWTA’n' PWN ZNE dyn' l’d 
|gumān kardan ī mardōmān pad ēn dēn rāy,
|in order to cause people to doubt this religion,
|-
|ZK gcstk ’lkskdl Y hlwm’dyk Y mwcl’dyk m’nšn' wyd’p’nynyt 
|ān gizistag *alek/sandar ī *hrōmāyīg ī muzrāyīg-mānišn wiyābānēnīd
|led astray that Alexander the Roman, resident of Egypt,
|-
|Y PWN gl’n szd W nplt' W dhyyk OL ’yl’nštr' YATWNt ...
|ī pad garān sezd ud *nibard ud *wišēg ō ērān-šahr āmad ...
|who came to Iran with grave tyranny and violence and distress ...
|-
|APš OLE ’уl’n dhywpt <u>Y</u>KTLWNt W BBA W hwťyh wšwpt W ’pyl’n krt
|u-š ōy ērān dahibed ōzad ud dar ud xwadāyīh wišuft ud awērān kard.
|and murdered the ruler of Iran and ruined the court and the lordship and made them desolate.
|-
|W ZNE dyn' cygwn hm’k ’pst’k W znd QDM TWRA pwstyh’ Y wyl’stk' PWN MYA Y ZHBA npštk 
|ud ēn dēn čiyōn hamāg abestāg ud zand [ī] abar gāw pōstīhā ī wirāstag pad āb ī zarr nibištag
|and the (scriptures of the) religion, as all the Avesta and Zand, which were written on ox-hides decorated with water-of-gold (gold leaves)
|-
|<u>B</u>YN sťhl p’pk’n' PWN KLYTA npšt HNHTWNt YKOYMWN’t' 
|andar staxr [ī] pābagān pad diz [ī] *nibišt nihād ēstād –
|and had been placed in [[Istakhr|Stakhr of Papak]] in the 'citadel of the writings' –
|-
|OLE ptyďlk Y SLYA bht Y ’hlmwk Y dlwnd Y ’n’k krťl ’lkskdl hlwm’dyk
|ōy petyārag ī wad-baxt ī ahlomōγ ī druwand ī anāg-kardār *aleksandar [ī] hrōmāyīg
|that evil, ill-fated, heretical, false, maleficent Alexander, the Roman,
|-
|mwcl’dyk m’nšn' QDM YHYTYWNt W BRA swht
|[ī] muzrāyīg-mānišn abar āwurd ud be sōxt.
|who was dwelling in Egypt, stole them and burned them up.
|}

=== A sample of Book Pahlavi Middle Persian (legendary narrative): an excerpt from the Lesser [[Bundahišn]] ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Transliteration
!Transcription
!Translation<ref>Transcription from [https://titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/iran/miran/mpers/bundahis/bunda.htm TITUS edition]. Translation based partly on Agostini, Domenico and Samuel Thrope, The Bundahišn. The Zoroastrian Book of Creation, and partly on E. W. West, from Sacred Books of the East, volume 5, Oxford University Press, 1897. Transliteration based on The Bundahishn, 1908. ed. by Ervad Tahmuras Dinshaji Anklesaria, with modifications</ref>
|-
|s’m l’d YMRRWNyt AYK ’hwš YHWWNyt'.
|sām rāy gōwēd kū ahōš būd.
|Concerning [[Sām|Sam]], it (the religious tradition) says that he was immortal.
|-
|PWN ZK AMTš tlmynyt' dyn' Y m’<u>z</u>d<u>sn</u>’n'
|pad ān ka-š tar-menīd dēn ī māzdēsnān,
|At the time when he scorned the Mazdayasnian religion,
|-
|twlk-1 Y nwhyn' KLYTWNynd' AMT' HLMWNt' YKOYMWN’t', PWN tgl BRA wn’syt TME PWN dšt' Y pyš’nsy<u>d</u>
|turk-ē ī nōhīn xwānēnd, ka xuft ēstād, pad tigr be wināhīd, ānōh pad dašt ī pēšānsē;
|a Turk whom they call Nohīn wounded him with an arrow, when he was asleep there, in the plain of Pēšānsē;
|-
|APš ZK y ’p’lwn' bwš’sp QDM Y<u>B</u>LWNt' YKOYMWN’t.
|u-š ān ī abārōn Būšāsp abar burd ēstād.
|and it had brought upon him sinful Lethargy ([[Bushyasta|Būšāsp]]).
|-
|mdy’n' Y dlmk' ŠKBHWNt
|mayān ī darmag {*dramanag} nibast
|In the midst of the wormwood bush he lay
|-
|APš wpl ’cpl nšst YKOYMWNyt'
|u-š wafr azabar nišast ēstēd,
|and snow has settled on him,
|-
|PWN ZK k’l AYK AMT' ’<nowiki><u>c</u></nowiki>ydh’k hl<nowiki><u>c</u></nowiki>k' bwyt
|pad ān kār kū ka azdahāg harzag bawēd,
|so that when [[Zahhak|Azdahāg]] is freed,
|-
|OLE ’h(y)cyt' APš YKTLWNyt'
|ōy āxēzēd u-š ōzanēd
|he may arise and slay him;
|-
|APš bywl plw’hl ’hlwb’n' p’nk' HWEynd.
|u-š bēwar frawahr ī ahlawān pānag hēnd.
|and a myriad [[Fravashi|guardian spirits of the righteous]] protect him.
|-
|dh’k MNW bywlspc KRYTWNd l’d YMRRWNyt'
|dahāg kē bēwarasp-iz xwānēnd rāy, gōwēd
|Of Dahāg, whom they also call Bēwarāsp, it says this:
|-
|AYK plytwn' AMTš OHDWNt' PWN kwštn' LA š’yst',
|kū frēdōn ka-š dahāg be grift pad kuštan nē šāyist,
|that when [[Fereydun|Frēdōn]] captured him, it was not possible to kill him,
|-
|APš AHL PWN kwp y dwmbwnd BRA bst'
|u-š pas pad kōf ī dumbāwand be bast.
|and he afterwards bound him to [[Mount Damavand|Mount Dumbāwand]].
|-
|AMT' hlck' YHWWNyt' s’m ’hy<u>c</u>yt' APš gd znyt' W YKTLWYNyt'
|ka harzag bawēd sām axēzēd u-š gad zanēd ud ōzanēd.
|When he is freed, Sām will rise up and strike him with his mace and kill him.
|}

=== Sample of Book Pahlavi Middle Persian (theological discourse): excerpt from the Lesser Bundahišn 2 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Transliteration
!Transcription
!Translation<ref>There are a lot of differences between the manuscripts of this work and wide variation between the scholarly interpretations of the Pahlavi text. The transliteration is based on the so-called Indian recension of the Bundahišn in the version published by F. Justi, 1868 Der Bundehesh. The transcription is based on the [https://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/iran/miran/mpers/bundahis/bunda.htm TITUS edition]. The translation is based on E. W. West, from Sacred Books of the East, volume 5, Oxford University Press, 1897, with some modifications from newer translations.</ref>
|-
|KRA 2 mynwd knʾlkʾwmnd W ʾknʾlkʾwmnd.
|har dō mēnōg kanāragōmand ud a-kanāragōmand.
|Both spirits ([[Ahura Mazda|Ohrmazd]] and [[Ahriman]]) are limited and unlimited.
|-
|bʾɫyst ZK Y ʾsl lwšnyh YMRRWNd W zwpʾy ZK ʾsl tʾlyk
|bālist ān ī a-sar-rōšnīh gōwēnd ud zofāy ān a-sar-tārīg.
|(For) the supreme is that which they call endless light, and the abyss that which is endlessly dark,
|-
|AYKšʾn mdyʾn twhyk W ʾywk LWTE TW<u>B</u> LA ptwst YKWYMWNyt.
|kū-šān mayān tuhīg ud yak abāg did nē paywast ēstēd.
|so that between them is a void, and one has not been connected with the other;
|-
|W TW<u>B</u> KRA 2 mynwd PWN NPŠE tn' knʾlkʾwmnd HWEd.
|ud did har dō mēnōg pad xwēš-tan kanāragōmand hēnd.
|and, again, both spirits are limited as to their own bodies.
|-
|W TW<u>B</u> hlwsp ʾkʾsyh (Y) whrmz<u>d</u> lʾd
|ud did harwisp-āgāhīh (ī) ohrmazd rāy,
|And, further, on account of the omniscience of Ohrmazd,
|-
|KRA 2 MNDOM <u>B</u>YN dʾnšn Y whrmz<u>d</u>,
knʾlkʾwmnd W ʾknʾlkʾwmnd
|har dō čiš andar dānišn ī ohrmazd, kanāragōmand ud akanāragōmand;
|both things are within the knowledge of Ohrmazd, finite and infinite;
|-
|MNW ZNE ZK Y BYN KRA 2ʾn mynwd ptmʾn YDOYTWNnd
|čē ān ī andar har dōwān mēnōg paymān dānēnd.
|for that which is in the covenant of both spirits, they (both) know.
|-
|W TW<u>B</u> bwndk pʾthšʾdyh dʾm Y ʾwhrmz<u>d</u> PWN tn' (Y) psyn YHWWNyt'
|ud did bowandag pādixšāyīh ī dām ī ohrmazd pad tan <ī> pasēn bawēd,
|And, further, the perfect dominion of the creation of Ohrmazd shall be in the Ultimate Incarnation,
|-
|ZKyc AYT [Y] OD hmʾk hmʾk lwbšnyh ʾknʾlkʾwmnd
|ān-iz ast tā hamē-hamē-rawišnīh a-kanāragōmand.
|and that also is unlimited for ever and everlasting.
|-
|W dʾm Y ʾhlmn PWN ZK <u>z</u>mʾn BRA ʾp̄sy[n](h)yt, MNW tn' (Y) psyn YHWWNyt. ZKyc AYT ʾknʾlkyh
|ud dām ī ahreman pad ān zamān be abesīhēd, ka tan (ī) pasēn bawēd. ān-iz ast akanāragīh.
|And the creation of Ahriman will be destroyed at the time when the Ultimate Incarnation occurs, and that also is eternity.
|}

===Poetry===
A sample Middle Persian poem from manuscript of Jamasp Asana:

{|
|-valign="top"
|
:'''Original in Middle Persian:'''
{{lang|pal-Latn|
:Dārom andarz-ē az dānāgān
:&nbsp;
:Az guft-ī pēšēnīgān
:&nbsp;
:Ō šmāh bē wizārom
:&nbsp;
:Pad rāstīh andar gēhān
:&nbsp;
:Agar ēn az man padīrēd
:&nbsp;
:Bavēd sūd-ī dō gēhān
:&nbsp;
}}
|
:'''Near [[literal translation]] into Modern Persian:'''

:{{Transliteration|fa|Dāram andarz-i az dānāyān}}
:{{lang|fa|دارم اندرزی از دانایان}}
:{{Transliteration|fa|Az gofte-ye pišiniyān}}
:{{lang|fa|از گفتهٔ پیشینیان}}
:{{Transliteration|fa|Be šomā be-gozāram}}
:{{lang|fa|به شما بگزارم}}
:{{Transliteration|fa|Be rāstī andar jahān}}
:{{lang|fa|به راستی اندر جهان}}
:{{Transliteration|fa|Agar īn az man pazīrid}}
:{{lang|fa|اگر این از من پذیرد}}
:{{Transliteration|fa|Bovad sūd-e dō jahān}}
:{{lang|fa|بوَد سود دو جهان}}
|
:'''Translation into English:'''

:I have a counsel from the wise,
:&nbsp;
:from the advises of the ancients,
:&nbsp;
:I will pass it upon you
:&nbsp;
:By truth in the world
:&nbsp;
:If you accept this counsel
:&nbsp;
:It will be your benefits for this life and the next
:&nbsp;
|}

==Vocabulary==

===Affixes===
There are a number of [[affix]]es in Middle Persian:<ref>Joneidi, F. (1966). Pahlavi Script and Language (Arsacid and Sassanid) {{lang|fa|نامه پهلوانی: آموزش خط و زبان پهلوی اشکانی و ساسانی}} (p. 54). Balkh ({{lang|fa|نشر بلخ}}).</ref><ref name="D. N. MacKenzie1971">{{cite book|author=David Neil MacKenzie|title=A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary|year=1971|publisher=London: Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>Joneidi, F. (1972). The Story of Iran. First Book: Beginning of Time to Dormancy of Mount Damavand ({{lang|fa|داستان ایران بر بنیاد گفتارهای ایرانی، دفتر نخست: از آغاز تا خاموشی دماوند}}).</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! Middle Persian || English || Other Indo-European || Example(s)
|-
| ''A-'' || Privative prefix, un-, non-, not-||Greek ''[[Privative a|a-]]'' (e.g. atom)||''a-spās'' 'ungrateful', ''a-bim'' 'fearless', ''a-čār'' 'inevitable', ''a-dād'' 'unjust'
|-
|''An-''||Prevocalic privative prefix, un-, non-||English ''-un'', German ''ant-''||''an-ērān'' 'non-Iranian', ''an-ast'' 'non-existent'
|-
|''-ik'' (''-ig'' in Late Middle Persian)||Having to do with, having the nature of, made of, caused by, similar to||English ''-ic'', Latin ''-icus'', Greek ''–ikos'', Slavic ''-ьkъ/-ьcь''||''Pārsīk'' 'Persian', ''Āsōrik'' 'Assyrian', ''Pahlavik'' 'Parthian', ''Hrōmāyīk/Hrōmīk'' 'Byzantine, Roman'
|}

===Location suffixes===

{| class="wikitable"
! Middle Persian || Other Indo-European || Example(s)
|-
|''-gerd''||Slavic ''gorod/grad''||[[Nisa, Turkmenistan|Mithradatgerd]] "Mithridates City", [[Susangerd]] (City of Susan), [[Darab]]gerd "Darius City", [[Bahramjerd]] "Bahram City", [[Dastgerd]], Virugerd, [[Borujerd]]
|-
|''-vīl''||||[[Ardabil]] "Holy City", [[Kabul]] and [[Zabol]]
|-
|''-āpāt'' (later ''-ābād'')||||Ashkābād > [[Ashgabat]] "Land of Arsaces"
|-
|''[[-stan|-stān]]''|| English ''stead'' 'town', Russian ''stan'' 'settlement', common root with Germanic ''stand''||[[Tabaristan|Tapurstan]], [[Sakastan]]
|}

===Comparison of Middle Persian and Modern Persian vocabulary===

There are some phonological differences between Middle Persian and New Persian. Initial [[consonant cluster]]s were very common in Middle Persian (e.g. {{linktext|سپاس}} '''sp'''ās "thanks"). However, [[Persian language#New Persian|New Persian]] does not allow initial consonant clusters, whereas final consonant clusters are common (e.g. {{linktext|اسب}} a'''sb''' "horse").

{| class="wikitable"
! Early Middle Persian || English ||  Early New Persian || Notes || Indo-European 
derived/ borrowed words from Middle Persian
|-
|''Ambar'' (''<nowiki/>'mbl'', ''<nowiki/>'nbl'')
|[[Amber]], [[Ambergris]]
| –
|Borrowed in [[Arabic]] as: ''ʿanbar'' <big>عَنْبَر</big>
|
|-
|''Arjat''
|Silver
|''sīm'' (''سیم'')
|
|[[Latin]]: ''argentum'' ([[French language|French]]: ''argent''), [[Armenian language|Armenian]]: ''arsat'', [[Old Irish]]: ''airget'', [[PIE]]: ''h₂erǵn̥t''-, an n-stem
|-
|''Arž''
|Silver coinage
|''Arj'' (''ارج'') 'value/worth'
|''Erzan'' (''ئەرزان'') in Kurdish
|Same as ''Arg'' (''АргЪ'') 'price' in [[Ossetian language|Ossetian]]
|
|-
|''Asēm 𐭠𐭮𐭩𐭬''
|Iron
|''Āhan'' (''آهن'')
|''Āsin'' (''آسِن'') in Kurdish
|German {{linktext|Eisen}}
|-
|''Az 𐭬𐭭''|| From ||''Az'' (''از''), 
|''Ji'' (''ژ'') in Kurdish
|
|-
|''Brād,Brādar 𐭡𐭥𐭠𐭣𐭥''|| Brother ||''Barādar'' (برادر) ||
| Old Ch. Slavonic ''brat(r)u'', Lithuanian ''brolis'', [[Latin]]: ''frāter'', Old Irish ''brathair'', O. H. German ''bruoder'', Kurdish ''bira''
|-
|''Duxtar 𐭣𐭥𐭧𐭲𐭫''|| Daughter || ''Duxtar'' (''دختر'') || Kurdish ''dot(mam)'', ''dotmam'' (''دۆتمام'') paternal female cousin in Kurdish || Gothic ''dauhtar'', O. H. German ''tochter'', Old Prussian ''duckti'', Armenian ''dowstr'', Lithuanian ''dukte''
|-
|''Drōd 𐭣𐭫𐭥𐭣''|| Hello (lit. 'health') || ''Durōd'' (''درود'') || ||
Russian ''здорово''
|-
|''Ēvārak''|| Evening || Extinct in Modern Persian || Kurdish and [[Luri language|Luri]] ēvār (ایوار) ||
|-
|''Fradāk''|| Tomorrow || ''Fardā'' (''فردا'') || ''Fra-'' 'towards'|| Greek ''pro-'', Lithuanian ''pra'', etc.
|-
|''Fradom''|| First || - ||''Pronin'' in [[Sangsari language]]|| ''First'', ''primary'', [[Latin]]: ''primus'', Greek ''πρίν'', Sanskrit ''prathama''
|-
|''Hāmīn 𐭧𐭠𐭬𐭩𐭭''|| Summer || - || Hāmīn exists in [[Balochi language|Balochi]], and [[Central Kurdish]]. 
Exists as hāvīn in Northern Kurdish. 
|
|-
|''Mātar 𐭬𐭠𐭲𐭥''||  Mother|| ''Mādar'' (مادر) || || [[Latin]]: ''māter'', Old Church Slavonic ''mater'', Lithuanian ''motina'', Kurdish ''mak,ma''
|-
|''Murd 𐭬𐭥𐭫𐭣''|| Died || ''Murd'' (''مرد'') || || [[Latin]]: ''morta'', English ''murd-er'', Old Russian ''mirtvu'', Lithuanian ''mirtis'', Kurdish ''mirin,mirdin''
|-
|''Nē 𐭫𐭠''|| No || ''Na'' (''نه'') || ||
|-
|''Ōhāy 𐭠𐭧𐭠𐭩''|| Yes || ''ārē'' (''آری'') || 
|
|-
|''Pad 𐭯𐭥𐭭''|| To, at, in, on || ''Ba'' (''به'') ||
|
|-
|''Pad-drōt 𐭯𐭥𐭭 𐭣𐭫𐭥𐭣''|| Goodbye || ''Ba durōd'' (''به درود''), later ''bedrūd'' (''بدرود'') || ||
|-
|''Pidar 𐭯𐭣𐭫'' || Father || ''Pidar'' (پدر) || || [[Latin]]: ''pater'' (Italian ''padre''), Old High German ''fater''
|-
| ''Rōz 𐭩𐭥𐭬''||Day||''Rōz'' (''روز'')||  From ''rōšn'' 'light'. Kurdish ''rōž'' (رۆژ), also ''rōč'' (رُوچ) in Balochi||Armenian ''lois'' 'light', [[Latin]]: ''lux'' 'light', Spanish ''luz'' 'light'
|-
| ''Šagr𐭱𐭢𐭫'', ''Šēr''<sup>1</sup>|| Lion || ''Šēr'' (''شیر'') ||From Old Persian *''šagra''-. Tajiki Persian {{linktext|шер}} ''šer'' and Kurdish (''شێر'') ''šēr'' ||
|-
|  ''Sāl 𐭱𐭭𐭲'' || Year || ''Sāl'' (''سال'') ||  || Armenian ''sārd'' 'sun', German ''Sonne'', Russian ''солнце'', Kurdish ''sal'' ''ساڵ''
|-
| ''Šīr𐭱𐭩𐭫'' <sup>1</sup>|| Milk || ''Šīr'' (''شیر'') || From Old Persian *''*xšīra-''. Tajiki {{linktext|шир}} ''šir'' and Kurdish (''šīr'', {{linktext|شیر}})||from [[PIE]]: *''swēyd''-
|-
| ''Spās 𐭮𐭯𐭠𐭮''|| Thanks ||''Sipās'' (''سپاس'')||''Spās'' in Kurdish||[[PIE]]: {{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*speḱ-}}
|-
| ''Stārag 𐭮𐭲𐭠𐭫𐭪, Star 𐭮𐭲𐭫''|| Star || ''Sitāra'' (''ستاره'') || ''Stār, Stērk'' in Northern Kurdish||[[Latin]]: ''stella'', [[Old English]]: ''steorra'', [[Gothic language|Gothic]]: ''stairno'', [[Old Norse]]: ''stjarna''
|-
| ''Tābestān 𐭲𐭠𐭯𐭮𐭲𐭠𐭭''|| (adjective for) summer || {{linktext|تابستان}} Tābistān || ||[[Kurdish language|Kurdish]]: ''تاڤستان''
|-
| ''Xwāh(ar) 𐭧𐭥𐭠𐭧''|| Sister || ''Xwāhar'' (''خواهر'') || ||[[Armenian language|Armenian]]: ''khoyr'', [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]]:''xwah,xweng,xwişk''
|-
|}

<sup>1</sup> Since some vowels of Middle Persian did not continue in Modern Persian, a number of [[homophone]]s were created in New Persian. For example, ''šir'' and ''šer'', meaning "milk" and "lion", respectively, are now both pronounced ''šir''. In this case, the older pronunciation is maintained in Kurdish, Dari and Tajiki Persian.<ref>Strazny, P. (2005). Encyclopedia of linguistics (p. 325). New York: Fitzroy Dearborn.</ref>

===Middle Persian cognates in other languages===

There is a number of [[List of English words of Persian origin|Persian loanwords in English]], many of which can be traced to Middle Persian. The lexicon of [[Classical Arabic]] also contains many borrowings from Middle Persian. In such borrowings Iranian consonants that sound foreign to Arabic, ''g'', ''č'', ''p'', and ''ž'', have been replaced by ''q/k'', ''j'', ''š'', ''f/b'', and ''s/z''. The exact Arabic renderings of the suffixes ''-ik/-ig'' and ''-ak/-ag'' is often used to deduce the different periods of borrowing.<ref name=Mushegh /> The following is a parallel word list of cognates:<ref name=PahDic>{{cite book|last=Mackenzie|first=D. N.|title=A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tRegBAAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-61396-8}}</ref><ref name = Iranica>{{cite web |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arabic-ii |title=ARABIC LANGUAGE ii. Iranian loanwords in Arabic |date=15 December 1986 |website=Encyclopædia Iranica |access-date=31 December 2015}}</ref><ref name =Joneidi>Joneidi, F. (1965). Dictionary of Pahlavi Ideograms (فرهنگ هزوارش هاي دبيره پهلوي) (p. 8). Balkh (نشر بلخ).</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! Middle Persian || English || Other Languages || Possible Arabic Borrowing || English
|-
|''Srat''<ref name=PahDic />||Street||[[Latin]] ''strata'' 'street', [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''srat'' 'plain'; from PIE root ''stere-'' 'to spread, extend, stretch out' ([[Avestan]] ''star-'', Latin ''sternere'', [[Old Church Slavonic]] ''stira'')||''Sirāt'' (''صراط'')||Path
|-
|''Burg''<ref name=PahDic />||Tower||Germanic ''burg'' 'castle' or 'fort'||''Burj'' (''برج'')||Tower
|-
|''Tāk''<ref name = Tietze>{{cite journal |last1=Tietze |first1=A. |last2=Lazard |first2=G. |year=1967 |title=Persian Loanwords in Anatolian Turkish |journal=Oriens |volume=20 |pages=125–168 |doi=10.1163/18778372-02001007 }}</ref>{{rp|89}}||Arch, vault, window||Borrowed into Anatolian Turkish and Standard Azerbaijani in ''taqča'' 'a little window, a niche' ||''Tāq'' (''طاق'')||Arch
|-
|''Nav-xudā''<ref name=Mushegh />{{rp|93}}||Master of a ship, captain||From PIE root ''*nau-''; cognates with Latin ''navigia''||''Nāxu𝛿ā'' (''{{linktext|نوخذة}}'')||Captain
|-
|''Nargis''<ref name = Mushegh/>{{rp|89}}||Narcissus|| ||''Narjis'' (''نرجس'')||Narcissus
|-
|''Gōš''<ref name=Mushegh />{{rp|87}}||Hearer, listener, ear||Of the same root is Aramaic ''gūšak'' 'prognosticator, informer' (From Middle Persian ''gōšak'' with ''-ak'' as a suffix of nomen agentis)||''Jāsūs'' (''جاسوس''){{Citation needed|date=April 2021|reason=Could be derived from root "ج س س" meaning to touch. A Derivative of the semantically "ل م س" is used when seeking news or information: "يلتمس الأخبار".}}||Spy
|-
|''A-sar'';<ref name=Joneidi /> ''A-'' (negation prefix) + ''sar'' (end, beginning)||Infinite, endless||''A-'' prefix in Greek; Sanskrit ''siras'', Hittite ''harsar'' 'head' || ''Azal'' (''أزل'') || Infinite
|-
|''A-pad'';<ref name=Joneidi /> ''a-'' (prefix of negation) + ''pad'' (end)||Infinity||  ||''Abad'' (''أبد'')||Infinity, forever
|-
|''Dēn''<ref name=PahDic />||Religion||From Avestan ''daena'' ||''Dīn'' (''دين'')||Religion
|-
|''Bōstān''<ref name=Iranica /> (''bō'' 'aroma, scent' + ''-stan'' place-name element) || Garden || ||''Bustān'' (''بستان'')||Garden
|-
|''Čirāg''<ref name=PahDic/><ref name=Mushegh />{{rp|90}}<ref name=Iranica/>||Lamp||  ||''Sirāj'' (''سراج'')||Lamp
|-
|''Tāg''<ref name=Iranica />||Crown, tiara||  ||''Tāj'' (''تاج'')||Crown
|-
|''Pargār''<ref name=Iranica/>||[[Compass (drawing tool)|Compass]]||  ||''Firjār'' (''فرجار'')||Compass (drawing tool)
|-
|''Ravāg''<ref name=Joneidi />||Current||  ||''Rawāj'' (''رواج''){{Citation needed|date=April 2021|reason=The root "ر و ج" seems to have many derivatives.}}||Popularity
|-
|''Ravāk''<ref name=Joneidi /> (older form of ''ravāg''; from the root ''rav'' (v. ''raftan'') 'to go')||Current||  ||''Riwāq'' (''رواق'')||Place of passage, corridor
|-
|''Gund''<ref name=Iranica/>||Army, troop||  ||''Jund'' (''جند'')||Army
|-
|''Šalwār''<ref name=Iranica/>||Trousers||  ||''Sirwāl'' (''سروال'')||Trousers
|-
|''Rōstāk''||Village, district, province||||''Ruzdāq'' (''رزداق'')||Village
|-
|''Zar-parān''||Saffron||||''Zaʿfarān'' (''{{linktext|زعفران}}'')||Saffron
|-
|''Sādag''<ref name=Mushegh />{{rp|91}}||Simple||||''Sa𝛿ij'' (''{{linktext|ساذج}}'')||Simple
|-
|''Banafšag''<ref name=Mushegh />{{rp|91}}||Violet||||''Banafsaj'' (''{{linktext|بنفسج}}'')||Violet
|-
|''Pahrist''<ref name=Mushegh />{{rp|99}}||List, register, index||||''Fihris'' (''{{linktext|فهرس}}'')||List, index
|-
|''Tašt''<ref name=Tietze />{{rp|156}}||Basin, washtub||  ||''Tašt'' (''{{linktext|طشت}}'')||Basin, washtub
|-
|''Dāyak''<ref name=Tietze />{{rp|142}}||Nurse, midwife||  ||''Daya'' (''{{linktext|داية}}'')||Midwife
|-
|''Xandak''<ref name=Mushegh />{{rp|101}}||Ditch, trench||||''Xandaq'' (''{{linktext|خندق}}'')||Ditch, trench
|}

===Comparison of Middle Persian and Modern Persian names===
{| class="wikitable"
! Middle Persian || New Persian || Old Persian || English
|-
|Anāhid||Nāhid||Anāhitā||[[Anahita]]
|-
|Artaxšēr||Ardašir||Artaxšaça||[[Artaxerxes (disambiguation)|Artaxerxes]]<!--intentional link to DAB page-->
|-
|Mihr||Mehr||Miça||[[Mithra]]
|-
|Rokhsāna||Roksāne||||[[Roxana]]
|-
|Pāpak||Bābak||||[[Pabag]]
|-
|Āleksandar, Sukandar||Eskandar||||[[Alexander]]
|-
|Pērōz, Pērōč||Pīruz||||[[Feroze]]
|-
|Mihrdāt||Mehrdād||Miθradāta||[[Mithridates (disambiguation)|Mithridates<!--intentional link to DAB page-->]]
|-
|Borān||Borān||||[[Boran|Borān]]
|-
|Husraw, Xusraw||Khosrow||||[[Khosrow II|Chosroes]]
|-
|Zaratu(x)št||Zartōšt||||[[Zoroaster]]
|-
|Ōhrmazd||Hormizd||A(h)uramazdā||[[Ahura Mazda]], astr. [[Jupiter]]
|-
|}

==See also==
*[[Avestan]]
*[[Old Persian]]
*[[New Persian]]
*[[Parthian language]]
*[[Persian language]]
*[[Persian language#History]]
*[[Middle Persian literature]]
* [[Nikabad]]
* [[Garmsiri language|Bandari]]
* [[Achomi language|Achomi]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===

* MacKenzie, D. N. 1986. ''A concise Pahlavi dictionary''. London: OUP
* Maggi, Mauro and Paola Orsatti. 2018. From Old to New Persian. In: ''The Oxford Handbook of Persian Linguistics''. pp.&nbsp;7–52
* Nyberg, H. S. (1964): ''A Manual of Pahlavi I – Texts, Alphabets, Index, Paradigms, Notes and an Introduction'', Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
* Skjærvø, Prods Oktor. 1997. On the Middle Persian Imperfect. In ''Syntaxe des Langues Indoiraniennes anciennes'', ed. E. Pirart, AuOrSup 6 (Barcelona), 161–88.
* Skjærvø, Prods Oktor. 2007. ''Introduction to Pahlavi''. Cambridge, Mass.
* Skjærvø, Prods Oktor. 2009. Middle West Iranian. In Gernot Windfuhr (ed.), ''The Iranian Languages'', 196–278. London & New York: Routledge.
* Sundermann, Werner. 1989. Mittelpersisch. In: ''Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum''. Herausgegeben von Rudiger Schmidt. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. pp.&nbsp;138–165.
* Расторгуева, В. С. 1966. ''Среднеперсидский язык''. Москва: Издательство "Наука"
* Расторгуева, В. С., Е. К. Молчанова. 1981. Среднеперсидский язык. In: ''Основы иранского языкознания, т. 2''. Москва: Издательство "Наука". pp.&nbsp;6–146

==External links==
* ''Lessons in Pahlavi-Pazend'' by S.D.Bharuchī and E.S.D.Bharucha (1908) at the [[Internet Archive]] – [https://archive.org/details/lessonsinpahlav01bhargoog Part 1] and [https://archive.org/details/lessonsinpahlav00bhargoog 2]
* [http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/indexe.htm?/texte/texte2.htm#mpers Middle Persian texts on TITUS]
* [http://www.rahamasha.net/ Scholar Raham Asha's website, including many Middle Persian texts in original and translation]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100508093429/http://www.parsig.org/ An organization promoting the revival of Middle Persian as a literary and spoken language] (contains a grammar and lessons)
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RV8-AAAAcAAJ|title=Early Sassanian inscriptions, seals and coins|author=Edward Thomas|author-link=Edward Thomas (antiquarian)|year=1868|publisher=Trübner|pages=137|access-date=2011-07-05}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121102195952/http://www.rabbinics.org/pahlavi/Pahlavi_Primer_1_12x.pdf Introduction to Pahlavi by Prods Oktor Skjærvø] (archived 2 November 2012)
* [https://www.parsigdatabase.com/?lang=en Parsig Database (an online database for Middle Persian terms and texts.)]

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