Zahra Ramezani
Abstract
This study investigates the thematic structure in Middle Persian Texts based on Halliday’s approach. Accordingly, it could be investigated that what changes have happened in the thematic structure during the process of Language development. Halliday and Matthiessen (2014) claim that the theme is ...
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This study investigates the thematic structure in Middle Persian Texts based on Halliday’s approach. Accordingly, it could be investigated that what changes have happened in the thematic structure during the process of Language development. Halliday and Matthiessen (2014) claim that the theme is the point of departure. In order to do this study, two texts of kārnāmag i ardešir bābakān (Text 1) and dinkar šašom (Text 2) were chosen. The results suggest that the highest occurrence of themes belongs to the unmarked multiple theme (almost 65% in both texts) with the pattern of “Textual theme + Topical theme” (70.27% in Text1 and 60.83% in Text2). Based on this fact it could be claimed that in that era this pattern was used to transfer the message.IntroductionThe present research is an attempt to describe themes from the perspective of textual meta-function in Middle Persian texts in Halliday and Matthiessen’s Functional Grammar (2014). Halliday’s systematic order is a meaning-based approach that considers the most significant role of language which is “communicating and meaning”. In this theory, four semantic layers or meta functions are proposed to convey meaning: experiential meta function, interpersonal meta function, textual meta function, and logical meta function. In this research, textual meta function plays the main role. In textual meta-function, themes and rhemes are the structural tools for creating discourse and text. This research is very important in some points, for the first reason, it provides the bed for comparison of the textual characteristics of the texts in present and previous Persian language development. Also, in such researches, different writing styles are examined to convey meaning and pave the way for analyzing the discourse of historical texts.In this regard, two texts of kārnāmag i ardešir bābakān and Dinkard ī šašom were selected to examine the textual characteristics based on the textual meta function of Halliday’s approach (2014), and the first content is about Sassanian dynasty. Dinkard ī šašom is the most complete book of the Middle Persian, and it is included among religious encyclopedias. Research QuestionsThis research attempts to answer the following questions:What are the differences between thematical patterns in two narrative and instructional texts in the middle period?In which of the two narrative and instructional texts, the proportion of marked theme is higher?Literature ReviewVarious studies have been conducted in connection with Halliday's systematic theory (2014), and each of these studies has examined a part of this theory.MethodologyHalliday and Matthiessen (2014) consider the basic unit for understanding meaning in systematic grammar as “clause” and present three layers or meta functions to understand meaning. These three meta-functions are experiential, interpersonal, and textual.Textual meta function deals with the textual structure of the language and organizes the coherence and continuity of the flow of speech. In this theory, the way the structures are arranged inside the clause is important. Based on this, in a clause, there are two roles of theme-rheme, which together represent the theme-rheme system.According to Halliday and Matthiessen (2014), the theme is the point of departure of the message and determines the position of the clause within the text. Also, the theme shows how the message is conveyed with the help of language and context, and how what we say is related to what has already been said. The theme itself is divided into two categories:Simple theme:Simple complex as theme: Ali is Ahmed's best friend.Multiple group complex as theme: Ali's best friend in class is Ahmed.Multiple themes:Textual primer (2014:107): continuative, conjunction, conjunction adjustInterpersonal initiator (2014: 107): vocative, modal adjunct, finite verbalSometimes, multiple themes have all three types of components.ConclusionIn order to investigate the structure of themes in the Middle Persian, 46 sentences were extracted from kārnāmag i ardešir bābakān and Dinkard ī šašom, and these sentences were divided into “clauses” defined in this approach, according to Halliday’s functional grammar.In kārnāmag i ardešir bābakān, 65.04% of themes are multiple and unmarked. The marked themes are rarely seen in this text and the clauses often follow the pattern of unmarked sentences in Middle Persian. Only 4.85% of themes are simple and marked and 6.79% of them are marked multiple.Accordingly, textual themes play an important role in the formation of multiple themes in this text. “ud” (which means “and” in Persian today) as a textual (structural) theme, has the highest percentage of occurrence. The percentage of occurrence of multiple themes with interpersonal themes is only 16.21%. This seems quite logical to consider the nature of this text, which is a narrative one. Another third pattern is “textual theme (structural) + interpersonal theme(facet) + topical theme” and the percentage of occurrence of this pattern is 13.51%. In Dinkard ī šašom, the occurrence of unmarked multiple themes is 64.74%, and in contrast, marked multiple themes occur in only 12.82% of cases, which are often present in the first clauses. The percentage of occurrence of unmarked and marked simple themes is 17.30% and 5.76%, respectively. In this text, interpersonal themes also occupy a significant percentage, which according to the content of this text, the high occurrence of this type of initiators seems logical. Another distinctive feature of themes in Dinkard ī šašom is their discrete themes.In general, it can be pointed out that in the texts of Middle Persian, unmarked and multiple themes were often used to start the message. In the text of kārnāmag i ardešir bābakān, the sentences start with simple and unmarked themes. Then, they move on to multiple themes. Interpersonal themes are rarely seen in these texts.In Dinkard ī šašom, themes are often marked and multiple, and they are the important and significant topics that this text deals with. Then, these primers move to unmarked multiple themes.
Masoumeh Zarei; Shahla Raghib Dust
Abstract
Color terms are radiation of the human conceptual system that represents a reflection of his cognitive and linguistic features. The human conceptual system is fundamentally metaphorical in nature. Metaphor is a cognitive mechanism and one of the linguistic strategies that can play a part in color term ...
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Color terms are radiation of the human conceptual system that represents a reflection of his cognitive and linguistic features. The human conceptual system is fundamentally metaphorical in nature. Metaphor is a cognitive mechanism and one of the linguistic strategies that can play a part in color term formation and categorical extension of colors. This study has taken metaphor in Persian color terms and the metaphorical structure of color categories in the Persian language into consideration. In this study, based on cognitive lexical semantics, 910 color terms in Persian have been analyzed. After describing semantic domains in the metaphorical formation of Persian color terms and analyzing the metaphorical structure of Persian color terms, the frequency of semantic domains’ application in Persian color terms and color categories’ tendency for participation in the metaphorical structure of Persian color terms have been investigated. Metaphor is one of the cognitive mechanisms that have a significant role in forming color categories and their conceptual extension in Persian. The domains whose phenomena have been observed in the metaphorical structure of Persian color terms are plant domain, animal domain, food domain, body domain, mineral domain, natural phenomenon domain, and object domain. The frequency of application and distribution of these semantic domains in Persian color categories is not equal. Besides, the rate of color categories’ participation in the metaphorical structure of Persian color terms and their tendency to the source semantic domains vary in metaphorical mapping.
Introduction
Color terms are radiation of the human conceptual system that represents a reflection of his cognitive and linguistic features. Metaphor is a cognitive mechanism and one of the linguistic strategies that can play a part in color term formation and categorical extension of colors. This study has considered metaphor in Persian color terms and the metaphorical structure of color categories in the Persian language. In this research, we attempted to provide answers to the following questions:
How is the metaphorical structure of color categories in the Persian language?
What are the source domains in the metaphorical mapping of concepts in Persian color terms?
What is the contribution of color categories to the metaphorical structure and the extent of their tendency to the semantic domains in Persian color terms?
Literature Review
Conklin (1955) studied color categories in the Hanunóo language. Berlin and Kay (1969) argued that all languages share a universal system of basic color categorization that has evolved in 7 stages. Rosch (1973) studied the color terms of the Dani language. Levinson (2000) categorizes color propositions in the Yélî language. Everett (2005) believes that there are considerable differences in the way colors are named among the speakers of the Pirahã language. Xing (2009) investigated color terms in Chinese. Gol-Mohammadzadeh (2009) studied the symbolic meaning of color terms among Persian speakers. Estaji (2007) investigated Persian color terms structurally. Afrashi and Samet (2012) studied the conceptual metaphors of color in the Persian language. Alizadeh Sahrai and Raskhmahand (2016) investigated the hierarchy of basic color words in Persian.
Methodology
This research was based on a fieldwork study and the data was collected from different social-cultural contexts in the Persian-speaking society. In this study, we examined 910 color terms descriptively and statistically, within the scope of cognitive lexical semantics and the theoretical beliefs of Lakoff and Johnson (1980). In this research, we investigated the metaphorical structure of color categories and the formation of Persian color terms through the cognitive mechanism of metaphorical mapping.
Results
The analysis of the research data shows that in the metaphorical structure of color categories, due to the similarity of an area of the color spectrum to a phenomenon in the surrounding world, the name of that phenomenon is used for the lexical encoding of that area in the color spectrum. There is a general metaphor in the formation of Persian color terms and their categorization: the radiating color phenomenon is color (see the figure below).
Figure 1
The general conceptual metaphor of color in the Persian language
source domain target domain
radiating color phenomenon
color
mapping
This general metaphor is made of a set of radiating color phenomena that create a cluster of “convergent cognitive models” together. This cluster radially causes the formation of a set of convergent subcategories in the color categories, which are: color is plant, color is animal, color is body, color is food, color is mineral, color is natural phenomenon, and color is object. The models of this cluster are shown in the figure below:
Figure 2
The cluster of metaphorical cognitive models
source domains target domains
color
color
color
color
color
color
color
plant
animal
body
comestible
mineral
natural phenomenon
object
mappings
These cognitive models are semantic source domains in the metaphorical mapping of 910 Persian color terms. Figure (3) illustrates the distribution of these domains in the metaphorical mapping of Persian color terms:
Figure 3
the distribution of semantic domains in the metaphorical mapping
Generally, the distribution of these semantic domains in Persian color categories is not the same as the following table shows:
Table 1
The distribution of the semantic domain in color categories
color categories
plant
animal
mineral
natural phenomenon
food
body
object
blue
2%
6%
6%
18%
3%
5%
0%
purple
8%
2%
1%
0%
0%
0%
0%
gray
0%
12%
15%
9%
1%
3%
12%
yellow
17%
10%
18%
8%
10%
23%
14%
green
21%
13%
10%
5%
1%
5%
5%
red
19%
12%
15%
15%
25%
28%
7%
white
3%
9%
10%
14%
17%
8%
26%
black
2%
8%
4%
12%
0%
5%
9%
pink
9%
1%
3%
3%
9%
10%
5%
brown
12%
15%
10%
6%
33%
15%
9%
orange
6%
2%
7%
5%
0%
0%
0%
polycolor
1%
9%
2%
5%
0%
0%
14%
In addition to the non-uniformity of the frequency of the use of semantic domains in color categories, the participation rate of each of these color categories in the metaphorical structure of Persian color terms:
Figure 5
The participation rate of color categories
The tendency of each of these color categories to the source semantic domains in the metaphorical mapping is also different. The following table shows the contribution of color categories in the metaphorical structure of Persian color terms and the tendency of each of them to the source semantic domains in the metaphorical mapping:
Table 2
The contribution and tendency of color categories
color categories
plant
animal
mineral
natural phenomenon
food
body
object
blue
10%
21%
16%
45%
4%
4%
0%
purple
85%
9%
6%
0%
0%
0%
0%
gray
1%
34%
34%
20%
1%
1%
9%
yellow
43%
14%
19%
8%
5%
7%
4%
green
58%
20%
11%
6%
1%
2%
2%
red
41%
14%
13%
12%
%11
7%
2%
white
12%
19%
16%
22%
14%
4%
13%
black
17%
28%
11%
32%
0%
4%
8%
pink
57%
4%
8%
8%
11%
8%
4%
brown
33%
21%
11%
7%
20%
5%
3%
orange
49%
10%
23%
18%
0%
0%
0%
polycolor
14%
55%
10%
21%
0%
0%
0%
Conclusion
Metaphor is one of the cognitive mechanisms that play a great role in the formation of color categories and their conceptual extension in the Persian language. In the metaphorical structure of color categories in Persian, the concept of the surrounding phenomena domain is exactly mapped to the domain of color. The similarity between phenomenon and color is lexically encoded by color-term-forming affixes and morphemes of the Persian language. In Persian color terms, metaphor functions paradigmatically and there is a one-to-one correspondence between the concept of phenomenon and the concept of color. The domains that have been observed in the metaphorical structure of Persian are, in order of maximum, as follows: plant domain, animal domain, food domain, body domain, mineral domain, natural phenomenon domain, and object domain.
There is a non-uniformity in the degree of distribution of these semantic domains in different categories; the presence of some of them is more prominent in some color categories and insignificant in others. Furthermore, the percentage of color categories’ participation in the metaphorical structure of Persian color terms and their tendency to the source domains in the metaphorical mapping are also different. Plant is the most prototypical semantic domain in the metaphorical structure of Persian color categories and green, red, and yellow categories are the prototypical categories in the semantic domain of plant.
Mahsa PahlevanZadeFini; Mohammad Dabirmoghaddam
Abstract
In the present study, the subject of “passive voice in Persian language” has been analyzed and studied in a minimalist approach Bowers (2010; 2018). This approach is one of the latest adjustments made in the framework of the minimalist program, in which the shortcomings of the previous theories ...
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In the present study, the subject of “passive voice in Persian language” has been analyzed and studied in a minimalist approach Bowers (2010; 2018). This approach is one of the latest adjustments made in the framework of the minimalist program, in which the shortcomings of the previous theories have been eliminated and the most important achievement is to provide the universal order of merge; An arrangement that, according to Bowers, can be used to organize the merge process in different languages. In this article, with reference to the linguistic data extracted from “the corpus of syntactic dependency of Persian language”, while showing how this universal order of merge works; we will examine a part of the corpus with the label “passive sentences”. Also, by using Bowers’ latest theoretical framework, which is also effective in Persian, we analyze the active constructions that are present in the corpus as a passive sentence. Determining the syntactic position of noun phrases according to their distinct semantic roles, the position of by-phrase in passive sentences, examining the floating quantifier category and differentiating in the way of merging of predicate sentences and passive sentences in Persian are the results of this research in the framework of the minimalist program.IntroductionIn the present study, the subject of “passive voice in the Persian language” has been analyzed and studied with a minimalist approach Bowers (2010; 2018). This approach is one of the latest adjustments made in the framework of the minimalist program, in which the shortcomings of the previous theories have been eliminated and the most important achievement is to provide the universal order of merge; an arrangement that, according to Bowers, can be used to organize the merge process in different languages. Among the questions we would like to answer are the following questions: 1. based on Persian language data and relying on the theoretical framework of the Minimalist Program, apart from active voice, is passive voice available in today’s Persian language? 2. Does the process of syntactic merging of the passive construction in Persian (if such a structure is observed) follow ‘the universal order of merge’ proposed by Bowers? 3. What is the distinction between passive and middle constructions in Persian?Literature ReviewIn many researches about passive voice, it has been acknowledged that this construction may not exist in some languages, while in some other languages, more than one type of passive construction is observed. The studies conducted on the Persian language are also indicative of this fact. Moein (1974), Sadeghi and Arjang (1978) do not believe in the existence of such a structure in the Persian language. Their justification is based on the fact that although the indefinite article existed in ancient Persian and was a common construction, it disappeared in the Middle Persian period in the form of a lexical process. After that, with the writing of an article by Dabir Moghaddam (1985) entitled 'Passive in the Persian Language', the construction of passive in this language was more considered. In this article, which is actually a criticism of certain opinions, the course of the historical evolution of the passive construction is described and it is suggested that in the ancient and middle ages, the nonmorphological form existed in formal and informal forms, but with the passage from the middle period to the modern classical period due to Historical transformations that have led to the change of the language from inflectional to analytical type, morphological passive is no longer observed, but passive is very widely used in the form of past participle or adjective and the auxiliary verb ‘to be’. MethodologyIn this article, with reference to the linguistic data extracted from the “Persian Syntactic Dependency Corpus”, while showing how this universal order of merge works, we will examine a part of the corpus with the label “passive sentences”. Also, by using Bowers’ latest theoretical framework, which is also effective in Persian, we analyze the active constructions that are present in the corpus as a passive sentence. Determining the syntactic position of noun phrases according to their distinct semantic roles, the position of by-phrase in passive sentences, examining the floating quantifier category and differentiating in the way of merging of predicate sentences and passive sentences in Persian are the results of this research in the framework of the minimalist program. ResultsBased on the later approach of Bowers (2010; 2018), we analyzed the sentences with a passive tag in the “Persian Syntactic Dependency Corpus”. There were some mistakes in the corpus that were described in the article. What is known as a passive sentence according to Bowers’ minimalist approach has special characteristics, only one of which is the presence of an auxiliary verb in the sentence. Among the mentioned usages of the verb “to become” in the Persian language, only the use of this verb as an auxiliary verb in personal and impersonal constructions can be accepted with the tag of passive in the corpus.In the present article, after describing the background of the studies conducted on the passive voice in the Persian language, we discussed the theoretical foundations of the minimalist program in the investigation of voice. Then we showed that what has been introduced as the minimalistic approach of Collins (2005) to solve how to form the passive construction, basically demonstrates the weakness and inability of this approach in analyzing some constructions ConclusionDetermining the syntactic position of noun phrases according to their distinct semantic roles, determining the position of by-phrases in passive sentences, examining the category of floating quantifiers and creating a distinction in the way of merging middle sentences and passive sentences in the Persian language are possible based on Bowers' minimalistic approach.
Shahla Seifouri; Yadgar Karimi; Shahram Saeidi; Mohsen Masoomi
Abstract
Parallel merge generates a structure that contains a double symmetric relation, in which the shared object has two mother nodes. Naturally, the Linearization of multidominant structures derived from parallel merge will face challenges. The purpose of this study was to analyze and dissect the algorithms ...
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Parallel merge generates a structure that contains a double symmetric relation, in which the shared object has two mother nodes. Naturally, the Linearization of multidominant structures derived from parallel merge will face challenges. The purpose of this study was to analyze and dissect the algorithms that have been proposed in the relevant literature to address the challenge of the linearization of multidominant structures. Specifically, in this research, the content of the proposed algorithms regarding linearization of multidominant structure was qualitatively examined using graph and set notations. The empirical and computational quantitative approaches, in relation to the existence of this type of structure, showed that multidominant structure was the natural result of the function of merge in the workspace rather than the consequences of parallel merge. To shed light on the performance of merge in the workspace, putting order into set merge was raised. Hence, part of the linearization took place in narrow syntax.
Introduction
Parallel merge generates a structure that contains a double symmetric relation, in which the shared object has two mother nodes. Naturally, the Linearization of multidominant structures derived from parallel merge will face challenges. The purpose of this study is to analyze and dissect the algorithms that have been proposed in the relevant literature to address the challenge of the linearization of multidominant structures. Specifically, in this research, the content of the proposed algorithms regarding the linearization of multidominant structures will be qualitatively examined using graphs and set notations. Empirical and computational quantitative approaches, concerning the existence of this type of structure, indicate that multidominant structures are the natural outcome of the merge function in the workspace rather than the result of parallel merge. To shed light on the performance of merge in the workspace, putting order into set merge is raised. Hence, part of the linearization takes place in narrow syntax.
Research Question(s)
This research addresses two fundamental questions. The first question examines how the presented algorithms linearize multidominant structures. The second question explores the possibility of achieving theoretical generalization in the workspace regarding the role of merge as a multidominant constructor, ultimately contributing to the initial linearization process in narrow syntax.
Literature Review
Researchers have aimed to address the linearization of multidominant structures by developing algorithms. Recent algorithms have made significant progress in solving the linearization problem for symmetric multidominant structures.
In the algorithm of Williams (1978), multidominance was a consequence of coordination, not of ATB movement. Wilder (1999) and Grachanen Yuksek (2007) have tried to linearize the multidominant structure by modifying the definition of c-command and movement so this structure is linearized in situ without affecting other parts. Regarding the linearization of multidominant structures, Wilder (1999) ignored some of the nodes in coordinate structures by introducing the notion of full dominance.
In Citko's (2005) algorithm, movement is regarded as a key factor in the linearization of multidominant structures. In her algorithm, traces are not pronounced since they do not belong to the computational component and result from the derivation process.
In the representation of a multidominant structure, in addition to complete dominance and precedence relations, there are syntactic dependencies in more than one place. It seems that the merge behavior within the proposed algorithms can bring us closer to a theoretical generalization about the nature of merge as a multidominant constructor.
Methodology
In this study, we are undertaking descriptive-analytical research. To begin with, theoretical information regarding various types of merges in the minimalist program as well as algorithms for linearizing multidominant structures was gathered. These concepts were then discussed and analyzed using set notations and graph notations.
Discussion
The noteworthy point is that a multidominant structure is not just a product of parallel merge; rather, it is the fundamental characteristic of merge in the workspace. From this perspective, shown in Diagram 17, the internal merge of XP leads to the formation of an asymmetric multidominant structure. In this case, XP simultaneously merges into two positions. One of the occurrences of XP is under the dominance of YP and the other occurrence is under the dominance of ZP. Therefore, we can consider merge as an operation that naturally creates a multidominant structure.
Diagram 17. The workspace resulting from the set merge
According to Chomsky (2020: 38), parallel merge does not have legitimacy and it is necessary to eliminate parallel merge from computational component. As shown in diagram 21, we consider the symmetric multidominant structure in the form of two floating trees in the derivation. The result of this event is diagram 22, in which the original structure segregates into two asymmetric multidominant structures and hence the parallel merge is removed.
Diagram 21. symmetric multidominant structure (Gračanin-Yuksek, 2013: 269)
Diagram 22. Two floating trees in derivation
The existence of two floating trees within the minimalist program in derivation can be a channel for theoretical and empirical discussions. The possibility of placing an order on the set merge can help some part of linearization to take place in narrow syntax.
The authors contend in Chomsky (1995: 244) implicitly applying order to the unordered two-membered set {α, β} in {α,{α,β}}.
{α, β} = {α,{α,β}}
According to Langendoen (2003: 310), the hypothetical set E′ is the same as the set E, and the set E′ is the ordered pair < α, β>, and this point is also mentioned in the research of Kuratovsky (1921:171).
E= {α, {α, β}}
E′= {{α}, {α, β}}
If α≠β → < α, β> = {{α} , {α, β}}
If the product of the set merge is considered from this perspective,
it assumes that set merge produces a set of ordered pairs.
If α is head in the set merge, the workspace created in this relationship is called ¥1, and the reflection of the desired relationship will be:
1= {{α},{α, β}}¥
And if β is the head, the reflection of the desired relationship in the new workspace will be ¥2:
2= {{ β },{ β, α }}¥
If we want to provide a schematic view of the simultaneous existence of symmetry and asymmetry along with the multidominance structure in 11.b, perhaps we can present diagram 24 in which parallel merge is not involved, and linearization of the existing relations may be proposed in situ.
(11. b) Mary wrote and John reviewed an article on Bo. (Gračanin-Yuksek, 2013: 269)
Diagram 24. Linearization of the multidominant structure, in situ
Conclusion
In this research, initially, various algorithms for linearizing multidominant structures were examined. Subsequently, workspaces resulting from the operation of different merges were investigated within the target tree graph, categorized as "symmetric" and "asymmetric" spaces. Later on, the merge was introduced as a multidominant constructor. It was noted that multidominant structures, prior to being explicitly the result of the parallel merge, exhibit key characteristics of the merge within the workspace.
The authors believed that Chomsky (1995: 244) implicitly applied an order to the unordered two-membered set {α,β} in {α,{α,β}}. Perhaps a theoretical generalization can emerge by introducing an initial order to the elements of the binary set in merge. In this perspective, both external and internal merges gain the capability to generate ordered pairs. Furthermore, in a general conceptual view, a tree graph was presented in which both hierarchical and adjacency relationships were simultaneously evident and the linearization of multidominant structure was suggested in situ.
It seems that despite the simultaneous presence of symmetry and asymmetry relationships in the tree diagram and the performance of various types of merge, revisiting, and defining a new workspace in the linearization of multiple dominance structures is not out of reach with Citko (2011a: 211).
Faezeh Marsous; Ferdos Agagolzade; Aliyeh Kord Zafaranlu Kambuziya
Abstract
Today, we see fruitful efforts in the field of Persian language teaching; however, there are still shortcomings due to a lack of sufficient studies as well as fundamental research in this field. Word selection and scientific teaching of words are those areas that have ambiguities, such as the principles ...
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Today, we see fruitful efforts in the field of Persian language teaching; however, there are still shortcomings due to a lack of sufficient studies as well as fundamental research in this field. Word selection and scientific teaching of words are those areas that have ambiguities, such as the principles of selecting Persian language teaching words, word leveling, and how to teach them. lexical frequency and word applicability are two principles in teaching second or foreign-language words. This research aims to compare the frequency of educational words in the Shiraz and Parfa series, as well as the frequency with which their educational words appear. As a result, the lexical frequencies of these two sets were compared. The word frequency of these two sets was then compared to three lists of words. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel software, pivot tables, and formula writing methods. The results show that a total of 864 words, or more than 30% of the words in both sets, are shared. The Shiraz series contains 47.15 percent of its vocabulary in at least one list, while the Parfa series encompasses 38.75 percent of its vocabulary in at least one list. When the results are compared, the Shiraz series outperforms the Parfa series in terms of lexical frequency, with roughly half of its educational vocabulary appearing at a minimum in one of the selected frequency lists. IntroductionToday, teaching the Persian Language, as a branch of applied linguistics, is one of the significant goals of the cultural organizations and also of the Country’s Comprehensive Scientific Map. Despite the fruitful efforts and actions taken for this purpose, a lot has yet to be done before achieving scientific goals in the Persian language teaching domain and the shortage of some fundamental studies in this domain remains evident, which makes eminent the need for more studies in the field. One of these shortages is the selection of vocabulary content appropriate for the language learning levels in Persian language teaching books and syllabi. Studies in language teaching domains, including Meara (1980) and Nation (1990), indicate that many of the language learners’ problems in language production and reception result from their low vocabulary knowledge (Kang, 1995:43). Basically, it is impossible to learn a language without vocabulary [Knowledge] (Rivers,1981:242).In regard to this, the importance and key role of vocabulary in second or foreign language teaching in general and in syllabi, teaching methods, and testing approaches specifically is noticeable and salient. The selection of educational content suitable for language learners’ levels and goals has a significant role in learning and achieving educational goals. Shahbazi (1387) introduces six main criteria and several sub-criteria for selecting vocabulary one of which is frequency. According to Willkins (1972:118), frequency is one of the most important criteria and usually, not necessary, the most useful words are the most frequent ones.A question that is put forward is how relevant the vocabulary in Persian language teaching books is to the Persian language vocabulary corpora. For this purpose, the present study seeks to investigate the vocabulary selection in the two-textbook series of Shiraz and Parfa regarding their frequency and compare the frequency of their vocabulary. The reason for choosing the two series is the two principles of being up-to-date and common. Research Question(s) How relevant is the vocabulary in each of the two-textbook series of Shiraz and Parfa to the three corpora’s word lists or the word lists in question? How is the vocabulary dispersion in these two-textbook series? How relevant are the vocabulary frequencies of each level in these two Persian teaching series to one another?There are no hypotheses for these questions and they will be answered through statistical investigation and analysis.Literature ReviewAccording to Shahbazi (1387), proper perfect teaching has four fundamental steps selection of teaching content, grading teaching material, teaching, and evaluation. He believes that vocabulary is one of the fundamental components of language and it is very important to teach it. He says that in traditional language teaching methods, vocabulary is selected based on language intuition, experience, and taste, which is likely to be erroneous.Shahrokhi’s study (1395) was conducted with the aim of vocabulary standardization in teaching the Persian language to speakers of other languages and putting forward a vocabulary list appropriate for different proficiency levels in the common European of Reference for Languages. The method of this research is qualitative content analysis and its tool is the researcher’s checklists and Delphi consensus study (consulting linguists). So, a standard framework for AZOOFA (Teaching Persian Language & Culture to Speakers of Other Languages) learning, teaching, and evaluating along with a word list and graded functions and notions appropriate for the four levels of novice 1, novice 2, intermediate1, intermediate 2 was achieved.Jahangardi (1395) sought to investigate the extent to which the vocabulary in books for teaching Persian to speakers of other languages overlaps and corresponds to the most frequent Persian language vocabulary. The word list in each of the books and the learner’s corpus was compared to the word frequency list of the base corpus. The results indicated that, in terms of vocabulary learning levels, the book sometimes presents only 2% of the frequent Persian language vocabulary to the learners.MethodologyThe series’ vocabularies were collected from their vocabulary indices and were compared to each other in terms of word frequency; after editing and POS coding. Then, the series’ word frequencies were compared to the word lists from Sahraee et al. (1398), Ne’matzadeh et al. (1390) and Assi (1398). The data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel.ConclusionThe preset study sought to investigate vocabulary selection in Persian language teaching and, particularly, in Shiraz and Parfa, the two textbook series. The research questions are as follows:How relevant is the vocabulary in each of the two-textbook series of Shiraz and Parfa to the three corpora’s word lists or the word lists in question?How is the vocabulary dispersion in these two-textbook series?How relevant is the vocabulary frequencies of each level in these two Persian teaching series to one another?To answer these questions, the two series’ vocabularies were collected and compared first to one another and then to the three noted Persian corpora or word lists, namely Sahraee et al. (1398), Ne’matzadeh et al. (1390) and Assi (1398).Comparing the results, the answer to the first question is that the Shiraz series, having roughly 50% of its vocabulary in common with at last one of the selected frequency lists, is in a better situation regarding vocabulary frequency, compared to the Parfa series. Nevertheless, both series need to include more applied frequent words suitable for applied functions in the target society, paying attention to teaching necessities including applied educational content, learners’ need, learners’ age, learning goals, etc.The answer to the second question is that, in both series, the number of words taught in each level increases up to the intermediate level and then decreases during higher levels. The bell curve of vocabulary dispersion in each series has a scientific and logical justification and reveals that the teaching load is mainly at intermediate levels in both series.The answer to the third question is that the highest percentage of vocabulary overlap is in the elementary and pre-intermediate levels, namely between the first volume of the Parfa series and the first and second volumes of the Shiraz series. Also, the lowest percentage of vocabulary overlap is in the upper-intermediate and advanced levels, namely the third volume of Parfa and the fourth volume of the Shiraz series. These results seem to result partly from the difference between the books in terms of proficiency levels.
ُShayesteh Sadat Mousavi
Abstract
Among new achievements of cognitive linguistics some have resulted from returning to the concepts of literary traditions, from which one can mention the participation of metaphor, metonymy, and allegory in the process of cognition, and metaphor and metonymy have always had a place of significance. In ...
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Among new achievements of cognitive linguistics some have resulted from returning to the concepts of literary traditions, from which one can mention the participation of metaphor, metonymy, and allegory in the process of cognition, and metaphor and metonymy have always had a place of significance. In the history of Western rhetorics the relation between these two was not at issue as they are disconnected in nature. In subsequent eras, they were even regarded as having a confrontational relation. Unlike Western rhetoricians, Muslim rhetoricians have always maintained a close relation between metonymy and metaphor. They considered metaphor as a type of metonymy. In this paper, we are going to show that the metonymic basis of metaphors, as the Muslim rhetoricians believe, is a provable matter of fact. For this purpose and as the first step, we deal with the evolution of approaches towards metonymy and metaphor in Western and Islamic rhetoric history. Then, we will discuss how the confrontation of these two concepts fades as cognitive studies come to work. Still, the cognitivists mostly do not believe that all types of metaphor rise from metonymy, while the Muslim rhetoricians firmly believe that all types of metaphor have a metonymic basis. We are going to show that not only some but all kinds of metaphors have a metonymic basis and all types of conceptual metaphors are constructed upon conceptual metonymy. The theory of Categorization which is one of the most significant ones in cognitive studies has been part of our argumentation framework.IntroductionAmong new achievements of cognitive linguistics, some have resulted from returning to the concepts of literary traditions and the roles that they play in the constituting of the process of thinking. From these achievements one can mention the participation of mechanisms like metaphor, metonymy, and allegory in the process of cognition, among those metaphor and metonymy have always had the place of power and significance. During the history of Western rhetoric, these two concepts have been for a long time regarded as two independent ornamental figures of speech and the correlation between them was not at issue. In subsequent eras, these two were even regarded as having a confrontational relation. Unlike Western rhetoricians,Muslim rhetoricians have always maintained a close relation between metonymy and metaphor. They considered all types of metaphors derived from metonymy. Interestingly, in very recent linguistic research of metaphor, particularly Cognitive studies, the correlation between metaphor and metonymy was drawn forward. Still, not all but only parts of metaphors were acknowledged to be related to metonymies.In this research, I am going to show if the metonymic basis of metaphors, as the Muslim rhetoricians believe, is a provable matter of fact. Literature ReviewMetaphor and its cognitive weight is discussed by a significant number of Western rhetoricians. In this regard, the metaphor-oriented ideas of Western rhetoricians from Aristotle (1987) to Vico (1968), Burke (1969), Lacan (1977), Foucault (1970), Vico (1968), White (1978), Jacobson (2002) and etc, are discussed. Then, the comments of cognitive rhetoricians like Lakeoff (1987), Lakeoff and Johnson (1980), and Kövecses (2013) show that the confrontation of metaphor and metonymy tends to fade in some part. Kövecses (2013) has the closest literature to this paper, since he precisely shows why some parts of metaphors are derived from metonymy. Jurjani (1991) and his followers also discuss how the metaphor must be regarded as a production of metonymy. MethodologyThrough applying cognitive linguistics approaches and by taking a deductive approach, I will show that not only some but, as Muslim rhetoricians maintain, all kinds of metaphors have a metonymic basis and all types of conceptual metaphors are constructed upon conceptual metonymy. The theory of Categorization which is from the most significant ones in cognitive and pre-cognitive studies has been part of our argumentation framework.DiscussionWhile Linguists like Jacobson consider a confrontational relation between metaphor and metonymy, cognitive linguists believe that the metaphors based on resemblance are made of metonymy but those based on correlation are not metonymic. Muslim rhetoricians, following Jurjani (1991), assert that all types of metaphors are metonymic in basis. They believe that metaphor is not only a lexical replacement but a new conceptual production; So, when we use a word in metaphorical concept, we are transforming it from the previous domain (matter or Jins ـ جنس ـ in Islamic texts) to a new one. Indeed, the factor of resemblance permits us to correlate a concept with concepts of a new domain so that the concept becomes different in essence and evolves into a new meaning. As an example, when we call a brave person a "lion" it is not a mere simile or resemblance but for us the brave person is actually a lion. In this meaning, the brave person and lion are gathered in a new domain while in the previous meaning animals and humans do not belong to a unit domain or category. Here by referring to the cognitive function of "category", with special attention to the new concept of category in philosophies like Wittgenstein's (1953), we can deduce that all resemblances derive from the correlation of concepts in a new category. Contrary to classical approaches to categorization, such as Aristotle's, new ones do not take that categories are founded on common characteristics among their members. Members of a category may be way different in appearance and quality, since categories are all lingual in the essence. So, we can apply a word in metaphorical concept just because it can state in a new category with adjacency of essences it did not use to be homogenous with. When the brave man states in the new category with adjacency/ correlation of warrior animals, we can use the word "lion" for him. ConclusionAccording to Kövecses (2013), correlation metaphors are based on metonymy. Correlation metaphors are based on two connected concepts from a unit domain. They can be attached due to adjacency or coincidence. But he claims that resemblance metaphors are not based on metonymy because two attached concepts in this type of metaphor are not from the same domain, so adjacency can't be a matter of fact.The late approaches to categorization prove the inaccuracy of Kövecses' hypothesis about resemblance metaphors. Recent linguistic studies argue that categories are not bonded to factual common characteristics of the members but they are all lingual/mental in nature, so they can collect non-homogenous objects. In this view, the resembled item, despite of its heterogeneity with other members, can stay on with them in the same category. Here one can see the accuracy of Jurjani's idea of the resembled word (metaphor) entering a new domain (Jins). Being in a unit category provides the adjacency, even though mentally not factually. So, the resemblance metaphors are also based on metonymy. Kövecses and his followers considered metonymic basis only for correlated metaphors because they regarded metonymies as confined to factual adjacency. But regarding the lingual/mental nature of categorization, we can determine that the resembled item is also in adjacency with the other items of the category i.e. domain. So, all types of metaphors must be regarded as metonymic in the basis.
elham sobati
Abstract
Given the importance of sight, which is one of the most important human senses regarding receiving environmental data, and its fundamental role in the recognition and processing of many behaviors, such as observing movements, events, and emotional states in individuals, as well as tracking and orientation, ...
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Given the importance of sight, which is one of the most important human senses regarding receiving environmental data, and its fundamental role in the recognition and processing of many behaviors, such as observing movements, events, and emotional states in individuals, as well as tracking and orientation, it should be expected that the performance of the blind in the process of language acquisition and learning cognitive skills was different in many aspects when compared to sighted individuals. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate and compare the metaphorical concepts of love in the daily speech of Kurdish-Persian bilingual sighted and blind adults. To this end, research data was gathered using interviews with 50 bilingual Kurdish-Persian informants aged 18-70 from the Ilam province.Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics methods in SPSS software version 22. The results showed that, regarding the frequency of metaphors, there were no significant differences between the performance of the blind and the sighted adults. However, the frequency of the utilized sensory sources for the source domains of love was different in the speech of the two groups, where the blind used the sense of hearing significantly more than the sighted people to express love (P<0.05). Moreover, the subjects used certain source domains to express love which seemed to reflect cultural influences. In addition, the results of this study can lead to more interaction of blind subjects with society through solving their language problems. IntroductionOne of the important topics in the study of the emotional metaphor is to investigate the issue of what source domains are used by the speakers of the language in expressing their feelings. Kövecses (2002: 16-24) by extracting the most common source and target domains in the process of metaphorization, introduces 13 source domains as follows: human body, health and illness, animals, plants, buildings and construction, machines and tools, games and sport, money and economic transactions (business), cooking and food, heat and cold, light and darkness, forces, movement and direction.In the study of metaphorical concept of love, Kövecses (1986: 62) defines a central metaphor for love and states that it is a model for theconceptualization of love based on the fact that love is "the unification of two complementary parts". The common conceptual metaphors that Kövecses defines for love are: love is drink: I am thirsty for your love; Love is travel: It was a winding road; Love is unity: We are two souls in one body; we are inseparable; love is intimacy: they are very friendly; Love is bound: there is a closed circle between them (Kövecses, 2002: 27-26). Considering the importance of the subject's senses, especially the sense of sight in gaining experiences and the effect of its deficiency on the different representations of skills acquired in these subjects compared to sighted ones, knowing these differences provides valuable information about how neural structures interact in language skills. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate and compare the metaphorical concepts of love in the daily speech of Kurdish-Persian bilingual sighted and blind adults. In order to achieve this goal, we are trying to answer the question, what is the difference between the performance of Kurdish-Persian bilingual sighted and blind adults in understanding the conceptual metaphors of love?Literature ReviewThe study of the researches carried out in the field of conceptual metaphors of love showed that this concept has been investigated mostly in literary concepts and the examination of such metaphors in daily language is one of the main differences of this research with the other researches. A few of these studies will be mentioned subsequently.Ibrahimi et al. (2017) investigated the cognitive metaphors of love in Persian, English, and Turkish Proverbs. The results of their study showed that the mappings of love, disaster, pain, suffering, and diseasewere the most frequent mappings in the Persian language, and "love is light" was the most frequent mapping in both English and Turkish languages. The results of the research of Samimifar et al. (2022) showed that the mapping "love is sorrow" with a frequency of 123 and the mapping "love is a deception" with a frequency of 16 had the highest and lowest frequency in Khosrow and Shirin, respectively.Phuong, N. D., & Anh (2016) examined the cultural variations in conceptual metaphors of love in English and Vietnamese. 872 idioms showing social relationships have been gathered from a variety of sources such as novels, newspapers, magazines, daily interviews on radio, television, etc. Rendić (2022) did a thesis titled “A contrastive analysis of love metaphors in English and Croatian”. The findings of his study showed that although the informants of these two languages had different cultures and environments, they both used the conceptual metaphors of "love is journey" and "love is war" in these two languages. But this cultural and environmental difference made them use different tools for the same conceptual metaphors.MethodologyTo measure how the conceptual metaphors of love are processed, a qualitative method was used, so that the research data in this section was collected using interviews and data was extracted through recording the speech of blind subjects and the sighted group as a control group. In this study, vision status was considered as an independent variable, and mapping as a dependent variable. The statistical population of this study included all blind Kurdish-Persian bilingual subjects and their sighted counterparts who live in Ilam City and its surrounding cities. Among these subjects, a total of 50 adults in the agerange of 18-70 years were considered for this study, out of which 25 congenitally blind subjects were selected as the experimental group and 25 sighted peers were selected as the control group. By studying the medical files of blind subjects, those who met the conditions (adults who are illiterate to bachelor's degree, Kurdish-Persian bilingual living in Ilam province, in the age range of 18-70 years, with normal vision in the case of sighted subjects, congenital blind subjects, having average IQ, right-handedness, belonging to the middle social class) were selected. Sighted adults, who were the counterparts of blind adults, were selected from normal subjects.In this study, two methods of descriptive and inferential statistics have been used to analyze the data. In descriptive statistics, information concerning the frequency and percentage of metaphorical expressions is provided. Also, a significant inferential analysis of the frequency comparison was performed using the chi-square test. All statistical analyses were performed in SPSS version 22 software.ConclusionThe data analysis of this test showed that the subjects metaphorized the feeling of love using 271 metaphorical expressions in the form of 53 mappings. In the meantime, in the metaphorization of this feeling in the speech of the sighted subjects, 112 metaphorical expressions were raised through 25 mappings. On the other hand, the blind subjects expressed the feeling of love using 159 metaphorical expressions in the form of 28 mappings. The general comparison of the subjects' performance in the test of understanding the conceptual metaphors of love indicated that although the number of mappings used in the speech of the two groups of sightedand blind adults was largely similar, the sensory sources used for the origin of love were different. To be more precise, the blind subjects used the sense of hearing statistically significant more than the sighted subjects to express love. Also, in some cases, subjects used specific source domains to express love, which seemed to be a reflection of cultural influences.
Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaili
Abstract
Gender as a nominal inflectional category is found in some modern Iranian languages, although they differ in the way this concept is realized. Abyānaʾī, belonging to the Central Dialects of Iran, does not have a grammatical way of marking the gender. In other words, there are no individual formal ...
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Gender as a nominal inflectional category is found in some modern Iranian languages, although they differ in the way this concept is realized. Abyānaʾī, belonging to the Central Dialects of Iran, does not have a grammatical way of marking the gender. In other words, there are no individual formal markers (except for some nouns ending in vowels) distinguishing between the two genders. In order to determine the status of gender in this dialect, based on Corbettʼs (1991) theoretical framework, agreement was taken as the criterion for distinguishing masculine and feminine genders. By instantiating dialect materials collected by fieldwork and through interviews with four informants, the present article seeks to determine the scope of gender agreement, namely the elements showing agreement in gender with their head noun. This study showed that Abyānaʾī has an agreement on both the noun phrase and clause levels. The grammatical gender of the head noun determined the morphological form of some of its dependents, such as the numeral "one", attributive adjectives, demonstratives, predicative adjectives ending in /-ɑ/, ordinal numbers, definite article, comparative adjectives, and the quantifier "more". On the clause level, on the other hand, only the third person singular form of past verbs agreed in gender either with the subject (as in the case of intransitive), or with the object (as in the case of transitive). Because the gender distinctions appeared in the singular but not in the plural, the gender system of Abyānaʾī should be considered as a convergent type.IntroductionGrammatical gender is not observed in all languages of the world, nevertheless, together with case and number is one of the most common grammatical categories of noun declension, especially in a statistically significant number of the Indo-European languages. Studies show the commonness of this grammatical category. For example, of the 256 languages in Corbett’s (2005) sample, 112 languages (a little under half, 44% to be precise) have a gender distinction. Although Old Iranian languages generally had gender, most New West Iranian languages lost gender completely. Gender is also lost in nearly most Central Iranian Dialects, that is, northwestern, southwestern, and southeastern subgroups, but gender retention is found in certain dialects of the Northeastern subgroup, namely Abyānaʾī Abuzeydābādi and Qohrudi. This article investigated the gender agreement in the Abyānaʾī dialect, spoken in the village of Abyāne, in Esfahān province. Since agreement is mentioned as the determining criterion of grammatical gender, the purpose of this article is to investigate and determine the status of gender agreement in this dialect. In this study, the intention is to provide examples of this dialect and according to the criteria presented by Corbett (1991) and Matasović (2004) to answer these questions: Which elements on both phrasal and clausal levels show gender agreement? What form of gender agreement is used in this dialect? And finally, does gender agreement occur between masculine and feminine in the plural number?Literature ReviewAmong the first studies carried out on the grammatical gender in the Central Iranian dialects (CPD) and subsequently in the Abyānaʾī dialect, one can mention the works of Lecoq (1974; 2002), Krahnke (1976) and Yarshater (1983; 1985; 1989). In his study, Lecoq (1974: 52-53; 2002: 58-61) shows that the distinction between masculine and feminine gender is preserved in certain dialects of CPD, namely Qohrudi, Abuzeydābādi, and Abyānaʾī. He also states that unlike other neighboring dialects (Qohrudi, Abuzeydābādi, Farizhandi and Yārandi) that have partially preserved gender in some nouns with feminine animate referents, Abyānaʾī has retained this distinction in all nouns. In all four mentioned dialects, the verb agreement enables the recognition of the gender, but Abyānaʾī is the only dialect that can show the feminine gender with an optional unstressed morpheme -a (which does not seem to have a special meaning). Krahnke (1976) in his study of twenty-eight Central dialects, mentions the gender retention in three dialects of Abuzeydābādi, Abyānaʾī, and Farizandi, and believes that the extent of gender marking in Abyānaʾī is unmatched by that of any modern central Iranian language. He adds that the gender of all nouns is indicated by the agreement of the definite article, adjective, demonstrative pronouns, and some third-person singular verbs, but he does not specifically explain its details. Yarshater (1983) points out that there are seven ways of indicating gender in Abyānaʾī: (1) in substantive, the feminine generally marked by an unstressed -a, which is the most important formal marker of feminine gender; (2) in adjective by the same suffix; (3) in demonstrative adjectives; (4) in the numerical adjective e/ya “a, one,” which serves also as an indefinite article; (5) the copula in the second person singular (-a/-e) and the third (a/āsa); (6) in the third person singular of the past tenses of the intransitive verbs; (7) in the past transitive verbs in accord with the object.MethodologyThe present study has been carried out with a descriptive-analytical method to determine the status of gender agreement and its extent at both clausal and phrasal levels in the Abyānaʾī dialect. The data were collected through interviews with four Abyānaʾī informants, including three literate men who grew up in Abyāne and live in Tehran, commuting repeatedly to their birthplace, and one semiliterate woman living in Abyāne, all in the 55-80 age range. A questionnaire containing about three hundred phrases and sentences was also used. Some of the examples are also taken from the conversations and stories that the author has recorded before the present study to compile a grammatical description of this dialect. The Abyānaʾī examples were transcribed with the International Phonetic Alphabet.ConclusionThis study shows that Abyānaʾī has an agreement on both the noun phrase and clause levels. In a noun phrase, most of the dependents show agreement by taking a morphological shape corresponding to that of the head. Of course, since two of these dependents, i.e. the demonstrative pronoun and the interrogative adjective “which” that both occur before the head noun, do not always agree with their head noun, it seems that the agreement of these dependents is fading. At the clause level, intransitive verbs (only third person singular) agree with the subject while transitive verbs agree with their direct object for gender. Although Corbett (1991) states that gender agreement of a verb with a subject or direct object is less common cross-linguistically than gender agreement of an adjective with its head noun, as was mentioned in the findings, there is no difference between the two in this regard. Since in the history of Old Iranian languages, such a gender agreement between the verb and the subject or the direct object is not observed, therefore the existence of the mentioned gender agreement should be considered as the result of linguistic innovation. The presence of a single gender agreement marker, i.e. the unstressed suffix /-a/, which in addition to feminine nouns, is used for different agreement targets, can be considered similar to a particular type of gender agreement that Corbett is called alliterative concord. Because the gender distinctions appeared in the singular but not in the plural number, the gender system of Abyānaʾī should be considered as a convergent type.
Maryam Daneshgar
Abstract
Ethnic diversity in Iran results in language variety and it affects education from the first year of school; therefore it is necessary to take heed of this matter and to prevent disturbing bilingual children’s education progress for lack of deficiency in the Persian language. This study has been ...
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Ethnic diversity in Iran results in language variety and it affects education from the first year of school; therefore it is necessary to take heed of this matter and to prevent disturbing bilingual children’s education progress for lack of deficiency in the Persian language. This study has been done to analyze the language skills of bilingual and graduated Persian speakers. Statistical society was the students of twelfth grade and the sample has been chosen with the cluster sample and random multistage method among these cities: Arak, Tabriz, Sari, Sanandaj, Shiraz, Yasouj, and Yazd. The research methodology was based on a survey. Besides descriptive statistics, in the inferential statistics part, the non-parametric tests of Mann-Whitney U and KruskalWallis and the parametric test of t-test and ANOVA were employed. Examining the quantitative and qualitative data proved that the results of evaluating Persian and bilingual graduates were meaningful in reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills and the Persian students functioned in all of the skills better than the bilingual students. These outcomes were exact even with adding gender, major, and comparison between the best score of bilinguals and the weakest score of Persian students. The meaningful differences between all of the skills demonstrated that the efforts made in the formal education years were not efficient enough. Based on language variety in Iran, the recommendation of this paper is a reconsideration of current educational programs, especially with paying attention to preschool and the first-third grades of elementary school.Introduction Persian is the national and official language of Iran and all of the official education at schools are done in Persian language. On the other hand, Iran has ethnic diversity with various dialects in a large population. Therefore, Iranian children don’t have the same language situation by entering school at the age of six and their proficiency in Persian is different. According to the studies, if proper education regarding the dialects and languages of each region does not occur, there will be a learning disability and it will spread to other grades. This topic must be taken seriously to prevent the lack of Persian, which disturbs bilingual children’s educational progress. This research is done to analyze bilingualism's impact on enhancing the reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills of graduated students of the educational system by paying attention to the sort of language (being bilingual or Persian speaker), gender, and major.Literature ReviewNumerous studies in Iran and other countries revealed the better performance of bilinguals and a positive influence of bilingualism on the social and cognitive abilities of children and teenagers (including cf. Povarch and Kurt, 2019; Jumabava, 2021; Asadibalin, 1394; Abtahi and Khodadadian, 1395; Yousefi et al. 1396), in contrast, other studies displayed that being bilingual for Iranian children is usually a disturbing point rather than an advantage. The first exposure to school for students with different mother tongues will usually cause language confusion that will affect their educational process. The discontinuity between the language of school and the mother tongues of students will hinder communication based on personal motivation so it will harm the educational process (Parsaie et al, 1392) also the rate of dropping out of school in the cities with the majority of bilinguals is considerably more than other cities (Daneshgar, 1396).MethodologyThe research methodology was based on a survey. Statistical society was all of the students of twelfth grade and the sample was 595 graduated students of the twelfth grade of high school that was chosen among these cities: Arak, Tabriz, Sari, Sanandaj, Shiraz, Yasouj, and Yazd with the cluster sample and random multistage method (for more information, see Daneshgar, 1398, pp. 56-53). Selecting the sample (shown in Table No. 1) was purposeful and attempted to cover the linguistic variousness of different regions of Iran. Table 1Statistical data of participants Language situationGenderEducational majortotalbilingualPersian speakerboygirlLiberal artsScienceMathematicsnumber232363277318142326127595percent39614753245521100Research tools were: A. web-based, online, and researcher test for reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills (for more information about the construction of the test and evaluation tables, see Daneshgar, 1398, 57-61), B. background questionnaire of students including background information which will lead to giving information about the mother tongue of participants and the usage of their mother tongue among their families compared to Persian.ResultsBased on the sort of language (being bilingual or Persian speaker): among bilingual and monolingual Persian speakers in all reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills is a notable difference and in all of these skills, Persian speakers have more capacities.Based on gender: in all of the skills, girls had more abilities and this difference was meaningful. Moreover, the impact of gender was analyzed between the Persian speakers and the bilinguals. The results demonstrated that the function of Persian speakers (both boys and girls groups) were better in all reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills and they gained better results.Based on educational major: the result of liberal arts, Science, and mathematics in reading and writing skills indicated a significant difference but in listening and speaking skills this difference was not meaningful. The influence of educational majors on Persian speakers and bilinguals was studied. The outcomes proved that the function of Persian speakers in all majors (liberal arts, Science, and mathematics) was better in all reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills and they earned better results.Analyzing the results based on descriptive statistics was notable. The comparison between the best score of bilinguals and the weakest score of Persian students by adding elements of gender and major verified the better function of Persian speakers and the average weakest score of Persian speakers was better than the average of best scores of bilinguals. ConclusionThe results of evaluating the four skills of graduated Persian speakers and bilinguals confirmed better results for Persian speakers with considerable differences and more capabilities. Since these results are for the students of the last grade of schools, the outcomes with significant differences in all the skills proved that the efforts made in formal education were not efficient enough to make children and teenagers skillful in the Persian language. This circumstance will also spread into university and, predictably, the language skills of students at university are the same as their school time situation. The result of education in each country is the consequence of the evaluation of all of the users of that pedagogical system, therefore the cause for this problem is that all of the children don’t have the same language situation but the educational system assumes all of them in the same level and present same educational program for all. This negligence will disturb the educational function of language, proper and deep perceiving and finally, it will result in language lacking in graduation time. Regarding the language diversity of Iran, it is essential to verify this problem in the educational system. Also, it is vital to take heed of the features of the students, especially in the first years of school. In the bargain, it is important to provide educational programs for the teachers of bilingual regions and empower their professional skills, mainly from the first to the third grade of elementary school. It is also crucial to assess sporadic evaluations based on national standards.
Simin Meykadeh; Werner Sommer; Seyed Amir Hossien Batouli
Abstract
The cerebellum is linked to all the key regions of the language control network. Currently, the cerebellum is recognized to be involved in the networks that handle grammatical aspects. Clinical and neuroimaging studies have confirmed cerebellar contributions to grammar processing. The present study intended ...
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The cerebellum is linked to all the key regions of the language control network. Currently, the cerebellum is recognized to be involved in the networks that handle grammatical aspects. Clinical and neuroimaging studies have confirmed cerebellar contributions to grammar processing. The present study intended to investigate the activity of the cerebellum in alternating L1-L2 processing in balanced bilinguals. We selected 35 Turkish-Persian bilinguals (21 women) who had learned their second language at the age of 7. Based on the Bilingual Dominance Scale, there was no significant difference between the high proficiency levels of the participants in L1 (Turkish) and L2 (Persian). Participants carried out an auditory grammaticality judgment task in an alternative language-switching paradigm while fMRI images were acquired using a standard protocol. Combining a whole-brain and regions-of-interest (ROIs) approach, we examined event-related fMRI during syntactic processing. Following the identification of the activity of the bilateral cerebellum at the whole-brain level according to the Harvard-Oxford Atlas in FSL, percent signal change was extracted per participant as an intensity measure in the cerebellar region and statistically analyzed in SPSS. The results indicate a right hemispheric superiority in bilingual language processing, confirming that the right cerebellum is more involved in language control. Furthermore, bilinguals have shown stronger activation for L1 as compared to L2 in the cerebellum, substantiating the reversed language dominance effects.IntroductionThe cerebellum, located at the back of the brain beneath the occipital lobes, contains approximately 80% of all brain neurons, but constitutes only approximately 10% of brain volume. Despite the fact that this brain region was previously known as a nervous system for movement control, many studies have confirmed that the cerebellum plays an important role in behavioral, sensory, and cognitive functions, including non-motor language functions. Hemispheric cerebellum asymmetry of functional activation during language processing is also reported. Due to the role of the cerebellum in language processing, we examined its contribution to morphosyntactic processing.The main research questions are as follows:RQ1. To what extent is the Cerebellum involved in the processing of grammatical agreement by balanced bilinguals?RQ2. Does the left and right cerebellum act differently for the simultaneous processing of the L1 and L2?To answer the research questions guiding this study, a bilingual task with an alternating language-switching paradigm was developed. In this task, brain imaging was performed using event-related fMRI while the participants listened to a total of 128 sentences in two Turkish and Persian languages.Literature ReviewUsing normal participants, Kovelman et al. (2008) examined 11 Spanish-English bilinguals and 10 English monolinguals during a syntactic judgment task. Bilinguals received their bilingual exposure before age 5. Monolinguals were presented with 40 English sentences and bilinguals were presented with 40 English and 40 Spanish sentences. Based on their findings, although the activity of the cerebellum was detected in both bilinguals and monolinguals, bilinguals showed a stronger effect in the cerebellum as compared to the monolinguals. Given that no neuroimaging study to date has examined the pattern of brain activity within the same individuals in Planum Temporale, we aimed to contribute to the literature about morphosyntactic analysis of L1 and L2 in two Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) languages. MethodologyIn this section, the applied methods and procedures including the choice of participants and stimuli followed by a description of the fMRI data acquisition and preprocessing are presented.3.1. ParticipantsTo allow for reliable ROI-based analysis, 36 right-handed and balanced Turkish-Persian bilingual students were recruited to participate in this study. All participants were native speakers of Turkish and learned Persian at school from the age of seven. Participants' language proficiency levels were assessed by the Bilingual Dominance Scale (BDS) and no significant difference was observed between Turkish and Persian (i.e., between L1 and L2) in language dominance.3.2. Materials and ProcedureDuring a bilingual grammaticality judgment task, participants heard 128 test sentences (64 in L1 and 64 in L2, with 50% violation per language) and made their judgment by pressing a button. Stimuli were presented using the Psychtoolbox in MATLAB via headphones. Stimuli were randomized for each condition, but alternated in a fixed sequence for language.3.3. ImagingMRI data were collected in NBML, Tehran, Iran, using a Siemens Prisma 3T scanner with a 20-channel head coil. For each participant, a high-resolution T1-weighted anatomical scan was acquired (TR = 1800msec, TE = 3053 msec, flip angle: 7°, 192 axial slices, slice thickness = 1 mm, field of view (FOV) = 256 mm2, 256 × 256 acquisition matrix, voxel size: 1×1×1 mm). After the anatomical scan, participants underwent a 21.5-min fMRI scan that used a whole brain echo planar imaging (EPI) sequence (TE: 30 ms, TR: 3000 ms, flip angle: 90°, slice thickness: 3 mm, voxel size: 3×3×3 mm, matrix size: 64×64, FOV: 192 mm2, 430 volumes and 45 axial slices per volume).3.4. Data preprocessingProcessing of the fMRI data was carried out using FEAT in FSL. Preprocessing steps included motion correction, slice-timing correction, non-brain removal using BET, spatial smoothing (6 mm FWHM), normalization, temporal filtering (with sigma = 50.0 s), and exploratory ICA-based data analysis. Statistical analyses of fMRI data were conducted using general linear modeling (GLM), as implemented in FSL. Z statistic images were thresholded using clusters determined by Z > 3.1 and a (corrected) cluster significance threshold of P < 0.05. After detecting the Cerebellum activation in the whole-brain analysis, percent signal changes were extracted as an intensity measure in this brain region. All statistical analyses were conducted in IBM SPSS Statistics 26.ResultsIn this section, results are presented starting with the whole-brain findings followed by the detection of cerebellum activity.4.1. Whole-brain resultsWidespread significant BOLD activation was found during the presentation of the sentences of L1 and L2 in the Cerebellum relative to the baseline (Figure 1). Visual inspection of panels 1 and 2 indicates more activity in L1 as compared to L2. Therefore, an ROI-based analysis was performed for both languages in the bilateral cerebellum to determine the activity pattern of the stimuli in this brain area.Figure 1. Whole-brain clusters (dark blue) of BOLD activation for (A) L1 and (B) L2 sentences in the Cerebellum, projected onto surface templates using MRIcroGL software in two experimental conditions including (from left to right) Ungrammatical and Grammatical conditions relative to the baseline. 4.2. Results of the region of CerebellumThe location of the Cerebellum is rendered in Figure 2. A significant main effect of Grammaticality was found, indicating a stronger activation for ungrammatical as compared to grammatical conditions (4.510 vs. 3.712 PSC). There was also a significant main effect of Language, indicating that the L1 conditions generated stronger effects than the L2 conditions (4.312 vs. 3.911 PSC). The main effect of the Hemisphere was also significant with a higher PSC for the right (4.465) than that for the left hemisphere (3.756). A separate t-test of the grammaticality effects per language in Cerebellum showed that it was significant for L1 but not for L2. In L1, post-hoc analysis indicated a right hemispheric superiority in our participants. Figure 2.(A). Location of Cerebellum (in yellow). (B) Box plots of percent signal change (PSC) values for L1 in Cerebellum per hemisphere and condition. *p < 0.05 ConclusionThe present ROI-based analysis has two important findings. First, the grammaticality effect was detected in the right hemisphere, which confirms previous studies in normal (Marien et al. 2014) and patients (Silveri et al., 1994; Marien et al., 1996; Gasparini et al. ., 1999). The most important argument in support of the role of the right cerebellum in the present study is the simultaneous activity of the Pars opercularis, posterior Superior Temporal Gyrus (pSTG) and the right Cerebellum (see also Meykadeh et al., 2021a) which is consistent with the findings of Berken et al. 2016. Berken and his colleague examined the French-English bilinguals during resting-state fMRI and observed functional connections between the left inferior frontal gyrus and the bilateral Cerebellum. Second, the grammaticality effect was significantly stronger in L1 than in L2 in the Cerebellum region. In line with the activity threshold hypothesis (Paradis, 1993; 2001), our participants regarded Turkish (L1) as the base language and Persian (L2) as the guest language during language exchange.AcknowledgmentsThis work was supported by the Cognitive Sciences and Technologies Council of Iran (Grant agreement, no. 7401); a Doctoral Dissertation Grant from the Department of Linguistics, Tarbiat Modares University, a Scholarship Fund (Ph.D. Visiting Scholar Program) from the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology.
zahra rajabi fard; Bahram Modarresi; foroogh kazemi
Abstract
This research has investigated the topic in commercial advertising from the perspective of Lambrecht information structure framework by a descriptive -analytic method. 282 commercial advertisements have been collected from TV, radio, internet, commercial posters and street billboards. The main question ...
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This research has investigated the topic in commercial advertising from the perspective of Lambrecht information structure framework by a descriptive -analytic method. 282 commercial advertisements have been collected from TV, radio, internet, commercial posters and street billboards. The main question of this research is how the Lambercht’s framework accounts for the representation of topic in advertising. Results showed that from 288 advertisements, 155 appeared as topic in form of nouns or pronouns, 86 in zero form, and 41 as antitopic. In terms of function, content and statistics there was no significant difference between television and internet advertisement. On the other hand, in posters and billboards advertising, no difference was found. That is to say, in both of them audio-verbal factors are not involved and only the visual factor has an effective role on the addressee.IntroductionThe present research investigated the topic of commercial advertisements on television, radio, internet, promotional posters, and street billboards from Lambrecht's Framework perspective. The question that the research wants to reply to is how the topic is represented in advertising based on Lambrecht's approach. Lambrecht (1994) believes that the formal structure of the language is related to the communication situation and the words in which they appear, and this structure is established by grammatical principles and information structure. The components of information structure from Lambert's point of view include three categories: 1- Proposition information 2- discourse reference, and 3- topic and focus pragmatic recall and each of these factors plays an independent role. Literature ReviewIn the Persian language, many studies on information structures and topics have been carried out. Dabirmoghadam (1990) has investigated two types of topics in Persian as primary and secondary. In some languages the topic has a phonetic aspect, for example in English primary topic is always separated from other parts of the sentence in terms of tone of speech. He believes that in order to justify the element «ra» in the Persian language, we should abandon purely formal explanations and explain this issue in a syntactic discursive framework.Christa and Aprina (2012) have researched syntactic patterns in advertising slogans on the internet and in magazines (Prepositional, verbal, nominal, adverbial, and adjective phrases). The result shows that the most appropriate phrases for advertising are verbal phrases.MethodologyThe research data was collected by the library method and the research was descriptive-analytical. The volume of data is 282 commercial ads from television, radio, internet, promotional posters, and street billboards.ResultsThe results show that out of a total of 282 ads, in 155 ads, the topic was seen as a noun or pronoun, in 86 ads it was seen as zero, and in 41 ads it was seen as an anti-topic as follows: from the fields of industry (24), health and beauty (31), culture and education (14), insurance (15), mobile phones and home appliances (30), automobiles and accessories (14), clothes and shoes (18), food (108). Moreover, the topic is divided into three forms: 1- nominal and pronominal topical, 2- anti-topic, and 3- zero topic. The research shows a high frequency of using topics as nouns and pronouns in commercial ads.Table 1The frequency of different types of topicsZero topicAnti topicNominal and pronominal topicTotal ad8641155282*Here is a note on the table.Out of 282 ads, 155 ads have been seen as nouns or pronouns, 86 ads have been seen as zero, and 41 ads have been seen as anti-topic.ConclusionThe results indicated that the topic has more frequency as a noun or pronoun and after that the topic is seen as absent or the same as zero also at the end the topic is seen as the anti-topic. In terms of type of work, content, statistics, and results, there are many similarities in Internet TV ads. Also, there are similarities in the type and form of work and content in advertising posters and urban billboards. Speech and hearing do not play a role in the use of this type of advertising, and only the image attracts the attention of the consumers.
Babak Sharif
Abstract
This investigation aims at examining the diachrony of so-called ‘compound verbs’ in Iranian languages. To this end, a number of texts were selected from the three periods of Iranian languages. From Old Iranian period, some Avestan texts as well as all Old Persian inscriptions, from MI period ...
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This investigation aims at examining the diachrony of so-called ‘compound verbs’ in Iranian languages. To this end, a number of texts were selected from the three periods of Iranian languages. From Old Iranian period, some Avestan texts as well as all Old Persian inscriptions, from MI period some Zoroastrian Middle Persian texts as well as from a Sogdian text were picked up and searched for instances of complex predicates, including prefixed verbs, incorporational verbs, combinational verbs, etc., which were then analyzed. The data show that in OI the majority of complex predicates consist in prefixed verbs, thus, maybe ‘compound verbs’ were not much needed to be formed. Nevertheless, ‘compound verb’ patterns did exist since that period. With verbal prefixes being inseparably attached to verb stems OP, the existent patterns for formation of complex predicates increased their productivity, the verb kar ‘do’ playing a major role as
the verbal element of complex predicates. In Middle Iranian, loss of productivity of some verbal prefixes as well as inseparability of many prefixed verbs increasingly led to formation of more complex predicates, with more light verbs recruited into the construction. In New Iranian, specifically in New Persian, in addition to a decrease in number of prefixed verbs, as well as an increase in number of complex predicates, two other factors prompted the formation of new ones: first, an emergent need to produce verbs out of loan elements, and second, a tendency to morphological leveling of irregular simple verbs by converting them into complex predicates.
Introduction
This article aims at examining the diachronic evolution of strings called ‘compound verb’, also referred to as ‘complex predicate’ (CP) or ‘light verb construction’, in the Iranian languages. After an introductory section 1, Section 2 reviews the most significant researches on the evolution of complex predicates in the Iranian languages. Sections 3 to 5 are dedicated to analyzing the data gathered from each of the three stages of the Iranian languages, namely, the Old, the Middle, and the New Iranian.
Literature Review
Rather than examining the processes leading to the formation of complex predicates, most of the authors investigated the occurrence of CPs in historical stages of this language family, specifically the
Persian language. Much of the literature doubt about the existence of ‘light verb constructions’ in the Old Iranian. Almost all scholars, however, agree about the existence of such strings from the Middle Iranian period onwards.
Methodology
A number of texts were selected from each period. Thus, from the OI period, a couple of Avestan texts as well as all Old Persian inscriptions, and from the MI period, some Zoroastrian Middle Persian texts as well as a Sogdian text were picked up and searched for instances or prototypes of different kinds of complex predicates including prefixed verbs, incorporating verbs, combinational verbs, etc., which were then analyzed and evaluated.
Discussion
In the Old Iranian period, the majority of complex predicates consisted of prefixed verbs, thus, maybe for this reason, ‘compound verbs’ were not much needed to be formed. According to the data from the Old Iranian, two sub-stages in this stage are recognizable: i) a stage of mobility of pre-verbs and their loose connection with the verbal stem in Avestan, and ii) a close, tight connection between pre-verbs and the verb, resulting in pre-verbs being changed into proper prefixes in Old Persian. On the one hand, the development of relatively free Avestan pre-verbs into Old Persian bound prefixes was the starting point of the emergence of complex predicates (consisting of a prefix and the verb root), and on the other hand, it initiated an increase in syntactically-based complex predicates (including predicative and incorporative
ones), whose formational patterns already existed in the language involved. Such strings consist of a transitive verb and its object, which may sometimes, as a single predicate, take another noun as their argument.
In this stage, the fixation of pre-verbs in connection with verbs, a move toward syntheticity, led to increasing production of complex predicates, which was a countermove toward analyticity, the latter counterbalancing the former phenomenon. With verbal prefixes being inseparably attached to verb stems in OP the existent patterns for the formation of complex predicates increased their productivity, a countermove toward analyticity, and the verb KAR ‘do’ played a major role as the verbal element of complex predicates.
In the Middle Iranian period, many prefixed verbs lost their analyzability. In a later development, the process of entrenchment of verbal prefixes led to their unproductivity and unanalyzability from verbal stem, resulting in a decrease in using prefixed verbs. On the other hand, as a compensatory mechanism, constructions for creating various kinds of complex predicates using different light verbs were activated. Also in this period, besides kardan, more new light verbs were recruited into the construction.
In the New Iranian period, and more specifically in New Persian, with the establishment of particular light verbs, the rate of production and proliferation of new complex predicates was increased, and, in parallel, the ratio of prefixed verb usage decreased to the point that in contemporary Persian it has reached to 1 percent. In this period, two further factors helped the formation of complex predicates. First, an emergent need to produce verbs out of loan elements borrowed from Arabic and European languages, and second, a tendency to
morphological levelling the irregular simple verbs by converting them into complex predicates.
Figure 1 illustrates the changes in the occurrence of using prefixed verbs as well as the verbal element KAR, the most frequently used verb in this slot, from Avestan to New Persian, based on the data analyzed. As we can see, the ratio of prefixed verbs had a decreasing trend throughout this time span, falling more rapidly in the Middle Iranian. As far as KAR is concerned, it had an upward trend in general, but also saw drops in two points.
Figure 1
The changes in usage of prefixed verbs (the blue line) and the verbal element kardan (the green line)
Conclusion
The path taken in the evolution of complex predicates in the Iranian languages, and more specifically the Persian language, suggests a move toward analyticity, in parallel with other developments in the same direction in the verb system, including the evolution of periphrastic constructions for passivization as well as certain tenses such as present perfect, past perfect, and future.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Dr. Ehsan Changizi for his helpful comments on the manuscript as well as his suggestions for selecting ancient Iranian texts.
