Linguistic resources: characteristics, examples and types

Linguistic resources are some of the components that make up a discourse. These are the procedures and elements that we use in specific ways to communicate. As such, linguistic resources exist in both written and oral discourses.

In this text We will see in more detail what linguistic resources are, as well as some types and examples of these.

• Related article: "The 12 types of language (and their characteristics)"

What are language resources?

Language can be defined as the communication system we use to exchange different types of information. As a system, it is characterized by a set of elements that are intertwined and that have particular uses.

In turn, these uses vary according to the context in which they are presented and according to the purpose. communicative: each element can be used in one way or another depending on the objective of the message you want be transmitted.

In other words, for a speech to communicate something, it is necessary to make use of the codes offered by the communicative context

. This use occurs through procedures or means available to us to satisfy the need to communicate.

In fact, the latter is what we understand by the word “resource”. Thus, we see that a "linguistic resource" is a procedure or means available to us to satisfy the need to communicate something. These resources are also known as “literary resources” or “literary figures”. The nomination varies according to the genre of the speech and specific use of the resource.

In addition, language is not only a means of expression and reflection of our ideas. It is also an element that intervenes and conditions the constitution of a social reality (Santander, 2011, cited by Rubio, 2016).

This means that, beyond helping us transmit and exchange information, linguistic resources can give us important guidelines for understanding a social reality. For the same reason, they are frequently studied elements in discourse analysis in different contexts.

In the same sense, depending on the genre and the objectives of the text, linguistic resources can go hand in hand with strategies that help to fulfill a certain communicative purpose. Examples of these strategies are persuasion, generalization, evaluation, naturalization, authorization, among others. Finally, linguistic resources are also considered those material supports that allow us to access the discourses.

• You may be interested in: "The 13 types of text and their characteristics"

types and examples

Now, what elements do we use to give legibility or coherence to a discourse, whether oral or written? Next we will see some types and examples of linguistic resources applied to the discourse, as well as some examples according to the support that contains them.

1. phonetic resources

These are elements that help us highlight a specific part of the message through its sounds. Hence, they are known as “phonetic” resources. Among the most common subtypes are the following:

• Alliteration: production of sound effects by the repetition of one or several phonemes, p. eg “The noise with which the rock rolls” or “three sad tigers swallowed wheat”.
• Onomatopoeia: imitate natural noises to convey a message or idea, and that can be turned into words, e.g. eg “meow” and “meow”.
• Paronomasia: similarity of sounds between almost identical but different words, for example “horse” and “cabello”.
• palindromy or palindrome: words that read the same from left to right and from right to left, e.g. eg "Anita washes the tub".

2. Semantic resources or rhetorical elements

They are the elements that account for the relationship between the signified and the signifier, that is, that allow a specific meaning to be established for each concept. Among the most representative are:

• Comparison: relate an idea or word with another that is clearer, more expressive or more specific and whose meaning is similar to the one we are introducing.
• Metaphor: identify a word or phrase with another that is different but shares meaning, e.g. eg "the windows of the soul" to refer to the eyes. The difference with the comparison is that in the case of the metaphor it does not make explicit the relationship between the two ideas.
• Metonymy: it is about naming something with a different concept but that is related. For example, "take a bottle of..." (substituting the liquid for the container).
• Allegory: is the sequential use of metaphors within a literary text
• Antithesis: contrast a phrase with another that has an opposite meaning, p. eg "child of legal age"
• Hyperbole: exaggerate or minimize qualities or actions, for example of the characters in a text.
• Prosopopoeia: consists of attributing human properties to inanimate beings.

3. Morphological resources

The morphological resources are those that allow to make use of the composition of the words, their forms and their internal structures. Some examples of this are as follows:

Epithet: use qualifying adjectives to highlight natural qualities, even if they do not add extra information, e.g. eg "the White snow". Enumeration: use a series of nouns whose meaning is similar to describe or emphasize a meaning.

4. Syntactic resources or cohesive elements

Syntactic resources are those that refer to the specific order of each word within a sentence, so that it is possible to highlight ideas. Likewise, they allow to organize the speeches in a certain way, generating a logical order of these ideas. Some of the most common are:

• Anaphora: repeat the same word at the beginning of each sentence or verse
• hyperbaton: modify the grammatical order of words in such a way that an idea is highlighted, e.g. eg "of green willows there is thicket".
• connectors: those grammatical elements that indicate hierarchy, opposition, relationship or temporality, p. eg "initially", "however", "in short", "below".
• Reference: indicates a relationship between the elements of the text mentioned above, or establishes a relationship between a recently raised idea and the specification of the elements to which it alludes.
• Asyndeton: intentionally suppress conjunctions or links to join several words, for example replace them with commas: “go, run, fly”
• polysyndeton: Contrary to the previous one, it consists of superimposing several conjunctions, for example using the “and” repeatedly: “and run, and jump, and grow, and throw”.
• adverbs: are used to modify, specify or exalt the meaning of a verb, an adjective or another adverb, e.g. “he lives far away”, “he is extraordinarily active”, “he is very unpleasant”.

5. Resources according to support

On the other hand, depending on the medium, they can also be examples of linguistic resources. all those devices that allow us to access certain information. That is to say, the files and tools for consultation or access to any informative element. Examples of this are dictionaries, encyclopedias, translators, applications or online consultation platforms, etc.

Bibliographic references:

• Literary Resources (2018). Definition of. Retrieved September 25, 2018. Available in https://definicion.de/recursos-literarios/.
• Language Resources (2018). fleeing Retrieved September 25, 2018. Available in https://www.elhuyar.eus/es/site/servicios/teknologias/recursos-linguisticos.
• Rubio, T. (2016). Analysis of the linguistic resources used by the defenders of the reader in favor of the trust of the users of the press. Journal of Linguistic Research, 19: 295-322.
• rooms, c. (2011). The cohesive elements in the written academic discourse: an experience from the university context. Legend, 15(13): 29-55.
• Tsedi (2018). Literary resource classes. Retrieved September 25, 2018. Available in http://blog.tsedi.com/clases-de-recursos-literarios/.