Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Reza Amini
Abstract
In this article, Richard A. Spears’ Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Words and Expressions is reviewed. This dictionary has been translated into Persian as FARHANG-E MARDOM by Babak Mohaghegh and Masoud Ghasemian. The bilingual English – Persian version of this dictionary ...
Read More
In this article, Richard A. Spears’ Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Words and Expressions is reviewed. This dictionary has been translated into Persian as FARHANG-E MARDOM by Babak Mohaghegh and Masoud Ghasemian. The bilingual English – Persian version of this dictionary is useful since it has recorded a large number of slangs, colloquial expressions, taboo words, euphemistic, and dysphemistic expressions of Persian. On the other hand, it is also really useful, and at the same time surely helpful, for those who translate from English into Persian, in finding the exact meaning/s or equivalent/s of slang and colloquial idiomatic expressions of English. In addition, the English – Persian version of the dictionary includes a long forward titled “an investigation into the nature of slang” that come like a good introduction to the field full of useful points for people eager to know more about ‘’slang’’. However, there are a number of shortcomings in the bilingual English – Persian version of the dictionary including unclear system of referencing in the forward, unsuitable equivalents in some of the entries, and lack of necessary footnotes for some of the unknown equivalents provided for English utterances.
Linguistics and Ancient Languages
Reza Amini
Volume 16, Issue 41 , January 2017, , Pages 45-67
Abstract
This is a review article of the book “Sociolinguistics (Language Planning of Persian and Linguistic Attitudes)’’ by Negar Davari Ardakani, with the cooperation of Azardokht Jalilian. To do so, form and content of the book are reviewed critically. In those parts of the book which contain ...
Read More
This is a review article of the book “Sociolinguistics (Language Planning of Persian and Linguistic Attitudes)’’ by Negar Davari Ardakani, with the cooperation of Azardokht Jalilian. To do so, form and content of the book are reviewed critically. In those parts of the book which contain results of the fieldworks of the main writer of the book, there seems to be important and useful points and findings for language planning of Persian. Regarding the form, some of the important shortcomings of the book are lack of attention to the conventions of orthography and punctuation of Persian and ignoring rules of giving reference to the resources. Regarding the content, lack of attention to the cohesion and coherence of whatever is discussed in the book can be easily understood. In addition, there are several cases of repetitions of the same materials in different parts of the book. Also, some parts of the texts being like a translated text, questionable equivalents selected for some of the non- Persian terms and words, and in some cases, unacceptable quantity of the materials quoted from other writers are among the other shortcomings of the book.
