Language Research

The main purpose of this study is to explain the word order of topicalized constituents in non-pro.making persian topicalization based on Functional Discourse Grammar. Since this grammar ... Read More The main purpose of this study is to explain the word order of topicalized constituents in non-pro.making persian topicalization based on Functional Discourse Grammar. Since this grammar does not believe in concepts such as movement, we will also seek to explain this process in base-generated procedures. Therefore, in this study, in order to achieve the above goals, the method of mapping the linguistic elements of sentences containing non-pro.making Persian topicalized constituents in morphosyntactic templates in four absolute initial, second, medial and final positions and infinite relative ones presented in Functional Discourse Grammar was considered. This study is based on a descriptive-analytical method and the examples are taken from selected samples of Persian speech and written texts, which after introducing the mechanisms of this grammar,have been analyzed based on the principles of this theory. The method of determining the order of constituents used in the present study is the dynamic method of FDG that is inspired by the method of determining the word order of Greenberg. In this approach instead of three categories of subject, object and verb, respectively, the concepts of actor, undergoer and predicate, determine the word order of the languages of the world. The results indicate that in marked constituents such as topicalization, considering the communicative intention of the speaker, various elements including ,thematic and non-thematic elements and even predicates can be topicalized and on the other hand, considering that, based on the principles of this grammar, the topicalized constituent in the interpersonal level is given priority in entering morphosyntactic templates, so the topicalization process is not the result of movement, but the topicalized element is produced in base-generated procedures in the same position. The results also show that Functional Discourse Grammar is an appropriate and efficient method by referring to the three principles of iconicity, domain integrity and functional stability in determining the constituent arrangement of sentences containing non-pro.making Persian topicalization.

Object Omission in Persian: A Role and Reference Grammar Analysis

Faezeh Salimi; Vali Rezai

Volume 13, Issue 2 , May 2023, , Pages 55-81

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2022.328325.666733

Abstract

The aim of this research is to investigate object omission based on Role and Reference Grammar. Object omission is a valency-reduction process in which a verb which is transitive in ... Read More The aim of this research is to investigate object omission based on Role and Reference Grammar. Object omission is a valency-reduction process in which a verb which is transitive in nature, appears without its object. This study, will indicate semantic, syntactic and pragmatic representation of the aforementioned construction with respect to the presented concepts in Role and Reference Grammar including the layered structure of the clause, logical structure, semantic macroroles, information structure, activation status of the referents and linking algorithm. Explaining object omission in the framework of RRG, indicates one of the advantages of this grammar. Although RRG attends to the interaction between form and function, it declines the abstract layers or elements in the syntactic analysis. Accordingly, in this grammar the syntactic structure of the clause is represented based on what is explicitly applicable. Therefore, RRG is not faced with any restriction in explaining object omission and regarding what is explicitly presented in the sentence, it behaves with transitive verbs which omit their objects as intransitive ones. The most specific attainments of investigating object omission in the framework of RRG are as follows: In the layered structure of a clause with omitted object, one of the arguments of the core will be reduced and the syntactic representation will be like an intransitive verb with just one argument (subject) in the core. The logical structure of such verbs, likewise, will be represent with just one argument (x), unlike transitive verbs which has two arguments (x, y) in logical structure. Regarding the aktionsart type of the verbs, the findings indicate that activities are the most frequent verbs in object omission construction. the reason is that the second argument of activity verbs is not a macrorole and therefore can be omitted. Describing object omission with regard to information structure and activation status of the referents in RRG shows that as in the aforementioned construction the object is omitted, it cannot be a focal or topical element and its referent can be considered as an accessible one. Since it is the hearer’s knowledge of the world that makes it possible to understand the notion of the omitted object. Moreover, in this study, regarding object omission construction, linking algorithm from semantic to syntax and from syntax to semantics has been provided. The bidirectional diagrams show that the linking principles of selecting and linking undergoer in both directions will not exist in the objectless sentences.

Language Research

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Keywords = information structure

Non-Pro.Making Persian Topicalization Based on Functional Discourse Grammar

Abstract

Object Omission in Persian: A Role and Reference Grammar Analysis

Abstract