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Publication Date: 2025
Language Related Research (23223081)16(2)pp. 279-304
Employing Construction Morphology (CM), the present study aims to examine the Persian compound words, ending in the verb stem “bast”. The data is comprised of 51 compound words and 1791 attested sentences. The latter body of data comes from various reliable sources, including the diachronic corpus of Farhangyar-e Zaban-e Farsi, the synchronic corpus of Persian Language Database, Bijankhan Corpus, Iranian Geographical Dictionary, Zansou Dictionary (1372), Dehkhoda Dictionary (1377), Persian Wikipedia webpage, and Google webpages. The findings suggest that semantic variations of these compounds figure in the concepts of Action, Location, and Instrument. Accordingly, the dominating schema and sub-schemas of theses words, and their relations are described. The study also suggests that approximation-along with metaphoric and metonymic extensions-has a role in the expansion of the schema. © 2025, Tarbiat Modares University. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 2023
Language Related Research (23223081)14(5)pp. 27-58
In the present study, we analyze the semantic fragmentation and conventionalization in Persian compound nouns ending in the verbal stems –andāz „throw‟,-band „fasten/close,‟-foruš „sell‟,-gir „catch‟,-keš „pull‟,-paz „cook‟,-yāb „find‟, and-zan „hit‟ from the usage-based perspective. The analysis is based on a 800 data set extracted from diachronic and synchronic corpora. The words produced from the general compounding pattern [XV PRS]N can be categorized in a range of semantic categories, including agent, instrument, location, and object. In describing the semantic fragmentation of [XV PRS]N, we propose the human agent as the starting meaning, from which the instrument sub-pattern is derived by the mechanism of metaphorical extension. However, to justify the object and location meanings, we consider the metonymic extension mechanism to be involved. The sense extension mechanisms do not only apply to the individual words but can happen on the pattern level. It is also argued that these mechanisms are not mechanically applied to all the patterns ending in the verbal stems, instead, it is the usage and the communicative needs of the speakers that determine the semantic fragmentation of any patterns. To illustrate this point, as a case study, we focus on the development of instrument meaning in the pattern [X-pazPRS]N. We show that the instrument sub-pattern is a recent linguistic phenomenon that coincides with the introduction of modern In the present study, we analyze the semantic fragmentation and conventionalization in Persian compound nouns ending in the verbal stems –andāz „throw‟,-band „fasten/close,‟-foruš „sell‟,-gir „catch‟,-keš „pull‟,-paz „cook‟,-yāb „find‟, and-zan „hit‟ from the usage-based perspective. The analysis is based on a 800 data set extracted from diachronic and synchronic corpora. The words produced from the general compounding pattern [XV PRS]N can be categorized in a range of semantic categories, including agent, instrument, location, and object. In describing the semantic fragmentation of [XV PRS]N, we propose the human agent as the starting meaning, from which the instrument sub-pattern is derived by the mechanism of metaphorical extension. However, to justify the object and location meanings, we consider the metonymic extension mechanism to be involved. The sense extension mechanisms do not only apply to the individual words but can happen on the pattern level. It is also argued that these mechanisms are not mechanically applied to all the patterns ending in the verbal stems, instead, it is the usage and the communicative needs of the speakers that determine the semantic fragmentation of any patterns. To illustrate this point, as a case study, we focus on the development of instrument meaning in the pattern [X-pazPRS]N. We show that the instrument sub-pattern is a recent linguistic phenomenon that coincides with the introduction of modern cooking equipment with mostly English names to Iranian society. The increasing use of these types of equipment has led to a new communicative need for naming such instruments. This extra-linguistic factor has motivated the pattern [X-pazPRS]N to be extended through analogy with English compound instrument nouns. The findings of this study may contribute to the understanding of word-formation patterns in general and compounding patterns in particular. © 2023, Tarbiat Modares University. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 2022
Cognitive Linguistic Studies (22138722)9(2)pp. 297-322
The current paper offers an analysis of a set of 27 entrenched endocentric, exocentric, and copulative ab (water)-noun nominal compounds in Persian with both right- and left-headed compounds, based on the network model of conceptual blending theory. Given that an emergent meaning is involved in endocentric and copulative compounds, the same as in exocentric compounds, the paper argues that all types of compounds can be insightfully defined as conceptual blends. However, the conceptual blending network model fails to show the distinct role of head and modifier in the overall meaning of compounds, on the one hand, and the qualifying difference in the extent of emergent meaning among various types of compound words, on the other hand. Our study also lends support to a correspondence between the continuum of integration networks and the continuum of figurativity in compounds. © 2022 John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Publication Date: 2022
Constructions and Frames (18761933)14(2)pp. 262-300
In this paper we analyse a family of compound constructions in Persian that show two interesting properties: (1) they split into two semantic patterns, human agent noun and instrument noun, and (2) they display categorial ambiguity between noun and adjective. The compounds in question, which are formed with the verbal stem -yāb ‘find’, are collected from diachronic and synchronic corpora and analysed in the framework of Construction Morphology (Booij 2010). We argue that the instrumental pattern is an innovation under the influence of loan-translated English instrument nouns. This pattern dovetailed with a much older morphological construction for human agent nouns. This raises questions about the relation between the two constructions in the contemporary speaker’s lexicon. For the dual functionality of the words as nouns and adjectives, we argue that it can be understood as a second order schema (Booij & Masini 2015) or sister construction (Jackendoff & Audring 2019, 2020), whereby no precedence is ascribed to either of the two patterns. © John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Publication Date: 2022
Language Related Research (23223081)13(2)pp. 623-654
The acoustic information can be evidence for many considered matters in other linguistics areas, especially in spoken morphology and speech processing. The present study investigates the Persian derivational words of prefixes and the degree of parsability in processing, understanding, and receiving the meaning of derived words by some acoustic evidence. For this reason, the derived words of the prefixes «nɑ», «ham», and «farɑ» and their bases were extracted from the Institute of Humanities. We chose two parsable and non-parsable derived words of each derivational prefix and put them in carrier sentences. Then, We investigate the acoustic features such as duration, pitch, formants, intensity, duration of maximum intensity, and the clarity of transition point The results show that the relative duration of parsable words is more than non-parsable words. The degree of co-articulation in pitch frequency, first, second, and third formant frequency of non-parsable words in transition points of affix and base and statically position of affix is more than parsable words because of incorporation and without potential pauses. In non-parsable words, the relative maximum duration of intensity is more with the smooth trend. So, the clarity of formants in parsable words is more than in non-parsable words at the transition points. © 2022, Tarbiat Modares University. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 2021
Language Related Research (23223081)11(6)pp. 35-68
A number of linguistic studies on compounding have acknowledged that due to the existence of head element, endocentric compounds are semantically compositional and transparent. The current study aims to focus on the semantic aspect of Persian endocentric compounds to show that: 1) in some cases, the existence of head element does not entail the semantic compositionality and simplicity of conceptual structure in endocentric compounds, and 2) compound words which are categorized as endocentric compounds differ in terms of the complexity of conceptual structure. Considering that the ability of Conceptual Blending Theory (Fauconnier & Turner, 2002) to describe meaning construction in compound words has been previously approved by some cognitive linguists, this theory has been applied to analyze meaning construction in a number of Persian endocentric noun-noun nominal compounds. A close analysis reveals that although some endocentric compounds are semantically compositional and prompt for simplex networks, there are endocentric compounds which are not semantically as transparent and compositional. In this kind of endocentric compounds, metaphor or metonymy has affected the modifier element, thus meaning construction triggers singlescope networks which are neither as complex as double-scope networks nor as simple and compositional as simplex networks. This result implies the diversity of conceptual structure in words which are defined as endocentric compounds.. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Publication Date: 2018
Language Related Research (23223081)8(7)pp. 183-208
Coercion is a long-discussed issue in linguistics and its mechanisms have been imaged differently. This article tries to introduce the theoreticians' views about the nature of coercion and analyzes this phenomenon in some morphological and syntactic Persian colloquial data. It is supposed that this analysis will elucidate some points in Persian morphology and syntax. This study relies on the framework proposed by Audring and Booij (2016). According to this approach we will expound three coercion mechanisms or effects: selection, enrichment and override. In coercion by selection, the resulting meaning is a part of the semantic repertoire of the coerced word to begin with. From this perspective, coercion works largely ‘bottom-up’, with only a light role for the context selecting one interpretation from the range of alternative readings. In coercion by enrichment, lexical semantics is preserved, but augmented in context. It represents a stronger ‘top-down’ influence, adding meaning to the utterance. In coercion by override, in turn, contextual ‘top-down’ force is strongest; it modifies, replaces, or removes properties of the coerced item. The current research is presented within the framework of Construntion Grammar. The data is based on the the analysis of modern Persian colloquial data drawn from the oral data, including radio and television programs and the researcher's interactions with others and also Google Persian sites sentences. The data analyzed showed that we can put all three above mentioned mechanisms along a single axis, considering the degree of top-down influence of complex morphological and syntactic constructions on the lexical semantics or category of the unified element. Idiomatic constructions are the most radical coercion of the override type. The present study shows the applicability of the approach in Persian data analysis. Moreover, it shows that coercion can support the notion of 'construction' and subsequently the Construction Grammar. Using coercion besides construction, this study presents a new analysis for making not only words basad on possible words but also the so-called fake infinitives. © 2018, Tarbiat Modares University. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 2017
Language Related Research (23223081)8(8Tome38)pp. 43-66
In the present paper, we aim to apply the Conceptual Blending Theory proposed by Fauconnier and Turner (2002) to the analysis of one poem by Garous Abdolmalekian. Our hypothesis rests upon the fact that the same cognitive operations which occur in everyday construction and understanding of language as put forth by Blending theorists, occur also at the construction and interpretation of a literary work by authors and readers alike, operations like setting of input mental spaces, cross-space matching, blending clashing material and creating emergent structure. The poem examined in the paper, "lahzeye sheni" ("the sandy moment") is quite a long poem divided into five stanzas. The method used in the examination is a descriptive-analytic one. To use conceptual means of Blending, each stanza is a blend behind which stands an integration network composed of two input spaces which have projected selective structure onto the blend leading to emergent structure in it. For example, in one stanza, what is presented is an image in which black pieces of paper thrown out of the window turn into crows and fetch on the tree branches. This is a blend created out of two inputs of crows and black pieces of paper which are integrated together through the compression of the vital relation of Change. In general, it can be assumed that the poet, while creating the work, has passed through theses mental stages before he comes up with the present form of the poem; that is, he has formed two mental input spaces, and then merged them together only to bring about a novel concept, some emerge structure, which is the poem itself. The assumption can be extended so as to include the reader on the other side of this act of communication: the reader also, on their encounter with the poem, in order to make sense of it, has to unpack the blend which is presented to him in the poem. The reader, through the mechanisms of disintegration and decompression, try to reconstruct the mental phases the author has gone through while creating the work, and thus to gain an interpretation of it. In conclusion, what this paper reveals is the fact that literary works depend upon the same basic mental operations, here the operation of blending, which are at work in like non-literary works. Moreover, a good reader is who is able to follow the author, in a reverse manner, in his act of creation, and to achieve an active participation in his act of reading. The Blending Theory, by analyzing the cognitive processes a work of art passes through, helps readers reach higher levels of the participation of the sort mentioned. © 2017, Tarbiat Modares University. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 2016
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.
