Foundations of Text Linguistics and Literary Analysis

Text Linguistics and Communication

Defining Text Linguistics

Text Linguistics is the discipline that studies the text as a unit of communication.

Understanding the Text Unit

The Text refers to the unity of all oral or written communication intentionally issued by a speaker, with a particular communicative purpose and functioning as a complete unit of communication.

Essential Properties of Text

Consistency in Text

Consistency refers to the logical relationship between all parts of the text. We perceive it as a unit of meaning that:

• Presents a logical progression of ideas.
• Ensures the theme is always the same.
• Contains enough information, with facts related to the real world.

Cohesion: Unifying Text Units

Cohesion is the union or articulation of the units that make up a text. Resources include:

• Lexical Resources:
  • Repetition
  • Substitution (lexical, semantic)
• Grammatical-Syntactic Resources:
  • Pronominalization
  • Repetition
  • Ellipses
• Connection: Elements that can belong to different grammatical categories (e.g., conjunctions, adverbs, and phrases).

Adequacy in Textual Communication

Adequacy encompasses:

• Presentation: This relates to the formal aspects that the text must maintain.
• Language Use (Log): This refers to the speaker's appropriate use of language in each communicative situation.
• Purpose: Every text is produced by an issuer with the intention of communicating something.

Elements of Poetic Metrics

Sinalefa: Vowel Blending

Sinalefa consists of forming a diphthong with the last vowel of a word and the first vowel of the next.

Dieresis: Diphthong Break

Dieresis occurs when a diphthong in a word is broken into two separate syllables.

Syneresis: Diphthong Formation

Syneresis occurs when two vowels that normally constitute a hiatus are pronounced as a diphthong.

Encabalgamiento: Enjambment

Encabalgamiento (Enjambment) is a mismatch between the verbal pause (end of a line) and the syntactic pause (end of a phrase or clause).

Major Literary Genres

Narrative (History)

Narrative (often referred to as 'History' in this context) includes works that narrate events and actual occurrences, often about a society or a prominent character.

Oratory (Speaking)

Oratory is the art of persuasion through spoken word or oral discourse.

Didactic Genre

The purpose of the Didactic genre is to convey ideas and opinions on diverse topics or to express a moral, religious, or philosophical message, or any related field of knowledge.

Verb Forms and Voice

Verb Person and Number

• Person: 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person, or impersonal.
• Number: Singular or plural.

Non-Finite Verb Forms

• Infinitive (simple, compound)
• Gerund (simple, compound)
• Participle

Finite Verb Forms

• Present
• Indicative
• Subjunctive

Active and Passive Voice

Verbs can be expressed in either active or passive voice.

Active Voice Examples

catch, catching, caught, having caught

Passive Voice Examples

being caught, been caught, having been caught