JOURNAL OF RESEARCHES IN LINGUISTICS
Year:2018 | Volume:9 | Issue:2 (17) |Papers Count:5

The purpose of the present article is to investigate some phonological processes such as consonantal fronting, spirantization, initial insertion, non-contiguous assimilation, debuccalization, stopping and final devoicing in Roudbari language variety (Islam Abad), within the framework of optimality theory (Prince and Smolensky, 1993; 2004). This research was carried out based on a descriptive-analytic method. To collect data, 10 native informants (5 women and 5 men in the ages from 45 to 80, from low literate/ illiterate to educated) have been interviewed. Also, some available sources on Roudbari language variety were used. To investigate, describe and analyze the data, the most important dominant constrains over optimal surfaces have been explained for each of the phonological processes examined in this research within the given framework of optimality theory (Prince and Smolensky, 1993; 2004). These explanations have been provided through giving the reason for constrains responsible for the occurrence of these processes and their rankings. Description and ranking of constraints indicate that constraints *G and ONSET are never violated and always are posited at the highest rank of optimality tableau.

Dependency is one of the significant relations in syntactic elements. In subordination, a unit is subordinated to another. One kind of subordination is complement clauses. In this study, the rate of semantic and syntactic integration is discussed. Relying on semantic factors, successfulness of main clause verb, co-reference and co-temporality of main clause and complement clause, complement-taking verbs of Farsi are put in different classes of dependence. the presence or absence of complementizer in complement clauses, co-lexicalization or case-marking of the subject and the object are marked in clauses to see which verbs show the most bond in main clauses and complement clauses by studying the semantic factors including the tense of complement clauses. The complement clauses with the most bonds dealing with main clauses tend to join to in a single sentence. It is revealed in this research that manipulation verbs have the most bonds between complement clauses and main clauses and their tendency in such verbs to join in a single sentence is high, so, they are placed above the complementation continuum. beside manipulation verbs, modality verbs with the same bonds are placed in the category, then, below complementation continuum, perception-cognition-utterance verbs are placed afterwards which have the lowest bond between main clause and complement clause. While studying semantic factors dealing with complement clauses and main clauses, it is revealed that Persian doesnot use co-lexicalization joined with complement clauses. This research provides a continuum of complement-taking verbs in Persian and the effect of iconicity on linking these verbs.

Phonotactics of consonant cluster has been concerned in phonology by some linguist in last decades. In some studies sonority has been focused and in some others, other features like voice or continuance. Since the consonants may not come together because of some place of articulation feature, manner of articulation or voice features, The study is concerned with homogeneity in voice or continuance feature in Persian final cluster. In the present study 625 mono syllable Persian words with CVCC syllable structure (more than 90% of the Persian words with such structure), have been studied to extract rules and constraints in this regard. The study shows Persian has a tendency to have final consonant cluster with heterogeneity in voice in general and voice homogeneity in particular. The study has also showed there is significant difference in frequency of consonants where they appear in normal spoken or written Persian, or in consonant clusters. The study has also counted and indicated the frequency of each consonant in first and second placement of the clusters as well as their relationship with each vowel in the studied syllable.

A tongue twister is a phrase, a sentence or a combination of words designed to deliberately cause slips of the tongue. It is a game which is often expressed in the form Say this phrase three (or five, etc.) times as fast as you can. Tongue twisters are designed to be mispronounced for the purpose of creating humorous utterances and having fun. This research aimed at discussing features of tongue twisters in general and analyzing Persian tongue twisters in order to discover the subtle techniques used in their creation. In the section it discusses why a tongue twister causes errors and if they are the result of speech planning, short-term memory difficulty or can be attributed to articulatory implementation. Then it addresses the structure of tongue twisters as well as the question: During which phase are errors made? In the second section, the voice recordings of several subjects including children, young adults, and adults who had repeated Persian tongue twisters were transcribed into phonetic transcriptions and then analyzed. The findings of this research indicate that Persian tongue twisters involve similar fricative, affricate, liquid, stop, and nasal consonants, unsimilar consonants, vowels, minimal pairs, exchange of linguistic elements, and numerous repetitions of the same word.

Image schemas are among the important and fundamental concepts in cognitive semantic studies which play a significant role in the formation of conceptual metaphors. Force schema is one of the most important schemas that Mark Johnson (1987) emphasized on its role in conceptualizing events for the first time. This schema originating in our experience of engagement with the outside world is a basic tool for understanding many of the mental concepts. Religious language, especially the language of Quran, consists of many metaphors some of which are organized through force schemas. Therefore, by using a descriptive-analytic method, the present investigation attempts to find an answer to these significant questions: to what extent force schema, as a component of common schemas of Cognitive Theory, can act as an appropriate model in the study of Quran's ethical metaphors. In addition, how is the function of seven force schemas in the conceptualization and perception of ethical concepts of the Quran? To do so, the research data are extracted from all metaphors of Quran, and then have been analyzed and different image schemas were explained according to seven categories of schemas in the theory. The results show that there are seven force schemas in the existing metaphors that can be used as a model to analyze Quran metaphors. Many examples of ethical norms and anomalies in the Quran could be recognized through metaphors containing the schemas of compulsion, blockage, and removal of restraint, diversion, counterforces, attraction and enablement.