The syntax of Zaza language

The aim of this thesis is to systematically describe and analyse the syntactic structure of Zazaki, one of the endangered languages of the Iranian language family, under the framework of traditional and contemporary linguistic theories. Having limited studies in the literature, Zazaki hasn't been made the subject of comprehensive academic research, particularly at the syntactic level. This study aims to reveal the core syntactic features of the language by examining the basic sentence structure, subject–verb agreement, positive/negative sentence structures, interrogative sentences, and types of subordinate clauses in Zazaki. This research focuses on the following questions: What is the basic sentence structure of Zazaki and what syntactic variations are observed? What are the structures of subordinate clauses and what are the functions of conjunctions? What strategies are used to form interrogative and negative sentences? What types of differences exist among dialects at the syntactic level and how are verb suffixes positioned in these dialects? This study applies qualitative research method. Text-corpus analysis is used as the data collection method, and a written corpus consisting of proverbs, fairy tales, stories and novels is formed. The data is analysed by using descriptive linguistics methods and compared in the literature. The findings indicate that the basic sentence structure of Zazaki is distinctly SOV. Morphologically having partial ergativity, the language shows accusative alignment syntactically. The verb is at the centre of the sentence, and the subject is at its axis. There are some differences among the dialects: In Southern Zazaki, some verb suffixes come before the verb, whereas in Northern Zazaki they are generally used after the verb. This diversity highlights the regional abundance and typological significance of Zazaki. In conclusion, this thesis presents a comprehensive and systematic study of the syntax of Zazaki, and it contributes to general linguistics, Iranian languages typology, as well as to the preservation, standardisation and revitalisation of Zazaki. Keywords: Zazaki, Syntax, Zazaki Grammar, Sentence Structure, Language Typology, Linguistic Analysis, Iranian Languages.