Linguistic Elements and Textual Patterns in Spanish
Neologisms
Neologisms are words that are incorporated into our language, referring to new realities or concepts. They can be formed through traditional procedures (many new terms), loans (coming from another language and adapting foreign words, Hispanicized, tracings), and semantic changes (changing the meaning of the word through metaphor, metonymy, and ellipsis).
Markers
Markers are linguistic units that help readers improve text comprehension.
Functions of Language
Functions of language include:
- Emotive (transmitter/daily underwear)
- Conative (receiver/theater)
- Referential (context/journalistic)
- Phatic (channel/phone calls)
- Metalinguistic (code/grammar)
- Poetic (message/literature)
Greco-Latin Formants
Examples of formants of Greco-Latin origin include:
- Bio (life)
- Biblio (book)
- Bi/a (two)
- Vice/viz/vi- (in place of)
- -voro/vora (that eats)
- Hecto (hundred)
- Helio (sun)
- Hemi (half)
- Hem (blood)
- Hepta (seven)
- Hetero (different)
- Hexa (six)
- Hydro (water)
- Hyper (large)
- Hippo (horse)
- Hypnos (sleep)
- Homo (same)
- Extra (outside of)
- Xeno- (foreign)
- Geo (earth)
- -algia (pain)
Acronyms
Acronyms are words formed from the initial letters of other words (e.g., UN).
Composition
Composition is when new words are formed by the union of two lexemes (e.g., Red + White = Red and White).
Derivation
Derivation involves adding derivational morphemes (prefixes or suffixes) to the lexeme (e.g., Living > co-exist-ence).
Parasinthetics
Parasinthetics are words with morphemes in front of and behind the stem (e.g., soft / re-soft-en).
Text Typology
Scientific-Technical
- Features: Universality, objectivity, clarity, and precision
- Linguistic Function: Referential
- Textual Mode: Description, explanation, exposition
- Uses: Technical terms, replicates, numbers, symbols, neologisms, jargon
Legal-Administrative
- Features: Objectivity and clarity
- Linguistic Function: Conative/referential
- Textual Mode: Expository, argumentative
- Uses: Latinisms, formulas, and lexical variety
Journalistic
- Features: Information, entertainment, objectivity and subjectivity, thematic diversity
- Linguistic Function: Referential, conative, expressive
- Textual Mode: Description, narration, exposition, argumentation
- Uses: Good lexicon, neologisms, foreign words, colloquialisms, jargon, figures of speech
Humanistic
- Features: Objectivity and subjectivity, clarity, and originality
- Linguistic Function: Referential, conative, metalinguistic
- Textual Mode: Argumentation, exposition, description
- Uses: Lexical richness, vocabulary, jargon, figures of speech
Literary
- Features: Connotation, subjectivity
- Linguistic Function: Referential, expressive, conative
- Textual Mode: Verse/prose, all
- Uses: Rhetorical devices, lexical variety, connotation, polysemy
Textual Patterns
Narrative Text
Narrative texts present facts, real or imagined, experienced by characters in a specific time and place.
Linguistic Features:
- Prevalence of past tenses with perfective value (simple perfect and compound)
- Use of connectors typical of narration: So, the next day, and so on
Descriptive Text
Descriptive texts explain how an object, place, or person is, so that others can imagine it.
Linguistic Features:
- Prevalence of nouns and adjectives
- Figurative style
Dialogue Text
Dialogue texts reproduce the conversation between two or more participants.
Expository Text
Expository texts offer an explanation of a content item, which can refer to any aspect of reality.
Linguistic Features:
- Vocabulary of science and technology
- Present tense verbs
- Long sentences (composite)
Argumentative Text
Argumentative texts provide reasons for advocating a particular view and, where appropriate, disproving others.
Linguistic Features:
- Prevalence of declarative sentences, conditionals, adversatives, etc.
- Elements to introduce the author’s opinion: in my opinion, from my point of view, etc.