Linguistic Concepts and Literary Forms Explained

Understanding Language Functions

• Referential (Representative): Focuses on the context, conveying objective information about reality.
• Expressive (Emotive): Focuses on the sender, expressing emotions, attitudes, or subjective feelings.
• Conative (Appellative): Focuses on the receiver, aiming to influence or elicit a response from them.
• Phatic: Focuses on the communication channel, used to establish, maintain, or close communication (e.g., social greetings).
• Metalinguistic: Focuses on the code itself, using language to talk about language.
• Poetic: Focuses on the message for its own sake, emphasizing aesthetic or artistic qualities of the language.

Spanish Language Varieties and Dialects

Castilian Spanish: First appearances in the Glosas Emilianenses (10th century). First major literary work: Poema de Mio Cid (12th century).

Regional Dialects of Spanish

• Andalusian: Characterized by ceceo (pronouncing 's' as 'th' sound, like 'c' or 'z' in Castilian) or seseo (pronouncing 'c' and 'z' as 's'), loss of 'd' between vowels, and final sound assimilation (e.g., aspiration or loss of 's', 'l', 'r').
• Murcian: Features include the suffix '-ico', sibilant pronunciation, and aspiration of final 's' and 'j'.
• Canarian: Marked by seseo, yeísmo (pronouncing 'll' and 'y' identically), aspiration of 'j', and frequent use of 'ustedes' instead of 'vosotros'.

Catalan Language

First literary manifestations in the 12th century; its use was prohibited in the 17th century. Dialects include:

• Western Catalan: Spoken in Andorra, Lleida, Tarragona, and the western fringe of Aragon.
• Eastern Catalan: Spoken in Girona, Barcelona, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, and French Roussillon.

Key features include the conservation of Latin initial 'f-', opening of tonic 'e' and 'o', and preservation of some initial double consonants.

Galician Language

Features include the conservation of initial 'f-', use of the suffix '-iño', and loss of 'n' between vowels.

Bilingualism and Diglossia

• Bilingualism: A situation where two languages coexist equally in the same region or by an individual.
• Diglossia: A situation where two languages (or varieties of the same language) coexist in the same territory, but with distinct social functions and prestige levels (one high-prestige, one low-prestige).

Morphosyntactic Concepts

• Dependent Morphemes:
  • Desinential: Convey grammatical information like Tense-Mood-Aspect (TMA) and Number-Gender (NG).
  • Derivational: Prefixes, suffixes, and interfixes that significantly change the meaning of a word or add appreciative nuances.
• Independent Morphemes: Words that can stand alone and have grammatical function, such as prepositions, conjunctions, and articles.

Semantic Relations

• Monosemy: A word having only one distinct meaning.
• Synonyms: Different words with the same or very similar meanings.
• Hyperonymy: A word whose meaning encompasses the meanings of other, more specific words (e.g., 'animal' is a hypernym of 'dog').

Literary Elements and Genres

Figures of Speech and Literary Devices

• Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds in multiple words within a phrase or verse.
• Anaphora: Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.
• Repetition (Epizeuxis): Immediate repetition of a word or phrase for emphasis.
• Polysyndeton: Repetition of conjunctions in close succession for rhetorical effect.
• Parallelism: The use of grammatically similar or identical constructions, sounds, meanings, or meters in a sentence or series of sentences.
• Hyperbaton: Inversion of the normal word order in a sentence for emphasis or stylistic effect.
• Hyperbole: Exaggeration for emphasis or rhetorical effect.
• Pleonasm: Use of more words than necessary to express an idea; redundancy.
• Antithesis: Juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in balanced phrases.
• Apostrophe: Addressing an absent person, an abstract idea, or a thing as if it were present and capable of understanding.
• Allegory: A narrative or description in which characters, places, or events are used to deliver a broader message, often a succession of metaphors.
• Simile: A comparison between two unlike things using 'like' or 'as'.
• Metonymy: Substituting the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant (e.g., 'the crown' for 'royalty').

Literary Genres

• Epic:
  • Epic Poem: A long narrative poem about heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation.
  • Ballad: A narrative poem, often sung, typically in verse form.
  • Chanson de Geste: An epic poem, especially from medieval France, about legendary heroes.
  • Romance: A medieval narrative genre, often featuring chivalry, adventure, and love.
• Narrative Prose:
  • Novel: An extended fictional prose narrative, analyzing characters' behavior and attitudes within a complex plot.
• Lyric Poetry:
  • Ode: A formal, often ceremonious lyric poem that addresses and celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea.
  • Eclogue: A pastoral poem, often depicting rural life and love affairs.
  • Elegy: A mournful, melancholic, or plaintive poem, especially a lament for the dead.
• Drama:
  • Tragedy: A play with an unhappy ending, often guided by fate, leading to the downfall of the protagonist.
  • Comedy: A play with a happy and humorous ending, often involving lighthearted or satirical themes.
  • Tragicomedy: A play that blends elements of both tragedy and comedy.
  • One-Act Play (Paso/Entremés): Short dramatic pieces, often humorous, performed between acts of longer plays.
  • Opera: A dramatic work in one or more acts, set to music for singers and instrumentalists.
  • Zarzuela: A Spanish lyrical-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes.
  • Operetta: A short opera, usually light in subject matter and often with spoken dialogue.
  • Vaudeville: A theatrical genre of variety entertainment, often featuring musical acts, comedy sketches, and other performances.
• Didactic & Prose Genres:
  • Essay: A short piece of writing that provides judgments and opinions on a particular subject.
  • Epistle: A letter, often formal and literary, addressing social or political issues.
  • Fable: A short story, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral lesson.