Breakdown of میراثبان و مرزبان از قلعه محافظت کرده بودند.
و
and
ازaz
from
قلعهqal'e
castle
محافظت کردنmohâfezat kardan
to protect
Questions & Answers about میراثبان و مرزبان از قلعه محافظت کرده بودند.
How does the suffix -bân change the meaning of the base words in mirâs-bân and marz-bân?
The suffix -bân is attached to nouns to create an occupational title or describe someone who guards, keeps, or cares for that noun. Here, mirâs means heritage or inheritance, making a mirâs-bân a heritage guardian. Similarly, marz means border, making a marz-bân a border guard.
Why is the preposition az (from) used before qal'eh (castle)? Does it mean they protected people from the castle?
No, they protected the castle itself! In Farsi, the compound verb mohâfezat kardan (to protect) requires the preposition az to introduce the object being protected. This is a very common pattern to memorize: while English says to protect the castle, Farsi essentially says to do protection of/from the castle (az qal'eh mohâfezat kardan).
Why is the verb mohâfezat kardeh budand in this specific tense?
This is the past perfect (pluperfect) tense, translating to had protected. It is used to show an action was completely finished in the past. It is formed by taking the past participle of the main verb (kardeh) and adding the simple past of budan (to be), which here is conjugated for the third-person plural (budand) because the subject consists of two people.
Is there a difference in how commonly words like marz-bân and mirâs-bân are used in everyday Farsi?