An Investigation of the Radial Network of the Prefix "/pas-/" in Persian Language Based on the Cognitive Approach

Articles in Press

Document Type : مقالات علمی پژوهشی

Authors
M. Azimi 1
M. Dehghan 2
A. Korani 3
1 Ph.D Student, Department of English Language and Linguistics, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of English and Linguistics, Faculty of Language and Literature, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, Department of English Language and Linguistics, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Iran
10.48311/LRR.72753
Abstract
In cognitive semantics, a polysemous word constitutes a semantic concept, and the various meanings of that word assign themselves to radial network members of that concept. Accordingly, this study investigates the polysemy of the prefix "/pas-/" based on a cognitive semantic approach. The nature of this qualitative research is descriptive-analytical, and data have been extracted from Persian-language resources, namely Dehkhoda Dictionary (1994), Moein Dictionary (2003), and Amid Dictionary (2010), using a library research method. In this study, the two criteria of Tylor and Evans (2003), namely the prototypical fixed meaning or historically evidenced meaning and salience and prominence in the semantic network, have been employed to determine the primary or prototype meaning of Persian language prefixes. The authors aim to demonstrate that the prefix "/pas-/" is a polysemous prefix with a spectrum of lexical functions. This prefix, given its usage in Persian, has different semantic clusters such as "after, before, in front, back, and behind," which have expanded from a prototype or primary meaning. The findings indicated that the prefix "/pas-/" attaches to diverse textual foundations and generates newly derived words such as "pas-farda (the day after tomorrow), pas-pariirooz (the day before yesterday), pas-andaz (savings), pas-larze (aftershock)," and the like. It is observed that the prefix "/pas-/" possesses an extensive radial network due to the combination of this prefix with various verbs.

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Refernces
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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 13 July 2025