Volume 7, Issue 1 (2016)                   LRR 2016, 7(1): 215-235 | Back to browse issues page

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Assistant Professor of Linguistics, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Gilan, Iran
Abstract:   (4853 Views)
This paper will examine (non) presence of obligatory adjuncts in predication and modification constructions in Persian language. The aim is to show that adjuncts are not optional as opposed to the previous thoughts. They are necessary for some conversational utterances The hypothesis is the predication and modifications following pragmatic considerations and focal requirement can be understood better. However, the comprehensive and uniform explanation is not achieved by grammatical and event-based analysis. The presense of obligatory adjuncts are necessary to satisfy focal requirement. On the basis of focal requirement, every utterance must contain a focus, and provide new information to the addressee in discourse context. This focal requirement can be satisfied through various factors; one of them is obligatory adjuncts. This pragmatic constraint derived from Grice's maxim of Quantity or Horn's R -principle. This study displays that the main motivation of  the presence of obligatory adjuncts is focal requirement. So every utterance must be informative.  Utterances normally need a successful focus that conveys something asserted. Thus the predications(short passives) and modifications  with obligatory adjuncts can be understood better in discourse context.                   
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Article Type: Research Paper | Subject: The use of language
Published: 2016/03/20

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