مجله جستار های زبانی
سال دهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 52، مهر و آبان 1398)

Conceptual blending is one of the semantic approaches that concentrates on appearance and explanation of emergent concept or structure. Four mental spaces (at least two input spaces, a generic space and a blending space) have been proposed in this theory and to represent the emergent concepts or structures, we need to explain the relations between these spaces, inner-space and outer-space mapping, selective projection, composition, completion and elaboration. Conceptual metaphor and mental spaces are the inspiring theories for conceptual blending theories. Then, how to understand and infer the blending process to conclude in emergent structure and also theoretical needs to conceptual blending, based on its background, are the motives for the present study. To accomplish this, adequacy of conceptual blending in representing concepts that is activated while conceptualizing is reevaluated through some examples from Persian data (linguistic or even non-linguistic). The examples are taken from a variety of sources namely television advertisements, everyday expressions people use in their interactions, corpus data (Dadegan) and so on to explain the theory as well as possible. These data were analyzed based on four types of conceptual blending networks including simplex network, mirror network, single-scope network and double-scope network. For what is new in this research, we can say that not so many studies have been done in Persian using this theory and so rarely they have analyzed the data by illustrating them through the networks. As a matter of fact, if some studies have been taken place, they usually just sufficed to explain them. In addition, the outcome of the research on Persian provides the Persian data to be used in natural language processing specially in semantic scope. The results evince that using dynamic conceptualization in mental spaces, rejecting one-way and single mapping, applying selective projections, no being necessary to exist a counterpart for every element in mental spaces and not considering mental functions separate are all features that strengthen the adequacy of explanations of conceptual blending.

The neurolinguistic approach (NLA) is a new pedagogical approach to foreign language learning conceptualized by Netten & Germain in 1997 in Canada. This pedagogical approach is based on recent researches in neurolinguistics, especially Michel Paradis’s neuro -linguistic theory of bilingualism. The NLA started to be used outside Canadian territories for teaching learning of French as a foreign language (FFL) both in institutional and academic setting starting from 2010. Before that, the NLA was used- and still is- in Canada as the basic approach of the intensive French program (FI) for young English-speaking and adolescents from 11 to 17 years old in school context. In NLA, the main principle is to develop the ability to communicate orally without learning explicit knowledge. The NLA is based on Michel Paradis’ neurolinguistics theory of bilingualism.


In NLA, priority is given to oral language development because only the frequent use of oral language can help develop implicit competence or internal grammar. Before being able to read and write in the L2, the learner must be able to speak spontaneously about the themes that affect his/her life, personal experiences, as he /she does in L1. Indeed, when a student enters school he/she has already developed an internal grammar or implicit competence to communicate verbally in L1. He/she is able to speak and communicate with others but he /she is not aware of the grammar rules that underlie his /her productions. However, when a learner begins to learn L2, he/she does not have oral skills (internal grammar). He/she must first develop his internal grammar, that is to say, the ability to address an oral theme and then be able to learn to read and write on the same theme. Thus, according to NLA, learning to speak an L2 consists in first acquiring the ability to communicate orally before knowing the explicit rules about the language


The purpose of this research is to answer 2 questions: First, how can neurolinguistics help in foreign language acquisition? And in second place, to what extant can the NLA help Iranian learners develop better oral communication skills? In order to find the answers, the authors paralleled the NLA with a current method of teaching / learning French as a Foreign Language in Iran.


The present research is based on an experimental method with a quasi-experimental design, the authors have chosen an experimental group comprising 10 beginner adults and a control group with the same characteristics. To collect the research data, the authors have used one quantitative (class video recordings observation and analysis) and one qualitative research (questionnaire) instruments.


 The results showed that during class interactions the experimental group made fewer mistakes while speaking and autocorrection was higher among this group.

The movement of  “Cognitive Semantics” appears against the independence of the syntax from lexical domain and calls into question the semantics being peripheral as it is mentioned in Chomsky's (1982) “Generative theory”. In this regard, Fillmore's (1982) “Frame Semantics theory” is one of the major achievements of cognitive semantics. In this theory Fillmore states that understanding the meanings of words is possible through frames that each word calls for. He also maintains that “Semantic Frames” display sections of an event used for connecting a group of words to a set of meanings and the meanings of words are perceived within a system of knowledge arising from the human's social and cultural experience. In fact, the difference between Frame Semantics with other lexico semantic hypotheses is its emphasis on the background knowledge based on which the meaning of words can be interpreted (Fillmore & Atkins, 1992, 1994, 2000; Fillmore & Baker, 2010). Also, the “FrameNet Project” is a Corpus-based study based on Fillmore's theory (Fillmore, et al., 2003). It is a lexicographic research project housed and administered at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley, California.  In this system, the meaning of words can be understood on the basis of semantic frames that are mental concepts. On the other hand, verbs are present as the most important element in most of the situations of an event and play significant role in the interpretation of the meaning; thus, working on it is a useful idea.
        The purpose of this study is to present a quantitative and corpus-based analysis in order to recognize the semantic domains and frames of the verb “Goftan” (to Tell) in Persian and sketch its main frame within the framework of Frame Semantics theory and the fact-finding model of FrameNet lexicography. In fact, it attempts to investigate what Fillmore and his colleagues did in English FrameNet and others in different languages as well as in the domain of Frame Semantics to be considered in Persian too. So, the main questions of this study are:
What are the semantic domains and frames of the verb “Goftan” (to Tell) in Persian based on the major concepts of Frame Semantics theory and FrameNet?
 Is it possible to design the main semantic frame of the verb “Goftan” (to Tell) in Persian?

To answer these questions, the authors investigate the background of studies and introduce Frame semantics theory and FrameNet lexicography. Then, they tried to be familiar with the verb “Goftan” and it’s frequency in Persian based on Persian Language Database (PLDB). To this end, 44 semantic domains and frames of the verb “Goftan” were recognized using encyclopedias, Persian contemporary corpora and FrameNet database. Then, the concept of “bar zabân Ɂâvardan va bayân kardan” (to express) was determined as the main meaning and prototype of this verb and for the first time its “Radial category” the authors sketched. Finally, the main frame of “Goftan” was created using principles and concepts proposed in Fillmore's Frame Semantics theory

By presenting the concept of Paratopy, Dominique Maingueneau gives a new definition of the relationships between text, author, and society in the analysis of literary discourse. According to Maingueneau, the creation of a literary text cannot solely be result and locus of the author's conflict with his/her society but are the consequences of the writer's presence in his/her context called Paratopy. According to him, paratopy is an essential condition for emergence of a literary text and the literary creation is a necessary criterion for paratopy's existence. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the paratopy's effect in literary discourse of two writers whom both narrated the same individual's life. Considering the importance of Hallaj in the field of Islamic mysticism, he has been constantly subject of many works. To clarify Hallaj's teachings and claims, the writers have also created narratives, describing his life. Louis Massignon and Abdul-Hussein Zarrinkoub in two works: The Passions of Hallaj and The Flames of Tour, despite using the same sources, as well as a relative agreement on the rightfulness of this Muslim mystic, have offered a rather different discourse of Hallaj's life. Understanding the reason for the attention of these two outstanding authors despite their different ideological backgrounds and approaches to historiography, as well as the differences between narrative and discourse of the two texts are questions that the authors have tried to answer. Therefore, with emphasis on Maingueneau's theories in this study, the authors examined the paratopy of the two writers and its manifestation in the two mentioned literary discourses in order to understand the genesis conditions of the two works, and also, through understanding their differences, come to a clearer reading of them.

metaphor when linked to ideology becomes as one of the main concepts of critical discourse analysis ,so they will not be decorative elements and out of the discourse cortex anymore; instead they will provide the benefits of the people in an insider group and try to knock the people of an outsider group. This matter greatly appears in kinds of literature which are Anti-Colonial. The Novel “Moden al-Malh” written by “Abdul Rahman Monif” (1933-2004) is one of these kinds in which the Anti-Colonial American Ideology is evident. The writers of this query are trying to study the metaphorical functions considering the Ideological Square of “Van Dijk” by qualitative studies and critical methods. The research achievement shows that Abdul Rahman Monif in "Moden al-Malh"  describing the insider group (the Arabs) by applying metaphor, indicates characteristics such as patriotism, having a revolutionary spirit, alliance and liberalism in the text ; and describing the outsider group (the Americans and the Government) induces characteristics like deception, frustration, interference, cultural invasion and falsehood to the audience . He also has been able to illustrate the conflict among the Arabs on the one hand and the Americans and the Government on the other hand as well. The most important metaphorical function in this novel is the legitimacy of America in the Persian Gulf States that has been simply achieved by leaders supporting them and by giving false secular promises, which of course the writer has maximized the function of metaphor in the above mentioned novel by the use of two instruments of humor and affection.

One of the arguments in rhetoric is to examine the use of interrogative sentences in secondary purposes. The main purpose of the interrogation is to obtain information; but up to 32 secondary purposes have been written for Interrogations in some rhetoric books. In this descriptive-analytical study, the secondary purposes of the interrogative sentences in Saadi's Bustan have been analyzed. The purpose of this research is to determine what concepts Saadi has intended to present through rhetorical questions. The fundamental question in this research is to identify, to what extent did Saadi use the interrogative sentence in presenting his themes and concepts? The research is based on the assumption that due to Saadi's mastery in rhetoric criteria of language, he has taken great advantage of the secondary capacities of the interrogative sentences, especially in conveying themes of reproach and denial. In Saadi's Bustan, in total, 379 cases of rhetorical interrogations have been used. Out of which, in 289 cases, the poet used one type of interrogative tools to ask questions, which included a variety of 19 questions. Of these 19 cases, only the Arabic word "kaifa" serves as a question mark. The word "Che" has been used 129 times, accounting for about 47% of all query words in Bustan. In many cases of rhetorical questions, he begins the interrogations by the word "no". The poet's intention in this way of expression is to draw the reader's attention and emphasis on the theme. In total, 379 cases of rhetorical interrogation have been utilized in the Saadi's Bustan. These questions have raised 32 different themes. What is important in terms of the style and understanding of the poet's thinking is that in 241 of these questions, directly or indirectly, ethical themes are presented.

Direct objects are encoded via specific grammatical tools in Persian. Using random data mostly from colloquial Persian (and written Persian in case of need), the author first intend to introduce these tools. Employing the Layered Structure of the Clause and Focus Structure as defined in Role and Reference Grammar, the author proceeds to formally represent the tools via syntactic templates that contain information-structural properties of the direct object. We learn that the hypothesis regarding the direct object being a secondary topic marker in the spirit of ra-marking (Dabir-Moghaddam, 2006) needs to be discarded. Information-structurally, not only is the direct object qualified to be part of the pragmatic presupposition, hence serving as the topic of the sentence, it is also licensed to constitute a narrow focus by itself or to participate in predicate and sentence focus structures. This originates from the fact that -ra in Persian signals the identifiability of the object’s referent in the interlocutors’ discourse universe. It is also proposed that the bi-fold classification of a narrow focus into in-situ information focus and ex-situ contrastive focus does not only apply to the narrow focus in the spirit of Persian data. A predicate focus can be contrastive when a ra-marked object residing at the Pre-Core Slot is disjoined from the transitive predicate by an intervening subject. In actuality, this discontinuous predicate focus structure is ‘construed’ as a contrastive narrow focus.

Teachers perform a substantial role in students’ learning (Tikly& Barret, 2013). Their relationship with students coupled with the range of emotional factors at play in their behavior can stimulate the development of students’ affective learning (Woolfolk Hoy & Weinstein, 2006). Their status as a prominent figure in the classroom lowers once the students perceive a sense of injustice. Hence, it is well worth looking at instances of injustice in teachers’ behaviors toward students. Regarding the leading role of fairness in teachers’ behaviors toward students and the effect of their fair treatment on students’ learning, the present study aims to qualitatively scrutinize TPP, a unique example of unfairness in educational contexts (Babad, 2009), in the context of higher education in Iran.
To this end, thirty graduate and undergraduate students of both genders were interviewed. They were all majoring in English Translation, English Literature, and English Language Teachingat different universities and institutes of higher education in Mashhad, Tehran, Shiraz, and Ahvaz (e.g., Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Tarbiat Modares, Tehran, Shahid Beheshti, Alzahra, Shiraz, Shahid Chamran, Imam Reza, and Tabarn Universities). They answered five questions which were related to their feelings about a pet and an instructor who has a pet, the characteristics of a pet, the terms they use to call a pet, and the reasons for which a teacher-pet relationship ends. Then, the collected data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.
The results showed that the students had negative feelings towards the instructor and his/her pet, and their negative feelings triggered negative and hostile reactions against the instructor and his/her pet. It was also revealed that they tended to use offensive terms to call pets. Moreover, they mostly described pets negatively, and most of them believed that pets are incompetent students who become pets to compensate for their insufficient knowledge of the field of study. The participants also asserted that the teacher-pet relationship can be broken off if both the instructor and his/her pet cannot take advantage of each other. Finally, the reasons underlying the findings were discussed.

Cognitive Linguistics Studies have found that conceptual metaphor is an active process of cognitive system which has an influential role in the construction and organization of cultural network in mind, language, and behavior of humans, so that many categorizations and understandings are based on this mechanism. Moreover, the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, introduced by Lakoff and Johnson, (1980) claims that there is a significant correlation between biological and environmental experiences of humans and their metaphorical conceptualizations, which can be represented in the language including the language of poetry and literary discourse. Literary discourse and poetry have the same linguistic rules. In this view, there is a relationship between the basis of conceptual metaphors and literature, since in a specific language there are mappings between target and source domains which are invoked by experiential correlations, perceived structural similarities and the existence of source domain in their literature. 

On the other hand, Eco criticism focuses on the relation of human and nature and their reflection in literature. In this approach, what is emphasized on is the reflection of the relationship between humans and their environment in literature. The crossroad of these two semantic and literary approaches can be a framework in which we can study the cognitive link between the poet and his ecology and its manifestation in his work. The language of poetry is influenced by ecological experiences of its poet. Until now, no study has been performed to analyze the relationship between nature, poet and language of poetry from this eclectic approach. Therefore, this paper tries to study the influence of environmental experiences of Salman Harati, who is a famous Persian contemporary poet, on the social-religious conceptualizations reflected in his poetry. In his poems, an obvious relationship between ecological elements and concepts and the poets conceptualizations is reflected. The emergence of political and social beliefs and interpretations in Harati's poetry is the most outstanding property of his poetic language which is portrayed with the help of the concepts existing in the nature of the north of Iran.  This research has used an eclectic method of both Conceptual Metaphor Theory-specially the principles on the basis of metaphor- and Eco criticism. It has used the cognitive mechanism of conceptual metaphor to explain the effects of experiential concepts of nature and the poet's direct observations of it on his poetic conceptualizations. The metaphors have been limited to those with the target domain of Martyrdom and Imamah because the essence of Harati's poetry is religion. The authors seek to answer the following questions: 1.how the natural environment has affected these metaphors? And 2.Which environmental and natural concepts have been used as the source domains for the conceptualization of social and cultural concepts- Martyrdom and Imamah?-. From another perspective, 3. What role or roles the ecology or nature has/have in the meaning construction in literature. To do so, the metaphors involving the target domains of Martyrdom and Imamah have been extracted. Then, on the basis of Cognitive Metaphor Theory, the role of the poet's natural environment as well as its components on his poetic conceptualizations have been explained. The results of this study showed that ‘Salman ecological and cultural experience have great influences on forming his poetic discourse and on the interaction between emotional and cognitive spaces in his poetry. Harati has used three target domains of nature including light, plant and, water and their relevant concepts to highlight some aspects of martyrdom and Imamah. There is a metaphor martyrdom / martyr and Imamah/ Imam is nature underlying all of these conceptualizations. Knowledge, monotheism, love, resistance, waiting and other meaning components relevant to martyrdom and Imamah culture are highlighted through these ecological metaphors.

The present article investigates the Persian so-called manner adverbs within the Davidsonian event semantics framework aiming at providing a more precise and comprehensive grouping for these adverbs. This category can be divided into two groups of manner and state adverbs. Manner adverbs are event-oriented, i.e. they modify the process of the event. State adverbs are participant-oriented, i.e. they modify the state of the agent or the theme during an event. Manner adverbs are divided into three categories of agent-oriented, resultative and pure manner adverbs. Agent-oriented adverbs modify the subevent of process and the agent; resultative adverbs modify the process and the result state of the event, and pure manner adverbs modify only the process of an event. State adverbs are divided into two subgroups of static depictive and dynamic depictive adverbs. Static depictive adverbs modify the state of the agent or theme during the event, and dynamic depictive adverbs mention the other action done by the agent, simultaneously. Therefore, state adverbs are the modifiers of agents and themes, which are noun phrases and as a result, contrary to the common view, adverbs can be noun modifiers. The only productive adverbial suffix of Persian is "-Ane". It attaches to some nouns and also adjectives which are not able to participate in an event structure, and makes agent-oriented adverbs out of them. The other state and manner adverbs are expressed by adjectives or preposition phrases. Consequently, the current classification of Persian manner adverbs is not accurate. The members of this group are very diverse and need to be treated differently.

Regarding the importance of writing performance in mastering English language and considering writing as the most challenging language learning skill, the present study examined the relationship between personality traits with motivation and written performance in learners. The main purpose of this study was to examine the model fitness of the relationship between the personality traits and writing performance of learners with motivation mediation. To this end, one hundred twenty participants were selected from intermediate EFL (teaching, literature, translation) learners. Data were collected through Big Five Personality Traits questionnaire (John and Srivastava, 1999), Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) (Gardner, 2004) and a timed writing Test. The results of the path analysis indicated a relationship between personality trait dimensions with motivation and EFL writing performance. Also extroversion, consciousness, and agreeableness indirectly had a positive and significant effect on writing performance. Learners’ motivation relatively intercedes the relationship between personality traits and writing. Finally, the findings of the study are discussed in relation to effective attitudinal variables and non-cognitive variables of personality traits for educational planners, writing courses teachers, and EFL learners’ motivation in language classrooms.

Eye-tracking research on language, media and translation has gained ground over the last three decades. Due to their multi-semiotic nature, subtitles have been the subject of a number of eye-tracking studies. Many influential factors such as stylistic features, translation method, lexical frequency, etc. have been analyzed. However, there is still an exponential need for further research on this area, especially in the context of Persian language.

This research aims to compare the attention given to function and content words in Persian subtitles by analyzing four eye-tracking data.

Is there any significant difference between attention allocation to function and content words in Persian subtitles in terms of four eye data (fixation duration, fixation number, first fixation duration and skipping)?

H: Fixation duration, fixation number and first fixation duration are significantly larger for content words compared to function words, while the number of skipped function words is significantly higher compared to content words.

Forty random participants (23 females and 17 males) participated in the study randomly. They had normal or corrected-to-normal vision. A written consent was obtained from the participants prior to the experiment. A scene of Elle was chosen as stimuli for the experiment. The subtitles were made by Subtitle Edit Software. SMI eye tracking device with a sampling rate of 60 Hz was used to collect the eye data after performing a three-point calibration. The areas of interest were determined and BeGaze software was used to extract the data. Finally, the eye data were examined in SPSS software.

The results of the test showed that there was a significant difference in attention allocation to lexical and functional words. The fixation duration, fixation number and first fixation duration were significantly larger for the content words compared to the function words, while the number of the skipped function words was significantly higher compared to the content words.

The book "The Literary Mind" by Mark Turner, first published in 1996 at the Oxford Publishers Collection, was followed by numerous publications. The book, which has been considered and received by various experts from various branches of cognitive science, linguistics, literature, neurology, and philosophy, has come to light and deep in 208 pages and eight chapters on the subject of literary thought, and in particular the story and the parabolic story on the basis of language and thought. The author has shed light on the role and necessity of literature as a vital element. Despite the general opinion that the literary mind is considered secondary and something special to of the experts of literature, in fact, the main theme of the book is that the activity of mind is essentially literary.This book argues in a revolutionary way that the central theme of cognitive science is the nature of the literary mind.