Humanities Journal of University of Zakho

THE EXTRAVAGANCE AND LUXURY AMONG THE SELJUK SULTANS OF RUM AS DEPICTED IN THE CONCISE BOOK "SELJUKNAMA" AUTHORED BY AN ANONYMOUS WRITER.

Othman A. Omer, Ahlam A. Hussin — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0300

The Seljuk state of Rum (1) is one of the Islamic states that ruled Asia Minor for nearly two and a half centuries (470-704 AH / 1074-1307 AD), during which the sultans of the Sultanate were characterized by extravagance and luxury, as it generated huge sums of money from the conquests. They showed great generosity in bestowing gifts on the rulers. The parties and their messengers during their visits used to spend huge amounts of money on the leaders and princes during their victories and conquests of the Armenian castles and Byzantine cities. They also held celebrations, amusement, and mirth, in addition to the money and gifts they lavished on wedding occasions, etc. Therefore, this study sheds light on the phenomenon of extravagance and luxury practiced by the sultans of the Seljuks of Rum in Anatolia through the book “Mukhtasar Selcuknameh” by an unknown author, which is originally a summary of the book “Al-Awmār Al-Ala’i fi Al-Mār Al-Ala’ī” by Ibn Bibi.

POSITIVE THINKING, RELATIONSHIP TO RESPECT TOWARD OTHERS AMONG KOYA UNIVERSITY TEACHERS

Shahen R. Awla, Paiz Kh. Saber — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0300

The aim of this study is to investigate the level of positive thinking and respect for others in general among teachers of Koya University, as well as reveal the level of each of these variables according to demographic variables (gender, faculty, academic degree). It also aims at finding a relationship between positive thinking and respect for others in the study sample. The research population consisted of 383 male and 136 female teachers. The sample was randomly selected from 100 male and female teachers. The study included measures of positive thinking and respect for others used, Statistical software (SPSS) was used to present and analyze the data. the most important statistical techniques used (mean, standard deviation, T test for two independent samples, Anova, Normal, and Pearson correlation) The results showed that Koya University teachers have high positive thinking above the average level, there is no statistically significant difference in their level of positive thinking according to the variables (gender, faculty, academic degree). The level of respect for others among teachers of Koya University is high and there is no statistically difference in the level of respect for others according to the variables (gender, faculty, academic degree). In light of the results, several recommendations were made.

MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT, THE LANGUAGE OF NEWS FORMULATION AS A MODEL

Abdul Khaleq S. Mahmood — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0300

The research deals with an important linguistic issue, which is the problem of language development and its continuous transformations, examining the linguistic levels at which change takes place, the forms that this change takes, and explaining the role of the media as a tool in this process. The research was initiated out of the hypothesis that the media plays a fundamental role in the process of change that occurs in the body of language. The research adopted the language used in editing press news as a model to demonstrate the aspects of change that occur in the language, It consisted of two theoretical and applied parts, through the analysis of two models of three press stories separated by more than fifty years. The research concluded, after analysis and comparison, that the media has a major role in preserving the continuity of languages, through the changes it makes and on many linguistic levels, most notably the structural levels. and lexico-semantic level.

THE ROLE OF GENDER IN THE USE OF LANGUAGE IN ONLINE INTERACTIONS: KURDISH INTERLOCUTORS AS NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS

Bikhtiyar O. Fattah — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0300

This study examines the influence of gender on the use of English by Kurdish as non-native English speakers in online Interlocutors. It aims at figuring out the contributive role of language to the identification of the interlocutors’ gender, determining the influence of cultural norms on shaping the online communication patterns of Kurdish interlocutors(males and females), and identifying the frequency use of the essential linguistic elements, strategies and styles that distinguishes males’ interactions from females’. This study employs a mixed method, quantitative and qualitative, in the process of data analysis. It is quantitative for administrating a Likert-Scale questionnaire to investigate the perceptions of Kurdish as non-native English speakers according to gender and its influence on the interactions conducted online. It is also qualitative for analyzing one hundred instant messages extracted from males and females’ interactions held in three Telegram public channels. The most two significant concluding points that this study has come up with are: (1) gender diversity affects all the aspects of language including word choice, strategy and style in online interactions, and (2) the frequency of using hedge devices, empty adjectives, euphemistic expressions, apologies, justifications, minimal responses, emoticons, tag-questions, rhetorical questions, intensifiers and exclamatory expressions used by females is far more compared to males. However, males use humor and sarcastic expressions far more compared to females.

A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF PRESIDENT BIDEN’S REMARKS ON ‘PANDEMIC POLITICS

Emmanuel J. Adegbenro , Oluwakemi T. Olayemi — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0300

The literature is enriched with different linguistic studies on world leaders’ speeches delivered to respond to COVID-19. However, studies that investigated speeches of Presidents on pandemic politics are still in want. This study carried out a critical discourse analysis of the pandemic politics in the remarks of President Biden on fighting COVID-19. The September 9, 2021 speech of the US’s President Biden was purposively selected for this research because of its relevance to the subject matter. After the speech had been downloaded from the White House Official website, it was closely read. Copious extracts which convey hidden meanings and help to illustrate Biden’s discourse themes were noted and analysed qualitatively. The research adopted an adaptation of van Dijk’s model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) theoretical frameworks to espouse meanings in the speech. The interdependence of the two tools for analyzing socio- political discourse makes them suitable for the analysis. Results found that, in a bid to navigate vaccination issues, Biden carefully deployed language to communicate three main discourse themes; negotiating with people, legislating rules and ventilating anger against those peddling pandemic politics. Thus, by appealing, educating and begging, vaccine shots were negotiated, and by condemning, blackmailing and threatening, compulsory vaccination compliance was legislated. Emphasizing those discourse themes served not only to conscript the people into accepting vaccination but also to flatten the curve against COVID-19. The study provides useful insights on the responses of government to the dissenting people’s opinions on the issue of compulsory vaccination during pandemic. It is, however, suggested that other researchers could explore a comparative analysis to investigate how different political leaders globally have framed vaccination policies and pandemic responses through different rhetorical strategies.

THE TURKISH MILITARY OPERATION IN IRAQI KURDISTAN 16 AUGUST 1986

Piroz A. Bashar, Hoger T. Tawfiq — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0300

Turkish policy towards the Kurdish national movement in Iraqi Kurdistan is one of the key subjects of the Kurdish national liberation movement, as the Kurdish national liberation movement in Iraq has influence on the Kurdish movement in other Kurdistan parties. The main significance of this research is the evaluation of the Turkish policy and strategy towards the Kurdish movement. This study concentrates on the reasons behind declaring the military operations in the areas of Iraqi Kurdistan borders as well as its reflection. Hence, Turkey paid a great attention to its economic interests in Iraq and Kurdistan region particularly. Because of this, Turkey and Iraq have had close relationships. Also, the Iraqi role and Iraq-Iran war had been evaluated in this study. This study seeks to answer the following questions: Has Turkish policy influenced the Kurdish movement in Iraq? Has the Kurdish liberation movement in Iraq had an impact on internal affairs in Turkey? Do developments in the Kurdish movement threaten Turkey's interests and unity? What are the outcomes of the military operations in Kurdish border areas? What were the domestic and international responses to Turkish military intervention in Iraqi Kurdistan? Accordingly, this research was selected to provide a historical analysis of the Kurdish situation and to clarify the extent of Turkish policy's influence on them.