Abstract:
It was claimed by variationists that languages experience variation at all levels, which is supposed to be patterned. The present study aimed at exploring how variation occurred in English and Persian wh-questions. More specifically, it investigated whether such a variation was systematic and patterned. To this end, a modified version of the Edinburgh Map Task was used in data collection. The population of this study was 60 Canadian and Persian native speakers who performed the task through the construction of wh-question variants. The results indicated that both languages experienced variation in the construction of wh- questions. However, Persian proved to be more variable than English because it allowed more wh-question variants to be produced. Moreover, this variation was patterned in English and Persian individually, yet a systematic variation could not be observed between these two languages. It followed that the different mind-sets of the Canadian and Iranian participants which were affected by social and cultural factors might account for such a variation.
Machine summary:
"Considering the claims made on variation in language, two research questions are raised in this descriptive study: 1) How do English and Persian vary among its native speakers of the languages concerning the construction of wh-questions?
In addition to answering these questions, the present study compares English and Persian wh-questions produced by the native speakers of the languages in terms of type and frequency of the variants.
(27) Wh-in-situ (SVWH) Subject + Verb + Wh-word (You did what?) Accepting this classification as a more inclusive one, compared to the function-directed ones as Cowan‘s classification, the researcher could encompass the two probably problematic English wh-questions.
Persian linguists such as Karimi (1989), Lazard (1992), Mahootian (1997), and Youhanaee (1997) specifically stated that Persian is a wh-in-situ language; however, the results indicated that in such a context where there was no limitation in the type of the wh-questions constructed in the conversations, the wh-fronted questions were more preferable.
Following the linguists‘ word about patterned or systematic variation (Labov 1972, 1982; Schiffrin, 1994; Tagliamonte, 2005), the results of this study revealed systematic variation in English and Persian wh-questions.
In other words, patterned variation was not observed among English and Persian native speakers while the context was similar and it was anticipated for all of them to have similar linguistic performance.
Despite the fact that in this research study English and Persian proved not to be systematic in the variation of wh-questions, they vigorously showed that patterned variation existed among the native speakers of the respective language."