Linguistic Units and Textual Properties Explained

Concept of Text and Linguistic Units

Before studying the phoneme (the smallest unit of language) and the morpheme (the smallest unit with meaning), it is essential to understand the lexeme and the word. These units are studied within morphology and semantics. Words may possess lexical or grammatical meaning and function within phrases and sentences.

The text is the maximum unit of communication. It varies in length and is defined by three primary characteristics: adequacy, coherence, and cohesion. Its structure relies on three pillars:

• Semantics: The full meaning of the text.
• Syntactic: The linguistic unity of all statements.
• Pragmatic: The strategic choice of linguistic mechanisms.

Properties of a Text

1. Adequacy

Refers to well-constructed texts that consider the communicative intent, the receiver, and the appropriate register of language.

2. Coherence

The thematic structure of the text. Types include:

• Global Coherence: The overall meaning of the text, which allows it to be summarized.
• Linear Coherence: The internal structure (beginning, middle, end; inductive or deductive).
• Local Coherence: The consistency of statements in relation to world knowledge and truthfulness.

3. Cohesion

The syntactic structure of the text, achieved through:

• Lexical Recurrence: Repetition of elements throughout the text.
• Semantic Recurrence: The use of related words:
  • Synonymy: Different words with the same meaning.
  • Antonymy: Words with opposite meanings.
  • Semantic Field: Words of the same grammatical category with similar meanings.
  • Associative Field: Related words across different grammatical categories.
  • Hypernymy: General terms referring to specific concepts.
  • Hyponymy: Specific terms replacing broader concepts.
• Procedures:
  • Anaphoric elements: Pronouns replacing previously mentioned segments.
  • Cataphoric elements: Pronouns anticipating information that will appear later.
  • Deixis: Identifying participants, time, and space (personal, temporal, and spatial deixis).