Language and Culture
Zahra Barati; Belghis Rovshan; Shirin Pourebrahim; Fatemeh Yousefi Rad
Abstract
The present research provides a cross-cultural study about hand and foot metonomy-based metaphors in Persian and English by means of a semantic analysis. The research method is exploratory and its data includes 32 conventional metaphorical expressions containing hand and foot body terms which are taken ...
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The present research provides a cross-cultural study about hand and foot metonomy-based metaphors in Persian and English by means of a semantic analysis. The research method is exploratory and its data includes 32 conventional metaphorical expressions containing hand and foot body terms which are taken from the idioms of The Free Dictionary, and their Persian equivalents are extracted based on Farhang Moaser One-Volume Millennium English-Persian Dictionary (Haghshenas et al., 2002). The research objective is to explain the biological motivation of the metaphors on the basis of holistic medicine. The research findings show that a number of the metaphorical expressions related to hands and feet can be investigated based on their biological origin in the holistic medicine, and the others are schematic and symbolic and formed according to externally visible events and bodily functions. The results indicate that, regarding the same biological origin, we can see relatively similar metonymies, while cultural patterns have created different metaphors in both Persian and English.
Other Related Issues
Bistoon Abasi; Belghis Rovshan; Narjes Banoo Sabouri; Mehdi Sabzevari
Abstract
Introduction: Semantic categories have a prototypical structure and consist of central and peripheral meanings. There are some peripheral and accidental meanings at the fuzzy borders of these categories; transient meanings which disappear in the course of time. Some of these meanings may occur in a different ...
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Introduction: Semantic categories have a prototypical structure and consist of central and peripheral meanings. There are some peripheral and accidental meanings at the fuzzy borders of these categories; transient meanings which disappear in the course of time. Some of these meanings may occur in a different time and independent from previous occurrence(s) of the same meaning. Geeraerts (1997) calls this phenomenon “semantic polygenesis.” Semantic polygenesis, on one hand, characterizes prototypicality of meaning and, on the other hand, indicates its social aspect. In this paper we investigated semantic polygenesis in New Persian words’ meanings, from the 10th century (AD) until present.Method: For this research, we examined ten selected words, from the semantic domain of politics and governance, in 113 texts in poetry and prose, and recorded their meanings. Then we designated peripheral meanings and investigated them based on semantic polygenesis conditions. For the purpose of simplicity, we divided the whole period into 100-year intervals coinciding with Hijri centuries, except the last period after the Islamic Revolution of Iran which is 42 year long. The texts allocated to the periods based on their approximate time of writing.Findings: In this research we investigated the meanings of the words āzād ʻfreeʼ, āzādi ʻfreedomʼ, edāre ʻinstitution, managementʼ, enghelāb ʻrevolutionʼ, hokūmat ʻgovernmentʼ, khāje ʻsir, masterʼ, dastūr ʻdecree, commandʼ, dowlat ʻstateʼ, rejim ʻregimeʼ, and siyāsat ʻpoliticsʼ, to find the effect of semantic polygenesis. Five words, āzād, enghelāb, khāje, dastūr, and siyāsat, have peripheral meanings whose reoccurrence can be instances of semantic polygenesis. In total, there have been nine meanings of these five words. Each of the first four words had two meanings, and the last one represented one meaning. These meanings have disappeared within a period, however, they have emerged after a considerable time (probably) independent of their first occurrence.Conclusion: As a result of this research, we found out that nine meanings of five words could be considered as semantic polygenesis instances. The existence of semantic polygenesis means that in a prototypical semantic structure, one meaning can occur in two different periods in the borders of the category of the senses of a word independently. This phenomenon indicates the prototypical characteristic of lexical meaning and, in a micro level, designates fuzzy and instable borders of categories and the existence of peripheral and accidental meanings. Moreover, another aspect of semantic polygenesis reveals the social properties of meaning, as meaning does not exist in isolation or as a priori endowment in the minds of all speakers. The meaning is produced by speakers, or even a single speaker, and then it would be transferred to other speakers.
Sociolinguistics
Hamideh Bonyadi; Belghis Rovshan
Abstract
This is a fundamental research whose method is content analysis. It attempted to examine some cognitive and social elements of the texts of Teaching Persian Language in Persian (6th book)(Islamic Language and Education Training Center, 1395) for non-Persian learners of Al-Mustafa International University ...
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This is a fundamental research whose method is content analysis. It attempted to examine some cognitive and social elements of the texts of Teaching Persian Language in Persian (6th book)(Islamic Language and Education Training Center, 1395) for non-Persian learners of Al-Mustafa International University in the framework of cognitive sociolinguistics. The unit of analysis was “sentence” and all of the texts were examined. To do this, all sentences containing image schemas were extracted from among the 1150 sentences existing in the book while availing from Johnsons’ 1987 research. Then, from among these (430) sentences, 400 ones containing social variables were extracted and analyzed. In these sentences, the image schemas of "movement", "force", "collection" and "content" made the most metaphorical conceptualization, and the image schemas of "link", "merging" and "attraction" had the least frequency in the texts. Besides, social variables of "religion", "power", "politeness", "correlation" and "dignity" played a great role in creating metaphorical systems. Moreover, the results indicated how the texts were influenced by the type of audience, the purpose of learning the Persian language, and the writers’ style and attitude.
Language and Culture
Bahman Zandi; Belghis Rovsan; Maryam Amirykhah
Abstract
This socio-onomastics research compares naming Tehran traditional cafés (qahveh khaneh) and coffee shops from a multiple identities perspective. Using a descriptive analytic method, this applied study examined around 232 traditional cafés and 296 coffee shops in Tehran. The results display ...
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This socio-onomastics research compares naming Tehran traditional cafés (qahveh khaneh) and coffee shops from a multiple identities perspective. Using a descriptive analytic method, this applied study examined around 232 traditional cafés and 296 coffee shops in Tehran. The results display that the individual's identity plays a strikingly more significant role in naming traditional cafes than coffee shops. Moreover, from the perspective of gender identity, the use of masculine name characters is more prevalent in traditional cafés than coffee shops, while there exists no significant gender distinction in naming coffee shops. The role of ethnic identity was almost similar yet noticeable in the two places. On the other hand, while traditional cafes opt for national and religious names, the coffee shops use national names more frequently. Also, the results indicate a significant use of international identity in naming coffee shops.
