The Impact of Speakers’ Attitude on the Usage of Lectals in Fars Province: A Cognitive Sociolinguistic Study

Modarresi, Yahya; Mozaffari, Sharareh

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Abstract

Speakers of non-standard varieties have been driven toward the standard ones due to the positive and negative judgments about these varieties. This study is to investigate the social status of varieties of Farsi. The main question is what the impacts of socio-cognitive factors are on speakers’ attitude and on the usage of different varieties of Farsi (Regional, Shirazi and Standard). To collect data, a total of 490 participants from Shiraz, Marvdasht ,Kazeroon, Fasa, Jahrom and several smaller cities contributed in survey method, 223 of whom participated in MGT and 126 were interviewed as well. In this regard, attitude is studied in the form of components such as solidarity and social status. The findings indicate that participants express loyalty toward their city and regional varieties, since these varieties are attributed to their speakers' identity. Regional varieties are dominant in the family domain to highlight solidarity in the circle of family and friends, while in other domains (education, workplace, streets, media and elite’s speech) the standard variety dominates. Both solidarity and social status are attributed to the usage of standard variety. But what has still kept the regional varieties dynamic is the feeling of intimacy and sense of belonging.

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The Impact of Speakers’ Attitude on the Usage of Lectals in Fars Province: A Cognitive Sociolinguistic Study

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Volume 1, Issue 3 - Serial Number 3January 2018Pages 23-52

Volume 1, Issue 3 - Serial Number 3
January 2018
Pages 23-52