Word Morphology and Textual Cohesion
Word Morphology
Word Structure
Words are formed by morphemes, the smallest linguistic units with meaning. There are two types of morphemes: lexemes and morphemes.
- Lexeme: Contains the basic lexical meaning of a word. It remains constant during inflection, derivation, and composition. Words sharing the same lexeme belong to the same lexical family.
- Morpheme: Contains the grammatical meaning of a word (gender, number, etc.). It provides information on word organization within sentences. Morphemes help form derivatives, compounds, and inflections. They also include prepositions and conjunctions, indicating relationships between words.
Morpheme Classes
- Based on Presentation:
- Bound Morphemes: Appear with other word elements (e.g., “des” in “desbarcar”).
- Free Morphemes: Can stand alone as words (e.g., articles, prepositions, conjunctions).
- Based on Meaning:
- Derivational Morphemes (Affixes): Form new words from a lexeme. They can be prefixes (before the lexeme), infixes (inside the word), or suffixes (after the lexeme).
- Inflectional Morphemes: Indicate grammatical features like number, gender, tense, mood, aspect, person, etc. They appear at the end of a word.
Morphological Analysis
Morphological analysis describes a word’s form, composition, and meaning. The theme is the constant element of a word after removing inflectional morphemes. Identifying the theme is crucial for distinguishing between inflected forms of the same word and different words with separate dictionary entries.
Word Formation
New words are formed through derivation, composition, and other mechanisms like parasynthesis, acronyms, abbreviations, and blending.
Derivation
Derivation forms new words from simple words through suffixation (adding suffixes) and prefixation (adding prefixes).
- Homogeneous Derivation: The derived word retains the same grammatical category (e.g., “clock” to “clockmaker”).
- Heterogeneous Derivation: The derived word changes grammatical category (e.g., “white” (adjective) to “whiten” (verb)).
- Simple Derivation: Uses a single derivational morpheme (e.g., “-ing” in “watching”).
- Multiple Derivation: Uses multiple derivational morphemes (e.g., “Europeanization”).
Meaning of Suffixes
Suffixes can alter a word’s original meaning or change its grammatical category. Appreciative suffixes indicate quantitative values (diminutive, augmentative) or qualitative values (emotional, derogatory).
Composition
Composition combines two or more words to create a new word. Compound words can be perfect or imperfect.
- Perfect Compounds: Form a single unit in meaning, function, and writing (e.g., “wagon,” “brandy,” “flyswatter”).
- Imperfect Compounds: Represent a single concept but are written as separate words (e.g., “physical-chemical,” “civil war”).
Other Mechanisms
- Parasynthesis: Combines composition and derivation.
- Acronyms: Formed from the initial letters of several words (e.g., AIDS).
- Abbreviations: Shortened forms of words (e.g., “zoo” for “zoological garden”).
- Blending: Combining parts of two or more words (e.g., “smog” from “smoke” and “fog”).
Textual Properties
Textual Fitness
Fitness refers to a text’s adherence to social, personal, linguistic, and situational norms. A text is fit when it is appropriate for the theme, audience, situation, purpose, tone, and social context.
Coherence
Coherence gives a text unity and meaning. A coherent text avoids contradictions and presents information in a logical and organized manner.
- Coherence within Statements: Words and statements are consistent in meaning.
- Coherence between Statements: Statements logically connect and progress information.
- Overall Coherence: The text is organized hierarchically, with each part contributing to the whole.
Cohesion Mechanisms
Cohesion mechanisms are linguistic resources that create unity and coherence within a text.
Connectors and Discourse Markers
These elements indicate relationships between statements. They can be semantic (connecting ideas), metadiscursive (organizing information), or conversational (managing interaction).
Repetition
Repetition at the phonic, grammatical, or semantic level creates cohesion.
Anaphoric and Cataphoric References
Anaphora refers to a word that has the same referent as a preceding expression. Cataphora refers to a word that refers to a later expression.
Ellipsis
Ellipsis omits parts of a sentence that the receiver can easily infer, enhancing conciseness and cohesion.
Argumentative Texts
Argumentative texts provide reasons to support a thesis. Unlike scientific proofs, argumentation relies on beliefs, opinions, and evidence, rather than strict logical rigor.
Types of Arguments
- Deductive Argument: Proceeds from a general truth to a particular conclusion.
- Inductive Argument: Proceeds from specific observations to a general conclusion.
- Framed Argument: Presents the argument at the beginning and end of the text.