بهروز محمودی بختیاری

Extensive studies on Iranian architecture have been conducted since the late Qajar period. However, many aspects remain unexplored. One of the main challenges in this field is the lack of a systematic approach to architectural analysis. Most previous research has been descriptive, focusing on the physical characteristics of buildings. Yet architecture goes beyond its physical elements; it consists of complex structures that require theoretical and conceptual analysis. As a tool for understanding architecture, the theory allows for a deeper examination of structures, meanings, and cultural transformations. Since the 1960s, linguistics has emerged as a significant architectural theory paradigm due to the renewed focus on meaning in architecture. Language and architecture are manifestations of culture—while language reflects culture, it also organizes other cultural domains. The structural similarities between language and architecture have led architects and theorists to adopt linguistic theories for "understanding architecture" and finding "design solutions." This article approaches architecture as a language and, inspired by how linguists study language through various approaches, proposes methodologies for the "understanding of architecture." It draws on Ferdinand de Saussure's classification, particularly the synchronic approach, which analyzes language at a specific moment. The scope of this research is centered on the applications of the synchronic approach in understanding Iranian architecture. Through a comparative study of linguistic and architectural methodologies, the article demonstrates how synchronic linguistic concepts and methods can be applied to analyze Iranian architecture's structures, meanings, and spatial systems, contributing to developing a theoretical model for its study.

Among the authoritative dictionaries of Persian language, Borhān-i Qāti’ (lit. ‘Conclusive Proof’) is considered a turning point in the field of dictionary production, and it provides attractive data for applied linguistics studies in the field of lexicography. Borhān-i Qāti’, compiled in India in the 17th century by Moḥammad-Ḥosayn Khalaf Tabrīzī, is remarkable in several respects, but one of its features which does not seem to have received a proper attention, is its method of providing the pronunciation of its entries. In this reference, almost half of the entries have been given a pronunciation based on analogy, in which the entry word is echoed with a second-well known one, having the same phonotactics (distribution and arrangement of vowels and consonants), and distribution of vowels, and prosody pattern. This method was successfully practiced later on in another important but unfinished reference: Āsaf al-Loghāt (1906-1921). In This article, this pattern of presenting pronunciation is introduced and explained. Also it provides the readers with a list of the reference words which have been used to recognize the pronunciation of the other words, and the frequency of them will also be given and analyzed. The final list of this article presents those words which were believed to be “basic” or “core” by the compiler of Borhān-i Qāti’.

This study examines how news headlines about the October 7, 2023, Gaza crisis employ linguistic structures to convey predetermined framing and reinforce power dynamics. Drawing on Information Structure Theory and the analytical framework of information packing theory, a corpus of 50 headlines from major international outlets (The New York Times, Reuters, CNN, AP, BBC, The Guardian, Al Jazeera) published between October 2023 and July 2025 was analyzed using qualitative discourse analysis. Information Structure Theory examines how speakers and writers organize and highlight pieces of information in sentences, such as what is presented as known or new, important or backgrounded, to guide the listener or reader’s attention and interpretation. The study investigates how syntactic and grammatical choices frame events, highlight causes, assign or obscure responsibility, and shape readers’ interpretations and thematic focus. Findings reveal that headlines systematically manipulate information structures to achieve pragmatic effects. Here, foregrounding (preposing) emphasizes key actors or consequences; postposing constructions activate presuppositions and dramatize urgency; passive voice, inversion, and interrogatives obscure responsibility and subtly assign or obscure blame; also, expansion constructions (relative clauses, appositives, and parentheticals) enrich context and amplify humanitarian or emotional dimensions. Overall, the study shows that linguistic choices function as pragmatic tools for managing discourse, framing narratives, and influencing perceptions of accountability. These results underscore the ideological and power dynamics embedded in news production and highlight the importance of analyzing information structures to understand how media discourse shapes public understanding and meaning.