درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Avoiding the current terminology debates in the literature on politeness research and following a variational pragmatics approach, this study attempted to illuminate how appropriacy/ inappropriacy is realized in Persian language in light of five speech acts of introduction, apology, refusal, congratulation, and condolence. Additionally, it was aimed to see to what extent appropriacy/ inappropriacy is a function of variables such as age, gender, job, and level of education. In order to achieve this aim, 300 participants (m=150, f=150) completed an Open-ended Production Test (OPT) consisting of twenty situations. Analyzed within a two-component part variational pragmatics framework; namely pragmatic level and social factors, the data revealed that the variables in the study in quite different forms guide the expectations, perception and performance of the participants in the study. Giving an appropriacy (Marked/unmarked) taxonomy of the study speech acts in Persian, it is illustrated how, in most cases, the norms of appropriate verbal behavior seem to be subject to the variables of the study. It was further shown that talk and acts between speakers at a social situation are governed by converging and diverging norms in different communities of practice in Persian. Thereupon, the study can highlight the significance of including variational perspective on conventions of language use for language teaching.

The purpose of this article is to determine the phonemic status of [h] and [ʔ] in the Sistani dialect of Miyankangi. Auditory tests applied to the relevant data show that [ʔ] occurs mainly in word-initial position، where it stands in free variation with Ø. The only place where [h] is heard is in Arabic and Persian loanwords، and only in the pronunciation of some speakers who are educated and/or live in urban centres، where inhabitants are in closer touch with Persian than in rural areas. The sound [h] also occurs in the pronunuciation of some Arabic loanwords where it replaces the glottal plosive، particularly in word medial، intervocalic position. The investigation shows that neither [ʔ] nor [h] have phonemic status in the Sistani dialect of Miyankangi at present، but that more intense contact with Persian may change this state in the future، particularly for [h].