Expert: Behzad - 9/9/2009

Question
Dear Behzad,

Many thanks again for the excellent recent answer.

I was wondering about the suffix خوار – is it always possible to replace it with the shorter خور? I suppose this must affect the pronunciation?

For “ghoul” my dictionary gives both مردهخوار and مردهخور, for example.

I know that خوار also has the meaning of “despised, contemptible, abject” as in خوار شمردن – to hold in contempt, despise. Can this خوار also be shortened to خور?

All the best, and many thanks,

Simon

Answer
Dear Simon,
خوار (kha:r) as a suffix means eater, and خور (khor) is its informal version. It seems strange to me to see a word with suffix خور in formal writing.
خوار which means contemptible does not have informal shortened form.
Best regards,
Behzad