Language and Culture
Arezu Molavi Vardanjani; Sasan Sharafi; Elkاas Vaysi; Mansoore Shekaramiz
Abstract
This article is aimed at a cognitive analysis of meaning construction in the movie discourse based on Fauconnier and Turner’s (2002) conceptual blending theory. The present research used a qualitative content analysis methodology with a descriptive-elaborative approach to survey the mapping procedures ...
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This article is aimed at a cognitive analysis of meaning construction in the movie discourse based on Fauconnier and Turner’s (2002) conceptual blending theory. The present research used a qualitative content analysis methodology with a descriptive-elaborative approach to survey the mapping procedures and the constitutive elements of the conceptual framework of the movie Salesman, an Iranian film directed by Asghar Farhadi. The conceptual blending theory illustrates a system of background cognition including the categorizations, mapping, structural projections and dynamic mind stimulants. Accordingly, the presence of multiple inner layers and various vital relations such as identity, cause and effects, changes, time and representations made Salesman a blended mirror structure where a blended concept of loss is projected. The findings of this study emphasize the necessity of the focus on mind in discourse studies showing that the extension of the conceptual blending theory to analyze the discourse of movies can enrich the meaning construction affairs in the film and cinema industry. key words: conceptual blending theory, vital relation, discourse, movie, seller
Language and Culture
Zahra Abbasi; Mahboobeh Bagheri
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to investigate the changes as well as the effect of the language in use (Persian or Arabic) on ethnocultural identity and its components across three generations of Iranians migrating in Bahrain by means of the standard questionnaire of Mutual Intercultural Relations in ...
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The purpose of this research is to investigate the changes as well as the effect of the language in use (Persian or Arabic) on ethnocultural identity and its components across three generations of Iranians migrating in Bahrain by means of the standard questionnaire of Mutual Intercultural Relations in Plural Societies (MIRIPS). The components under study were language in use and attitude toward Persian language versus Arabic language, preserving Iranian versus Arab traditions, attitude towards social activities, attitude towards social connections, and friends, as well as the sense of belonging to Iranian culture as compared with Arabic culture. The findings of the research indicate that there is a significant difference across the three generations in terms of the attitudes towards these components with the first generation immigrants feeling more attached to their primary identity group (i.e. the Iranian ethnic identity) as compared to the other groups. Besides, it was observed that this cultural affinity and sense of belonging to their primary identity group have slowly diminished in other generations, a result which is visible in all components of ethnocultural identity. Findings do not show any distinct gap among the generations; yet the ethnocultural identity can be observed continuously across the different generations. Also, the results of Pearson correlation test display that the language affects all components of ethnocultural identity showing a positive and meaningful relationship with them.
Sociolinguistics
Mohammad Dabirmoghaddam; Fatemeh Yousefi Rad; Vida Shaghaghi; Seyed Mahmoud Motesharrei
Abstract
This paper introduces the main tenets of the new approach to cognitive sociolinguistics and suggests that by incorporating the insights of sociolinguistics with those of cognitive linguistics, this new approach can provide a new and fruitful perspective to the study of language. The two properties of ...
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This paper introduces the main tenets of the new approach to cognitive sociolinguistics and suggests that by incorporating the insights of sociolinguistics with those of cognitive linguistics, this new approach can provide a new and fruitful perspective to the study of language. The two properties of this new approach, i.e., its usage-based character and its emphasis on social variations of language, make it heart throbbing and most optimal for the study of language. After introducing the main tenets of cognitive sociolinguistics, this paper shows that these two underlying properties, the usage-based character and the emphasis on social variations, are the communication loop between the cognitive linguistics and sociolinguistics approaches. Such an approach should accept that the only acceptable way to study the systematic variation of language that encompasses the social dimension of the phenomenon is necessarily empirical. In other words, adopting social approach entails taking an empirical method.
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.
Language & Media
Parsa Bamshadi; Shadi Ansarian
Abstract
The aim of the present study is to investigate ‘20:30 (Bisto-Si) News’ headlines as one of the most watched news programs in IRIB television. This corpus-based, quantitative- and qualitative-based study analyzed the news headlines collected within one month from the 2nd December, 2015, to ...
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The aim of the present study is to investigate ‘20:30 (Bisto-Si) News’ headlines as one of the most watched news programs in IRIB television. This corpus-based, quantitative- and qualitative-based study analyzed the news headlines collected within one month from the 2nd December, 2015, to the 1st January, 2016. The corpus consisted of 186 news headlines in various national and international issues. This study aimed to find out what linguistic properties in the headlines make the 20:30 news the most watched TV news program. The findings of the research show that the linguistic properties of these headlines can be described into three categories: 1) Semantic properties like metaphor, metonymy, idiom, proverb and synesthesia as well as a reference to famous poems or quotes; 2) Lexical properties such as associative collocations, lexical repetitions and versification; 3) syntactic properties such as verbless sentences and nominalization. Moreover, the results show that although the three categories play an important role in making the news program attractive, the semantic property was found to be the most influential linguistic properties of the 20:30 News headlines.
Language & Media
Hosein Rahmani
Abstract
The present research aims to study how power and gender affect the choice of impolite strategies and how the addressees react to such face threatening acts in the play Ofool written by Akbar Radi in light of Derek Bousefield’s (2008) model of impoliteness. Although developed based on Culpeper’s ...
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The present research aims to study how power and gender affect the choice of impolite strategies and how the addressees react to such face threatening acts in the play Ofool written by Akbar Radi in light of Derek Bousefield’s (2008) model of impoliteness. Although developed based on Culpeper’s (1996, 2005) and Culpeper et al.’s (2003) model, Bousefield’s model was extended to study the addressee’ reaction to impoliteness. Impolite acts are intended to threaten the face wants of the addressees. According to Bousefiled’s model of impoliteness, the offended addressees can choose to keep silent or take an offensive or defensive action which can vary according to individual’s power and gender. The results indicated that the powerful and powerless characters used on-record and off-record impoliteness strategies, respectively. Moreover, the powerful characters and men took an offensive reaction to impoliteness while and the powerless characters and women took a defensive action to impolite acts. The analysis showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the use of impoliteness strategies between men and women.
Language & Media
Elham akhalaghi; Shahla Sharifi; Ali Izanlu
Abstract
Social and intercultural studies show that narrative is a basic and permanent form of human speech which is not used similarly across nations. This study examines how the Pear Stories, the internationally popular silent film, is verbalized in two groups of 40 women aged 18 to 22 and 40 girls aged 9 years ...
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Social and intercultural studies show that narrative is a basic and permanent form of human speech which is not used similarly across nations. This study examines how the Pear Stories, the internationally popular silent film, is verbalized in two groups of 40 women aged 18 to 22 and 40 girls aged 9 years old. This story has a social theme in which depict the story of young boy’s theft and the subsequent adventures. The participants were asked to verbalize the film once it is screened. To examine the social interaction, the data were analyzed by means of frequency and to investigate the evaluation, Toolan’s criteria were used. The statistical analysis indicates no significant differences in the two groups in terms of social interaction; however, their difference was significant in the way they evaluate the story. The findings show that adults’ ratings of their narratives were twice as high as those children. Also, the participants display interaction at the outset of the story in response to the interviewer and in the middle of the story while recalling. The results show that evaluation is a socio-cultural process implicating a level of maturity and social knowledge which children have not reached yet.
Language & Media
Sh. Sheikh Sang Tajan; A. Yousefi Garakooie
Volume 1, Issue 2 , April 2017, , Pages 46-63
Abstract
Applying address terms is considered as a kind of observing social politeness in the society and the speakers of each language use them regarding their particular ways. This article is an analytic-descriptive research which assesses address terms in the Persian and Gilaki languages and compares them ...
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Applying address terms is considered as a kind of observing social politeness in the society and the speakers of each language use them regarding their particular ways. This article is an analytic-descriptive research which assesses address terms in the Persian and Gilaki languages and compares them with each other. Fifty Gilaki speakers and 50 Persian speakers, ranged between 25 to 40 years old, were selected as the samples of the study. Researchers tried to answer two questions: 1) What are the most frequently used address terms in Persian and Gilaki?, and 2) What is the difference between these terms in the two languages? The results reveal that Persian and Gilaki speakers are similar in applying the address terms of “nick names” and “kinship phrases”, however, after these two, the Persian ones use more “respectful titles” while the Gilaki ones apply more “titles” to call each other. Besides, address terms of “clipping”, “religious names” and “other names” are among the least frequently used phrases in Gilaki. Although there is no significant difference between applying the terms in the two languages, the existence of the above-mentioned differences indicate the cultural distinctions of the two sample societies.
Language and Culture
A. Sharifi Moghaddam; M. Bahreini; V. Abolhassanizadeh
Volume 1, Issue 2 , April 2017, , Pages 64-71
Abstract
Compliments are universal categories which are found in all languages but they are more common in some languages like Persian. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of social variables of “age” and “gender” on the amount of usage of compliments by Persian speakers. ...
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Compliments are universal categories which are found in all languages but they are more common in some languages like Persian. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of social variables of “age” and “gender” on the amount of usage of compliments by Persian speakers. To do this, a questionnaire including 15 questions was given to 100 male and female Kermani participants in different age-groups. The research theoretical framework was Brown and Levinson’s (1978) politeness theory. Static analyses indicate that there is significant difference (P< 0.0001) between the usage of compliments by the participants of different ages; in older age-groups they use more compliments to show politeness to their addressees. However, there is no significant difference (P = 0.28) between male and female Persian speakers in using compliments although the structures of compliment representations are different. This point reveals that both gender. Groups use compliments in their verbal interactions to show politeness.
Language & Media
S.A. Soltani; Z. Karami
Volume 1, Issue 1 , January 2017, , Pages 9-20
Abstract
Sociolinguistics is an interdisciplinary field that can provide a linguistic perspective of society and culture. One of the important domains of popular culture is popular songs which have not been seriously studied so far from a sociolinguistic viewpoint in Iran. The lyrics of these songs are reflections ...
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Sociolinguistics is an interdisciplinary field that can provide a linguistic perspective of society and culture. One of the important domains of popular culture is popular songs which have not been seriously studied so far from a sociolinguistic viewpoint in Iran. The lyrics of these songs are reflections of the folklore in every society which makes their study worthwhile. Although such songs may have different themes but love has always been one of the key concepts and recurring themes in these songs. This study tries to find out how concept of love has been defined and reflected in the songs in the course of history. And more specifically, it tries to discover the chains of equivalence and the differences that are made along with them in these songs. To meet this end, from the perspective of Ernesto Lacalua and Chantal Mouffe’s post-structural discourse theory, specifically through their two concpets, ie chain of equivalence and chain of difference, it focuses on 16 Iranian love songs which were randomly chosen from among those songs performed by both male and female singers in between the years 1971 to 1979. The results show that the songs have availed from “the presence of nature”, “reference to the past”, “immortalization” and “the use of different fields of discursivity”, specially religious and political discourses, as a means of meaning fixation.
