Word-formation is vital issue in morphology and reduplication has been one of the productive sub-branches in word-formation domain. Since reduplication is found in most human languages, it has been analyzed and explained from different theories and perspectives. OPTIMALITY THEORY is one of these theories that seeks to explore the commonalities of different languages and dialects. The present study also analyzes and describes reduplication process in Shushtari dialect, one of the subbranches of Bakhtiari dialect belonging to the New Iranian southwestern languages, within the Optimal Correspondence THEORY framework. The research methodology was descriptive-analytical and linguistic data were gathered from Shushtari Dialect texts, dictionaries as well as daily conversations of the NORM speakers of Shushtar. In data analysis, one of the authors who was a native speaker of this dialect also used her own knowledge. The data analysis indicated in Shushtari, reduplication was divided into different kinds of total and partial reduplication and total reduplication itself was divided into two types, middle and final. Partial reduplication process was also seen in both prefix and suffix forms in Shushtari dialect. Then, the limitations related to each of the processes were identified and according to the structural patterns, the related constraints of each process were identified and ranked in in the OPTIMALITY tables. The findings of the present paper showed the efficiency of OPTIMALITY THEORY in the analysis of various kinds of reduplication. Based on the findings, it was also found how in formation of various types of reduplication in Shushtari dialect, the specific markedness and faithfulness constraints were followed by a special hierarchy in this process.

Being a descriptive-analytic research in Persian language, the present study deals with morphophonological processes to examine the performance of Stratal OPTIMALITY THEORY for the first time. Stratal OT is a hybrid model of OT in which the insights of Lexical Phonology and Morphology are broadly combined with parallel OT. Stratal OT posits constraint evaluation at three distinct levels or strata: stem, word and phrase level and as such it can show the intermediate levels showing the formation of the optimal option. This multi-level variation of the original OT model may provide more economical and elegant explanations of problems involving opacity, derived environment effects than other Parallel OT theories that have been developed to address these issues. The data in this research have been collected through databases and written phonological resources. This paper studies deletion, insertion and compensatory lengthening processes within Stratal OT. The relevant constraints and their interactions in each level have been represented through different tablues. The results showed that Stratal OT has more explanatory power than Parallel OT to explain the mentioned processes. Interestingly, Constraints at each level follow a consistent ranking pattern.

In recent years, morphology has been one of the most debated areas of study in generative grammar, so that different researches on different languages have led to various approaches and theories in the field. This article aims at studying a productive word-formation process in Persian, i.e. reduplication, from the point of view of one of the latest approaches in generative grammar, i.e. OPTIMALITY THEORY. We attempt to analyze the structure of some types of (total and partial) reduplication in Persian in the framework of Standard OPTIMALITY THEORY, also known as Correspondence THEORY. The results of the study indicate that in different contexts, a particular type of faithfulness or markedness constraints is required to describe the structure of each type of reduplication in Persian, based on the pattern they depict and the meaning they convey.

Metathesis as a phonological phenomenon in order to reverse segments has been focus of many studies. Metathesis according to the range of application can be sporadic or regular. It links synchronic studies of language to diachronic ones and thereby has some consequences for phonological THEORY. The central goal of this paper is to elucidate the conditions under which metathesis occurs synchronically in modern Persian and diachronically in Pahlavi (Middle Iranian Persian). In this paper, first metathesis is viewed from different aspects especially a historical one. And particular attention is paid to its causes and contexts. Then, metathesis is studied within OPTIMALITY THEORY, using constraints such as Syllable Contact Law (SCL), Sonority Sequence Principle (SSP),… Also it was found that segments don't behave identically in the metathesis process.Phoneme /r/ is the most frequent and /z/ is the least one found in Persian.

This article examines the process of consonant epenthesis in Azerbaijani Turkish language (Tabrizi dialect) based on OPTIMALITY THEORY (standard approach). To do this research 90 Turkish words and 50 borrowed words were collected from the speakers of this language. The purpose of the present study is to determine under what phonological conditions consonant, epenthesis takes place and what the active markedness constraints in explaining the mentioned process are. Data analysis shows that in this language, when adding a suffix consisting a (vowel) phoneme with [+high] vowel is inserted to stem or the preceding suffix, the consonant /n/ and when adding a (vowel) phoneme or several (a consonant + a vowel) phonemes is inserted with [-high] vowel to the stem or preceding suffix /j/ consonant. Analysis of data indicates that in the mentioned phonological conditions, when hiatus vowel occurrence, ONSET markedness dominates DEP reliability constraint, and the constraints introduced with a fixed rating can easily explain the consonant epenthesis process.

Metathesis as a phonological phenomenon in order to reserve segments has been the focus of many studies. According to the range of applications, metathesis can be sporadic or regular. It links synchronic studies of language to diachronic ones and thereby has some consequences for phonological THEORY. The central goal of this paper is to elucidate the conditions under which metathesis occurs synchronically and diachronically in Persian.

Each language uses different ways to create a new word. One of the ways is “ Reduplication process” . It is a productive process in morphology. In this process, it is possible to repeat the whole or partial word (or base) and produce a new word with a different meaning. According to this method, the new part is added to the base which has the main role to determine its form and to repeat the whole or partial base in the left, right, and sometimes middle positions of the base. Also, this process can be divided into “ Full/Total” and “ Partial” reduplication in Persian. In partial reduplication, a part of the base not only does not possess phonological identity, but it also carries no meaning. It only adds concepts such as intensity, emphasis and categorization to the base meaning which is called “ Reduplicant” . The partial reduplication per se is divided into “ Prefixed and Suffixed reduplication” . With respect to the new definitions and studies in this field, “ partial prefixed reduplication” is classified into three groups in Persian: In the first type, the last phoneme of the base is deleted and the modified form precedes the base, like: (nâ nâ z), ناناز (gol goli), گل گلی (dæ dæ r) ددر In the second type, the base first consonant is reduplicated with the fixed half-syllable before the base, such as: (cæ t-o coloft)، کت وکلفت (pæ t-o pæ hn)، پت و پهن (Ɂ â l-o Ɂ â dʒ il) آل وآجیل In the third type, the base first consonant is reduplicated with a fixed part (together with a section which is constantly fixed, for example: (veleng-o vâ z/bâ z), ولنگ و واز/باز (∫ æ læ m ∫ urvâ /∫ urbâ ), شلم شوروا/شوربا (zæ læ m zimbo) زلم زیمبو After introducing different kinds of reduplication process in Persian, this article studied the partial prefixed reduplication based on the standard version of “ OPTIMALITY THEORY” that is called “ Correspondence THEORY” . In fact, it aims at investigating this process towards incorporating Persian to the new THEORY in “ Generative Grammar” . So, the main question targeted by the study is:-Can we describe the “ Partial prefixed reduplication process” in Persian based on “ Correspondence THEORY” (the standard version of OPTIMALITY THEORY)? To answer this question, first, we should be familiar with OPTIMALITY and Correspondence Theories. OPTIMALITY THEORY which was first established through introducing “ over application” by Wilbur (1973) in his studies, was later noticed by researchers through publishing Prince and Smolensky’ s (1993, 2004) and McCarthy and Prince’ s (1993) articles. McCarthy and Prince (1993a, 2001) investigated prosodic morphology within the framework of OPTIMALITY THEORY and offered significant issues on morphology, tone, and especially reduplication process. In this THEORY, all of the fields (including phonology, syntax and morphology) are considered “ constraint-based” . These constraints are universal and are common among languages, and various ranking among these constraints in diverse languages on the one hand and their violation on the other hand justify the difference and diversity among those languages. Therefore, each language can violate each constraint; but the ranking of constraints in each language determines which constraints in that language are non-violable and which are violable (Dabir-Moghadam, 2012, pp. 649-656). Also, we have two kinds of constraints in this THEORY: “ Faithfulness constraints” and “ Markedness constraints” . In fact, the competition between these two constraints determines the “ optimal option” . Markedness constraints cause a kind of change in structures, whereas faithfulness constraints basically prevent numerous changes, such as deletion, insertion or changes in the features of segments. However, the part related to reduplication in morphology is the standard version of this THEORY termed “ Correspondence THEORY” wherein faithfulness constraints are introduced as correspondence (Kager, 1999, p. 194). In this type of OPTIMALITY THEORY which was first introduced by McCarthy and Prince (1995, p. 25), the “ default” and “ total” models are presented. This study has selected the default model to investigate partial prefixed reduplication in Persian. Correspondence THEORY claims that the reduplication patterns are formed through the interaction of three constraints: “ Markedness constraints or well-formedness” that code markedness constraints; “ Faithfulness constraints” that guarantee the identity of deep structure and surface structure; “ Identity constraints” (B-R) that guarantee the similarities of the reduplicant and the base. In fact, this THEORY, with a different ranking of these three types of constraints, tries to explain the differences and similarities between typology present in the reduplication pattern of the world languages and also tries to explain specific patterns in languages (Kager, 1999, p. 200). Then, for analyzing the data, we gathered several samples of partial prefixed reduplication in Persian through making use of library method and the use of “ Sokhan Dictionary” as well as related sources and divided them into three groups. Based on this classification, the authors derived some samples of the aforementioned reduplications and investigated the words in the form of “ OPTIMALITY tableau” with respect to the ranking of constraints (correspondence and markedness). Finally, based on the analyses obtained, a specific ranking was gained for each type of partial prefixed reduplication. Therefore, it can be said that the OPTIMALITY THEORY is useful in justifying one of the diverse types of lexicalization processes, namely partial prefixed reduplication in Persian and universality of this THEORY. Also, the constraints governing this THEORY are approved once again.

Researchers have variously investigated Persian in generative, functional, and cognitive frameworks, although, failed to account for some structural changes and the emergence of marked structures such as Left dislocation. The main goal of this article is to investigate left dislocation based on OPTIMALITY THEORY. The present research is based on the descriptive-analytical method, and our corpus will include spoken Persian. The present paper aims to show that some constraints can be applied to form left dislocation in Persian, while ranking of the constraints represents the optimal form/forms. The constriants are based on constructional uints of Featurs and Conceptual Units which are properties of grammatical categories such as argument, or discourse-functioal ones, such as topic. The results show that applying the constraints of precedence, adjacency, and faithfulness on one side, and more features or conceptual units on the other side, the applied THEORY can further result in appropriate analysis of Persian cases. In other words, Syntax First Alignment has proved to be a promising framework for modeling Persian Left dislocation and can offer an alternative for syntactic frameworks based on hierarchical structure. The results, also, indicates that the features of [NEW], [ABOUT], and [CONTRAST] have key roles in Persisn Argument Left Dislocation. In addition, violating the constraints of Subject and Topic brings about unOPTIMALITY.