Computational Dialectometry of Phonetic Variatrtions of Taleshi in Guilan Province

Dialectometry is a quantitative approach to measure the differences among varying dialects using statistical measurement on a large number of linguistic features in a dialectal area. A dialect atlas, as such, displays variations of language across a geographical area. The present study employs an aggregate data analysis method as well as RuG/L04 dialectometry and cartography software to provide a perspective of phonological and lexical variation in Guilan province, Iran. The statistical population of the study includes residents of five Taleshi-speaking towns in Guilan province, i.e. Talesh, Rezvanshahr, Masal, Fuman and Shaft. Out of each town, 10 villages with more than 100 Taleshi-speaking households were selected. The selected participants were male and they were also classified in three age groups including the teen, the middle-aged and the elderly. The data were collected using Leipzig and Swadesh language questionnaires which include 65 words. The results indicated that there are similarities and differences of sound varieties in three parts of Taleshi i.e. northern, central and southern, which include varieties in alternation, consonants and vowels.
 
1. Introduction
Today, the rapid growth of mass media and new technologies have greatly affected local languages ​​and dialects, putting them at risk of extinction. Therefore, it is possible to help preserve local languages ​​and dialects by conducting dialectological research and registering linguistic species and variations. Dialectometry is a new trend derived from classical dialectology in which the differences and distinctions between different dialects in a region are statistically calculated, and represented using dialect maps and atlases.
 
2. Theoretical Framework
Dialectometric methods are in fact a subset of the quantitative approach, and in many cases these two terms are synonymous. Computer methods in dialectometry are called mass or aggregate analysis. It is called aggregate method because it calculates the differences between two or more variables instead of distributing individual linguistic features, and then the result of these differences is added to the total data.
The first study of dialect, which can be called dialectal geography, was carried out in 1876 by Georg Wanker in Germany. In Iran, the largest research program that has started recording and collecting linguistic and dialect data since the early fifties is a national plan called the "Linguistic Atlas of Iran". This plan was a joint action of the "Iranian Academy of Languages" and the "Geographical Organization" during which the collection of linguistic materials from the settlements of the country began. Studies about Talshi have been done by some Iranian and non-Iranian scholars. Rezayati, Naghzguy-Kohan, Sabzalipour, Sheikh Sang-e Tajan, as well as Khalili, Miller, Rees, Bazen, and Oransky, have conducted researches on the Taleshi language.
In our country, the latest work in dialectology and dialectometry is the work of Mr. Mollai Pashaye (2014) on the computational dialectology of the northern slopes of the central Alborz
which is based on the Levenstein algorithm. He studied 62 language forms from 531 speakers and from 425 sites. Sanaei (2016) has compiled a dialect atlas and dialect diversity of the northern regions of Ilam province using computer methods.
 
3. Methodology
The method used in this research was the interview method and at least one and at most three native male speakers were interviewed to collect data from each village, and a total of 153 people were interviewed. In this research, the lexical list of Leipzig and Swadesh, which is a valid lexical list in linguistic studies, has been used. In this questionnaire, 10 categories or semantic domains were used, which includes; nature or geographical phenomena, body parts, animals, family relationships, colors, verbs, food, adjectives, pronouns, and question words.
The interviewees were in three age groups: 10 to 30, 31 to 50, and 51 to 70 years old, and the average literacy of the interviewees was diploma and they were all fluent in their native language and also Persian. The chief occupations of the people are student, farmer, businessman, self-employed and some are also employee.
Using RuG / L04 dialect software, various statistical and analytical possibilities can be obtained based on aggregate data analysis. In fact, this software provides researchers with a variety of statistical and analytical capabilities, including charts, maps and metrics. One of the most important diagrams and metrics of this software is multidimensional scaling and cluster diagrams.
 
4. Results & Discussion
The results showed that the speakers of Taleshi in using these categories have phonetic similarities in some cases and phonetic diversity in some other areas.
Reviewing the research data revealed that there is alternation in the pronunciation of some words. Alternation is a phenomenon whereby a morpheme has more than one form. Alternations in the research data were observed at both the consonant and vowel levels.
The data of this study also represent phonetic processes including deletion, addition, vowel harmony and epenthesis. In addition, the dialect of the settlements located in the foothills due to their geographical location, includes less phonetic variations and in contrast, the dialect of the settlements located in the plains, has more phonetic variations. These points indicate the effect of adjacent languages ​​on the phonetic changes of the Taleshi language. Since the territory under study is located between Turkish and Gilaki languages, the influence of these two languages ​​on some phonetic differences in neighboring areas is quite evident.
Considering all the phonetic variations, the data of this study do not show any special rules and processes that are specific to only one of the dialects of the Taleshi language, and all the processes are visible in most of the dialects.
Another point of this research is the effect of the age of the interviewed speakers on the use of their local language and dialect, that is, the older the speakers, the more they used the original native words, and in contrast among the younger speakers, mostly students, there was a greater tendency to use Persian words.
 
5. Conclusions & Suggestions
What was examined in this article was the phonetic variations in the research data in the Taleshi language. The results of aggregate analysis as well as diagrams and maps that are drawn based on linguistic distance and also from the study of research data show that in the areas studied in the field of research, there are phonetic similarities and differences and phonetic and lexical variations.
The data of this study do not show any special rules and processes that are specific to Taleshi language, and all the processes are visible in most of the dialects. The age of the interviewed speakers was effective in using their local language and dialect, so that the more the age of the speakers, the more the use of original local words. Among the young speakers, mainly students, there is a greater tendency to use Persian words.
 
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