semantics

This paper focuses on the most prominent theta roles used in the Sindhi language. The study attempts to answer to the research question, ‘How are theta roles prominently used in the Sindhi language?’ The data come from the young native Sindhi speakers. Each verb phrase in the data is examined with the help of Carnie’s (2007) ‘Theta Roles and Thematic Relations’ in order to find the prominent theta roles in the Sindhi language. The study finds six prominent theta roles in Sindhi; namely, agent, theme, beneficiary, recipient, goal and locative. According to the findings of Rappaport Hovav (2007), the hierarchy of the theta roles in English is: Agent> Recipient>Experiencer/Goal>Instrument>Patient/Theme>Place; while, the hierarchy of the prominent theta roles in the Sindhi language is: agent>theme>beneficiary>recipient> locative>goal. This finding is not, however, definitive, i.e. broader studies are to be carried out to find the precise hierarchy of the theta roles in Sindhi.

یک رابطه بسیار نزدیک بین زبانشناسی و فلسفه وجود دارد. در طول تاریخ، این دو حوزه تاثیرات بسزایی بر روی هم داشته اند. زبانشناسان همواره تلاش کرده اند تا معنی کلمات را از جهات مختلف بررسی کنند. به همین منوال، فلاسفه همیشه کوشیده اند تا کلمات و معانی آنها را در بافت های پیرامونی و زبانی متعدد بکار ببرند. با توجه به اینکه کلمات و عبارات، تنها ابزار و وسیله فلاسفه برای انتقال افکار و عقایدشان می باشد، آنها کلمات و عبارات را با دقت بسیار بالایی انتخاب و بکار می گیرند. زبانشناسان نیز می کوشند تا این کلمات و عبارات را از جنبه های گوناگون از جمله ساختواژشناسی، معناشناسی و منظورشناسی بررسی کنند. در این مقاله، سعی بر آن است تا کلمات و معانی آنها از منظر معناشناسی و منظورشناسی بررسی شود. در این راستا، برخی مفاهیم کلیدی که نقش بسزایی در فاسفه دارند مانند معنای صریح (معنای هسته ای) و معنای ضمنی (معنای مضاعف، احساسی و نگرشی) مورد بحث و بررسی قرار می گیرند. همچنین، برخی روش های مهم دیگر برای بررسی متون فلسفی بر اساس پیش فرض، انسجام دستور زبانی و انسجام معنایی مورد کنکاش واقع می شوند. امید است که این مقاله بتواند هم برای زبانشناسان و هم برای فلاسفه مفید واقع شود.

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) assume different roles amongst which is leadership. To lead effectively, they need to possess some significant awareness of the language in order to adequately respond to learners’ needs. One domain of awareness is the ability to distinguish between structurally similar, yet semantically different structures. This study set out to assess ESL teachers’ level of semantic awareness in view of establishing their readiness to meet learners’ needs within their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The Follow-up Explanatory Research Design was used. Data on the cognitions of ESL teachers were elicited from a questionnaire survey while a test was used to quantify ESL teachers’ language awareness levels in the domain of semantics. The quantitative data from the test were analyzed using frequencies and simple percentages while the qualitative data were analyzed using the framework of Content Analyses. The findings reveal that though ESL teachers overestimate the level of their knowledge base in components that have a bearing on semantics awareness, a majority of them do not wield beyond a fundamental level of awareness as concerns applying that knowledge to differentiate the meanings of structurally similar pairs of sentences. It is therefore crucial for English language pre-service and in-service teacher training to seek ways of enhancing the professional knowledge base of ESL teachers especially in domains that are critical to establishing differences between pairs of sentences that tend to be similar.

Metaphor is one of the verbal methods to express a particular concept through another one. Lack of proper knowledge of metaphor results in the lack of proper understanding of the text, meaning, and knowledge. The question is whether metaphor can be realized in the language of religion in practical words or not? The answer is that metaphor is not just about meaning. Rather, it exists in religious texts by aligning the calculated order of words and ultimately leads to the realization of practical speech. So, in addition to the beautifying and verbal richness of the text, it also causes an external connection with the outside world and the audience. The most important and remarkable result of the current study is the transition from the stage of meaning to the spirit of the text. Such a process is a dynamic one with the speaker and the listener, also pays attention to the texture of speech.

This paper aims to study 7 to 12-year-old Persian-speaking children’s comprehension of polysemy through semantics. The research method is descriptive-analytic, and two kinds of methodology in data collection such as documentary resources and fieldwork have been applied. For collecting data, each of the six elementary school grades course books ‘Farsi’ (2018) has been studied and all polysemous words within each of these course books have been extracted. Accordingly, to evaluate polysemy comprehension in children, a multiple-choice test containing two questions was prepared for each grade and asked 25 participants to answer in each grade and each gender from among elementary schools in Tehran. In each grade, 100 answers were received and based on the number of correct answers children’s polysemy comprehension was evaluated. These tests were administered under school authorities’ control and children had to answer in 15 minutes. The results show that most children found the polysemous words without problem only within a context and in relation to the collocated words. Also, children can comprehend the exact meaning of polysemous words based on the encyclopedic viewpoint of meaning which is rooted in human social and physical experience. Moreover, children based on their background knowledge differentiate between multiple meanings of polysemous words.

God Almighty, as the only creator of the universe, has taken charge of the creation and engineering of the creature system and created the best creatures in the best possible way and in the best quality. In the meantime, some of the creations of God the Almighty have been created so desirable that they are mentioned in the Holy Qur'an as blessed creatures. Identifying the differentiation of these creatures helps others to become acquainted with the criteria of a creature and to increase their usefulness. For this reason, the present article attempts to study the word "blessing" in the Holy Quran using the "semantics" method. And analyze the criteria that made them distinct and blessed. The general interest in having and helping to guide humanity quickly is one of the criteria of a blessed creature whose components are explained in this article.

Due to the important status of martyrdom in the context of Islam and Muslim thoughts, especially Shiites, some orientalists such as Wim Raven have sought to write works in this field. Throughout an article published as "Martyr" in the Encyclopedia of the Qur''an, Raven has explored the meaning of martyrdom and its genealogy, using the books and articles by other western scholars, especially Goldziher and Wensinck. According to them, he believes that "martyr" in The Qur''an means "witness" and "hearer of confession", and that reference of the term to the concept of "being killed in the path of Allah" is the result of a semantic transformation that occurs in the Old Testament and the use of "shahīd" in the sense of martyr owes to hadith literature. Orientalists believe that the term "shahīd" in the sense of martyr is a loan and post-Qur''anic word whose root is derived from the Syriac origin of Sahda. In the present article, with a descriptive-analytical approach, after examining Raven''s semantics discussions and outlining his viewpoints and sources, we have considered the semantics of "martyrs" in lexical and Islamic books and then analyzed Orientalists'' viewpoints in this regard. According to the historical analysis of the usage of the word "shahīd" in the sense of "the killed", its application is traced back to the outward contiguity of the concept of the killed with the basic meaning of the word "shahīd" (witness and presence). That is to say, due to the adjacency of the presence some of the killed on the battlefield and their practical witness to the faith of God and the Prophet, the concept of "being killed" is linked to "the presence", and gradually, this contiguity has led to the independent usage of the word "shahīd" in the sense of "the killed".

Dyslexia is one of the neurodevelopmental disorders with interdisciplinary dimensions. The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of computer-based Linguistic Games on semantic and phonological awareness of students with dyslexia. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design using pretest-posttest and a control group. The population of the study included all male students in the second grade with dyslexia, who were studying in the centers of learning disabilities in Mashhad- Iran. The research sample consisted of 20 students selected via convenient sampling method. The participants in the experimental group received 10 sessions of 45 minutes for training through the CBLG while the participants in the control group received the conventional training of learning disabilities in the centers. Language Development Test (TOLD-P3) was used in the pre-test and post-test to assess the semantic and phonological awareness of the students. The results of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that there was a significant difference between the mean scores of phonological (P< 0.05) and semantic (p< 0.001) awareness of the experimental and control groups. According to the findings, it became clear that training using educational linguistic games software package was more effective than conventional methods concerning the performance of semantic and phonological awareness.