https://jrl.ui.ac.ir/ Journal of Researches in Linguistics en daily 1 Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0330 https://jrl.ui.ac.ir/article_29762.html AbstractDiscourse markers are words or phrases that lack propositional meaning and function almost independently of syntactic structure without altering the propositional meaning of sentences. Utilizing Fraser's theoretical framework (1999, 2006, and 2009), this study systematically examined discourse markers in three Persian domains: political, economic, and literary. The discourse markers employed in literary, political, and economic discourses were selected and analyzed as the research corpus. Following comparison, the type and frequency of each discourse marker were determined. Findings revealed that connecting discourse markers were used to varying degrees across all three domains. Four types of discourse markers were identified: contrastive, elaborative, inferential, and temporal. The study found that contrastive (248) and elaborative markers (218) were used more frequently in political texts than in economic and literary texts. Inferential markers (116) showed highest frequency in economic texts, while temporal markers (184) predominated in literary texts. The complete corpus comprised 93,431 words, with 1,965 (10.2%) functioning as message-connecting markers. This differential usage pattern demonstrated that discourse type and purpose directly influenced the selection and frequency of discourse markers. Findings further confirmed that in Persian, particularly in political texts, creating informational contrast served as the dominant strategy for maintaining textual cohesion.Keywords: Discourse Markers, Political Discourse, Economic Discourse, Literary Discourse, Persian Language. IntroductionIn recent decades, the study of discourse markers has emerged as a significant area of research in linguistics and discourse analysis. Although lacking independent semantic content, discourse markers play a vital role in discourse organization, establishing connections between propositions and guiding audience interpretation. Being grounded in Fraser's taxonomy, which classifies discourse markers into four categories (contrastive, elaborative, inferential, and temporal), this research systematically investigated these linguistic elements across three major Persian genres.This study held importance for several reasons. First, while previous research had primarily focused on English, few studies had examined discourse markers in Persian. Second, understanding usage patterns across different genres could enhance our comprehension of each domain's discursive characteristics. The central research question examined how discourse type (political, economic, and literary) influenced the selection and frequency of various discourse markers and whether identifiable patterns existed within each genre. Methodology and Theoretical BasisThis corpus-based study employed descriptive-analytical methods. The research corpus comprised three distinct text collections representing each genre: political texts (31,020 words from Kayhan Newspaper editorials), economic texts (30,959 words from Donya-e Eqtesad Newspaper editorials), and literary texts (31,452 words from Sadegh Hedayat's novel "The Blind Owl"). The complete corpus totaled 93,431 words, providing an appropriate sample for linguistic analysis.Methodologically, all discourse markers were first identified across corpora and classified according to Fraser's framework: contrastive (e.g., "but", "although", and "however"), elaborative (e.g., "and", "also", and "or"), inferential (e.g., "therefore", "so", and "consequently"), and temporal (e.g., "then", "when", and "before"). Frequencies were calculated for each marker type within genres with percentages determined relative to total markers per genre. Chi-square testing (α=0.05) established statistical significance, enabling systematic comparison of usage patterns across genres. Discussion of Results and ConclusionFindings revealed distinctive discourse marker distribution patterns across genres. Political texts showed highest frequencies for contrastive (37.7%) and elaborative markers (33.2%), aligning with inherently oppositional nature and complex argumentation structures of political discourse. The prevalent use of markers like "but" and "although" reflected authors' strategies to present contrasting viewpoints and establish discursive opposition. This pattern suggested that Persian political discourse particularly relied on contrastive relations to construct persuasive arguments and highlight ideological differences, with elaborative markers serving to develop extended justification of positions.In economic texts, inferential markers predominated (18.8%) though at lower frequencies than anticipated. This might reflect characteristics of the journalistic subcorpus as analytical economic texts typically employed more inferential markers (e.g., "therefore" and "as a result"). The journalistic style appeared to have moderated this expected pattern, possibly due to the need for accessibility in newspaper editorials compared to more specialized economic discourse. However, the relatively higher use of inferential markers still reflected the cause-effect reasoning fundamental to economic analysis, where conclusions had to be drawn from presented data and trends.Most notably, literary texts demonstrated highest temporal marker usage (26.5%), perfectly corresponding with event-sequencing requirements of narrative fiction. Markers like "then", "when", and "before" frequently appeared to establish temporal relationships in "The Blind Owl". This heavy reliance on temporal markers underscored how Persian literary narrative prioritized the chronological unfolding of events and establishment of clear temporal frameworks, which was particularly crucial in modernist works like Hedayat's that employed complex time structures. The comparatively lower frequency of contrastive markers in literary texts (24.4%) further highlighted how narrative coherence in Persian fiction was achieved more through temporal sequencing than through oppositional relations.An additional noteworthy finding concerned the distribution of elaborative markers across genres. While being most frequent in political texts (33.2%), they maintained substantial presence in both economic (25.7%) and literary (27.5%) corpora. This consistent usage across all three genres suggested that additive relations (marked by "and", "also", etc.) represented a fundamental connective strategy in Persian discourse regardless of genre. The similar distribution patterns between economic and literary texts in this category might indicate shared strategies for information accumulation though serving different rhetorical purposes in each genre.These results clearly demonstrated the direct influence of discourse type on marker selection and frequency, confirming the primary hypothesis while offering new insights into each domain's discursive features. The findings contributed to theoretical understanding of Persian discourse structure by empirically validating Fraser's framework in a non-Western language context, while also revealing Persian-specific patterns like the particular prominence of contrastive relations in political discourse. The study limitations included focusing on a single literary work and using journalistic texts to represent political and economic discourse. Future research should expand the corpus to include more varied text types within each genre and consider additional factors like authorial style, historical period, and audience characteristics that may interact with genre effects.This study represented a significant advancement in understanding Persian discourse marker systems and provided foundations for future discourse analysis research and professional writing pedagogy. Recognizing genre-specific marker patterns can substantially enhance writing skills and textual analysis across specialized domains. The findings have practical implications for Persian language education, suggesting that instruction should emphasize different marker types according to the target genre. For translators working with Persian texts, these results provide crucial guidance for maintaining appropriate discourse marker distributions when rendering texts into other languages. https://jrl.ui.ac.ir/article_30024.html In the complex sociolinguistic landscape of Iran, this study investigated the language attitudes of native Baluchi speakers toward their mother tongue, the national language of Persian, and Persian spoken with a Baluchi accent. Employing a Matched-Guise Test with 207 participants, the study measured ratings across dimensions of solidarity, competence, personal attractiveness, and aggressiveness. A series of repeated measures ANOVAs revealed a clear attitudinal hierarchy. While Baluchi commanded strong affective loyalty, standard Persian was rated the highest on status-related traits (competence and attractiveness). Crucially, the accented Persian guise was rated significantly lower than both other varieties across most positive dimensions, with effect sizes ranging from medium to large. The study’s primary contribution lay in demonstrating that an ethnically-congruent accent on a high-status language can, paradoxically, create an "in-between" identity that is judged more harshly than either the standard or the minority language. These findings highlight the powerful role of accent in shaping social hierarchies and underscore the need for policies that address accent-based bias. https://jrl.ui.ac.ir/article_30125.html This study investigated three Persian discourse markers—ya’ni (‘that is/meaning’), magar (‘unless/is it not’), and pas (‘so/then’)—as essential tools for interaction in courtroom communication. While discourse markers do not introduce new propositional meanings, they play a critical role in enhancing coherence, guiding interaction, and facilitating meaning negotiation. Utilizing a 99,040-word corpus of authentic spoken data collected from family, civil, and criminal courts in Dorud County, this research employed a pragmatics-based and corpus-analytic approach. Using AntConc (version 4.3.4), the analysis revealed co-occurrence patterns, frequency distributions, and collocational trends. The findings demonstrated that the usage and functions of these markers differed based on the type of court and the speakers’ institutional roles. Specifically, pas was often used by legal professionals to reformulate discourse, direct responses, construct logical conclusions, or underscore contradictions. In contrast, non-legal participants primarily used it for narrative construction and defensive positioning. Ya’ni served as a clarifying and reinterpretive tool, frequently appearing in justificatory speech and emotionally charged contexts, often to reframe meaning or assert personal evaluations. Magar was prevalent in rhetorical and confrontational questioning. Lay participants utilized it to express objection, frustration, or disbelief, whereas legal actors employed it to guide participants toward implicit assumptions. Overall, the results indicated that discourse markers in courtroom interactions served purposes beyond linguistic fillers; they acted as indicators of power, persuasion, stance-taking, and role management. Their patterned use highlighted institutional asymmetries between legal professionals and lay speakers, emphasizing the agentive and context-sensitive nature of these markers in shaping interpretation, interaction, and authority within legal settings. https://jrl.ui.ac.ir/article_30180.html AbstractThis study explored the relationship between gender and place within the linguistic landscape of Tehran. Linguistic signs were photographed in 3 neighborhoods—Tajrish, Haft-e Tir, and Khazaneh—and subsequently described and classified based on the use of gendered terms. Approximately 10% of the linguistic elements examined reflect the variable of gender. The prevalence of gendered signs varied across the neighborhoods with Haft-e Tir and Khazaneh exhibiting the highest and lowest frequencies, respectively. Qualitatively, a clear distinction emerged in the representation of masculine and feminine gender. In southern Tehran, gendered linguistic signs predominantly suggested a masculine influence, whereas northern and central neighborhoods featured a more pronounced presence of feminine signs. These disparities highlighted the significant role of place in representing gender within public spaces, suggesting a profound interplay between the variables of gender and location. Data analysis, which focused on 4 indicators—onomastics, linguistic diversity, agency, and territorialization—alongside a reflection on linguistic signs through the lens of women’s empowerment theory, indicated that women in the northern and central neighborhoods of Tehran (Tajrish and Haft-e Tir) had achieved substantial social and economic empowerment. Conversely, in the southern region, women's activities were more constrained and primarily confined to ritual and traditional roles. The findings not only provided a comprehensive depiction of the linguistic landscape, but also elucidated the processes of women's empowerment and social development across different areas of Tehran.Keywords: Gender, Place, Women's Empowerment, Linguistic Landscape, Tehran. IntroductionGender and place are two non-linguistic variables that significantly influence language forms and the speakers’ linguistic behaviors in diverse ways. Gender, fundamentally a social variable, is typically represented in a binary format of female and male. Similarly, place is a non-linguistic variable that intersects with other factors, such as economic development and social class. This study explored the relationship and intersectionality between gender and place within the public spaces of Tehran. The research was grounded in Rowlands' theory of women's empowerment (Rowlands, 1997). According to this theory, empowerment involves supporting individuals, who are marginalized from decision-making processes, enabling them to actively engage in political affairs, achieve economic self-sufficiency, and attain financial independence. Rowlands emphasizes that, in the empowerment process, access to intangible aspects of decision-making is crucial. These processes help individuals recognize their interests, understand how their interests align with those of others, and ultimately influence decision-making from a position of power. The outcome of this exercise of power includes enhanced self-confidence and improved conditions in everyday life and social interactions. Given the researcher’s interest in the interplay between gender, place, and the process of women's empowerment in public spaces, two key questions were posed: 1) Are gender-oriented linguistic signs related to women’s empowerment present in the linguistic landscape of Tehran neighborhoods? 2) If so, what is the relationship between women’s empowerment in the linguistic landscape and the variable of place, particularly across the northern, central, and southern neighborhoods of Tehran? Materials & MethodsThe linguistic signs were photographed and collected from 3 neighborhoods in Tehran: Khazaneh in the south, Haft-e Tir in the city center, and Tajrish in the north on August 29th and September 3rd and 5th, 2024, respectively. A total of 5,174 linguistic signs were documented. Of these, more than 500 signs (9.7%) were identified as related to the variable of gender. To address the second research question, 4 criteria and indicators were employed: onomastics, linguistic diversity, agency, and territorialization. These criteria were then analyzed within the framework of empowerment theory. Discussion of Results & ConclusionA substantial portion of the identified linguistic signs, including street and alley names, exhibited a gender-based nature. In these gendered signs, a connection emerged between linguistic diversity and place. Notably, in the neighborhoods of Tajrish and Haft-e Tir, English words—whether in Latin or Persian scripts—were often found alongside Persian elements, while signs in the neighborhood of Khazaneh were exclusively in Persian. In this study, "agency" referred to the power and capacity that society and culture provided for activism. The findings revealed that female agency was prominently represented in the northern and central regions of Tehran; conversely, there was a lack of visible female agency in the gendered linguistic signs of southern Tehran. Regarding territorialization, observations indicated that some business owners and managers in Tehran utilized language to delineate spaces and create a sense of otherness through phrases like "ladies only" or "no men allowed". The findings suggested that masculine identity predominated in the public spaces of Tehran although there was a notable inclination to employ feminine toponyms in Tajrish and, to a lesser extent, in Haft-e Tir. This study also examined 4 indicators—toponyms, linguistic diversity, agency, and territorialization. A clear link was found between feminine identity and linguistic diversity; in feminine spaces, there was a greater abundance of diverse linguistic signs, particularly bilingual ones. The neighborhoods under study did not portray a uniform representation of gender-based linguistic diversity. While the northern (Tajrish) and central (Haft-e Tir) neighborhoods featured a significant array of Persian, English, and even Turkish linguistic signs, the neighborhood of Khazaneh in southern Tehran was predominantly Persian. Furthermore, gendered signs displayed marked differences concerning agency indicators. In the southern neighborhood of Khazaneh, there was evidence of male agency across various educational and sports domains, while the northern and central neighborhoods emphasized female agency. The only indicator showing some similarities between the neighborhoods was territorialization; however, significant differences remained in the fields of activity. Overall, it appeared that place was a critical variable in the representation of female identity from a linguistic perspective, suggesting a clear intersectionality between gender and place. The findings of this study could also be contextualized within Rowlands’ theory of women’s empowerment.  https://jrl.ui.ac.ir/article_30067.html The speech act of advice, despite its relatively accepted definition, takes on different forms in various social contexts. Previous research has primarily focused on institutional and non-intimate contexts (such as health counseling and student guidance), while the investigation of this speech act in the intimate context of marital relationships, particularly in literary texts, has been neglected. This study aims to analyze the pragmatic application of advice in marital dialogues across ten plays by Akbar Radi, relying on Hinkel's (1997) classification framework—which categorizes advice into direct, cautious, and indirect. Data were collected using a qualitative method and guided content analysis based on the theoretical framework, and were analyzed using inter-rater reliability. The findings revealed that, first, all advice in this context is "unsolicited." Second, unlike in formal contexts, "direct advice" is the most frequently used type, accounting for 55.81% of instances, indicating the central role of "explicitness" in intimate marital relationships. Third, women give advice significantly more often (70.23%) than men. Furthermore, by identifying three new types of advice—"collective advice," "past-oriented advice," and "self-advice"—which do not fit into Hinkel's framework, this study demonstrates the need to expand this model to better align with intimate communicative contexts. This research not only contributes to the literature on advice in the Persian language but also offers a novel interpretation of Radi's dialogue writing by providing an analysis of power dynamics and intimacy in family discourse.