نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
نویسندگان
1 استادیار زبانشناسی، پژوهشگاه میراث فرهنگی و گردشگری، تهران، ایران.
2 دانشیار زبانشناسی، پژوهشگاه میراث فرهنگی و گردشگری، تهران، ایران.
چکیده
کلیدواژهها
موضوعات
عنوان مقاله [English]
نویسندگان [English]
The relationships between the head and its dependent nouns are determined through case-marking systems. This study examines the method and role of adpositions in case marking in the Shahmirzadi language which is spoken in the Semnan province of Iran. To analyze the linguistic data based on the theoretical framework of the research, data were collected through a questionnaire prepared for this purpose, and Shahmirzadi data available in the Iran Linguistic Atlas (ILA) database have been utilized. Written sources containing lexical and syntactic information were also used to refine and validate the data. The data analysis indicates that in both grammatical and semantic cases in Shahmirzadi, case marking is achieved through postpositions. According to the theoretical framework, the case-marking system in this language is analytical, and inflectional affixes are not used for this purpose. In other words, in this language variety, the locative, comitative, instrumental, and ablative cases are marked using independent or dependent adpositions. But genitive, benefactive, accusative and ablative (where the older Shahmirzadi form /-ǰǝn/ involves) cases are marked through dependent adpositions (enclitics).
Extended abstract
1.Introduction
Case, is the marking of the relationship between the head and the dependent in a noun phrase. From a typological point of view, there are two types of case marking in languages: inflectional and analytical. In the first type, case marking is done through inflectional categories, while in the second, it is carried out using independent categories (Primus, 2012: 305).
There are various methods for case marking in languages, which are discussed in the theoretical framework section. In some languages, case marking is done through adpositions, while in others it is done with inflectional suffixes. Additionally, in some languages around the world, both methods are used together. According to Blake (2004: 47), the use of syntactic word order can also be considered a competing mechanism for indicating grammatical case.
Given the necessity of studying local languages in Iran to preserve and maintain them on the one hand, and the importance of research on how case marking works in languages as part of syntactic-typological studies on the other, this research addresses the method of case marking in the Shahmirzadi language based on Blake (2004).
Researchers such as Rogova (1999), Lecoq (2004), Kalbasi (2009), Dabirmoghaddam (2023), and other linguists have conducted various studies on this language and its linguistic issues. However, none of these studies have addressed the aforementioned topic in Shahmirzadi. Therefore, the present research aims to fill this gap by examining the research topic. To achieve this goal, the subject will investigate nominative, accusative, locative, dative, ablative, comitative, instrumental, and genitive cases in the data of this language.
2.Theoretical Framework
In inflectional case marking systems, case markers appear as affixes on noun phrases, which, depending on their position, can be prefixes, suffixes, or infixes. Prepositions can also function as case markers in languages, and such a system is called an analytical case marking system. For instance, in Japanese, grammatical cases are indicated through postpositions. In languages where the analytical method of case marking is used, adpositions (whether preposition, postposition, or both) are employed. In some languages like Turkish and Latin, the case marking is synthetic. This means that case suffixes and postpositions perform the function of case marking in these languages (Blake, 2004: 9). Primus (2012) believes that case marking can occur on both the dependent and the head elements. If the markers are placed on the head, the process is referred to as head-marking; if they attach to the dependent, it is called dependent-marking (Blake, 2004, citing Nichols, 1986).
Blake (2004: 31), in addition to categorizing case as analytical and synthetic cases, which were discussed in the previous paragraphs, also refers to two groups of cases: grammatical cases and semantic cases. Grammatical cases, or syntactic cases as they are sometimes called, only express grammatical relations. Nominative, accusative, and often genitive cases fall into this group. He also adds dative and ergative cases to this category because they encode the indirect object and the agent of a transitive verb (A), respectively. On the other hand, semantic cases express semantic relations, such as locative, source, comitative, instrumental, and ablative cases. However, this categorization is not always clear-cut, and sometimes ambiguity is observed in languages.
3.Research Method
This research employs a descriptive-analytical method, gathering data through interviews with native speakers of the Shahmirzadi language using a specifically designed questionnaire. Additionally, it utilizes data from the Linguistic Atlas of Semnan Province. The Iranian Linguistic Atlas is currently being compiled at the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism. In certain instances, written sources about this language have been consulted to refine and validate the data. The research corpus comprises 200 sentences or phrases; due to the article's length constraints, not all can be presented. After transcription using the North American Phonetic Alphabet (NAPA/APA) system, the data are analyzed based on the research's theoretical framework.
4.Conclusion
Based on data analysis and according to Blake's classification, the case marking system in Shahmirzadi language is analytical. This means that in this language case marking is performed through adposition rather than inflectional affixes. In the Shahmirzadi, adpositions are in postposition type and are used in both independent (dim) and dependent (-væri) forms. In this language variety, locative, comitative, instrumental, and ablative cases are marked using either independent or dependent postpositions and genitive, dative, and accusative cases are indicated through dependent postpositions (enclitics). Notably, in the ablative case, if the original and older Shahmirzadi form /-ǰǝn/ is used, it also involves enclitics. The term "independent" for some Shahmirzadi postpositions means that, in addition to their role as postpositions, they function as meaningful lexical units. For example, "dim" is used to mean both "on" and "face."
Another point is that in the Shahmirzadi, the adposition "az" (meaning "from") is occasionally used, likely due to linguistic contact and borrowing from Standard Persian. In Standard Persian the said adposition is used as preposition, whereas in original and older form of Shahmirzadi it functions as a postposition.
Select Biblography
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Primus, B. “Case-Marking Typology”. The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Typology. Jae Jung Song (ed.), 2012; Pp.303-321. DOI: 10.1093/oxford hb/9780199281251.013.0016.
Sabzalipur, J. & R. Izadifar (2014). Case Marking System in Tâti Dialect of Khalkhâl". Language Related Research, 2014; 5(4): 103-123.
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کلیدواژهها [English]
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