Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Language

Linguistic Concepts: Morphology and Parts of Speech

Morphology: The Study of Words

Morphology is the discipline that studies the word, its structure, its smallest constituent units (morphemes), their classes, and the mechanisms available in a language to create new words.

The Noun

Defined from different points of view:

• Morphological: Noun morphemes accept gender and inflectional number.
• Syntactic: Functions as the core of a Noun Phrase (NP).
• Semantic: A word class for persons, animals, objects, or concepts.

Types of Nouns: common, proper, concrete, abstract, individual, collective, countable, uncountable, animate, and inanimate.

The Adjective

Can be defined according to:

• Morphological: Adjective morphemes accept gender, number, and degree.
• Syntactic: Functions

Antonio Machado: Life and Literary Context

The poet Antonio Machado was born in Seville, the Andalusian capital, in 1875. He studied in Madrid at the Institución Libre de Enseñanza (Free Institution of Education), where he developed a deep appreciation for nature and Spanish traditions. While in Paris, he encountered important Symbolist poets who significantly influenced his style.

Upon his return to Spain, Machado taught at an institute in Soria, where he met and fell in love with Leonor Izquierdo. Tragically, she died after only three years of marriage. The poet, deeply affected, left Soria and his memories behind, moving to Baeza (Jaén). Later, he alternated between Segovia and Madrid until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. A staunch... Continue reading "Antonio Machado's Duero Poem: Analysis of Landscape and Castile" »

1. The Text and Its Properties
Maximum unit of linguistic communication. It is characterized by its intentionality, reflecting a conscious effort by the issuer, including its text that sends a complete message that will be recognized by the issuer.
Features:
- Adaptation to the specific communicative situation in which to perform communication.
- Consistency in terms of contents, i.e., one-way and complete.
- Cohesion in their way. The issuer shall ensure the proper reception of the message using the necessary language procedures for the text to be correct and orderly.
2. Coherence
Consistency: A property that ensures the unity of the text from a semantic point of view. A text can be synthesized in one main idea that summarizes the overall content.... Continue reading "Understanding the Properties of Text and the Cantar de Mio Cid" »

Education and Describing People

Education Vocabulary

• Behave: Behavior
• Cheat: Copying
• Fail: Suspend
• Learn: Learn
• Leave: Leave
• Pass: Approve
• Review: Review
• Start: Go
• Study: Study
• Take: Take
• Boarding School: Internal
• Graduate: Graduate
• Head Teacher: Head
• Nursery School: Nursery
• Primary School: Primary School
• Private School: Private School
• Pupil: Student
• Professor: Professor
• Religious School: Religious School
• Secondary School: Secondary School
• Student: Student
• Uniform: Uniform

Describing People Vocabulary

• Tall: High
• Slim: Delgado
• Short: Low
• Overweight: Gordo
• Height: Height
• Well Built: Good Body
• Blonde: Blonde
• Pony Tail: Coleta
• Long Wavy Hair: Long Wavy Hair
• Gray Hair: Gray Hair
• Beard: Beard
• Curly: Curly
• Shoulder Length: Shoulder Height
• Bald: Calvo
• Mustache: Bigote
• Straight Dark Hair:

La Galatea

In 1585, Miguel de Cervantes published the first part of La Galatea, a pastoral novel whose central theme is love, presented through various cases. The narrative is set in a confined space and unfolds over a very short period (e.g., Erastro and Elicio's love for Galatea on the banks of the Tagus, over ten days).

Key Elements of La Galatea

• Interpolated Stories

  The work includes cases of love experienced by other shepherds, such as two pastoral, one tragic, and one Byzantine courtly love story.

• Poems

  Although primarily prose, the work incorporates a variety of love poetry, including praises and descriptions characteristic of the author's era.

• Debates

  The novel features philosophical debates about love.

Unfinished Nature

La Galatea is an unfinished... Continue reading "Cervantes' Literary Masterpieces: La Galatea & Exemplary Novels" »

Mercè Rodoreda and Gurguí was born in Barcelona in the district of Sant Gervasi on 10 October 1908. She is known primarily as a novelist and short story writer, but also wrote several plays and poetry. Growing up in a quiet neighborhood and surrounded by the love of her parents, especially her grandfather, she developed a passion for reading.
In 1928, she married her maternal uncle, John Gurguí, who was fourteen years older than her. He had gone to America when he was very young and had become quite wealthy by 1921. This marriage, which she never accepted, along with the birth of their only son, George Gurguí, became a traumatic experience for her. She felt immense guilt over her child's mental illness, which forced him to be interned... Continue reading "The Life and Works of Mercè Rodoreda: A Literary Legacy" »

Literary Texts and Description

Description in literature involves detailed portrayal through language. Unlike the dynamic nature of narrative, description is static, slowing or halting the action to focus on the described element. Text can be classified based on various criteria, such as the author's intention (objective description reflecting reality) or the described item.

Descriptive Language

Descriptive language requires precision, attention to detail, and careful selection of linguistic resources. These resources are present at every level of a literary text.

What is a Literary Text?

A literary text uses language in a specific way, employing elements of literary communication. It's a communicative and social phenomenon, a form of delayed... Continue reading "Literary Texts and Descriptive Language" »

Understanding Signs and Semiotics

The signs are defined as everything that represents or evokes something else in any aspect for someone. For something to be considered a sign, it is necessary to have meaning and that there is a receiving agency that can interpret the sign.

Types of Signs

• Vestiges (Indices): The relation of a trace with its meaning is natural. Example: Smoke indicates fire.
• Pictures (Icons): Maintains a relationship of similarity with the meaning. Example: A photograph or drawing.
• Symbols: These signs have an arbitrary relationship with their meaning. Example: Traffic lights or letters of the alphabet.

Language: Natural and Artificial Systems

Language is a social phenomenon based on the capacity that some animal species have to communicate... Continue reading "Semiotics, Language Structure, and the Foundations of Logic" »

Renaissance Narrative Trends and Novel Types

During the Renaissance, narrative suggested two major trends: one idealistic, covering adventurous and fantastic stories; the other realistic in nature, notable for its detailed description of characters and environments.

Key Novel Types of the Renaissance

• Books of Chivalry: Highly successful in previous centuries.
• Italian Novella: Characterized by tangled intrigue and tragic or farcical themes.
• Pastoral Novel: Emerged in the mid-century, inspired by works of classic literature.
• Byzantine Novel: A narrative genre describing the protagonists' perilous journeys full of adventure.
• Moorish Novel: Has its antecedents in border ballads, developing sentimental stories between Moors and Christians at the end of