Language Related Research (23223081)7(5)pp. 309-341
The aim of this study is to determine the underlying laryngeal feature of Persian obstruents in final position and their neutralizations based on the concepts of Laryngeal Phonology and acoustic measurements. Four female speakers read the words inserted in three carrier sentences. Hence the effect of three environments on neutralization phenomenon has been investigated: pre-silence word final position, pre-vowel word final position, pre-obstruent word final position. Applying Praat software (version 5315) seven acoustic correlates of voicing distinction have been extracted from the data: vowel duration, consonant duration, voice bar duration, voice rate, voice onset time, burst duration and intensity of burst. After statistical analysis, underlying laryngeal feature has been specified based on the concepts of laryngeal phonology. The findings show that the distinctive dimension in Persian obstruents is GW which is not neutralized in final position. Furthermore, Persian unmarked phonemes are passively voiced in inter-sonorant position. Thus Persian, like other Germanic languages, is an aspiration language in which GW is phonologically specified. © 2019 University of Minnesota Press. All rights reserved.
Language Related Research (23223081)7(5)pp. 91-118
The present study, using some morphological Persian constructions, explores Morphological Doubling Theory (Inkelas and Zoll 2005, henceforth MDT) and its essential claim as regards resulting reduplication when the morphology calls twice for a constituent of a given semantic description. In contrast to the previous theories and approaches categorizing reduplication as phonological duplication, MDT categorizes it generally as reduplication of given morpho- semantic features. To answer the research question and know whether the formation of Persian reduplicated constructions are explainable and justifiable in MDT framework or not, using two categories of semantic and morphotactic evidence, some Persian data are analyzed in MDT framework. Semantic evidence such as root allomorphoy, synonym constructions, echo reduplication, medial full reduplication and antonym constructions together with morphotactic evidence such as ezafe vowel, indifference-ke construction, interfix, linker or enclitic and melodic overwriting are some pieces of used evidence for exploring MDT framework in the studied constructions in Persian. The present study, with a descriptive-analytic method, has been carried out by studying some Persian data gathered through people’s daily natural conversations, written works on Persian morphology and authors’ intuition. Analyzing the gathered data reveals that adopting MDT, in addition to presenting a comprehensive description and analysis of Persian reduplication, makes it possible to describe and study the structure and semantic of the reduplicated constructions that were not appropriately analyzable previously. © 2016, Tarbiat Modares University. All rights reserved.
Language Related Research (23223081)5(4)pp. 149-170
This paper aims to investigate the ways in which socio-linguistic parameters such as gender contribute into the turn organization of defense sessions. Interruption plays an important role in the organization of turn taking in the interactions of defense sessions. The current paper is then primarily focused on the description and analysis of interruptions in the interactions of dissertation defense sessions of Persian speakers using the “community of practice” approach. A number of discourse and pragmatic functions (e.g. defense, directiveness, cooperation, competition, etc.) have been identified for interruptions in relation to the power relations of interlocutors in the interactions. Apart from qualitative analysis, some quantitative findings have been provided for further clarification. The analysis of data shows that it is mainly the social status of a speaker that influences the types and frequency of interruption rather than his/her gender. In other words, the social variable does not play an important role in the interruption for turn organization in the defense sessions of Persian speakers. © 2015, Tarbiat Modares University. All rights reserved.
Language Related Research (23223081)6(4)pp. 122-152
The contrastive function of [spread glottis] in the description of stops and fricatives has been approved in many languages, such as English, but its role in the phonological behavior of Persian stops, not fricatives, has been discussed yet. This paper based on Glottal timing theory shows that regarding this laryngeal feature in the description of Persian fricatives has got phonetic plausibility. By taking its contractiveness into account, Persian phonetic possibilities, then, regarding this feature has been dedicated in the framework of derivational approach. The results also show that applying this feature brings more economic and efficient analyses about some superficial unrelated phonological processes such as spirantisization of velar stop, fricativization of aspirated onsets and postfricative voicing based on autosegmental and optimality theoreis. This is why this paper suggests that voiceless fricatives together with voceless stops would form a natural class based on the shared feature, that is [+spread], and their voiced counterparts form a natural class due to shared [-spread] as well. © 2015, Tarbiat Modares University. All rights reserved.
