Types of LANGUAGE resources and examples

Language resources They are tools produced by the sender to capture the attention of the receiver in a text, whether written or oral. To determine that a text is good, the content must not simply be analyzed, but the way of presenting it and to try to convey the information to the reader in the most pleasant way possible.

In this lesson from a TEACHER we want to explain the types of linguistic resources that exist with some examples so that you are clear when using them.

Language is the way that humans have to transmit an idea to another individual, but for this information to arrive in the form of a message, it has to be deciphered by the receiver. There are some tools an issuer can use to be understood and these are the linguistic resources.

Therefore, we can define that a linguistic resource is the medium we use when we have the need to communicate something. A good text will not only give information without any type of order, but it will be ordered in a way that can identify the statements, transitions, organization of ideas and several figures will be used that will

In order to communicate in an efficient, but also entertaining way to our interlocutor, there are 5 categories of linguistic resources that are the ones that we will see next.

Next we are going to show you the 5 types of linguistic resourcesdifferent that exist and their examples, so that you can begin to use them in your texts and identify them in your readings.

Phonetic linguistic resources

The phonetic resources are those who through some kind of sound They help make the text more beautiful, more entertaining or have more rhythm. There are different phonetic tools that we can use:

• Onomatopoeia: It is a word that imitates a natural sound. For example: I was scared when I heard the ding doorbell dong.
• Paronomasia: Two words of similar sounds are put together so that the receiver activates his mind and has to think for a moment. For example: The horse's hair was very long and smooth.
• Palindromes: It only exists in written language, since they are phrases that are read the same from the right side and the other way round. For example: Isaac doesn't snore like this.
• Alliteration: The same sound is repeated several times in a way that captures the listener's attention. It is widely used in the oral text. For example: Under the light wing of the slight fan (Rubén Darío).

Semantic linguistic resources

They are all those rhetorical figures that are used above all in poetic language, but that can also serve as tools for our texts on a day-to-day basis. This linguistic resource has to do with the meaning of the words:

• Metaphor: It is the most common and the most used. It is about comparing two different elements by the only point of similarity that is found. This resemblance can be objective (everyone sees that they are alike) or objective (only the writer sees the resemblance). It is widely used in literary texts, but in fact in our everyday language we use them a lot without realizing it. For example: The sky is crying. We know perfectly well that it is rain, however, we want to compare the drops of water with the tears of a person who cries.
• Metonymy: Metonymy is a resource by which an object is called by the name of another and is fully accepted by everyone. This is a widely used resource in oral language. For example: Pass me the sugar. The person who receives this order will not take the sugar grains with his hand and give them to you, but will simply bring the sugar bowl to you.
• Comparison: The comparison or simile is a comparison between two elements that have a certain similarity, even if only in a very characteristic aspect. Typically, it is used with the “like” nexus in the middle. For example: The woman was cold as an iceberg. The woman does not look at all like an iceberg physically, the only similarity that exists between the two objects is the cold and that is why she compares them.
• Antithesis: The antithesis is to contrast a phrase with another that has an opposite meaning. For example: The worst loneliness is feeling alone with someone else.
• Allegory: The allegory is a set of metaphors followed within a text. For example: Plato's myth of the cave, explains a series of metaphorical images that together have a meaning.
• Hyperbole: It is the tool with which we maximize or minimize the qualities or actions of something or someone to capture the reader's attention quickly and efficiently. For example: I am so hungry that I would eat a cow by myself and still be hungry.
• Prosopopoeia: It consists of attributing human qualities to beings that are not human so that the reader can better understand what we want to tell them. For example: The wind whispered words in her ear. The wind cannot whisper, but it compares the sound it makes and attributes a similar human quality to it, in this case the whisper.

Morphological linguistic resources

They are those linguistic resources that help us to highlight a part of the text indicating that it is more important or that there is a specific order of priorities. In this way, the reader can better order the concepts in his head so that it is easier for him to understand and remember.

• Enumeration: It is a cluster of nouns that have the same or very similar meaning, in order to highlight that idea or concept and that it remains recorded in the mind of the receiver. For example: She is not a good person, she does not deserve love, compassion, respect or affection. With a single noun we would have understood it the same, however the writer wants to emphasize this moment.
• Epithet: The epithet a linguistic resource that serves to highlight an evident quality of an object or person. The goal is to highlight the qualities of someone or something in a very intense way. For example: How beautiful it is to walk through the dark night. We already know that the night is dark, it always is, it goes without saying, but we do it to give greater emphasis to this characteristic of the night, darkness.

Cohesive language resources

Cohesive linguistic resources are those that help us to organize the text. In addition, they relate all the ideas so that the text does not look like a set of isolated structures but a unit. These are the different types of cohesives that exist:

• Connectors: They are words that are used as bridges between sentences to join them together in a paragraph and they are also words that are positioned between paragraphs to join them together. They join each of the structures of a text to make it a single unit. Connectors can indicate hierarchy, order, opposition, etc. For example: First, last, instead, in summary, next, etc.
• Anaphoric references: They are pronouns or nouns that refer to a subject that has already appeared previously in the text. This helps us so that the text is not repetitive. For example: Marta had seen the cliff and now she was no longer afraid of simple spiders, but she was afraid of it. The word "that" refers to the precipice.
• Cataphoric reference: They are pronouns or nouns that refer to a subject that will appear later in the text. This helps us so that the text is not repetitive. For example: I am going to invite you all: my friends, my family, my co-workers, etc. The word “all” refers to all the people who have been subsequently quoted.
• Anaphora: An anaphora is the act of repeating the same word at the beginning of each sentence or phrase. For example: In the sea there is a tower, in the tower there is a window, in the window there is a girl. We have started 3 times with the same word "in".
• Hyperbaton: The hyperbaton consists of changing the order of words to achieve a meaning with different nuances. For example: The poor man came walking is not the same as the man could come walking.
• Asyndeton: It is about deleting words to give more urgency to the text. For example: Get on it, grab it, get off it and throw it away. The correct phrase would be: go up home, take the book, go down to the street and throw the book away.
• Polysyndeton: It is the opposite of asyndeton and consists of putting extra words to make the text run slower and heavier for some reason. For example: Go up to the house and take the book and go down to the street and throw the book. We make excessive use of the y to show the heaviness.
• Adverbs: We use adverbs to enhance a quality of the verb. We use them so that our texts are more nuanced and the reader can enter more into the story. For example: Is your friend who lives far away coming today? We don't need to know where the friend lives, but that gives us more information and automatically draws our attention.

Support resources

The support resources are all those who help us expand the information who is giving us the text. A good example would be the bibliography, which allows us to know where all this information comes from. Another resource would be the footnotes that allow us to explain something without having to break the continuity of the text.

Now you know the types of linguistic resources and you have seen some practical examples. If you are interested in continuing to learn about this topic or about a related topic, take a look at the grammar and linguistics section.

If you want to read more articles similar to Types of linguistic resources and examples, we recommend that you enter our category of Grammar and Linguistics.

Cassany, D. (2016). Online linguistic resources: Contexts, practices and challenges. Magazine signs, 49, 7-29.

Concha, S., Aravena, S., Coloma, C. J., & Romero, V. (2010). Expository writing at three levels of schooling: coherence and command of linguistic resources. Literature and linguistics, (21), 75-92.