Zahra Ghane; Vali Rezai
Volume 9, Issue 17 , July 2018, Pages 1-19
Abstract
Extended abstract
1- Introduction
Locative alternation is a type of multiple argument realization of three-argument transitive verbs involving variable syntactic expression of the arguments. The present paper is, then, an attempt to find an account for this kind of alternation in Persian placement ...
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Extended abstract
1- Introduction
Locative alternation is a type of multiple argument realization of three-argument transitive verbs involving variable syntactic expression of the arguments. The present paper is, then, an attempt to find an account for this kind of alternation in Persian placement verb based upon the theory of Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) and tries to introduce an account involving semantic macro roles. Moreover, the roles of primary and secondary objects as well as of incorporation are examined.
Locative alternation in Persian as well as in English is realized in two variants: location variant and locatum one. To elaborate more, an example from Persian as well as its parallel structure in English comes below:
(1) a.Kârgar-hâ mive râ tuye kâmiyun bâr
worker.PL.NOM hay-DO OBJ-marker PREP truck.OBL load.PAST-
zad-and
PL.3SG
'The workers loaded the hay into the truck.'
(DO: theme location variant~ straight construction)
b. Kârgar-hâ kâmiyun râ mive bâr zad–and
Worker .PL.NOM truck.DO OBJ.marker hay.DO load.PAST-PL.3SG
'The workers loaded the trucks with hay.'
(DO: location locatum variant~ inverted construction
Comparing the Persian example with its English translation suggests that locative alternation in Persian is not usually the same as what we have in English. In English, one of the argument is realized immediately after verb and the other comes as an oblique. In the first sentence, the argument denoting a location is realized as an oblique and the argument denoting a moved entity as the direct object; the syntactic functions of the two arguments are the other way round in another variant: The argument bearing the thematic relation location appears as direct object, the moved entity as an oblique. It is generally assumed that the first construction is "straight" and the second is "inverted" (Kailuweit, 2008).
In Persian, however, the theme is followed by /râ/ in one variant and comes before the verb in the other one while the location is realized as oblique on one variant and followed by / râ/ in the other (Karimi Dustan, & Safari, 2011).
2- Theoretical Framework
Role and Reference Grammar is a functional theory relying on three underlying representation which provides a typological approach to linguistic description and greatly concerns with the interplay of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Following Dowty's representational scheme (1979), state and activity are two main classifications of verb from which the other verb classes are derived. Thus, the state verbs have solely bare predicates in their logical structure while activities, achievements and accomplishments add do', INGR and BECOME, respectively.
Semantic roles are examined in three levels in RRG: Verb-specific semantic roles like runner or speaker, thematic relations as agent or patient, and generalized semantic roles or semantic macro-roles that are actor and undergoer.
3- Methodology
Some data involving the locative alternation in placement verb are gathered from TV programs, lectures, novels, daily conversations or any other sources providing authentic data in Persian; theses data are, then, analyzed based on RRG theoretical framework. Focusing on the aktionsart the verbal predicates presented, the logical structures of the relevant data are, therefore, provided and undergoers are chosen according to the positions the arguments have in the actor-undergoer hierarchy.
4- Results and Discussion
(1)Locative alternation is regarded as a marked undergoer choice in Role and Reference Grammar in which x in Pred' (x) is the marked choice of undergoer (Van Valin & Lapolla, 1997). Then, the logical structure reveals the location as the undergoer. For instance, the logical structure of the following sentence is α= [do'(kimiâ, ∅)] CAUSE [BECOME (β=be-loc' (divâr,rang))] in which Kimia is the actor and divâr is the undergoer.
(2) Kimiâ rang=râ be divâr pâšid-Ø
Kimia.PN paint=OM PREP wall spray.PST-3sg
Kimia sprayed the paint on the wall
Role and Reference Grammar is a functional, context-based theory; therefore, context plays a significant role in the logical structures of the sentences in this grammar. If the theme is a specific and referential argument, its logical structure is like (3) while when it is a non-referential or mass noun, incorporation gets involved and the logical structures turn into (4).
(3) α=[do'(kimiâ,∅)] CAUSE [BECOME (β=be-loc^' (divâr,rang))]
.rang pâšid (kimiyâ, divâr)
In such two-place argument, only one argument can be selected as the undergoer and that is " divâr". The bare noun before verb in inverted construction of locative alternation in Persian is realized in two forms depending on the relevant context. Such noun is either a secondary object and comes in core or it is realized as a non-referential noun in incorporating verb and is regarded as predicate which comes in nucleus layer. The logical structure of the marked/ inverted construction in locative alternation is as (3) with different argument realizations. Such structure has an entailment of holistic interpretation which can be banned depending on encyclopedic knowledge or the context involved. The claim by Kailuweit (2008) can, then, be modified into (3):
Semantic effect of marked Undergoer choice:
"If an argument is a marked choice for undergoer in a given LS, it is interpreted as a prototypical undergoer' i.e. as having at least one of the properties "causally affected", "change of state", "incremental/ extensional theme". " Kailuweit (2008:350) This can be solely realized if the encyclopedic knowledge or the context in which the sentence is uttered do not ban its realization.
The marked undergoer choice of location in inverted construction of locative alternation may enjoy a holistic interpretation in some particular context as having at least one of the properties "causally affected", "change of state", "incremental/ extensional theme".
5- Conclusions and Suggestions
Giving some examples of locative alternarion in Persian, the present study concluded that two arguments- theme and location- are competing to receive the macrorole of undergoer. Then, "marked-undergoer- choice-rule" is imposed to choose the location argument as undergoer in the inverted constructions; however, this is not working when incorporation is involved; in that case, there is only one core argument in the construction that is selected as undergoer.
Sepideh Abdolkarimi; Ehsan Changizi
Volume 9, Issue 17 , July 2018, Pages 21-47
Abstract
Extended abstract
1- Introduction
Present research has been an attempt to investigate semantic aspects of “gereftan” diachronically, within the framework of cognitive semantics. The noticeable question in the present analysis is that if there exists a verb, namely “gereft/gir” which is used ...
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Extended abstract
1- Introduction
Present research has been an attempt to investigate semantic aspects of “gereftan” diachronically, within the framework of cognitive semantics. The noticeable question in the present analysis is that if there exists a verb, namely “gereft/gir” which is used in modern Persian with many different meanings or if there exists different “gereft/gir”s, each is associated with a meaning. For diachronic analysis of semantic aspects of “gereftan”, the authors have collected historical data from Iranian languages, i.e., forms and meanings of this verb have been gathered from Avesta, ancient Persian, middle Persian and modern Persian, namely Dari (versified and prose texts from Islamic era). Main questions in this research are: Do present documents affirm the polysemy of “gereftan”? Which image schemas are represented in compound constructions in which this word has been the verbal part? What kind of relationship is there between the represented image schemas on the one hand and the semantic components which have caused polysemy of this word on the other hand?
2- Theoretical Framework
Polysemy: Polysemy is a technical term in semantics used for words having different, but related meanings. Thus, in lexical semantics, words with different meanings are considered polysemous; but under the condition that was mentioned, meanings have at least one semantic component in common.
Image schemas: Image schemas are schematic pictures from humans’ embodied experiences imagined and formed in their minds. Image schemas lack details. They are abstract entities which contain repetitive models related to humans’ embodied experiences. Image schemas’ source of emergence is interaction with the outer world and conceptualizations after experiencing the world. The fact that humans talk so easily about abstract entities is because of the similarities they see or create between concrete experiences and concepts and abstract ones. Image schemas have different types as containment, movement, surface, force, path, directional, source, destination, event, and possession schemas.
3- Methodology
Gathering data for this research has been done in libraries and the analysis of the gathered data has been done using comparison and description. In order to determine semantic components of “gereftan”, first, different forms and meanings of this word have been cited from Avesta, Old Persian and Middle Persian. Then, using Dehkhoda dictionary, some parts of old versified and prose texts from Beyhaghi History and Shahnameh (by Ferdowsi) have been cited in order to investigate semantic function of “gereftan” in Dari Persian. Finally, evidences of semantic function of “gereftan” in New Persian have been found from Sokhan Persian dictionary. With observing the represented image schemas in the verb “gereft/gir” and the compound words in which this verb have been used, the authors have come to the conclusion that “gereftan” is a polysemic word according to historical and etymological evidences and certain types of image schemas are observed in linguistic constructions in which “gereftan” has been used. It was determined by the main semantic component of this word that in its own turn, has accompanied different meanings of “gereftan”.
4- Results and Discussion
The word “gereftan” is the remainder of the root “grab-” in Avesta and old Persian. The root “grab” is polysemous and had been used with the meanings “get”, “gain”, “understand” and “feel”. Getting something, occupying a place, understanding something and also feeling something all have a semantic component in common and that is [+ get something] / [+have something with oneself] either concretely or abstractly, as something which the agent do or the state which an experiencer experiences. In middle Persian, “giriftan/girift”and “gir” are the remainders of “grab-” in Avesta and in old Persian, associated with the meanings “get”, “feel”, “understand” and “percept”. In Dari, the word “gereftan” has been used with semantic components [+ receive] and [+ get the authority of]/ [+ have something with oneself]. Today, in modern Persian this word is used with semantic components [+ have something with oneself], [+ possession], [+ transmit power] and [+ initiate]. This semantic component can be used with different degrees of concreteness and abstractness. For instance, in the compound verb “bu gereftan” “bu” has been considered as a concrete object which the patient of the verb receives and keeps it with him. In a sentence as “matlab ra gereftam” (I got the point), speaker’s intention is to talk about receiving the content of the transferred message which is of course an abstract entity. The patient of “gereftan” might be something concrete like “yek nafar” (somebody) or something abstract like “ghol” (promise). In addition to possession image schema, other types of image schemas like movement, path, source and destination are also represented in compound constructions in which one of the building parts is “gereftan”. Because with semantic fulfilment of “gereftan”, we have movement in a certain direction and at the point where the patient of the verb is, we have the destination of such a movement, the point at which the movement ends. With regard to these common semantic components, different meanings of “gereftan” can be analyzed considering the image schemas possession, path, source, destination and force. The concepts path, source and destination are primary concepts which are gathered together to form the image schemas movement and event.
5- Conclusion and Suggestions
Due to historical evidences, the verb “gereft/gir” must be considered as a polysemous verb and considering different “gereftan”s as homonym words is wrong. Historical documents and semantic evidences have shown that different meanings of “gereftan” have semantic component(s) in common, namely, movement in a certain path, from a certain source and reaching a certain destination. Today, these semantic components relate different meanings of “gereft/gir”. The investigations have shown that the type of formed and represented image schema is related to the main semantic component of the verb which has been used in a given compound verb. Observed image schemas in compound verbs with “gereft/gir” as verbal part are possession, force and source which represent semantic components [+ have something with oneself], [+ possession], [+ transmit power] and [+ initiate].
Hadaegh Rezaei; Adel Rafi; Mojtaba Pordel
Volume 9, Issue 17 , July 2018, Pages 49-79
Abstract
Extended abstract
1- Introduction
From a philosophical perspective, one could say that during the history of literary criticism within the twentieth century, there have been two principal views on the nature of literary texts: One considers literary works as self-contained esthetic objects, which ...
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Extended abstract
1- Introduction
From a philosophical perspective, one could say that during the history of literary criticism within the twentieth century, there have been two principal views on the nature of literary texts: One considers literary works as self-contained esthetic objects, which ambiguity, indeterminacy and uncertainty constitute an indispensable part of them; the other seeks to examine literary works as to reveal a single specific reading which represents historical consciousness in its different aspects, political, social and so on and so forth. Among various literary criticisms, cognitive poetics belongs to the first attitude to literary works, as it does not intend, by reducing literary texts to the historical, political and/or social context, to obtain one single interpretation. Rather, cognitive poetics, by describing the cognitive operations involved in the process of reading which experienced readers trigger in their mind while confronting literary texts, aims to study how different interpretations of one single literary text are formed. The formation of interpretations by readers is a cognitive operation which takes place through the unpacking of the text and recombining it into a meaningful integrated whole.
2- Theoretical Framework and Methodology:
The present article, in a descriptive and analytic manner, and within the framework of cognitive poetics, aims at a study of one poem by one of the Persian blank-verse poets through an analysis of the possibilities this framework could provide for the fact that how literary works are interpreted by different readers. The theory, which is thus put into practice from within the cognitive poetics framework, is called the conceptual blending theory put forward by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner (2002). Generally speaking, according to this cognitive theory of meaning construction, every poetic text could be considered as a conceptual blend, or a set of conceptual blends, which is created through a number of cognitive processes such as selective projection, mapping, compression, decompression, as well as the construction of networks called integration networks. And for a reader to reach a particular interpretation among the possible interpretations, it is necessary for him to repeat all these cognitive operations again in his own right in the mind. Difference in the reconstruction of the integration networks operating behind the conceptual blends, and also in the cognitive operations which lead to the reconstruction of the Integration Networks, brings about different interpretations of one and the same text. It turns out that the conceptual blending theory, taken in conjunction with some elements from another theory within the cognitive poetics framework, namely the conceptual domain theory proposed by Ronald Langacker (1987), provides a powerful theoretical tool for the description and explanation of how different readings of one and the same text emerge. Furthermore, the conceptual blending theory offers another instrument, called optimalty principles, which can be used to assess the extent to which one particular interpretation enjoys a well-formed semantic structure, a theoretical tool that could also provide reasons for preference of one reading over the other.
3- Results and Discussions:
The analysis of the selected poem, through the application of the theoretical instruments provided by the conceptual blending theory, theoretical instruments such as schema induction, vital relationships and their different kinds of compressions, together with the exploitation of a number of concepts taken from Langacker's conceptual domains theory like profiling, demonstrate that how and through what cognitive operations readers construct different meanings of one and the same text. Thus, during the process of meaning construction, through the operation of one particular cognitive function or the omission of it (for example, compression of vital relationships or selective projection of different conceptual structures), readers may reach different interpretations of the same text. In general, the possible interpretations of the poem selected for analysis in this inquiry can be subsumed under two categories: Those interpretations that occur within the conceptual domain of love. In each one of these readings, it is the conceptual domain of love that is activated from the long-term memory into the working memory, only that in each case a different part of the complex, intertwined network of the conceptual domain of love is profiled. In these interpretations, according to the readings the experimental readers have provided the researchers with, three patterns can be distinguished, which may designated as "modest", "boastful" and "passionate" or "romantic". The interpretations of the other category, instead of the conceptual domain of love, activate other ones, and thus are potentially infinite.
4- Conclusions and Suggestions:
To conclude, the conceptual blending theory, in a sense, can be regarded as the cognitivist account of the poststructuralist theory of unlimited interpretation, providing the relativist notion of reading with a description and explanation which are based upon empirical data. In addition, the present research demonstrates that poetic texts are capable of ambiguity, polyphony and the possibility of different, even contradictory interpretations, and since the selected poem displays these features, it acquires one important criterion of poeticality. In addition, although the conceptual blending theory allows different interpretations of the same text, by applying its optimality principles, it chooses some of them over the others as optimal readings, and does not give all of them the same credit.
Ebrahim Rezapour
Volume 9, Issue 17 , July 2018, Pages 81-120
Abstract
Extended abstract
1- Introduction
In the present article, the writer tries to investigate poems of contemporary poets such as Ahmad Shamloo and Fereydoon Tavallali regarding the effects of different ideologies of these two poets on the construction of conceptual metaphors of death. The goal of writer ...
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Extended abstract
1- Introduction
In the present article, the writer tries to investigate poems of contemporary poets such as Ahmad Shamloo and Fereydoon Tavallali regarding the effects of different ideologies of these two poets on the construction of conceptual metaphors of death. The goal of writer in selection of these two poets in present research is that they lived in the same social world and in the same period. The political, social and cultural worlds of the two poets are alike, but their worldview and ideology are different. The main questions are: Do the different ideologies of poets effect on the production of conceptual metaphors of death? To which semantic fields do source domains of conceptual metaphors of death in poems of poets belong?
2- Theoretical Framework
Cognitive semantics therefore conceals a dimension of metaphor that is revealed by critical metaphor analysis; this is the way that metaphor selection in particular types of discourse is governed by the rhetorical aim of persuasion. In many cases, therefore, metaphor choice is motivated by ideology. The same notions could have been communicated using a different metaphor had the ideology been different and the same metaphors can also be employed in different ways according to ideological perspective. Since situational context plays such a dominant role in metaphor, a semantic view of metaphor must always be complemented by a pragmatic one.’ This perspective does not exclude neither cognitive nor semantic views of metaphor, but it does claim that metaphor choices may be governed by cognitive, semantic, and pragmatic considerations and by ideological, cultural and historical ones. The discourse theory of metaphor claims that both individual and social resources influence metaphor choice in discourse. Individual resources can be sub-divided into three components: our thoughts, feelings and bodily experiences of the world; our understanding of what will be effective in particular contexts of use; and our knowledge of the linguistic system – of lexical fields and the various word senses that are available. The social bases for metaphor choice are ideological outlook – primarily political or religious viewpoint – and historical and cultural knowledge.
3- Methodology
The research methodology is based on correlation between ideology as a social variable and metaphor as a semantic variable. The writer tries to investigate the relationship between ideology and conceptual metaphors of death based on discourse theory of metaphor in order to determine the degree of effects of ideology on the choice of metaphor. The research corpus includes all poems of Ahmad Shamloo and Fereydoon Tavallali. Poems of Shamloo and Tavallali include 17 and 6 collections of poetry, respectively.
4- Results and Discussion
The results of research indicate that the majority of conceptual metaphors of death in poems of Shamloo is related to nature, family, and music. The life situations of Shamloo can be displayed based on three global ones: when Shamloo as a young man entered the social world, he has chosen the policy of fighting and Jihad against wrongdoing rulers of Pahlavi and he always called his co-fighters for the battle. So, in this situation which is represented in collections of poetry such as irons and feeling, resolution, Ayda in mirror and Ayda, tree, dagger and memory, Shamloo portrayed immortality of death in most cases and he believed that death in the way of ideology is the most beautiful one. The second situation has happened in this way that Shamloo has lost his helpers in the way of fighting and he suffers from cowardice of people. Such a situation in the life of the poet has resulted in the formation of conceptual metaphor including death as an awesome expectation that Shamloo wishes to embrace like a woman. However, the third situation appears after these frustrations and when Shamloo seeks to resort to his love (Ayda). This lovely situation in the life of Shamloo results in the formation of conceptual metaphors including Death as a husband of love, Death as a sister of love and Death and Love as a king; and the dark symphony of jasmines and cedars results in mixing of sorrow and pleasure.
However, the third situation has appeared after this frustration and seeking refuge of Shamloo toward love (Ayda). Such a lovely situation in the life of the poet has resulted in formation of conceptual metaphors including Death as a husband of love, Death as a sister of love and Death and Love as a king which dark symphony of jasmines and cedars has resulted in mixing of sorrow and pleasure. Source domains of conceptual metaphors in poetic collections of Tvallali including semantic fields of wild animals such as black torpedo, hungry torpedo, snake, black monster, owl, leopard, semantic fields of demon such as demon, devil, and also semantic fields of nature such as the elusive wave of mortality, haste and defeat valley, silent plains and cavern indicate that Tavallali has been affected by Baudelaire’s thought, and black and emotionally oriented romanticism.
5- Conclusion
Research data indicate that the role of pragmatic factors in the production and selection of metaphor in poems of Shamloo is prominent. However, about emotive function in the production and selection of conceptual metaphors of death, it can be said that streaks of emotions and feelings in poems of Shamloo play an important role in the production of conceptual metaphors of death. The writer has not observed the effects of emotions and feelings of Tavallali in the production of conceptual metaphors of death. Therefore, the results of research indicate that ideology plays an important role in the production and selection of metaphors in literary texts and also individual resources such as cognitive and affective, pragmatic and linguistic factors play important roles, too.
Seyed Mohammad Hosseini; Ferdows Aghagolzadeh; Aliyeh Kord Zaferanlou Kambouzia; Arsalan Golfam
Volume 9, Issue 17 , July 2018, Pages 121-152
Abstract
Extended abstract
1- Introduction
Recent research on im/politeness in interpersonal pragmatics has witnessed a move away from Brown and Levinson’s (1987) much criticized face-saving theory (e.g., Eelen, 2001; Watts, 2003) towards more relational and interactional models that approach face and politeness ...
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Extended abstract
1- Introduction
Recent research on im/politeness in interpersonal pragmatics has witnessed a move away from Brown and Levinson’s (1987) much criticized face-saving theory (e.g., Eelen, 2001; Watts, 2003) towards more relational and interactional models that approach face and politeness as distinct concepts (Arundale, 1999, 2006, 2009, 2010; Terkourafi, 2007; O’Driscoll, 2007). One consequence of this is the call to investigate the emic concept of face, as it is understood by ordinary people, before any theoretical notion of face can be designated (Arundale, 1999, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2013; Bargiela-Chiappini, 2003; Haugh, 2009, 2013b; Haugh & Bargiela-Chiappini, 2010). This research is a response to this call and tries to analyze emic understandings of the concept of āberu (lit. water-of-face) as the closest equivalent of face in the Iranian culture.
2- Literature Review
Despite numerous researches on im/politeness in Persian, very few people have directly addressed the concept of face in the Iranian culture. Koutlaki (2002, 2009) argues that ehterām and shakhsiat are two aspects of face in the Iranian culture. Sharifian (2007) and Izadi (2017) offer āberu as the Persian equivalent of face in this culture. However, none of them does an ethnographic study of āberu idioms and collocations.
3- Methodology
An ethnographic approach is adopted. Ethnography is a method used to describe everyday human behavior, relying heavily on participant observation in natural settings (Leeds-Hurwitz, 2005). To gather the data, ethnographic field notes were taken of the actual uses of āberu and its idiomatic expressions and collocations in everyday conversations, TV serials, websites and weblogs, paying special attention to all possibly relevant contextual clues. The instances were then semantically analyzed in their contexts of use and a classification of the results was made.
4- Results and Discussion
An analysis of āberu idiomatic expressions and collocations shows that the domain of interpersonal relations is understood in terms of the domain of economic activity and the conceptual metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) of “ĀBERU IS A COMMODITY” can be applied to it. The exact nature of this commodity is ‘water’, which has always been a rare and hard-to-find resource in the dry and arid climate of Iran. Āberu is the most valuable commodity a person, or group, can ‘possess’ that can be ‘spilled’, ‘bought’, ‘sold’, ‘pawned’, ‘exchanged with money’, or even ‘auctioned’. The “ĀBERU IS A COMMODITY” metaphor gives the impression that āberu is ‘possessed’ by the individual (or group), but the data shows that this āberu exists only in the presence, or perception of the presence, of an ‘other’ and within an interaction. Therefore, it is not a possession of the individual but, as argued by Arundale (2006, 2009, 2013), is a property of the interaction (cf. Goffman, 1967).
The results also show four main uses of the word āberu in the Iranian culture. First, a person’s āberu is connected to the āberu (i.e., good name or reputation) of the group(s), one is associated with at the moment of interaction (Sharifian, 2007; Izadi, 2015, 2017). The group can be as small as the nuclear family or as big as a guild, the whole nation or even all humanity. The most important group is the family, which is then used as a metaphor to invoke protection of the āberu of larger social units such as a company, an organization or even the government.
Second, āberu is linked to people’s sense of competence (cf. Lim & Bowers, 1991), including possessions (i.e., competence in earning a decent living). Any perception of incompetence in the eyes of mardom, ‘the people’ or ‘significant others’ may lead to the feeling of āberurizi (lit. ‘Spillage of water-of-face’) or face loss.
Third, āberu is linked to the distinction, in Iranian life, between the two domains of zāher/birun (outside) and bāten/andarun (inside) referred to by Beeman (1986). If something that belongs to the realm of inside is revealed in the domain of outside, one may feel a loss of āberu. Things that must not be revealed in the outside cover a large list, including secrets, antisocial behavior or thoughts, any infringement of moral values and norms, misconduct, etc.
Finally, a person’s āberu is linked to their perceived sha’n or social status, which is defined according to age, education, rank in an organization or institutional power, occupation and gender.
Loss of āberu may lead to the feeling of sharm, i.e., shame, which then places the Iranian culture closer to the shame end of the shame/guilt (Benedict, 1946; Ho, 1976) continuum.
Āberu in the Iranian culture covers a larger extent of meanings than adab (politeness), which is considered as formal behavior appropriate to the context. Although āberu is part of the moral order (Garfinkel, 1967) against which im/politeness judgments are based (Haugh, 2013a; Kádár & Haugh, 2013), it is not accurate to equate politeness with face-saving strategies.
5- Conclusion
In the Iranian culture, my āberu in my eyes is the image I think others have of me and my āberu in others’ eyes is the image they have of me based on my social status and my verbal and nonverbal behavior. The results also indicate that while most of the descriptions of face in Goffman (1967) apply to āberu, group face, especially a family’s face, may impose a second layer of constraints on individual conduct. It is argued that āberu in Persian is both relational and interactional as claimed in Face Constituting Theory (Arundale, 1999, 2006, 2009, 2013). A person’s perceived social status influences the way people initially treat him in an interaction but this status has to be maintained and renegotiated within current interaction.
Ali Abdollahi Nezhad; Ali Izanloo; Azam Estaji
Volume 9, Issue 17 , July 2018, Pages 153-174
Abstract
Extended abstract
1- Introduction
When a word resembles the meaning of another word, both words are in the same ideal cognitive domain and follow a certain conceptual cognitive pattern. Such associations suggest important relations between these concepts that can be because of so many reasons like ...
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Extended abstract
1- Introduction
When a word resembles the meaning of another word, both words are in the same ideal cognitive domain and follow a certain conceptual cognitive pattern. Such associations suggest important relations between these concepts that can be because of so many reasons like cultural priorities. Making a new association and eventually a new concept out of a new word, depends on the importance and the state of the association. Linguists' emphasis on the existence of focal and prominent meaningful entity for every single one of the concepts has been the fountain of many investigations for determining various meanings of a concept and its focal meaning in the form of semantic network.
2- Theoretical Framework
Some similar researches involve: (Achresh & Jahromi, 2015), (Afrashi et al., 2012), (Afrashi et al., 2015), (Afshari & Samet, 2014), (Ghavam Esperghem, 2015), (Golshaieb et al., 2014), (Graf, 2011), (Hesabi, 2016), (Ibañez-Moreno, 2005), (Mousavi et al., 2015). (Nasib & Izanloo, 2016), (Rasekh Mahand & Ranjbar Zarabi, 2013), (Rezaee & Rafiee, 2016), (Seargeant, 2009), (Sorahi, 2012), (Zahedi & Mohammadi Ziyarat, 2011).The common point that can be found among these researches and similar ones is that they try to determine different meanings of a word and draw its semantic network. The point that has usually been ignored is the grounds or inspirations that these meanings originated from. In the current research, based on the assumption that meanings are inspired by concrete or abstract features (social, psychological, cultural, etc.), the motivations of the meanings of bread in Farsi are going to be investigated.
3- Methodology
For collecting different meanings of bread, 18 Persian dictionaries and a corpus containing more than 2,600,000 words were covered. Meanings were elicited by referring to dictionaries' explanation for that special entry, then the prominent feature of bread that played the most salient role in making the meaning, was gained. For instance, the idiom "naan-e sefid-e falak" that could literally be translated as "white bread of sky" means (is record ed in the dictionaries as) "moon". When it is asked what feature of bread has inspired this meaning, it leads to "appearance": Similarity between a white round bread and the moon. Therefore, the shape and appearance of bread has been the ground and motivation for this idiom.
4- Results
In this research, the role of experience in creating various secondary meanings is studied. According to Fillmore (1982), meaningful elements in a language are created based on recurring experiences. Concepts are frames containing a collection of experiences that in contact with new phenomenon, one of their aspects can be triggered. On the other hand, for using the idiom "yek loghmeh naan"/"a bite of bread" meaning "a little amount of food or money", the concept of amount has been triggered, or in another idiom "nan-daani"/"bread's place" meaning "stomach", the place of bread has been triggered. Therefore, it can be said that tracing the semantic triggers of concepts leads to valuable information about different aspects of life and culture of societies.
5- Conclusion
According to Lakoff and Johnson (2003), our conceptual system is the result of our interaction with our culture and physical environment. It is interesting that in some idioms the meaning of bread refers to high value and in some to low value. The low value of bread can be traced through history in periods that Farsi speakers were suffering from drought and famine and vice versa, the high value of bread can be traced in periods that this foodstuff has been abundant. This research showed that meanings are not arbitrary and there are not any meanings out of the circle of features and interaction concerning them. It approved results of Buccino, Colagè, Gobbi & Bonaccorso, (2016) that by neuro-physiological investigation and analyzing the linguistic meaning reached to the conclusion that neurological structure of brain of human is responsible for perceiving sensual, dynamic and emotional meaning of words that proves embodied meaning in linguistics. The most important role of embodiment is generating commonalities from experiences of various people in a language society. These experiences build the infrastructure of common linguistic meanings.
Tahereh Vahidi Ferdowsi; Ali Alizadeh; Zahra Badamdari
Volume 9, Issue 17 , July 2018, Pages 175-202
Abstract
Extended abstract
1- Introduction
Language learning is one of the most complex issues in teaching a foreign language. Prepositions having different meanings in different contexts are mostly problematic issues for both language instructors and non-Persian learners. Although prepositions are frequently ...
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Extended abstract
1- Introduction
Language learning is one of the most complex issues in teaching a foreign language. Prepositions having different meanings in different contexts are mostly problematic issues for both language instructors and non-Persian learners. Although prepositions are frequently used in Persian textbooks and daily conversations, learners fail to incidentally acquire them and often show low achievements in using them correctly. The strategy commonly employed by language instructors is teaching the multiple senses of prepositions by rote learning (Song, 2013). Rote learning lacks comprehensive analysis of different concepts of prepositions. Hence, students have to memorize them merely by repetition. In contrast, Cognitive Linguistics (CL) suggests a different approach to teaching prepositions that may have a strong impact on the methodologies of foreign language teaching and meaningful learning (Song, 2013). Compared to traditional approaches, cognitive linguistics offers an account of language structure that is arguably more comprehensive (Langacker, 1995). It opens up a new perspective of the CL-inspired meaningful learning approach on language teaching demonstrating the unification of the integrated model of text and picture for comprehension (the ITPC model). It also integrates the new knowledge with related prior knowledge in the cognitive structure of the learner mind (Ausubel, 2000). In addition, the ITPC model illustrates thoroughly how information is processed through each stage of the cognitive procedure. Prepositions are considered as having different meanings that are presented in a very systematized and related way in this model that in turns provides a fruitful basis for explaining the use of prepositions in different contexts. Thus, it seems to have a great effect on the methods of foreign language teaching and learning (Song, 2013).
The present study focuses on the preposition, "Az" which is frequently used for presenting spatial meaning. So, the aim of the study is to provide an instructional syllabus based on cognitive semantics perspective for teaching different senses of this preposition to non- Persian speakers (in intermediate level). This preposition has 26 different usages as illustrated in Farhange Sokhane Anvari (2003). We have determined its prototype and different meanings based on this dictionary and the criteria of Tyler and Evans (2003). For this purpose, some sentences and phrases including this preposition were selected from non-Persian speaker’s textbooks in Jameat-almostafa center of Mashhad. According to Farhange Sokhane Anvari (2003), the first usage of this preposition is to show the “source” as far as the spatial and metaphoric concept is concerned. In this study, we introduced a suggested model of teaching in its abstract spatial usage. The proposed instructional method is an integrated model of text and picture (by PowerPoint and poster) for teaching semantic structure of the preposition, regarding its central and other meanings. The use of images, containing sensory and perceptual experiences of students, can make meaningful relationship between their new and previous knowledge. The findings open up an effective perspective in teaching and meaningful learning of this preposition for non-native speakers.
2- Theoretical Framework
Cognitive linguistics is one of the new schools of Linguistics derived from new cognitive sciences. In their interactions with environment, human beings perceive one thing in terms of another thing metaphorically. This is known as “conceptualization” in which abstract meanings are discovered based on their physical counterparts. We assume that a preposition designates a conceptual spatial relation between a TR (trajectory) and an LM (landmark), which constitutes an abstract spatial scene. Conceptual content can be abstracted away from specific spatial scenes, giving rise to a more abstract representation, which is called a proto-scene. A proto-scene is associated with prototype of a particular preposition. According to Langacker (1987), an image schema includes a trajectory, a landmark, and relationship between the trajectory and the landmark. Thus, prepositions are able to extend the spatial senses to their abstract senses by metaphorical mappings.
3- Methodology
In this study, first, according to the criteria of Tyler and Evans (2003), prototype and different meanings of preposition “Az” were selected from Farhang Sokhan (Anvari, 2003). Then, some sentences and phrases containing the preposition were investigated by random sampling in the textbooks of Jameat-Al-Mostafa center in Mashhad. Finally, a suggested model was introduced
for teaching the Persian preposition "Az” to non-native speakers, based on the domain theory of Langacker (1987) and the notion of image schemas (Lakoff & Johnson, 1987). The proposed instructional method is an integrated model of text and picture (by PowerPoint and poster) for teaching semantic structure of the preposition, regarding its central and other meanings.
At the end of each session, the related exercises were given to the students including multiple choice, filling the gap, and matching.
4- Results and Discussion
Based on the cognitive approach, the prototype meaning of preposition “Az” is the “source” in which trajectory (TR) runs away from landmark (LM). In the present study, the focus was on high frequency concepts, such as “source” and “part of whole”. In the first session, an interesting prologue was used to attract students. Since the image schema of ”Az”, is “source”, explain it’s spatial and abstract meanings. In the second session, another concept of it, “part of whole” is explained for spatial and abstract meanings. Finally, students should do the exercises.
5- Conclusion and Suggestions
This study focused on a cognitive approach to teaching Persian prepositions to non-native speakers. In cognitive approach, learning has more effects on knowledge acquisition in constructing cognitive schemata. In this approach, students can integrate new knowledge with relevant prior knowledge, so learning is meaningful and satisfying. In the present study, an instructional model for teaching two different concepts of preposition “Az” in the spatial and abstract domains are presented. Future studies are required to investigate other prepositions as well as their different meanings.
