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Article published In: Pragmatics & Cognition
Vol. 27:2 (2020) ► pp.408–431

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‘Die’ and its different situation-bound utterances in Persian

 | Shahrood University of Technology
 | Kosar University of Bojnord
Published online: 6 October 2021
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https://doi.org/10.1075/pc.20004.mog
Abstract
In this paper, using the tenets of Situation-Bound Utterances (SBUs) (Kecskes, Istvan. 2000. A cognitive-pragmatic approach to situation-bound utterances. Journal of Pragmatics 32(6). 605–625. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 2010. Situation-bound utterances as pragmatic acts. Journal of Pragmatics 42(11). 2889–2897. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) and referring to Pragmatic Act Theory (PAT) (Mey, Jacob L. 2001. Pragmatics: An introduction, 2nd edition. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), the verb mordan (‘to die’ in English), and its different realisations are analysed among Persian speakers. Through the analysis of authentic talk in interaction, this study aims to ponder nonstandard (situation-derived) meanings of the term mordan and its different SBUs. The primary focus of the study is on strings of linguistic events as well as the “conventions of usage” (Morgan, Jerry L. 1978. Two types of convention in indirect speech acts. In Peter Cole (ed.), Pragmatics [Syntax and Semantics 9], 261–280. New York: Academic Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) or cultural understanding that may lead to standard and nonstandard meanings considering mordan and its different SBUs. The findings suggest that the SBUs regarding mordan, a neglected sociolinguistic context, not only is affected by its actual situational characteristics but also by prior context encoded in utterances used, which manifests culture-specific ways of thinking (. 2018. Pragmemes (again). Lingua 2091. 89–104. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Wong, Jock. 2010. The “triple articulation” of language. Journal of Pragmatics 42(11). 2932–2944. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Overall, 19 SBUs and 7 generic categories were identified with regard to the verb mordan in Persian. This paper exhibits that mordan is a versatile verb, which, when combined with situational/contextual factors, conveys different nonstandard functions that fulfil social needs. This study will also refer to linguistic features underlying SBUs that are influential in assigning various distinct meanings to the verb mordan in Persian.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.‘Die’ among cultures
  • 3.Aim and scope
  • 4.Method
  • 5.The situation-bound categorisation of mordan
    • 5.1Infatuation
    • 5.2Hatred
    • 5.3Intensification
    • 5.4Attraction
    • 5.5Sympathy
    • 5.6Request
    • 5.7Fear
    • 5.8Criticism
    • 5.9At last
    • 5.10Impatience
    • 5.11On no condition
    • 5.12Disappearance
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion and implications
  • Notes
  • References
References (25)
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