Language Research

Abstract Using the auditory-acoustic approach, the present study examines the possibility of using durational acoustic parameters of speech rhythm for detecting the Persian speakers’ use of Azeri as a form of voice disguise. To do so, continuous speech of 5 speakers of Standard Persian and 5 speakers of Azeri, Tabrizi variety, were chosen for the acoustic and statistical analysis after completing the validity procedures. All Persian speakers were monolingual and all Azeri speakers were bilingual speakers of Azeri and Persian, who spoke Azeri as their mother tongue and Persian as their second language. Each Persian speaker was asked to narrate a lifetime experience once in Persian (Persian- Persian data), and once as an imitation of Azeri (Persian- Azeri data). Azeri speakers were also asked to narrate a lifetime experience once in Azeri (Azeri- Azeri data) and once in Persian (Azeri-Persian Data). Persian-Azeri data is the type that is considered as the disguised data in this survey. The recorded data were then annotated in five tiers: segment, CV-segment, CV-segment interval, CV-interval and syllable. In order to control the effect of any unwanted variable, one minute (±5 seconds SD) of each sound file was extracted for further acoustic and statistical analyses. A Praat script, DurationAnalyzer, was used to automatically calculate the acoustic correlates of durational parameters of speech rhythm. These parameters are: %V (the proportion which speech is vocalic), ΔC (ln) (standard deviation of the natural-log normalized duration of consonantal intervals), ΔV (ln) (standard deviation of the natural-log normalized duration of vocalic intervals), nPVI- V (rate-normalized averaged durational differences between consecutive vocalic intervals) and syllable rate.  Results revealed there was a significant difference between the proposed types of data and that%V and syllable rate best discriminated between them; however, none of the above-mentioned parameters were significantly different between Persian-Azeri and Azeri-Persian data.

Abstract All languages in the world use different mechanisms to create new words. Derivation and compounding are two morphological processes whose main function is the formation of new word-forms. In Persian, derivation is one of the dynamic and widely used processes of word formation. In the realm of derivation, Persian language has many prefixes and suffixes that can be attached to existing words in order to create new words. One of these suffixes is "-ār" which is considered as one of the semi-productive suffixes of Persian language; however, the observations reveal that it has become a productive suffix in today's Persian. The main purpose of this research is to study the derivational construction [x-ār] in Persian within the framework of Construction Morphology (CM). It makes use of the notion of ‘construction’, which is defined as a pairing of form and meaning, to describe the properties of complex words. Therefore, on the basis of a construction-based approach and regarding a descriptive-analytic method, the authors try to represent the systematically semantic varieties of "-ār", possible schemas and subschemas and also the hierarchical structures, based on which, [x-ar] construction has been achieved. The data analyzed in this study has been gathered from three sources: Reverse Dictionary (Zansu) (Keshani, 1993), Persian Linguistic Database (PLDB) and FarsNet. Then, the extracted words have been examined in Farhang-e Bozorg-e Sokhan (Anvari, 2002) and obsolete items have been excluded. The findings of the research show that “-ār” has seven different meanings (functions) and thus we can consider it as a polysemous suffix. Its polysemy is not explainable at the level of words, but at the level of abstract schemas; hence, it is called “constructional polysemy”. The results of this study indicate that "entity with relation R to SEM" is the prototypical meaning of [x-ār] which is the most abstract correlation among meaning and form in Persian language.

Abstract This study set out to examine the use of Kurdish kinship terms comparing with Persian borrowed equivalents in Kalhori Kurdish. Matras (2009), Treffers-Daller (2010) and Muysken, (1987) were frequently cited and adopted as theoretical model. Methodologically, this study is quantitative and descriptive. To achieve the goals, a list composed of almost all Kurdish kinship terms together with Persian borrowed equivalents were distributed among the participants to choose from. Based on gender, age and educational backgrounds, the subjects were divided to eight groups: young male/ female educated; old male/ female educated; young male/ female uneducated; old male/ female uneducated participants. For each group, 10 people were selected randomly. Therefore, a total number of 80 participants were selected to respond to the provided list through interview. For each kinship term, different contexts were provided and then the participants were asked to choose either the local kinship term or the borrowed one from Persian. To analyze the data, SPSS (version 23) was employed. As for the statistical test, ANOVA was employed to find any meaningful relation between the three independent variables of the study (age, gender and educational background) and the participants’ choice among the Kurdish kinship terms and Persian borrowed ones (dependent variable). Unlike the predictions of the theory of borrowing hierarchy (Muysken (1987), the results indicated the Kurdish kinship terms were used much more frequently than their (more prestigious) Persian equivalents in Klahori Kurdish. Different groups employed at least 54.5% to 100% Kurdish kinship terms. Since, no Kurdish lexical gap was found in the provided list, the results were in line with the predictions of the theory of lexical gap (Matras, 2009). Regarding the attested variations among different groups, the statistical employed test (ANOVA) showed that education and age play a meaningful role, while, sex was found to be statistically insignificant.

Abstract In different cultures, people use space to make linguistic representations of time. In general, there are two different approaches toward deictic time expressions: a Moving Time Metaphor and a Moving Ego Metaphor. In the Moving Time metaphor, time is conceived as moving forward, while in a Moving Ego Metaphor, a moving observer is conceptualized. The purpose of this research is to explore the effect of cultural artifacts on metaphorical comprehension of time expressions in Persian language. In this regard, following Duffy and Feist (2014), the present study was carried out based on the ambiguous question: Wednesday's Meeting suggested by McGlone and Harding (1998). The first experiment directly explores the relationship between responses to the Wednesday's Meeting question in two calendar and meta-language conditions. The second experiment examines the special cultural relations between space and time and the role of the Persian orthography direction in the time reasoning. In the third experiment, based on circular representations of time, the role of the analog clock in resolving the ambiguity is examined from the Noon's Meeting question. This was done by comparing the responses of the participants with the clockwise clock and counterclockwise clock. To this end, 40 Persian speakers were selected from the students of Sistan and Baluchestan University. Chi-square test (using SPSS software) was used for statistical analysis. The findings of this study show that the viewpoint of individuals about the motion of events in time is not only due to their experience in space movement, but also is rooted in their interactive patterns of cultural artifacts as well. In addition, the results show that in interpreting ambiguous metaphorical time expressions, individuals automatically access spatial representations of time and use them. The participants who encountered with reverse space-time mappings had an interference in their responses, reflected through their time reasoning. Consequently, they provide a more precise form of representations of time than merely symbolic speech. Hence, cultural artifacts play an important role in the cognitive process of embodiment, which not only help to recognize embodiment, but also affect it.

Abstract Typology is a branch of linguistics which studies the structural similarities between languages, regardless of their history. Linguistic studies have proven that different languages in the world have similarities which called Language Universals. Study of Word Order is one of the most important topics in Typology of language, because of languages are more diverse in this respect, and this diversity is a tool for typological studies. One of these diversities is sequence of Relative Clause and Noun. Topologists have identified two types: Relative Clause – Noun (Rel N) and Noun - Relative Clause (N Rel). In their view, these two sequences correlate with the arrangement of the main constituents of language in particular (verb and object).Consequently, according to their predictions, (N Rel) sequence is predominantly in VO languages, and (Rel N) sequence in OV languages. In the present article, we study relative clause in Persian and Arabic languages in order to clarify what are the characteristics of relative clause in both languages and what are the similarities and differences between them. In addition, the research seeks to study the sequence of noun and relative clause in the light of the views of Topologists. The research method is descriptive-analytical and the sentences are collected from different official texts of both Persian and Arabic languages. Over ten thousand sentences were studied .The findings of the study showed that Persian and Arabic languages follow the dominant global pattern in the sequence of relative clause and noun, meaning that both languages have the sequence (N Rel). In this context, however, the Persian language does not follow the predictions made for the ending verbs or OV languages. While the Arabic language is consistent with the predictions presented for VO languages. Also another result of this study is that the phenomenon of relative clause movement in Persian language is possible but not in Arabic.

Abstract The term “binomials” in the literature refers to the sequence of two words pertaining to the same form-class, and ordinarily connected by some kind of lexical link. In this term, “nomi” (which means “name”) doesn’t refer to names only, but it is a cover term and can refer to names, adjectives, verbs, adverbs and conjunctions. One important point in binomials relates to the order of constituents. In this regard, there is a model called Constraints’ Model which was proposed by Mollin (2014). The Constraints’ Model has some constraints which determine the order of constituents in binomials. The constraints of this model are: semantic-pragmatic constraints, nonmetrical-phonological constraints, metrical-phonological constraints, and frequency and alphabetic order constraints. The constraints in the model compete with each other to determine the order of constituents in the binomials. In this model, there is the possibility that one constraint can determine the order of constituents in some binomials, but it is possible that it can’t determine the order of constituents in all binomials. The reason for separating these four constituents from each other is that they have differences from each other. In this model, the constituents interact with each other and they have often significant correlations with each other. The paper aims to analyze Persian binomials based on Constraints’ Model and to determine their interactions with each other and finally to rank the constraints. To do the research, the data, including 534 Persian binomials, were analyzed based on Constraints’ Model.  Then the model’ constraints were ranked according to Persian binomials, finally the competition and interaction of the constraints were determined in the Persian language. The results showed that non-metrical-phonological constraints can explain the most of Persian binomials, so they rank first, but semantic-pragmatic constraints can explain the least of Persian binomials, so they rank last.

Abstract Accounting for the verbal agreement and its interaction with case marking in both accusative and ergative alignments have always been an interesting line of investigation in generative syntax. Two main approaches have been proposed in this regard within the general framework of Minimalism. The first one, referred to as the classic approach in the available literature, envisages agreement as a parallel mechanism with case marking, taking place in narrow syntax. The second approach, generally known as dependent case-marking approach, not only separates agreement from case marking, but also analyzes it as a two-step phenomenon being unfolded  both in narrow syntax, through Agree-Link, and PF, through Agree-Copy. Employing the theoretical apparatus of the dependent case-marking approach, the present paper seeks to study the patterns of verbal agreement in ergative constructions in Hawrami. The explanatory adequacy of this very approach is specifically observed in the theoretical analysis of a special type of ergative constructions in which the direct object takes the form of a possessive NP. The manner through which the possessor of the direct object is overtly manifested in these ergative constructions can determine the outcome of the verbal agreement: if the possessor is expressed via person-marker clitics, the verb agrees in person and number with the possessor, however, if the possessor is realized as an overt NP, the verb agrees with the possessed element. With the intention of analyzing this pattern, it is argued that in both cases the potential targets which the head of T, and consequently the main verb, can agree with are determined in narrow syntax, through Agree-Link while the ultimate form of the agreement affix is determined post-syntactically via Agree-Copy. More specifically, we maintain that Agree-Copy has a direct access to the internal structure of potential targets, and this very fact plays a vital role in determination of agreement patterns.