مهدی بازیار

This research explores the verbs used in aphasic spoken data by using Hallidayan systemic functional linguistic framework and compares them with the type of verbs used by healthy subjects. Persian aphasia test was used to recruit eight right-handed aphasic patients (mean age of 57.5 years) based on convenient sampling, and there was also another control group of six healthy participants (mean age of 52.2±2.04 years). They were interviewed orally and the process types in each group were determined and compared. These processes were compared to each other by using descriptive statistics characteristics such as the mean and standard deviations of the processes. In order to study descriptive results more precisely, statistical inference was used and ‘test for comparing two binominal populations’ was implemented to analyze differences of the process proportions between two groups. Results showed that aphasics significantly used more material processes than normal individuals (p=0.021); on the other hand, aphasics significantly used less relational (p=0.012) and behavioral (p=0.018) processes than normal individuals. There could be seen no significant differences for the use of mental, verbal, and existential processes between the two groups (p>0.05). Relying more on some processes and less on some others in aphasics implies the linguistic areas where they have more problems with and suggests where they base their speech in the process of recovering linguistic abilities. These findings has implications for both linguists and language pathologists.

Metaphor shapes our language as well as our thoughts by grounding the concepts related to our body within an experiential framework in which we can accommodate abstract concepts. Being aware of their underlying structure and mastering them are believed to be integral in developing metaphoric competence and communicative competence in a second language. Body-related metaphors are among the prevalent, yet under-researched metaphors of Persian that can pose substantial challenges for foreign learners of Persian. This study explores the body-related metaphor constructions utilizing Lakoff and Johnson’s conceptualizations in Persian language that can be problematic for learners of Persian. It was found that the Persian body metaphors are relatively rich and pervasive. In many cases, Persian speakers tend to use different metaphors as a kind of hyperbole to show the repetition and/or significance of a phenomenon or concept (both negatively and positively). It was also suggested that the primary function of metaphors in Persian could be explained based on the narrowing and expanding of meaning. The findings suggested that while systematicity is universal, there are also differences among the metaphor structures cross-linguistically and cross-culturally. The results could also provide another evidence for cognitivists’ claim that the conceptual system by which we understand and communicate (about/with) the world around us is mostly metaphorical. Finally, the significance and implications of studies of this nature for the learning and teaching of Persian as a second/foreign language were discussed.