Neurology of the language
Fahimeh Nasib Zarraby; Mahmoud BijanKhan; Hamid Soltanian-Zadeh; Ali Darzi
Abstract
During the recent two decades, the subject of processing well-formed and ill-formed words have been exploited in the literature for different languages and different purposes. Lexical retrieval for auditory inputs has been proved to start as soon as 200 ms after the stimulus onset. However, the questions ...
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During the recent two decades, the subject of processing well-formed and ill-formed words have been exploited in the literature for different languages and different purposes. Lexical retrieval for auditory inputs has been proved to start as soon as 200 ms after the stimulus onset. However, the questions of when and how well-formed and ill-formed words change their processing paths have yet to be answered for Farsi speakers. In this study, Farsi speakers did a lexical decision task while their brain activity was being recorded by a 64 channel EEG. The stimuli included Farsi words, pseudowords and nonwords, which were very similar in structure and were consistent in terms of fundamental frequency, intensity and duration. The ERP data showed an LPC for nonwords in frontal regions, which is known to be an indicator of violating phonotactic constraints. In addition, nonwords and pseudowords showed almost equal N400 effects in parietal regions, which can reflect a more effortful semantic integration compared with words. Finally, the peak latency analysis revealed an earlier N400 peak for pseudowords as opposed to words and nonwords. The regions where N400 and LPC were identified differed from some studies in the literature.
Akram Khoshdoni Farahani; Ali Darzi; Razieh Mehdi Beyraghdar; Belghis Rovshan
Abstract
Extended Abstract Introduction The foreign linguists have answered the question of why English speakers use the preterite in complement clauses while using the preterite in head clauses by three hypotheses. It is not possible to argue for or against one of the three hypotheses without incorporating ...
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Extended Abstract Introduction The foreign linguists have answered the question of why English speakers use the preterite in complement clauses while using the preterite in head clauses by three hypotheses. It is not possible to argue for or against one of the three hypotheses without incorporating them into a coherent theory of tense. Within Declerck’s theory (1991a), comrie’s hypothesis (1986) is rejected but instead it is accepted that the tense of a complement clause in indirect speech according to the other hypotheses may be either a relative tense or an absolute tense. The study method is descriptive_analytic. The similarity between Persian and English examples, and the limitations governed on them are very amazing. Past perfect is one of the tenses which shows the priority on the past orientation time. The article investigates the past perfect in future domain, that is, when the head clause situation is in future. The data show using past perfect versus present perfect but our selected framework offers a natural explanation for them. Theoretical Framework Lack of acquaintance in persian makes us just state foreign linguists’ views about tense order and relations, traditionally called Sequence of Tenses (SoT). They offer three different hypotheses to answer the introduction questions. These hypotheses consist of 'absolute tense hypothesis', 'relative tense hypothesis', and 'formal SoT'. Absolut hypothesis says that the subclause situation is in the past tense because it refers to past time. Past tense as an absolute tense form relates a situation (i.e. event, state, etc.) directly to the moment of speaking. Relative hypothesis expresses that the subclause situation is simultaneous with the head clause situation, which lies in the past. Comrie's formal SoT hypothesis says if in direct speech the introductory verb is in past tense, in indirect speech a formal SoT rule automatically backshifts the tense forms from direct speech. Declerck (1990b) rejects Comrie's hypothesis and expresses that the tense of a complement clause in indirect speech may be either a relative tense or an absolute tense. While choosing Declerck’s tense theory (1991a) we see his hypothesis suitable for explaining Persian data. In his theory establishing and extending temporal domains, and the shift of temporal perspective are basic concepts that together with particular Semantics and pragmatics coming from Grice’s Conversation Maxims (1975) help us to find out some aspects of time such as SoT in Persian complex sentences. Methodology The study method is descriptive_analytic. In the study we have selected some complex sentences in Persian not needing to be indirect speech so that we can test implicitly the possibility of generation of Declerckʼs theory to the other sentences. The head clause situation is in present or future tense and the subclause prior situation is in present perfect or past perfect tense. The article writers provide a natural explanation for these Persian examples. Discussion Tense relations consist of priority, simultaneity, and posteriority. This study is an attempt to realize the temporal priority of situations in future domain called post_present domain in Declerck’s theory. The priority in future domain in unmarked case is shown by two pseudo_absolute tenses: pseudo_past and pseudo_present perfect, while in marked case it is indicated by a relative tense: past perfect. It is possible for the subclause situation refered by present perfect to be prior to the head clause situation in the present or future tense; however, using past perfect in this conditions needs to be explained because the past perfect functions as an instruction to look for a past orientation time, to which the situation time can be interpreted as being anterior. If head clause refers to the present or post_present and there is no contextually given past orientation time, it is the beginning of the head clause situation that is interpreted as being the past or pseudo_past orientation time in question. Self-evidently this is only possible if the head clause has a certain duration, so that its beginning can be seen as past with respect to the rest of the situation. Tense priority in the future domain is expressed by past tense or present perfect tense in unmarked case and by past perfect tense in marked case. Conclusion The similarity between Persian and English examples, and limitations governed on them are very amazing, while studying tense and SoT. The connotation of the similarity is that Persian and English languages follow the same principles which are the representative of the competence universality in spite of their external differences. Furthermore, Persian traditional grammar defines present perfect and past perfect so that it may not have any contrast with the core meaning of them in accepted tense system here, although it does not include all the details. Therefore, studying more about the tense forms assumes necessary.
Zahra Labbafan Khosh; Ali Darzi
Abstract
One of the chief discussions within the phrase structure theory is the analysis of the projection level of modifiers of different grammatical categories. This study provides an analysis of the noun phrase structure in Persian, considering the projection levels of the post-modifiers. The study is within ...
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One of the chief discussions within the phrase structure theory is the analysis of the projection level of modifiers of different grammatical categories. This study provides an analysis of the noun phrase structure in Persian, considering the projection levels of the post-modifiers. The study is within the framework of the Extended Standard Theory (EST) and, in particular, X-bar syntax. Data analysis reveals that contrary to what has been discussed in literature (Samiian (1983) and Ghomeshi (1996)) all post-modifiers occurring in Ezafe Constructions accept modifiers. Furthermore the data reveals that all the post-modifiers are maximal projections
Ali Darzi; Sara Sharifpour
Abstract
This research has studied the language disorders of Persian-speaking aphasic patients to evaluate their comprehension abilities of simple and compound nouns, and to specify the categories having the largest number of vulnerabilities. The subjects were 3 monolingual patients (2 Broca’s and 1 transcortical ...
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This research has studied the language disorders of Persian-speaking aphasic patients to evaluate their comprehension abilities of simple and compound nouns, and to specify the categories having the largest number of vulnerabilities. The subjects were 3 monolingual patients (2 Broca’s and 1 transcortical motor aphasics) referring to speech therapy clinics of Shafa Hospital and Welfare Rehabilitation Center in Kerman city. Three normal control individuals matched in terms of gender, age, education, place of residence, native language and handedness also participated in the study. Research instruments were spoken word picture matching and associative word picture matching tests. The stimuli were 32 simple and 32 root and synthetic compound nouns. The results indicated that Broca and Motor Transcortical aphasic patients did not show a significant difference in comprehension of root and synthetic compound nouns (p= 0/179), while there was a statistically significant difference between the comprehension of simple and compound nouns (p
