Word Classes and Communication Elements in Spanish Grammar

Fundamentals of Communication

Key Elements of the Communication Process

• Issuer (Sender): Transmitting the information element (person, corporate body, alarm).
• Receiver: The element that receives and interprets information (individual and collective).
• Message: The information being transmitted. This must be taken into account, along with CE IH [Contextual Elements / Information Handling].
• Channel: The natural or man-made vehicle for transmitting the message (natural or artificial physical environment). Artificial channels retain the information and save time by overcoming spatial barriers.
• Code: The set of signs and rules of combination that enables the development of the message.

Types of Communication Flow

Given the transmitter-receiver relationship, communication can be:

• Two-way (Bilateral): When the sender and receiver interact with each other.
• One-way (Unidirectional): When the message goes from sender to receiver, but not vice versa.

Spanish Word Classes: Morphology and Syntax

The Noun (Sustantivo)

The noun is a word class that names independently existing entities: people, animals, objects, qualities, or actions.

Semantic Classification of Nouns

• Common: Country, Woman / Proper: France, Marie
• Concrete: Books, Music / Abstract: Truth, Beauty
• Countable: Solution, Trees / Uncountable: Rain, Health
• Individual: Boat, Bee / Collective: Fleet, Swarm

Morphological Features of Nouns

The noun admits inflection for gender and number:

• Gender: All Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine.
• Number: Nouns can be singular or plural. The plural is marked by the inflectional morphemes -s or -es.

Syntactic Function of Nouns

Nouns combine with determiners and adjectives, functioning as the core of the noun phrase.

Determiners (Determinantes)

Determiners are variable words that accompany the noun to present or clarify its meaning. They must agree with the noun in gender and number.

Types of Determiners

• Articles: el, la, lo, los, las
• Demonstrative: this, that one...
• Possessive: my, your, their, theirs...
• Indefinite: some, no
• Interrogative and Exclamatory: what, who
• Numerals: one, two...

The Pronoun (Pronombre)

Pronouns are variable words that appear in place of a noun and can perform the same functions as the noun. Like determiners, pronouns are closed systems of elements, meaning they have a limited number in the language and new ones cannot be easily created.

Morphological Features of Pronouns

These variable words support inflection for gender, and some also for number and person (first, second, and third).

Classes of Pronouns

• Personal: I, me, you, him, her, us, them...
• Relative: what, who, whom, which...
• Demonstrative: this, that, those...
• Indefinite: someone, something, anything, any...
• Interrogative and Exclamatory: who, what, which
• Possessive: mine, yours, theirs...

The Adjective (Adjetivo)

The adjective is a word class that expresses an attribute of the noun it refers to.

Morphological Features of Adjectives

The adjective supports inflectional morphemes for gender, number, and a special morpheme called degree.

• Gender: Adjectives mark gender through inflectional morphemes, generally -o or -a for masculine and feminine, respectively.
• Number: Most adjectives are inflected for the plural using the morphemes -s or -es.

Degree of Adjectives

When expressing an attribute of the noun, the adjective can convey varying intensity. This intensity is known as the degree of the adjective:

1. Positive Degree: Expresses the quality without specifying its intensity. Example: educated.
2. Comparative Degree: Compares an attribute with another attribute or another entity. There are three types of comparison:
   • Superiority: better... than
   • Equality: as good... as
   • Inferiority: worse... than

Syntactic Function and Classification

Syntactically, the adjective usually appears accompanied by a noun, which it qualifies and determines, and with which it must agree in gender and number. Adjectives are classified according to the meaning they contribute to the noun:

• Specifying Adjective: Marks a significant extension of the noun and is usually placed after it. Examples: a blue tie; A Few Good Men.
• Explanatory Adjective (Epithet): Also called an epithet. It is an adjective that adds a merely explanatory note without any meaningful delimitation. It designates a quality inherent in the noun, so it is unnecessary for identification. It is usually placed before the noun. Examples: the white snow, the dark night.