The Old Persian Genitive. A study of syncretic case

Old Persian does not have separate forms for genitive and dative, as formerly distinct grammatical categories merged into the genitive. Indeed, a detailed examination of Old Persian textual data reveals that the genitive expresses a variety of syntactic func- tions and semantic roles, cross-linguistically typical not only of the genitive, but also of the dative. This scenario can be accounted for by considering the Old Persian geni tive case as a polysemic radial category, the expression of the Possessor being the core function and other attested functions being metaphorical extensions. The aim of this paper is to analyse Old Persian dative-genitive syncretism. The evidence from a cross- linguistic perspective suggests that the semantic or functional overlapping of genitive and dative cases has been the main cause of this syncretism, given the tendency of languages to eliminate synonymous grammatical forms over time.