Verbal Morphology and Alignment in Zazaki: A Comparative Study of the Bingöl and Varto Dialects

Abstract

This study examines verbal morphology and agreement patterns in Zazaki through a comparative analysis of the Bingöl and Varto dialects. Focusing on tense, transitivity, negation, infinitives, and mood, the paper highlights systematic phonological and morphosyntactic differences between the two varieties. Particular attention is given to split ergativity, whereby present-tense constructions follow a nominative–accusative alignment while past-tense transitive clauses exhibit ergative–absolutive behavior, with verbal agreement controlled by the object. The data further reveal consistent stem alternations (wûnen- vs. wanen-), distinct strategies of person–number marking, and divergent treatments of gender and plurality. The analysis also covers infinitival morphology and modal categories such as optative, subjunctive, and imperative, showing shared affirmative (bi) and negative (me) marking in the latter two. Overall, the findings demonstrate that while both dialects operate within the same grammatical system, Varto generally preserves overt agreement morphology, whereas Bingöl favors vowel alternation and preverbal marking, illustrating dialect-specific realizations of a common Zazaki framework.