Role of Information Structure in Using Multiple Argument Realizations in Persian

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student of Linguistics, Department of Linguistics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Professor of Linguistics, Department of Linguistics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Mostly, several formal structures could be used to express a specific proposition. In fact, under different communicative circumstances, speakers choose a grammatical structure among different ones with the same proposition to express their idea. Different factors could affect such choice and in this research, we examine whether information structure has any effect on this matter. Generally, information structure focuses on studying paired sentences which are semantically identical, but not grammatically or pragmatically. One kind is multiple argument realization, in which a verb appears with its arguments in diverse formal structures with a single meaning. Therefore, we have analyzed some multiple argument realizations of two argument verbs in Persian based on the theory of information structure introduced by Lambrecht (1994). The data consisting of around 150 sentences in 50 multiple realizations, have been collected from a few Iranian newspapers and then studied in accordance with the mental states of the interlocutors and pragmatic relations, topic and focus. The analysis showed that the mental representation of discourse referents, pragmatic articulation of sentences along with different focus structures have an impact on shaping and using this kind of realization. Moreover, it has been found that processes such as preposition and topic promotion play an important role in this matter.   
 

Keywords

References

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