نشریه زبان فارسی و گویش های ایرانی
سال هفتم شماره 1 (پیاپی 13، بهار و تابستان 1401)

Because of the social nature of human languages, the people of any society try to credit up the prestige of their own language in comparison to other languages. In the historical contacts of the languages, some of them become more prestigious and come to the level of the “standard language” of a country or countries and become an indicator for validation of other languages. In contrary, it is also possible that the prestige of some others lessens and even they may vanish. According to Pierce, “linguistic prestige” has an interrelationship with “power”, and any prestigious language is supported by a kind of political-governmental, religious, social, cultural power or alike. This article tries to investigate the factors and the degree of prestige of Persian language in a historical point of view, using library data in an analytic- descriptive method. The results of this study show that prestigious condition of Persian language at the first step was achieved because of the necessity of a social unity of Iranian tribes. Then through the passage of history of Iran, Persian language used the advantages of governmental-political, religious, cultural, social, and financial supports and became prestigious. In spite of historical happenings, the effects of above-mentioned factors have caused Persian to be the most well-known Iranian language with the greatest number of speakers so far.

In this research, the numerical system of a number of languages spoken ​​inside and outside Iran has been studied. Methodologically, this research is both inductive and deductive; and its data have been studied descriptively-analytically and comparatively. The focus of the research is to identify and explain the characteristics of the numerical system of the languages ​​in question. The languages ​​whose data have been analyzed in this study are of two categories: a number of Turkic languages spoken ​​in Iran, and a number of Iranian languages spoken ​​inside and outside Iran. As needed, in the analysis of the article, the numerical system of other languages ​​has also been discussed too. This study shows that in the numerical system of Turkic languages spoken ​​in Iran, and Iranian languages spoken ​​inside and outside Iran, there is a significant variety; and Iranian and non-Iranian languages, at the level of the numerical system, have had many influences from each other. It has also been argued that some similarities between Iranian and non-Iranian languages ​​are the result of long-term linguistic contact.

In this Article, we investigated the phonological distribution of stress in Gilaki. To this end, words from four different morpho-syntactic classes were gathered which varied in the location of stress depending on their morphological structure. 14 native speakers of Gilaki read the target words. The words were then phonologically transcribed and the location of stress was determined. An overview of the data suggested that lexical stress in Gilaki is predominantly word-final; however, the presence of some affixes results in the distribution of non-final stressed words in this language. The data were analyzed within the metrical phonology to reach a generalized account of the varied distribution of stress in Gilaki. Thus, we suggested that stress in Gilaki is either assigned at the level of phonological word in which stress is located on the last syllable of the word, or at the level of phonological phrase in which stress is placed the strong syllable of the leftmost phonological word in the phrase.

Linguistic analysis of the texts of the period of development of the Persian language shows that during this period, a standard Persian language had not yet been formed. For this reason, in the domain of the spread of this language, texts full of dialectal elements are formed. One of the varieties of Persian, which has not been studied independently for some reasons, is the southwestern variety. In this article, the purpose of which is to introduce the southwest Persian variety, by examining some of the oldest surviving texts of this linguistic variety, we will examine some of the current constructions surviving from the middle period in this variety: 1/ passive stem; 2/ artificial stem; 3/ transitive suffix -ēn; 4/ subjunctive construction; 5/ verbal prefix by-. Of course, in some of these constructions, the verbal characteristics of the MP have been expanded and new verbal structures have been formed. After examining the above-mentioned cases, it becomes clear that the southwest Persian variety, probably due to its proximity to the area of ​​Middle Persian prevalence, has many of the verbal characteristics of this period in the time frame it has kept in itself.

Negation is represented in all natural languages (Miestamo, 2017). In Gilaki, this phenomenon is not dealt with thoroughly. The present study attempts to provide a comprehensive description of negation in Gilaki (Lahijani variety) according to the questionnaire proposed by Miestamo (2016). For this purpose, the negation strategies used in clausal and non-clausal negation have been described. Additionally, negative structures and paradigms have been examined regarding symmetry. The data has been gathered from the everyday language spoken by the native speakers in the city of Lahijan. Negation strategies used in standard negation differ from those of other clauses in many languages, whereas it is not the case in Lahijani. The findings suggest that negation can be expressed symmetrically or asymmetrically in constructions containing different types of verbs (simple, prefixal, and compound) with respect to tense and mood. Moreover, there are some cases that the only distinction between the positive construction and its negative correspondence is not merely due to the addition of the negative element but other changes would occur, such as the replacement of the negative marker with another morpheme or some phonological changes, resulting in structural asymmetry. In non-clausal negation, negative reply, negative indefinites, and negative derivation are explored.

This article investigates the spatial adpositions in Tati, analytically and descriptively, according to nanosyntax approach. Based on this approach, terminal nodes in the syntactic structure are smaller than a morpheme, i.e. one morpheme can lexicalize several terminal nodes in a syntactic tree. Tati is a postpositional language. Spatial adpositions are divided into two groups, Lexical adpositions are under the node of Axial Part Phrase and functional adpositions are in Path Phrase and Place Phrase. Based on nanosyntax approach, the syntactic structure of adpositions is [Route [ Source[ Goal[ Place[ Ax Part [KP [DP]]. In Tati, “Goal” is not phonologically expressed. So, the motion verb gives [+orientation] feature to the head of “Goal Phrase” and the morpheme which lexicalizes the head of VP, also lexicalizes the head of Goal P. The adposition for “Place”, “Source” and “Route” is -a(da). One of the principles of nanosyntax is superset principle which determines syncretism in morphemes. In Tati, the syncretism pattern is Goal≠Place=Source, which is a rare pattern among the world languages.

This paper investigates the event structure of prefixal verbs in Kurmanji Kurdish of Rudbar (located in the south of Gilan province) and discusses the interpretational contribution of derivational prefixes to the event structure of these prefixal verbs. The research data has been gathered by means of interviewing a number of native speakers in the region and the oral fulfillment of a questionnaire. The findings show that derivational prefixes mostly denote a directional concept and make a motion verb. As a consequence, a punctual interpretation is typically developed in their instances, unless the linguistic or situational context triggers an accomplishment (i.e. telic and durative) event type. In the data corpus of this research, only a few stative verbs were found, and we could detect no prefixal verb in the activity event type. Therefore, the prefixal verbs of the Kurmanji of Gilan can exclusively express the three event types of state, achievement and accomplishment in their various meanings. These observations (the dominance of punctual interpretation and the absence of activity events) are probably in line with the typical meaning of prefixal verbs, i.e. the directional movement.

Proverbs are a part of concise and selective prose in Persian literature, which, in addition to reflecting customs, habits, beliefs and dominant ideologies and society's culture as a whole, are very common and influential due to their narrative structure and form. This research has been done with a focus on, and critical reading of the collection of proverbs of Bahmanyari's proverbs and The Great dictionary of Persian Proverbs, and the analytical approach of the research is based on cognitive linguistics and discourse analysis. In this review, we tried to show how false beliefs about the position of women in the family and society have been formed and naturalized. This attitude aggravates the male/female binaries in patriarchal society and, in addition, it gives value to this opposition and binary. The value that provokes the superior/inferior binary. The damage of such a valuative view becomes apparent when it appears axiomatic and natural and its acceptance becomes not only axiomatic but also a standard for measuring behavior according to the norm and common sense and no one should have doubts about its incorrectness, unnaturalness and unnecessariness. Among the types of speech acts and rhetorical forms, proverbs as accepted speech acts make the naturalization process of this transcendental attitude more obvious. Beliefs such as women's unfaithfulness and lack of secrecy, their inferiority and lack of intellect, being watchful for opportunities to show off, being made only to serve in the kitchen, having children and being responsible for raising them, the need for external beauty as an obligatory thing for them and the need early marriage for girls and many other cases that the process of their reproduction and naturalization are studied and revised in this subject.

Markazi province is located in the center of Iran with 1.8% of the area of Iran and approximately 1% of the Iran population. In this research, based on the instructions of the “Atlas of the Languages of Iran (ALI)”, the language distribution and the approximate percentage of the speakers of Markazi province were obtained. The results show that the local Persian language (Persian with an accent, for example, Araki Persian), standard Persian, Turkish group, Luri, Raji, Khalaji group and South Tati language group (including: Vafsi, Alviri, Kahaki, Vidari), Lakki and Kurdish have the most speakers in the province respectively. Vafsi, Kohki, Amrei, Raji, Alviri, Vidari languages are among the most endangered languages. Laki, Kurdish and Lori languages are local languages whose speakers have migrated to this province from other regions of the country, due to the industrial hub of Markazi Province. Statistical results of the research show that in Markazi province, speakers of the local Persian varieties include around 42.33%, speakers of standard Persian include around 33.11%, speakers of Turkish group around 14.36%, speakers of Lori group around 4.49%, speakers of mixed languages around 3.06%, speakers of Raji around 1.81%, speakers of Khalaji around 0.450%, speakers of South Tati language around 0.287 %, speakers of Laki of Kermanshah around 0.10%, and speakers of Kurdish around 0.003%, of the population of the province.

The vocabulary treasure of a language is the cultural heritage of a nation. Sometimes, some words in the vocabulary of a linguistic culture, illustrate a cultural picture of the language of a society that only people of that society comprehend. These words are recorded in fixed phrases and expressions, in other words in the culture of the people. In this research, based on Shcherba and Novikov‘s theory, two distinguished Russian linguists, eight common and widely used terms and expressions in Persian and Russian languages are studied in terms of cultural differences and similarities. The aim of the study is that Russian learners compare Russian phrases and expressions to Persian ones from a cultural point of view, and being able to use them correctly. The results show, despite the fact that the equivalents for terms and expressions are written in both Persian and Russian cultures, their usage in the culture of both languages, depending on the circumstances, cultural indicators and speech etiquette, is not always the same and sometimes there are conceptual differences, which is due to cultural differences in the languages. Therefore, in teaching Russian to Persian speakers, the practical aspect should be considered.

In Gilaki, four forms are used to express permission: vâhâštǝn, bedâ, benǝ and tânǝstǝn. Some of these forms indicate the issuance of permission and some indicate the request for permission. These forms are the result of the grammaticalization of the forms that had lexical functions in the old periods of Iranian languages. In this article, the process of grammaticalization of the grams which represent permission has been investigated based on the data from Avestan, Old Persian, Middle Persian, and Persian literary texts. In most languages, permission is represented either through the grammaticalization of verbs that imply abandoning and leaving or through the grammaticalization of verbs that imply the concept of ability and are also used to express probability. In the Gilaki, the forms vâhâštǝn and bedâ, from the root harz / hard, which means "to leave", survived in the old period of Iranian languages. Benǝ, from the infinitive nehan, in addition to the lexical meaning of "putting", was used in a stage of language evolution to express the meaning of "leaving" and then its imperative verb was grammaticalized to express the concept of permission. Tânǝstǝn is also from the root tav meaning "to be able" in the old period of Iranian languages. This form in the course of evolution, in addition to the modal concept of ability, is also used to express possibility and permission.

Katouli is regarded as the most eastern dialect of the Mazandarani language that in addition to some differences in words, is different from Mazandarani to some extent in verbal constructions such as continuous preterit construction and the infinitives used in past and present verbs. In the present study, verbal stem, personal ending and constructions, infinitive, subject and object adjectives as well as active and passive forms have been investigated in Katouli dialect. In this dialect, verb is based on the past and present stems. The present verb has indicative, subjunctive and continuous constructions, and the preterit verb also has simple, continuous, progressive, present perfect, subjunctive and past perfect constructions. In Katouli dialect, the passive form also is not common as it exists in Persian language and the informants prefer using the active structure. The main characteristics of the verb in Katouli dialect which is important in language studies include: lack of present perfect tense as it is common in Persian and using simple past instead of it, not using prefix in present indicative verb construction, using the past stem of kœrd in past continuous construction and some other characteristics which are mentioned in this paper.