Narrative Structure, Syntax, and Medieval Literature
Theme 3: The Story
Narration is explaining facts or fiction taking place in space and time. It is a short story, typically in prose. A story revolves around a single event and has few characters. The introduction must attract the reader immediately. The plot is much simpler than in a novel. The characters are not numerous, and the few that appear are not characterized in detail. The space and time where the story is located are usually very diversified. There are abundant descriptions and dialogue.
Read MoreEvolution of the Spanish Language: Historical Stages & Influences
The Evolution of the Spanish Language: A Diachronic Perspective
This document outlines the various historical stages and influences that have shaped the Spanish language.
Pre-Roman Hispania
Before the arrival of the Romans in the Iberian Peninsula, diverse languages such as Celtic, Iberian, and Basque were spoken. With the expansion of Latin, most of these languages disappeared, although they left some influence on the way Spanish is spoken today.
The Roman Empire
In 218 BC, Roman forces landed in Empúries,
Read MoreCastilian Dialects: A Comprehensive Linguistic Analysis
Varieties of Castilian
Castilian has different dialects, categorized as historical and contemporary.
1 Historical Dialects
Historical dialects are varieties derived directly from Latin. Primitive languages simultaneous to Castilian were absorbed by its influence. There are two main historical dialects:
- Leonese: Originating in the ancient kingdom of Leon, it retains archaic phonetic and morphological features. The Asturian Language Academy recognizes its Spanish variant. Significant features include:
Sociolinguistics: Analyzing Language in Social Contexts
Sociolinguistics analyzes actual language productions, exploring the connections between language and society. This discipline studies and analyzes the connections and uses of language among its speakers, considering social factors such as age, gender, education, and profession. Our language use is connected to our social realities.
While dialectology seeks to differentiate language from a spatial viewpoint, sociolinguistics analyzes different linguistic scales within a specific community. There
Read MoreArgumentative Texts: Statements, Phrases, and Spelling
Argumentative Texts
The purpose of argumentative texts is to convince or persuade others that a particular opinion or theory is correct. There are two different basic types:
- Opinion or Thesis: A statement from a personal perspective of the issuer of the text on a particular subject.
- Arguments: Various reasons or evidence that the author of the text presents to support their thesis.
Examples of argumentative texts include editorials, letters to the editor, articles, opinion columns, essays, and oral
Read MoreEarly Modern English: Morphology, Syntax, Lexis
Early Modern English: Morphology, Syntax, and Lexis
Morphology
Declensions: Only Genitive -es and -s. The apostrophe in ‘s wasn’t used to mark possession until the 18th century; it was used to mark elided e (e.g., Thron’).
- Umlaut plurals: men, feet, lice, teeth.
- Uninflected plurals: sheep, deer, swine.
- Lexical imports: phenomenon-phenomena, stimulus-stimuli, analysis-analyses.
Adjectives & Adverbs: Adjectives were indeclinable. Comparison used both periphrastic more/most and synthetic -er/-est. Double
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