Native Persian Research Articles

Native language influence detection for forensic authorship analysis: Identifying L1 Persian bloggers

This article demonstrates and examines the potential use of interlingual identifiers for forensic authorship analysis and native language influence detection (NLID). The work focuses on the practical applications of native language (L1) identifiers by a human analyst in investigative situations. Using naturally occurring blog posts where the writer self-identifies as a native Persian speaker, a human analyst derived and coded sets of non-native features. Two logistic regression models were built: the first was used to select features to distinguish L1 Persian speakers from L1 English speakers in their English writings, the second developed a feature list to contrast L1 languages that are geographically and linguistically close to Persian. The results clearly demonstrate that interlingual identifiers have the potential to aid in determining the L1 of an anonymous author and can be used by a human analyst in a short forensically realistic example text. This article demonstrates that NLID is possible beyond the more common computational approaches and can form a useful tool in the forensic linguist’s toolbox. This study is not a statistical validation study, instead it demonstrates how a sociolinguistic approach can complement more traditional computational approaches.

Essential oil composition of three native Persian plants and their inhibitory effects in the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni

Essential oils of Thymus kotschyanus, Pistacia atlantica and Bunium persicum were analyzed by GC–MS. Growth inhibitory and insecticidal effects of all oils were evaluated in the cabbage looper. Also, Bunium persicum essential oil and its major compounds were chosen for topical and fumigant applications.All essential oils were characterized by high levels of monoterpenoids with thymol and carvacrol as major constituents of T. kotschyanus, α-pinene as the main component of P. atlantica and ρ-cymene, limonene, γ-terpinene and cuminaldehyde as the main constituents of B. persicum essential oil. The oil of B. persicum and cuminaldehyle showed the most inhibition and toxicity on larval growth. In a contact toxicity assay, cuminaldehyde exhibited the highest activity (LD50=68.8 and LD95=196.2μglarva−1) and a notable additive interaction with other main compounds of the oil. ρ-Cymene was the most toxic component via fumigation (LD50=39.8 and LD95=96.2μg/ml). Also, a binary solution of ρ-cymene and γ-terpinene was synergistic in terms of fumigation toxicity with a synergy ratio of 1.6.Our results indicate that B. persicum essential oil merits further consideration for use in pest management. Also, the additive and synergistic activity of major compounds provides an opportunity to formulate a promising green pesticide.

A Study of English Translation of Colloquial Expressions in Two Translations of Jamalzadeh: Once Upon a Time and Isfahan Is Half the World

The purpose of this study was to explore the translation of one of the sub-categories of culture-bound items that is colloquial and slang expressions from Persian to English in two works by Jamalzadeh, Yeki Bud, Yeki Nabud translated by Moayyed & Sprachman and Sar o Tah e Yek Karbas translated by Heston. Applying Newmark’s (1988b) framework, the type and frequency of translation procedures applied by translators as well as the effectiveness of the translators in preserving the level of colloquialism of source texts were determined. The results of this descriptive study revealed that the translators had applied 6 procedures: synonymy (%51), paraphrase (%26.5), literal (%8.5), descriptive equivalent (%2.5 ), couplet (%2) , shift (%1), omission (%5) and mistranslation (%3.5). As for maintaining the informal style of the source texts, the co-translators of the book of Yeki, Sprachman (native English translator) and Moayyed (native Persian translator) have been more consistent and successful in preserving the tone of the original text than Heston (native English translator of Sar). This success can be partly justified by the acquaintance of Moayyed with Persian language and culture making the correct recognition and translation of expressions possible.

The role of F0 and duration in the identification of wh-in-situ questions in Persian

Prosody plays an influential role in the recognition of Persian wh-in-situ questions (Shiamizadeh et al., in press). Perception of speech intonation is supported by several prosodic correlates (Lehiste, 1970). For instance, perception studies demonstrate that prosodic correlates do not contribute similarly to the identification of contrasts (oppositions) in speech intonation, and F0 contributes more prominently to the categorization of contrast in speech intonation (Lehiste, 1976; Peng et al., 2012). The current study manipulates a number of different prosodic correlates to investigate their relative contribution to sentence type categorization in Persian. This study also investigates whether identification is improved in congruent cue conditions in comparison to conflicting cue conditions. For this purpose, a perception experiment was designed in which native Persian speakers were required to listen to manipulated stimuli and decide if they perceived a wh-question or a declarative sentence. Based on the literature, we expect a primary role for F0 and a secondary role for duration in the perception of sentence modality contrasts. We also predict improved identification of sentence type in matching cue conditions in comparison to mismatching cue conditions. The results of the study confirm our predictions, i.e. a primary role of F0, and an increased identification in the matching cue condition is applicable to the perception of the contrast between Persian wh-in-situ questions and declaratives.

Vocal Function Exercises for Muscle Tension Dysphonia: Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation and Self-Assessment Rating

Muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) is a functional dysphonia, which appears with an excessive tension in the intrinsic and extrinsic laryngeal musculatures. MTD can affect voice quality and quality of life. The purpose of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of vocal function exercises (VFEs) on perceptual and self-assessment ratings in a group of 15 subjects with MTD. The study comprised 15 subjects with MTD (8 men and 7 women, mean age 39.8 years, standard deviation 10.6, age range 24-62 years). All participants were native Persian speakers who underwent a 6-week course of VFEs. The Voice Handicap Index (VHI) (the self-assessment scale) and Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, Strain (GRBAS) scale (perceptual rating of voice quality) were used to compare pre- and post-VFEs. GRBAS data of patients before and after VFEs were compared using Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and VHI data of patients pre- and post-VFEs were compared using Student paired t test. These perceptual parameters showed a statistically significant improvement in subjects with MTD after voice therapy (significant at P < 0.05 (*) and P < 0.004 (**)). Also results indicated statistically noticeable reduction in the mean VHI scores across subjects with MTD (significant at P < 0.05 (*) and P < 0.004 (**)). Significant improvement after therapy for participants has been observed by the aid of auditory-perceptual ratings of voice quality (with the GRBAS scale) and the patient's self-assessment ratings measurements (with the VHI). As a result, the data provide evidence regarding the efficacy of VFEs in the treatment of patients with MTD.

Investigating the Use of Compliments and Compliment Responses in Persian: Effect of Educational Background

The present study aimed at investigating the effect of the social variable of education on the use of compliments and compliment responses in Persian. To this end, a Discourse Completion Task (DCT) was administered to 200 native Persian speakers from different educational backgrounds. In general, the results revealed that participants tended to use explicit unbound semantic formula as well as non-compliment strategies to give compliments the most. However, they used future reference, contrast, request, and 'other' strategies the least. Furthermore, they followed accept, reject, and evade trend when replying to compliments. Surprisingly, the most common subcategory of compliment response strategy used by participants was downgrade. Return and appreciation tokens were the second and third most frequently used strategies. However, they never used reassignment and topic shift to respond to compliments. In particular, the results suggested the effect of education on determining compliments and compliment responses patterns. While lower educated people preferred non-compliment strategies, higher educated people preferred explicit semantic formula strategies to give compliments the most. In replying to compliments, downgrade occurred most frequently across different educational levels except PhD/MD level. PhD/MD holders used appreciation token the most. The second most frequently used compliment response strategy by all educational levels was return. However, despite minor differences, no marked difference was found among educational levels regarding the least frequent compliments and compliment responses. The findings can provide valuable insight into the cultural and socio-cultural factors affecting the way people compliment, perceive the compliments, and respond to the compliments made on them.Keywords: Pragmatic competence, Speech acts, Compliments, Compliment responses, Educational background

INVESTIGATING AGE–BASED COMPLIMENTS IN PERSIAN

The present study was an attempt to investigate differences in the use of compliments in Persian across age as a social variable. Data was gathered through a Discourse Completion Task (DCT) with imaginary situations in which 200 native Persian speakers were asked to put themselves in those situations and give compliments. The results indicated that the most frequently used compliment strategies by Persian native speakers were explicit unbound semantic formula and non-compliment strategies. However, the participants used 'other' strategies, future reference, contrast, and request strategies the least. The results also suggested the effect of age on the distribution of compliments. While the younger participants preferred non-compliment strategies the most, the older participants preferred explicit unbound semantic formula strategies the most. However, despite minor differences, all age-groups rarely tended to use future reference, contrast, request, and 'other' strategies. The results cashed light on the cultural and socio-cultural factors affecting the way people offer compliments.Keywords: Pragmatic competence, Speech acts, Compliments, Discourse Completion Task (DCT), Social variables

The Emergence of Native-Cultural Identity in Children’s Book Illustration in the Forties1 (With Emphasis on the Works of Perviz Kalantari)

Illustration is an art that in accordance with cultural structures and educational needs of different societies establishes a close link between visual arts and literature. In Iran, this art has enjoyed a long and bright history that with a boom in children literature in post-constitutionalism era as well as the use of lithography could acquire an independent identity. The works presented in the twenties were accompanied with western and non-native feedback and that was the reason our writers and artists focused on indigenous feedback relying on the Persian culture in the forties. That is one of the important periods and effective on the national Persian art and culture. The need to return to national self literature in the literary field led to valuable results and following to that children literature and illustrated books, too, with a realistic approach and influenced by the native culture could open its space among other existing arts. The current paper tries to explain the hypothesis that the emergence of native elements in children illustrations during the forties was in accordance with the necessity of the national identity and hence; Perviz Klantari is the most prominent native Persian illustrator. Documents have been collected through library resources. The results of this study indicate that the need for the Persian cultural identity in the work of writers and illustrators and to promote reading culture by intellectuals most of whom were writers of that time as well as the support of private publishing houses and entry of printing machine led to the growth of children books and transformed the illustration of the forties into an era the most effective on the history of children illustration books. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n2s1p212

A novel comprehensive database for offline Persian handwriting recognition

Developing a standard database for offline handwriting recognition is an essential task. This paper offers a novel comprehensive database for conducting research on offline Persian handwriting recognition. Seven pages of forms were designed and completed by 500 native Persian writers, who were equally balanced in terms of gender and randomly selected from all over Iran. Then, the completed forms were scanned at a resolution of 300 DPI. Through several intensive processing steps, a huge number of isolated digits, numeral strings, touching digits, dates, words, names, alphabetical letters, free texts, arithmetic, and especial symbols from all these forms were extracted and organized as a standard database. All samples in this database were assigned with detailed ground truth and stored in three color formats: true color, gray level, and binary. Also, all subsets of this database were randomly partitioned into training, validation, and testing sets. We hope this comprehensive database will extend research in the pattern recognition community.

Acoustic Analysis of Persian Vowels in Cochlear Implant Users: A Comparison With Hearing-impaired Children Using Hearing Aid and Normal-hearing Children

Vowel production in essence is auditorily controlled; hence, the role of the auditory feedback in vowel production is very important. The purpose of this study was to compare formant frequencies and vowel space in Persian-speaking deaf children with cochlear implantation (CI), hearing-impaired children with hearing aid (HA), and their normal-hearing (NH) peers. A total of 40 prelingually children with hearing impairment and 20 NH groups participated in this study. Participants were native Persian speakers. The average of first formant frequency (F1) and second formant frequency (F2) of the six vowels were measured using Praat software (version 5.1.44). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the differences between the three3 groups. The mean value of F1 for vowel /i/ was significantly different (between CI and NH children and also between HA and NH groups) (F2, 57 = 9.229, P < 0.001). For vowel /a/, the mean value of F1 was significantly different (between HA and NH groups) (F2, 57 = 3.707, P < 0.05). Regarding the second formant frequency, a post hoc Tukey test revealed that the differences were between HA and NH children (P < 0.05). F2 for vowel /o/ was significantly different (F2, 57 = 4.572, P < 0.05). Also, the mean value of F2 for vowel /a/ was significantly different (F2, 57 = 3.184, P < 0.05). About 1 year after implantation, the formants shift closer to those of the NH listeners who tend to have more expanded vowel spaces than hearing-impaired listeners with hearing aids. Probably, this condition is because CI has a subtly positive impact on the place of articulation of vowels.

Generation and Content Validation of a Persian Syntax Comprehension Test

Abstract Lack of formal tests for assessing Persian language proficiency is one of the main problems for speech and language pathologists in Iran. The purpose of this study was to generate an item pool for a syntax comprehension test based on the characteristics of the Persian language and Iranian culture, as well as the spoken variant for 4-6 years old native Persian speaking children. We first extracted 41 syntactic structures of Persian for the syntax comprehension test, of which 8 structures were excluded in the first phase. Then, 198 items were developed for the remaining 33 syntactic structures. To determine content validity, 14 experts assessed the structures and 12 experts expressed their views on the items. Content Validity Ratio (CVR) was calculated. 24 structures with CVR &gt; 0.50 were selected. 107 items were selected based on their CVR value (CVR &gt; 0.47). Eleven new items were regenerated to replace items with a CVR below 0.47. According to the results, the test turned out to have a good content validity.

The Frequency and Function of Reporting Verbs in Research Articles Written by Native Persian and English Speakers

Writing as a means of assessing and awarding admission to the writers’ disciplinary discourse communities is the most prominent learning activity. Learning to write academic genres involves students being familiar with its key features such as form and function. Citation as a rhetorical device of academic writing indicates authors’ understanding of the previous works. Reporting verbs is one of the most important aspects of citation in academic writing which non-native students often fail using them appropriately. Accordingly, this study investigated the frequency of the most used reporting verbs and their function in the Introduction and Literature Review sections of research articles (RAs) written by native and non-native writers. In so doing, a corpus of 60 articles in the field of SLA, 30 by native English authors published in International Journals and 30 by Persian authors published in National Journals, were selected and analysed. The results indicated that there are some differences in the use of reporting verbs between the two corpora. The attained results can be used to design tasks and materials for teaching writing focusing on not only grammar but also rhetorical structures as well as other genres of writing.

A Comparison of Persian Vowel Production in Hearing-Impaired Children Using a Cochlear Implant and Normal-Hearing Children

Normal-hearing (NH) acuity and auditory feedback control are crucial for human voice production and articulation. The lack of auditory feedback in individuals with profound hearing impairment changes their vowel production. The purpose of this study was to compare Persian vowel production in deaf children with cochlear implants (CIs) and that in NH children. The participants were 20 children (12 girls and 8 boys) with age range of 5 years; 1month to 9years. All patients had congenital hearing loss and received a multichannel CI at an average age of 3years. They had at least 6months experience of their current device (CI). The control group consisted of 20 NH children (12 girls and 8boys) with age range of 5 to 9years old. The two groups were matched by age. Participants were native Persian speakers who were asked to produce the vowels /i/, /e/, /ӕ/, /u/, /o/, and /a/. The averages for first formant frequency (F1) and second formant frequency (F2) of six vowels were measured using Praat software (Version 5.1.44, Boersma & Weenink, 2012). The independent samples t test was conducted to assess the differences in F1 and F2 values and the area of the vowel space between the two groups. Mean values of F1 were increased in CI children; the mean values of F1 for vowel /i/ and /a/, F2 for vowel /a/ and /o/ were significantly different (P<0.05). The changes in F1 and F2 showed a centralized vowel space for CI children. F1 is increased in CI children, probably because CI children tend to overarticulate. We hypothesis this is due to a lack of auditory feedback; there is an attempt by hearing-impaired children to compensate via proprioceptive feedback during articulatory process.

El artículo determinado en español en los estudiantes persas.

The definite article is one of the most complex theoretical issues of the Spanish language. In this study we present the results of our research on Persian learners seeking to discover the most common mistakes when using the definite article in Spanish as the second-language. In order to achieve this, errors have been classified into three types: grammatical, syntactic and semantic. At the same time, the differences in each case in relation to the Persian language will be explained and the reasons causing these difficulties will be identified. The purpose of this research is to help of educate particular aspects of the Spanish language to native Persian students, that has not been investigated so far.

Optionality and Gradience in Persian Phonology: An Optimality Treatment

The distribution of the allophones of /?/in certain contexts involves free variation and gradient preferences. An organized survey was conducted to elicit the judgments of 37 native Persian speakers concerning the well-formedness of /?/allophonic behavior in five different phonological positions. The results showed that the differences in judgment between the various categories are not just the result of random variations, but are an authentic reflection of the underlying structural differences. Following Boersma and Hayes (1999) and Hayes (2000), a stochastic model is proposed within optimality theory to account for the gradient judgments involved. The model assumes that constraints are arranged along a continuum of constraint strictness, with a band of strictness value assigned to each. When the strictness bands of two constraints overlap, then both rankings of the two constraints are equally available for the generation of outputs, yielding free variant forms. However, when a particular form can be generated only by assigning a constraint a strictness value (/?/ or /??/) within a designated “fringe” of the strictness band, the model generates the form marked with an intermediate degree of well-formedness.

Recognizing emotional speech in Persian: a validated database of Persian emotional speech (Persian ESD).

Research on emotional speech often requires valid stimuli for assessing perceived emotion through prosody and lexical content. To date, no comprehensive emotional speech database for Persian is officially available. The present article reports the process of designing, compiling, and evaluating a comprehensive emotional speech database for colloquial Persian. The database contains a set of 90 validated novel Persian sentences classified in five basic emotional categories (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, and sadness), as well as a neutral category. These sentences were validated in two experiments by a group of 1,126 native Persian speakers. The sentences were articulated by two native Persian speakers (one male, one female) in three conditions: (1) congruent (emotional lexical content articulated in a congruent emotional voice), (2) incongruent (neutral sentences articulated in an emotional voice), and (3) baseline (all emotional and neutral sentences articulated in neutral voice). The speech materials comprise about 470 sentences. The validity of the database was evaluated by a group of 34 native speakers in a perception test. Utterances recognized better than five times chance performance (71.4%) were regarded as valid portrayals of the target emotions. Acoustic analysis of the valid emotional utterances revealed differences in pitch, intensity, and duration, attributes that may help listeners to correctly classify the intended emotion. The database is designed to be used as a reliable material source (for both text and speech) in future cross-cultural or cross-linguistic studies of emotional speech, and it is available for academic research purposes free of charge. To access the database, please contact the first author.

The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) in Persian Speaking Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis of the knee is the most common chronic joint disease that involves middle aged and elderly persons. There are different clinical instruments to quantify the health status of patients with knee osteoarthritis and one example is the WOMAC score that has been translated and adapted into different languages. The purpose of this study was cultural adaptation, validation and reliability testing of the Persian version of the WOMAC index in Iranians with knee osteoarthritis. We translated the original WOMAC questionnaire into Persian by the forward and backward technique, and then its psychometric study was done on 169 native Persian speaking patients with knee degenerative joint disease. Mean age of patients was 53.9 years. The SF-36 and KOOS were used to assess construct validity. Reliability testing resulted in a Cronbach's alpha of 0.917, showing the internal consistency of the questionnaire to be a reliable tool. Inter-correlation matrix among different scales of the Persian WOMAC index yielded a highly significant correlation between all subscales including stiffness, pain, and physical function. In terms of validity, Pearson`s correlation coefficient was significant between three domains of the WOMAC with PF, RP, BP, GH, VT, and PCS dimensions of the SF-36 health survey (P<0.005) and KOOS (P<0.0001) . The Persian WOMAC index is a valid and reliable patient- reported clinical instrument for knee osteoarthritis.

Metadiscourse Markers in the Discussion/Conclusion Section of Persian and English Master's Theses

Metadiscourse markers help writers make coherent and reader- friendly texts, thus of considerable importance in academic writing. The main aim of this study was to investigate how interactive and interactional metadiscourse markers are used by Iranian EFL learners. An inquiry was carried out to investigate cross-cultural similarities and differences in the use of metadiscourse markers in the Discussion and Conclusion sections of the master theses of three categories: native English speakers, native Persian speakers, and non-native English speakers. Following Hyland's (2005) metadiscourse taxonomy, a corpus of sixty master theses was investigated to search for metadiscourse markers. The results showed that native English writers used more interactive and interactional metadiscourse markers than native Persian and EFL learners which might stem from the insufficient awareness of EFL learners of the role of the metadiscourse markers, intercultural differences, and the fact that they do not usually receive explicit instruction on these devices in Persian academic context.

Predictors of timed picture naming in Persian

In this study, we report normative data by native Persian speakers for concept familiarity, age of acquisition (AoA), imageability, image agreement, name agreement, and visual complexity, as well as values for word frequency, word length, and naming latency for 200 of the colored Snodgrass and Vanderwart (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory 6:174-215, 1980) pictures created by Rossion and Pourtois (Perception 33:217-236, 2004). Using multiple regression analysis, we found independent effects of name agreement, image agreement, word frequency, and AoA on picture naming by native Persian speakers from Iran. We concluded that the psycholinguistic properties identified in studies of picture naming in many other languages also predict timed picture naming in Persian. Normative data for the ratings and picture-naming latencies for the 200 Persian object nouns are provided as an Excel file in the Supplemental materials.

Investigating Frequency and Distribution of Transition Markers in English and Persian Research Articles in Applied Linguistics: Focusing on Their Introduction Sections

The pressure to produce work in English and to publish internationally has increased over recent years. However, a large number of non-native writers may be excluded from the web of global scholarship due to defective rhetorical organizations and discourse structures of their works. This study aimed to investigate frequency and distribution of transition markers (TMs) in introduction sections of applied linguistics research articles (RAs) written by native writers of English (NE), non- native Persian writers of English (NNE), and native writers of Persian (NP). For this purpose, 45 RAs were functionally and manually analyzed and compared to find possible differences among their introduction sections in terms of frequency and distribution of TMs. The results showed that compared with English, Persian language makes more use of TMs. Moreover, it was revealed that NNE writers show a pattern of overuse of TMs when they write in English owing to the effects of their native language writing culture.