Extraposition as a Constituency Test for Syntactic Structures in Persian

Document Type : Research

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

2 M.A. in Linguistics, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

A constituent is a chain or structure made up of one or more words, which function as a whole i.e. a single unit, in syntactic operations. Almost all syntactic operations are applied to constituents. Any failure to detect them properly will not only lead to structural ambiguity but also make the analysis of the syntactic processes virtually impossible. It is here that a strong need is felt for a special device to detect the structures. Constituency tests are tools applied in the formal syntactic tradition and hence, in Minimalism, for the detection of constituents and the borderlines between them. So far, constituency tests and their applications in syntactic analyses have been substantially discussed in English resources on syntax (Radford, 1997; 2006; 2009; Carnie, 2001; Kim & Sells, 2007; Tallerman, 2011), but they have only been occasionally and briefly addressed in Persian sources although constituent detection is one of the first steps in fundamental syntactic investigations.
Tests such as coordination, ellipsis, topicalization clefting, sentence fragment etc. have been frequently discussed in terms of how successful they are in detecting main categorical constituents. The results show that these tests are not absolute devices for the detection of borders between constituents. In other words, not all of them are successful in detecting all constituents. On the other hand, their efficiency may vary cross-linguistically. For example, as Hosseini-Maasoum (2022) puts it, a test like coordination is equally successful in Persian and English while a test like topicalization may be more efficient in English than in Persian.

Keywords

References

  1. Adger, D. (2003). Core syntax: A minimalist approach. UK: Oxford University press.
  2. Alaee, M., Tehrani Doost, M.,   &Rasekh Mahand, M. (2017). Constituent Ordering in Persian under the Influence of Grammatical Weight: A Processing-based Explanation. Language Related Research, 9 (5), 35-65. (in Persian) https://doi.org/20.1001.1.23223081.1397.9.5.2.5
  3. Alizadeh, A., Farougi, J. & Malek Kiani, R. (2014). Constituent extraposition and its effect on textual and information structure of the sentence in parts of Tarikh-e Beihaghi. In: Zarei Toosi, K. & Faroughi Hendovan, J. (Eds.), Proceedings of the National Conference of Literature & Linguistics (pp. 790-813). Birjand: Chahar-Derakht. (in Persian)
  4. Azmoude, H., Amoozade, M., & Rezai, V. (2017) A study of relative clause extraposition in Persian based on discourse grammar. Journal of Language Research, 9 (24), pp. 59-85.   (in Persian) https://doi.org/10.22051/JLR.2016.2454
  5. Carnie, A. (2001). Syntax, UK: Blackwell Publishers.
  6. Dabir-Moghaddam, M. (2001). Word order typology of Iranian languages. The Journal of Humanities, 2 (8), 17-23. https://doi.org/20.1001.1.25382640.2001.8.2.1.6
  7. Dabir-Moghaddam, M. (2006). Internal and external forces in typology: Evidence from Iranian languages. Journal of Universal Languages, 7 (1), 29-47. https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2006.7.1.29
  8. Gholamalizadeh, K. (1995). The structure of Persian language. Tehran: Ehya-e Ketab. (in Persian)
  9. Golfam, A. (2012). Principles of grammar. Tehran: SAMT. [in Persian]
  10. Hosseini-Maasoum, S. M. (2022) An analysis of the efficiency of constituency tests in Persian: A minimalist analysis. Language Related Research, 12(6), 93-127. [in Persian]https://doi/org/10.52547/LRR.12.6.4
  11. Kim, J. B. & Michaelis, L. A. (2020). Syntactic constructions in English. Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press.
  12. Kim, J. B., & Sells, P. (2007). English syntax; An introduction. Center for the Study of Language and Information.
  13. Koopman, H., Sportiche, D., & Stabler, E. (2013). An introduction to syntactic analysis and theory. Malden: Wiley Blackwell.
  14. Mahootian, S. (1999). Persian language grammar from a typological perspective (M. Smaa’ei, Trans). Tehran: Markaz Publication. (in Persian)
  15. Naderi, M., & Darzi, A. (2015) The structural position of chera “why” in Persian. Journal of Research in Linguistics, 6 (11), 89-105.  (in Persian) https://doi.org/20.1001.1.20086261.1393.6.11.6.6
  16. Radford, A. (1997). Syntax: A minimalist introduction. UK: Cambridge University Press.
  17. Radford, A. (2006). Minimalist syntax revisited: Minimalist syntax: Exploring the structure of English. UK: Cambridge University Press.
  18. Radford, A. (2009) a. An introduction to English sentence structure. UK: Cambridge University Press.
  19. Radford, A. (2009) b. Analyzing English sentences; A minimalist approach. UK: Cambridge University Press.
  20. Rasekh Mahand, M. (2012). Postverbal prepositional phrase: Functional & typological justifications. In M. Dabirmoghaddam (Ed.), Proceedings of the 8th Conference of Iranian Linguistics (Vol. 1. pp. 280-293). Tehran: Allame Tabatabee University Publication. (in Persian)
  21. Rasekh Mahand, M. (2012). Prepositional phrase after verb; Functional and typological evidence. In M. Dabirmoghaddam (Ed.), Proceedings of the 8th Iranian Conference of Linguistics (Vol. 1, pp 280-293). Tehran: Allameh Tabatabaee University Press.  (in Persian)
  22. Rasekh Mahand, M., & Ghiasvand, M. (2013) Motivating factors of postposing in Persian. Journal of Linguistics & Khorasan Dialects, 5 (9), 27-47. (in Persian) https://doi.org/10.22067/lj.v5i9.37335
  23. Rasekh Mahand, M., Alizade-Sahraei, M., & Izadifar, R. (2016). A corpus-based analysis of relative clause extraposition in Persian. Ampersand, 3, 21- 31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amper.2016.02.001
  24. Rasekh Mahand, M., Alizadeh Sahraie, M. Izadifar. R. Ghiasvand, M. (2012) The functional Explanation of Relative Clause Extraposition in Persian, Journal of Researches in Linguistics, Vol. 4, No. 6, pp. 21-40. (in Persian)
  25. Tallerman, M. (2011). Understanding syntax. UK: Hodder Education.
  26. Wasow, T. (2002). Postverbal behavior. Stanford: CSLI Publications.
ZABANPAZHUHI (Journal of Language Research)
Volume 15, Issue 46
May 2023
Pages 65-83

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics