Language Research

Research Paper

Manipulation of the Acoustic Variables of Yes/No Questions for the Purpose of Turning them into Statements Based on Tilt Model

Marziyeh Badiee; Batool alinezhad; Vali Rezai

Volume 10, Issue 1 , June 2019, Pages 1-19

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2019.71998

Abstract

This paper investigates intonational characteristics of yes/no questions in contrast to statements in Persian. Based on Tilt model, acoustic variables including duration, pitch amplitude ... Read More

Research Paper

Sincerity of Ta’arofs Across Genders in Persian Language: A Cognitive Approach

Maryam Bordbar; Arsalan Golfam; Sahar Bahrami; Hayat Ameri

Volume 10, Issue 1 , June 2019, Pages 21-37

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2019.71999

Abstract

This paper deals with the sincerity of Persian language Ta’arofs across genders. The sincerity is evaluated by means of cultural schemas. Data that is gathered from different ... Read More This paper deals with the sincerity of Persian language Ta’arofs across genders. The sincerity is evaluated by means of cultural schemas. Data that is gathered from different conversational contexts and Iranian films is analyzed by conversation analysis method. Using emic approach, the researchers identify fifteen underlying cultural schemas for Persian Ta’arofs and represent a model. To fulfill this aim, the Ta’arofs with similar illocutionary forces are identified and classified as cultural micro-schemas. Each class is given a title and the first encoding is done. To make sure about the validity of the classifications two inter-raters are employed. Then the concepts which are considered as the basis for these micro-schemas in Iranian culture are identified and labeled as macro-schemas. The Ta’arofs are evaluated in questionnaires in terms of sincerity they are associated with across genders. Ta’arofs and their contexts are presented in the questionnaire and the subjects are asked to evaluate the sincerity of Ta’arofs. Ta’arofs are chosen from both genders’ conversations equivalently and distributed in the questionnaire with different cultural schemas. The evaluation of data demonstrates that despite the common belief that men’s Ta’arofs are more sincere than women’s, there wasn’t any significant difference between their degrees of sincerity. Moreover, considering that the most and the least sincere Ta’arofs belong to women, we can say that the range of sincerity of Ta’arofs is wider in women than in men. The underlying micro-schemas of the most sincere Ta’arofs in women and men are respectively sympathy (Hamdeli) and compliment (Tahsin); and, the underlying micro-schemas of the least sincere Ta’arofs are respectively hospitality (Mehmannavazi) and Shekastehnafsi in women and men. Although the underlying micro-schemas of the most (in) sincere Ta’arofs are different in the two genders and reflect social and psychological differences between them, the underlying macro-schemas obey the notion of distributive cognition.

Research Paper

Allomorph Alternation in Ezafe/Possessive Constructions in Sanandaji Kurdish: A Distributed Morphology Approach

Fatemeh Bahrami; Sadaf Kalami

Volume 10, Issue 1 , June 2019, Pages 39-58

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2019.72000

Abstract

Conditions governing Ezafe/possessive marker allomorphy in Sanandaji Kurdish are of vital importance. There are four possible cases for the head noun of Ezafe construction; i.e. it ... Read More Conditions governing Ezafe/possessive marker allomorphy in Sanandaji Kurdish are of vital importance. There are four possible cases for the head noun of Ezafe construction; i.e. it can be definite and accompanied by an adjective; definite without any adjective complement; and indefinite with or without an adjective complement. Also, there are two possible cases for the head noun of possessive constructions; i.e. it is always definite, but it may be accompanied by an adjective complement or not. Amongst them, there is just one case with an evident case marker «=æ»: A definite noun phrase accompanied by an adjective reflects the Ezafe/possessive relation by linker «=æ», otherwise «=i» inserts. Hence, the rationale behind the aforementioned morpho-syntactic conditions is a challenging issue in Ezafe/possessive constructions. Furthermore the distinctive interpretation of the two constructions; is not to be disregarded just the possessive construction bears the meaning of possession. The present paper aims at investigating Ezafe/possessive constructions from a Distributed Morphology view and provides an analysis of their derivations which explains the structural similarities and constraints determining the alternation of case marking. It is supposed, the value of features in «Ez» determines the winner of the competition between «=æ» and «=i». Accordingly, when uninterpretable features in node Ez are valued as [Ez, +MOD, +DEF], «=æ» inserts into the node, and in other three cases, based on the under-specification principle «=i» inserts. Also, the difference in morphological features of the Complement of EzP nodes is responsible for the distinctive meaning of Ez- and Possessive constructions. In possessive constructions, the head of the adjective phrase, as a complement of EzP, contains an uninterpretable feature [POSS] which must be satisfied by merging EzP node with a possessive complement. Therefore the difference is related to the complement of EzP not the Ez node itself.

Research Paper

A Psycho-Semiotic Analysis of Young Adult Novel «Mosabeghe.com» Based on Deconstructional Approach

Amir Hossein Rahimi Zanjanbar; Fateme Bostani; Hossein Zare

Volume 10, Issue 1 , June 2019, Pages 59-82

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2019.72001

Abstract

Deconstruction is critiquing the hierarchical oppositions which comprise the basis of the western ideology system; oppositions such as in / out, presence / absence. To deconstruct and ... Read More Deconstruction is critiquing the hierarchical oppositions which comprise the basis of the western ideology system; oppositions such as in / out, presence / absence. To deconstruct and opposition is to show that it is not natural and inevitable but a construction, produced by discourses that rely on it, and to show that it is construction in a work of deconstruction that seeks to dismantle it - that is, not destroy it but give it a different structure and functioning. As a mode of reading, that is a "teasing out of warring forces of signification within a text", an investigation of the tension between modes of signification, as between the performative and constative dimensions of language. Semiology is a method of reading texts, such as deconstruction, which can be employed in a myiad of approaches while treating a text. Considering that semiology is the study of signs in a discource, the current research does a semiotics reading of the young adult novel ''Mosabeghe.com'' through the lens of Derrida’s deconstruction, as one of the most significant poststructuralist approaches. Since a poststructuralist analysis aims to introduce possibilities of new significations in the text, the poststructuralist reading of the named text results in a new reading, opposing the dominant method of reading texts. On the one hand, Derrida agrees with Freud that the structure of experience, as that of the trace, rests on absence and distance; thus, to do a psychoanalytic treatment of the text, the present research studies the relationship between Freud’s tripartite model, id/ego/superego, and Derrida’s method of «deconstruction» in the abovementioned story, as well as the relationship between Nicolajeva’s tripartite model-children’s story, prelapsarian / carnivalesque / postlapsarian, poststructuralist semiology. Considering noticeable lack of research in the field of semiology in children’s literature in Iran for the first time, and also strategically deconstructs the relationship between poststructuralism and psychoanalysis.

Research Paper

Epenthesis in Persian: A phonetic Study

Vahid Sadeghi

Volume 10, Issue 1 , June 2019, Pages 83-104

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2019.72002

Abstract

The present paper is an experimental study that addresses the insertion of the palatal glide [j] and glottal consonants [h] and [?] to prevent vowel hiatus in Persian. Data included ... Read More

Research Paper

Investigation of Logical Mechanisms of Pre-school Children’s Humorous Productions

sarira keramati Yazdi; Shahla Sharifi; Ali Alizadeh; Atiye Kamyabi Gol

Volume 10, Issue 1 , June 2019, Pages 105-127

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2019.72003

Abstract

The objective of the present paper is to investigate the production of humor in pre-school children in linguistics point of view on the basis of Logical Mechanism Knowledge Resource. ... Read More

Research Paper

Antonym Sequence in Persian: A Corpus-Based Study

Mandana Kolahdouz Mohamadi; Ali Reza Gholi Famian; Ferdows Aghagolzadeh

Volume 10, Issue 1 , June 2019, Pages 129-140

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2019.72004

Abstract

Antonymy is a kind of lexical-semantic relationship between two words that are similar in many aspects out imply opposite meanings. The few previous studies as well as the authors’ ... Read More Antonymy is a kind of lexical-semantic relationship between two words that are similar in many aspects out imply opposite meanings. The few previous studies as well as the authors’ initial study on the oral and written corpus reveal that antonyms’ sequence is subject to a hidden regularity. In the study of antonyms’ distribution, their sequence, i.e. A-B or B-A is considered. Earlier studies and observations of writers regarding oral and written corpus indicates a hidden order in the sequence of antonymous pairs. Jones (2002) attempts to reveal this order in light of seven rules, i.e., morphological derivation, positivity, magnitude, chronology, gender, phonology and idiomaticity. In this study, we investigated the sequence of antonymous pairs in a researcher made Persian corpus. The detected and extracted samples include 4000 sentences taken from written and oral genres produced since 1970s to 2010s in Iranian mass media. The texts include journalistic, narrative and scientific texts as well as oral files extracted from movies, TV, and radio programs. To consider radical changes in Persian language, texts exchanged in virtual space such as facebook messages are also taken into account. The diversity of subject and historical order of the texts would help up to work on a natural, well-balanced corpus, and would provide us a platform for a diachronic approach. The samples are collected randomly. As far as the part of speech is concerned, in forming antonymous pairs, the category of nouns tops followed respectively by verbs, adjectives, adverbs and pronouns. The findings indicate that the framework introduced in Jones (2002) could explain almost half of the sequences attested in the corpus. Rules of idiomaticity, phonology, positivity, morphological derivation are more effective and in some cases the cultural and contextual differences may explain the sequence. It was also revealed that the unmarked member mostly precedes the marked one. This finding is consistent with previous studies conducted on markedness.

Research Paper

Syntactico-Semantic Study of Some Kurdish (Sorani Dialect) True Prepositions Based on Nanosyntax

Ebrahim Moradi; Abbas Ali Ahangar; Gholamhosain Karimi doustan

Volume 10, Issue 1 , June 2019, Pages 141-160

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2019.72005

Abstract

In Nanosyntax theory, terminal nodes contain syntactico-semantic features which are smaller than morphemes. Most of the morphemes are spread over several terminal nodes. Therefore, ... Read More In Nanosyntax theory, terminal nodes contain syntactico-semantic features which are smaller than morphemes. Most of the morphemes are spread over several terminal nodes. Therefore, morphemes project on subtrees rather than the terminal nodes. Each terminal node comprises one specific feature. The features are arranged in a universal hierarchy namely functional sequence and follow the principle one morphosyntactic property-one feature-one head. In this theory, following cartographic approach, the universality of underlying syntactic structures and the fixed order Determiner-Head-Complement are adopted. Also, the lexicon encompasses subtrees which contain conceptual and phonological information. In this regard, a lexical entry will be minimally of the form: . In addition, Spell-out is an operation through which the derived syntactic trees are linked with saved subtrees in the lexical entries in lexicon. This article analytically studies the syntax and semantics of some Kurdish simple prepositions based on nanosyntax. As morphological complexity mirrors the syntactic complexity and in some languages the relationship between the morphemes and the syntactic head/semantic features representing them is one to one, this relationship should be induced in the underlying syntactic structure of all languages. Studying the present research data according to Baker’s mirror principle and Chomsky’s uniformity principle shows that though simple prepositions in Kurdish are monomorphic, all of them, except for the preposition l{ (at) with one feature (Place), include more than one feature, that is, there is no one to one relation between their syntactic head/semantic features and their morphology. The preposition bO: (to) contains Place and Goal, the preposition l{ (from) contains Place, Goal and Source, the preposition b{r{w (towards) includes Place, Goal and Scale and the preposition ta (till) is made up of Place, Goal and Bound features. The preposition w{/b{ (by, to) as an instrumental preposition contains instrument, dative, genitive, accusative and nominative features and when denoting dative, it includes dative, genitive, accusative and nominative features. The present study also presents the feature arrangements of these prepositions and the reasons of syncretism in l{ and w{, as well.

Research Paper

The Corpus-Based Study of Ezafe Construction in Persian

minoo nassajian; Razieh Shojaei; Mohammad Bahrani

Volume 10, Issue 1 , June 2019, Pages 161-182

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2019.72007

Abstract

Ezafe construction is considered as one of the most important issues in various linguistic theories including phonetics, morphology and syntax and many Iranian linguists have analyzed ... Read More Ezafe construction is considered as one of the most important issues in various linguistic theories including phonetics, morphology and syntax and many Iranian linguists have analyzed this phenomenon from these different aspects. Ezafe marker is usually not written in Persian text. So, not only does it result in a high degree of ambiguity in reading, analyzing, and understanding Persian documents, but also it causes serious difficulties for a large number of natural language processing tasks (NLP) such as part-of-speech (POS) tagging, Named-Entity Recognition (NER), Co-reference Resolution, Converting Text to Speech, Machine Translation, syntactic parsing and so on. As a result, determining the positions of Ezafe in a given sentence is viewed as a controversial and challenging issue especially in these applications. Using a corpus-based analysis and dependency grammar, the current paper sets to study Ezafe positions. Due to the fact that dependency grammar applies a simple parsing, uses low memory and speeds up computer operations, this grammar is regarded as one of the important and practical grammars in the field of computational linguistics. Accordingly, this study will use a rule-based method within this framework to recognize Ezafe positions. For this purpose, all Ezafe constructions which are provided in Uppsala Persian Dependency Corpus (UPDC) are analyzed based on dependency relations. In the next step, only seven Ezafe rules are formulated consisting of such non-verbal phrases as noun phrases, adjective phrases, prepositional phrases, adverb phrases, phrases with more than one post-modifier, phrases with more than one post-modifier as a phrase and co-ordinations. The proposed rules can be used in Persian dependency corpora and a great number of language processing tasks which are based on dependency relations. In addition, in the present research, Ezafe positions which have not been mentioned in previous theoretical and computational studies will be elaborated.

Research Paper

Selection of the Request Speech Act Strategies in Kurdish Regarding two Social Factors: Gender and Power

Chiya Sheykhmohammadi; Nahid Yarahmadzehi; Amir Mohamadian

Volume 10, Issue 1 , June 2019, Pages 183-202

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2019.72008

Abstract

This research, conducted in the field of pragmatics and sociolinguistics, aims at the describing and analyzing the type and number of request strategies in Kurdish, Mokri dialect, regarding ... Read More This research, conducted in the field of pragmatics and sociolinguistics, aims at the describing and analyzing the type and number of request strategies in Kurdish, Mokri dialect, regarding the effectiveness or non-effectiveness of social factors as the gender of user and the power of addressee. To this end, for data collection, a revised version of Discourse Completion Test (DCT) including 12 situations was distributed among 130 (65 males and 65 females) Mokri Kurdish speakers in Mahabad city located in the southern of West Azabayejan province. They were in the age range of 25 to 35, holding at least a bachelor degree. Besides the questionaire, direct observation consisting of 7 hours of everyday normal conversations in various situations and different contexts was employed to collect more natural and reliable data. As the main theoretical framework for the present study, Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Project (CCSARP) coding scheme used by Blum-Kulka, House and Kasper (1989) was employed and Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness theory was used as the peripheral framework. Results of the research showed a significant difference across genders in selection of the type of request strategis and the power of addressee had a significant effect on choosing the strategies. It was also shown that power and gender had an interactive effect on the selection of these strategies. According to supporting strategies of the "negative and positive faces" in Brown and Levinson’s (1987) theory, it was found that Kurdish people as the members of one cooperative group mostly employed positive face saving acts in their communications and interactions. The research findings indicate that it is about time for linguists as educational planners to consider these sociolinguistic differences in teaching Kurdish language to non-Kurdish people in order to prevent any probable mishaps in their communications and interactions with Kurdish speakers.

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Volume & Issue: Volume 10, Issue 1, June 2019, Pages 1-226

Manipulation of the Acoustic Variables of Yes/No Questions for the Purpose of Turning them into Statements Based on Tilt Model

Abstract

Sincerity of Ta’arofs Across Genders in Persian Language: A Cognitive Approach

Abstract

Allomorph Alternation in Ezafe/Possessive Constructions in Sanandaji Kurdish: A Distributed Morphology Approach

Abstract

A Psycho-Semiotic Analysis of Young Adult Novel «Mosabeghe.com» Based on Deconstructional Approach

Abstract

Epenthesis in Persian: A phonetic Study

Abstract

Investigation of Logical Mechanisms of Pre-school Children’s Humorous Productions

Abstract

Antonym Sequence in Persian: A Corpus-Based Study

Abstract

Syntactico-Semantic Study of Some Kurdish (Sorani Dialect) True Prepositions Based on Nanosyntax

Abstract

The Corpus-Based Study of Ezafe Construction in Persian

Abstract

Selection of the Request Speech Act Strategies in Kurdish Regarding two Social Factors: Gender and Power

Abstract