Linguistics
Elaheh Fathian; Mehrdad Naghzguy Kohan
Volume 16, Issue 2 , November 2024
Abstract
All societies use kinship terms to address and refer to one’s kin. Most studies dealing with kin terms have been done based on consanguineal and affinal kin criteria. In some societies, kin relations are established by other criteria. Therefore, cultural differences must be taken into account but ...
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All societies use kinship terms to address and refer to one’s kin. Most studies dealing with kin terms have been done based on consanguineal and affinal kin criteria. In some societies, kin relations are established by other criteria. Therefore, cultural differences must be taken into account but genealogical paths cannot represent this cultural knowledge. In this research, kin terms were considered as cultural elements. Using kin term maps, it is possible to formally represent how kin relations are calculated without reference to genealogical relations and to recognize primary kin terms. So, cultural differences can be represented as well. The framework used in this research provides a comprehensive basis for comparative studies of kin terms. This study diachronically explored kin term maps of Old Persian, Middle Persian and New Persian. The starting point was “self” in the maps, located in the center. Primary kin terms were identified according to their position relative to the “self”. A comparison of the maps showed that in Middle Persian grammatical gender has disappeared, but biological gender was still important in this period. Some kin terms were added and some were dropped in this period. The results showed that in New Persian the number of kin terms has increased. In the New Persian, there are now some loan kin terms, two-syllable kin terms are more frequently used, and biological gender has lost its importance in expressing kinship relations
Linguistic typology
Vali Rezai; Mahdeih Abbaspour
Volume 16, Issue 2 , November 2024
Abstract
This study employed a typological approach to examine the terminology used for lower body parts in Persian and English. The aim was to identify commonalities and divergences in the naming and categorization of the parts of the lower limb, while also assessing the validity of proposed linguistic universals ...
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This study employed a typological approach to examine the terminology used for lower body parts in Persian and English. The aim was to identify commonalities and divergences in the naming and categorization of the parts of the lower limb, while also assessing the validity of proposed linguistic universals in this field. Despite linguistic and cultural differences, the findings revealed significant similarities in the general classification of lower limbs between the two languages, with six main categories identified in both. However, variations exist in the specific terminology and categorization details, suggesting the influence of cultural and worldview differences on bodily conceptualization. Further, an examination of language universals indicates that while some hold true across both languages, others are not fully supported. This research underscores that even with shared underlying concepts, languages can exhibit distinct semantic systems in their representation of the human body.
Semantics
Seyed Mohammad Hosseini Maasoum; Marjan Akbari
Volume 16, Issue 2 , November 2024
Abstract
Discourse semiotics is a discipline that carries out a process study of language. This discipline considers the sign as the source and meaning as the goal of its work. Semiotics chooses discourse as its field of work. Since literature is one of the examples of dynamic discourses, discourse semiotics ...
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Discourse semiotics is a discipline that carries out a process study of language. This discipline considers the sign as the source and meaning as the goal of its work. Semiotics chooses discourse as its field of work. Since literature is one of the examples of dynamic discourses, discourse semiotics aims to discover hidden semantic spaces by examining the elements involved in these discourses and the relationships between these elements. This research used the discourse-semiotic approach to investigate the process of meaning generation in the narrative elements of Zal and Rudabeh of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. The results indicated that the actional subject wants to have a child in order to gain value and eliminate the disadvantage. However, amending this shortcoming causes the first tension and challenge in the course of the narrative. The subject tries to solve the challenge by abandoning the albino baby, which is incompatible with social norms, but the abandonment of the child poses more challenges to the main character and even other narrative actors. The abandonment of the child in this narrative provides the possibility of the degeneration of meaning. In the meantime, what keeps the process of meaning-making going is the transformation of the actional subject into a sensible subject and the change of the narrative space into a sensory-perceptive space. Thus, Ferdowsi continues the meaning-making flow by using emotional solutions and applying semantic systems such as action, sensation, existence, imagination, and myth.
Linguistic typology
Hamed Mowlaei Kuhbanani; Hossein Bazoubandi
Volume 16, Issue 2 , November 2024
Abstract
Contrastive analysis is based on structural linguistics and tries to facilitate second language learning by focusing on the current phonological, morphological, and syntactic differences of languages. The goal of this study was to compare and contrast the syllables of Persian and Korean according to ...
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Contrastive analysis is based on structural linguistics and tries to facilitate second language learning by focusing on the current phonological, morphological, and syntactic differences of languages. The goal of this study was to compare and contrast the syllables of Persian and Korean according to CA principles. To achieve the purpose, three typological universals, that is, elements of syllable, phonotactic rules, and potential syllables were investigated. The results on the first universal indicated that Korean has seven and Persian has six vowels which can be used in syllable structure of both languages without any constraint. Furthermore, by comparing 23 Persian and 22 Korean consonants according to International Phonetic Alphabet, some different constraints on the placement of some consonants of both languages in different syllable positions were identified. Results of syllable structure showed that Korean has CVC(C) and Persian has CV(CC) structure. Korean and Persian have binary branching syllabic structure, but their internal division is different. In Korean, onset and nucleus join together for making core and then this core can join to coda for making a syllable. In Persian, nucleus and coda join together producing rime and then rime join to onset. Additionally, there are some constraints on the syllable structure of Persian and Korean that make some other differences in the phonotactic rules of them. Finally, the findings pertaining to stress placement showed that the syllable-time is the common super segmental feature of both Korean and Persian.
phonemics
Bashir Jam
Volume 16, Issue 2 , November 2024
Abstract
Sound substitution is a process whereby a phoneme in a loanword is replaced by its closest phone in the borrowing language. English and Arabic share short vowels /I/ and /U/ which are absent in Persian. This comparative study aimed at explaining how these vowels are substituted in Persian within the ...
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Sound substitution is a process whereby a phoneme in a loanword is replaced by its closest phone in the borrowing language. English and Arabic share short vowels /I/ and /U/ which are absent in Persian. This comparative study aimed at explaining how these vowels are substituted in Persian within the framework of optimality theory (Prince & Smolensky, 1993/2004). The findings indicated that the short vowels /I/ and /U/ in English loanwords are replaced by the long vowels [i] and [u], respectively, because they are the closest vowels to /I/ and /U/. However, they change to mid, short vowels [e] and [o], respectively, in Arabic loanwords due to Persian orthography. Therefore, this process could not be explained using an analysis that is solely phonological. Accordingly, the substitution of /I/ and /U/ in Arabic loanwords was analysed using orthographic constraints which have access to graphematical information. This comparative study presented arguments in favor of different constraint rankings which cause the occurrences of these processes.
zahra Hajibagheri; Mahinnaz Mirdehghan Farashah
Volume 16, Issue 2 , November 2024
Abstract
Placement test is a test with the purpose of providing information that determines the appropriate level of the learners in an educational course according to their abilities. Due to the rapid development of technology and its application in the field of education, testing has changed from pen and paper-based ...
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Placement test is a test with the purpose of providing information that determines the appropriate level of the learners in an educational course according to their abilities. Due to the rapid development of technology and its application in the field of education, testing has changed from pen and paper-based test to computer-based test. The purpose of this research was to design an online placement test that has the required validity to determine the appropriate level of language learners in educational centers and the web-application under design (for teaching Persian to non-Persian speakers). This test was prepared based on the content of twelve-volume educational collection Faraz Farsi (Mirdehghan Farashah et al., 2023) and for the three sub-skills of vocabulary, grammar, and interaction. "Digiform" was selected among the online test makers for the test implementation due to its superior features, including the ability to display the test taker's image and higher security. In order to determine the reliability, the test was administered to 178 non-Persian language learners. The analysis of the obtained data using Coder and Richardson's formula 20, showed that the reliability of the test was 0.93. In order to determine the content validity of the test, a 10-item questionnaire was prepared and given to 20 teachers (18 female and 2 male) of Faraz Farsi. The teachers held MA degree or were PhD students in Teaching Persian, and have taught at least for five years. The results showed the desired content validity of the test.
