ABSTRACT
This chapter examines certain archaic features that might still be encountered with relative frequency. The -i suffix had the effect of a mi-prefix when added to past tense, used for counterfactual conditionals and for habitual past. For prohibitive mood, early modern Persian used the prefix ma- instead of na-. Apart from poetical language, learners can still find the ma- in many idioms and proverbs. Now only possible in poetical language imitating classical times, early modern Persian does not seem to have observed the rules governing the use of verbal mi- or be-prefixes as they are known and practiced now. They might be missing sometimes where contemporary usage finds them indispensable or might be used with no justification according to contemporary grammar. Contractions of words used to be very common in classical Persian poetry, but they are much less common now. Sometimes contractions with az are combined with other contractions in poetry, resulting in weird and puzzling results.
