Over the course of many decades, they were gradually formed functional and semantic types of speech, that is, verbal structures, methods and schemes that are used depending on the purpose of speech and its meaning.
The most common functional and semantic types of speech are narration, description and reasoning. Each of these types is distinguished in accordance with the purpose and content of speech. This also determines some of the most typical grammatical means of text design.
Text type: Description.
The purpose of creating the text:
1) An indication of its belonging to a class of objects.
2) Listing the properties, features, elements of the subject of speech.
3) An indication of the purpose of the item, methods and areas of its functioning.
Content and form of the text:
1) At the beginning or at the end, an idea of the subject as a whole is given.
2) Detailing of the main thing is carried out taking into account the semantic significance of the details.
3) The structure of individual parts of the text (description elements) is similar to the structure of the text as a whole.
4) Techniques of analogy, comparison, and contrast are used.
5) The text is easily collapsed.
a) with direct word order;
b) compound nominal predicate;
c) with verbal forms of simultaneous action;
d) with present tense verbs in a timeless meaning;
e) with defining characteristics.
Text type: Narration.
The purpose of creating the text:
A story about an event showing its course in development, highlighting the main facts and showing their relationship.
Typical grammatical means:
Simple and complex sentences:
a) with a perfect verb predicate;
b) with species-temporal forms emphasizing the nature and change of events;
c) with the expression of cause-and-effect and temporal conditionality.
Text type: Reasoning.
The purpose of creating the text:
Study of the essential properties of objects and phenomena, substantiation of their relationship.
Content and form of the text:
1) There are arguments (judgments that justify the correctness of the thesis), a thesis (the position that is proven), and a demonstration (the method of proof).
2) Reflections, inferences, and explanations are used.
3) The semantic parts of the statement are given in a logical sequence.
4) Everything not related to the proof is omitted.
Typical grammatical means:
Simple common and complex sentences:
a) with participial and participial phrases;
b) with circumstances or adverbial subordinate clauses of cause, effect, purpose;
c) with verbs of different aspect forms.
Let's give examples.
1. Description text:
Her appearance seemed magnificent to me: she was about thirty, average height, thin and broad-shouldered. There seemed to be a zest in her sweet smile; the lively big eyes sparkled. Her face had a rather pleasant, but playful expression. The hair was cut into a bob; she was wearing a magnificent dress and an elegant hat.
2. Text-narration:
She actually saw a gray cloud on the horizon, which she initially mistook for a cute hill. The guide explained to me that the cloud foreshadowed rain.
We heard about the local snowstorms, that entire villages were covered in them. Mikhalych, in agreement with the guide’s opinion, advised returning. But the wind did not seem very strong to me; I hoped to get to the next station before sunset and ordered to go faster.
The guide galloped off; but kept looking to the west. The horses ran together. Meanwhile, the wind became stronger hour by hour. The gray cloud turned into a big one gray cloud, which rose heavily, grew and gradually covered the sky. Fine snow began to fall and suddenly fell in flakes. The wind howled; there was a snowstorm. In an instant, the dark sky mixed with the snowy sea. Everything has disappeared. “Well, master,” the conductor shouted, “trouble: a snowstorm!”...
I looked out the window: everything was dark and windy. The whirlwind howled with such ferocious expressiveness that it seemed animated; the snow covered me and Mikhalych; the horses walked at a pace - and soon stood up.
3. Text-reasoning:
My thoughts that day were not very pleasant. My loss, at the prices at that time, was very huge. I could not help but admit to myself that my behavior in the Kabardian cafe was stupid, and I felt guilty before Mikhalych. All this tormented and tormented me.
Reasoning means consistently expressing your thoughts, giving evidence.
Text-reasoning- this is a text that explains something, draws conclusions, a text that answers a question Why?
The roots of a tree perform two services. First, they feed and nourish the tree with food that they suck from the ground. Secondly, they anchor the tree to the ground. Take away the roots of a tree and it dies.
This is a reasoning text, since it answers the question: why do trees need roots?
Why do we love fairy tales or why we shouldn’t be late for classes, why don’t elephants fly? By answering these questions, we express our opinion and provide evidence of this opinion, which means we are building a text-reasoning.
The text-reasoning consists of three parts:
2. Proof
Thesis- statement that is needed prove.
For example:
Dolphins are animals, not fish. A dog is man's friend. I love going to school.
The thesis can begin with the words:
I think that….. It seems to me that….. I believe that…. In my opinion....
For example:
I believe that The multiplication table just needs to be learned.
I think that When I grow up, I will become a doctor.
I think, you need to do exercises in the morning.
The most commonly used thesis questions are: Why? For what? When? Did you know?
For example:
Why Is the lion the king of beasts? For what Does the cuckoo throw eggs into other people's nests?
Did you know that the hippopotamus has almost no enemies?
Proof- the second part of the text-reasoning, words are used for it firstly, secondly, thirdly.
In writing, these words are separated by commas. For example:
I love going to school. Firstly
Secondly, I'm interested in learning. Thirdly, I have many friends there.
Thesis - I love going to school, proof - firstly, secondly, thirdly, these words are separated by commas.
Conclusion- this is the result of the argument. Most often, the conclusion is attached to the proof with the words: therefore, therefore, therefore, therefore, it can be argued, therefore I believe that...
In writing, all words except the word “therefore” are separated by a comma. For example:
I love going to school. Firstly, I really like our teacher.
Secondly, I'm interested in learning. Thirdly, I have many friends there.
That's why I love going to school.
“This is why I love going to school” is the conclusion. You can use words from the thesis statement in your conclusion.
Task 1.
Read the text, determine the thesis, evidence, conclusion.
Who is the strongest in the world?
You will say: “whale” or “elephant”. You're wrong the strongest living creature is the ant.
Firstly, the ant is capable of carrying weights ten times its own weight.
Secondly, an ant family is building a huge house-city, which goes deep underground.
Therefore, the strongest in the world is the ant.
Task 2.
Read the sentences. Arrange them in the right order to make a text-reasoning.
That's what he's been called ever since. The fact is that he is very gluttonous.
Why was the sparrow called that?
By arranging the sentences in the right order, we get the text-reasoning:
Why was the sparrow called that?
The fact is that he is very gluttonous.
It often destroys not only insects, but also damages the crop.
“Beat the thief!” - the peasants shouted when they saw how the sparrows were destroying their crops.
That's what he's been called ever since.
Task 3.
Insert the appropriate words to create a reasoning text.
A dog is _____ of a person _______, it saves people in the mountains, during fires _______, and helps in work. A dog can be _________, _______ and _________. And finally, she is just a great friend __________ people erect monuments to dogs, write about them ______.
One option could be:
A dog is man's friend. Firstly, it saves people in the mountains during fires. Secondly, it helps with work. A dog can be a shepherd, a border guard and a bloodhound. And lastly, she is just a great friend. That’s why people erect monuments to dogs and write books about them.
The conclusion in a reasoning text may sometimes be missing.
1. I’m thinking about a question that needs to be answered.
2. I am writing a thesis.
3. I compose evidence using the words “firstly”, “secondly”, “thirdly” and others.
4. I draw up a conclusion using the words “therefore,” “therefore,” “therefore,” and others.
5. I write down the text.
6. I check the text.
Homework
1. What questions does the reasoning text answer?
2. What parts does the argumentative text consist of?
3. What words are used to connect parts of the text-discussion?
Depending on the content of the statement, our speech can be divided into description, narration, and reasoning. Each type of speech has distinctive features.
Description- this is an image of a phenomenon of reality, an object, a person by listing and disclosing its main features. For example, when describing a portrait, we will point out such features as height, posture, gait, hair color, eye color, age, smile, etc.; the description of the room will contain such characteristics as size, wall design, furniture features, number of windows, etc.; when describing a landscape, these features will be trees, river, grass, sky or lake, etc. What is common to all types of description is the simultaneity of the appearance of features. The purpose of the description is for the reader to see the subject of the description and imagine it in his mind.
The description can be used in any style of speech, but in a scientific one, the description of the subject must be extremely complete, and in an artistic one, the emphasis is placed only on the most striking details. Therefore, the linguistic means in the scientific and artistic style are more diverse than in the scientific one: there are not only adjectives and nouns, but also verbs, adverbs, comparisons and various figurative uses of words are very common.
Examples of descriptions in scientific and artistic style.
1. Apple tree - ranet purple - frost-resistant variety. The fruits are round in shape, 2.5-3 cm in diameter. Fruit weight is 17-23 g. Average juiciness, with a characteristic sweet, slightly astringent taste.
2. The linden apples were large and transparent yellow. If you look through the apple into the sun, it shines through like a glass of fresh linden honey. There were black grains in the middle. You used to shake a ripe apple near your ear and you could hear the seeds rattling.
(According to V. Soloukhin)
Narration- this is a story, a message about an event in its time sequence. The peculiarity of the narrative is that it talks about successive actions. All narrative texts have in common the beginning of the event (commencement), the development of the event, and the end of the event (denouement). The narration can be conducted from a third person. This is the author's story. It can also come from the first person: the narrator is named or designated by the personal pronoun I.
Such texts often use verbs in the past perfect form. But in order to give the text expressiveness, others are used simultaneously with them: a verb in the past tense form of the imperfect form makes it possible to highlight one of the actions, indicating its duration; present tense verbs allow you to imagine actions as if they were happening before the eyes of the reader or listener; forms of the future tense with the particle how (how will jump), as well as forms like clap, jump help to convey the swiftness and surprise of a particular action.
Narration as a type of speech is very common in genres such as memoirs and letters.
Example narration:
I began to stroke Yashka’s paw and thought: just like a child’s. And tickled his palm. And when the baby pulls his paw, it hits me on the cheek. I didn’t even have time to blink, and he slapped me in the face and jumped under the table. He sat down and grinned.
(B. Zhitkov)
Reasoning- this is a verbal presentation, explanation, confirmation of any thought.
The composition of the argument is as follows: the first part is the thesis, i.e., an idea that must be logically proven, justified or refuted; the second part is the rationale for the thoughts expressed, evidence, arguments supported by examples; the third part is the conclusion, the conclusion.
The thesis must be clearly provable, clearly formulated, the arguments must be convincing and in sufficient quantity to confirm the thesis put forward. There must be a logical and grammatical connection between the thesis and arguments (as well as between individual arguments). For the grammatical connection between the thesis and arguments, introductory words are often used: firstly, secondly, finally, so, therefore, in this way. In argumentative texts, sentences with conjunctions are widely used: however, although, despite the fact that, since. Example reasoning:
The development of word meanings usually proceeds from the particular (concrete) to the general (abstract). Let's think about the literal meaning of such words as education, disgust, previous. Education literally means feeding, disgust means turning away (from an unpleasant person or object), previous means going ahead.
Words-terms denoting abstract mathematical concepts: “segment”, “tangent”, “point”, come from very specific verbs of action: cut, touch, stick (poke).
In all these cases, the original concrete meaning takes on a more abstract meaning in the language.
A narrative is a message, a story about a specific event in its time sequence. Now that we know what a narrative is, let's talk about its characteristics. A special feature of the narrative is that it talks about actions that follow one another. Narrative texts are characterized by the presence of a beginning (the beginning of the event), a development of the event, and a denouement (the end of the event). The narration can come from both the third person (the author's narration) and the first - the narrator is designated by the personal pronoun I.
The concept of “narrative technique” is often used in narratology (the theory of storytelling) and is used to denote a set of narrative techniques used by the author while writing literary works.
Functional and semantic types of speech
All our speech can be divided into the following types: narration, description, reasoning. Each of them has characteristic features. Let's look at what description, narration, reasoning are, and how they differ.
Description is a depiction of a certain phenomenon, person, object, by listing and revealing its main features. For example, when describing a person, we point to such features as height, eye and hair color, posture, gait, smile, age, etc. The description of the room will consist of such features as size, furniture features, wall design, number windows, etc.
Reasoning is a verbal explanation, presentation, confirmation of a certain thought. The composition of this type of speech is as follows: thesis, that is, the idea that needs to be substantiated or refuted; then follows the justification of the thought, which contains arguments, evidence, which is supported by examples; conclusion, conclusion.
Let's talk about storytelling in more detail.
Narrative Features
In general, any narrative text tells a story. At the same time, the story can be presented sequentially from the very beginning to the very end, or it may contain rearrangements of events. To understand what a narrative text is, you need to remember that such a story may omit some events, or contain memories of past events or hints at future ones.
The time it takes to tell a story is related in different ways to the time it takes for the story to happen: to exceed it, to be less than it, or to be equal to it. Different combinations of the relationships between the two tenses form narrative movements: scene, pause, ellipsis and summary. Each of these movements is characterized by a certain pace of the narrative, and the alternation (or ratio) of movements is responsible for the narrative rhythm.
Type of speech- this is a method of presentation chosen by the author and focused (depending on the content of the statement and the nature of the text information) on one of the tasks: to statically depict reality, to describe it; dynamically reflect reality, talk about it; reflect the cause-and-effect relationships of reality phenomena.
In accordance with these goals, linguists distinguish three types of speech: description, narration, reasoning.
Narration- a functional-semantic type of text that contains a story about events in their time sequence.
- What is the sequence of actions (events)?
- What happened first and what happened next?
He had already prepared a small hut from thin dry twigs, put a piece of newspaper inside it and now covered this structure with thicker dry twigs. Then he brought the match to the paper, and the fire immediately engulfed the large branches (I. Oreshkin).
The narrative text is constructed according to the following compositional scheme:
- exposure (not always available),
- string,
- development of action,
- climax,
- denouement.
Exposure:
About an hour passed like this. The moon shone through the window, and its beam played across the earthen floor of the hut.
Tie:
Suddenly, a shadow flashed across the bright stripe crossing the floor.
Development of action:
I stood up and looked out the window, someone ran past him a second time and disappeared God knows where. I could not believe that this creature would run away along the steep bank; however, he had nowhere else to go. I stood up, put on my beshmet, belted my dagger, and quietly left the hut.
Climax:
A blind boy meets me. I hid by the fence, and he walked past me with a faithful but cautious step.
Interchange:
He carried some kind of bundle under his arms and, turning towards the pier, began to descend along a narrow and steep path (M.Yu. Lermontov).
Description- a functional-semantic type of text that describes the characteristics of objects, phenomena, animals, and humans.
Basic questions characteristic of this type of speech:
- What is the subject of the description?
- What does he look like?
- What signs are characteristic of it?
On the seller’s left arm sits a tiny, cheerful fox terrier. He is unusually small and cute. His eyes sparkle provocatively, his miniature paws are in constant motion. The Fox Terrier is made of some kind of white material, the eyes are made of cast glass (A. Kuprin).
The descriptive text is constructed according to the following compositional scheme:
- general impression (or general sign),
- signs of an object, person, phenomenon or animal.
The description may end with a general impression (or a general characteristic).
In the scientific style, the description of an object includes essential features that are called adjectives or verbal nouns:
Apple tree - ranet purple - frost-resistant variety. The fruits are round in shape, 2.5-3 cm in diameter. Fruit weight is 17-23 g. Average juiciness, with a characteristic sweet, slightly astringent taste.
In the description of the artistic style, the most striking features that create the image are highlighted; they can be conveyed by comparisons, words in figurative meaning, words with evaluative suffixes:
The linden apples were large and transparent yellow. If you look through the apple into the sun, it shines through like a glass of fresh linden honey. There were black grains in the middle. You used to shake a ripe apple near your ear and you could hear the seeds rattling (V. Soloukhin).
Reasoning as a functional-semantic type of text is fundamentally different from description and narration. Description and narration are used to depict the surrounding reality, while reasoning conveys the sequence of human thoughts.
Basic questions characteristic of this type of speech:
- Why?
- What is the reason for this phenomenon?
- What follows from this?
- What are the consequences of this phenomenon?
- What does it mean?
On camels, of course, you can travel much further through the desert without stopping than on horses, but we have a short journey ahead, time is precious, and you have no experience with camels, so we’ll take horses from the town.
The argument is structured according to the following compositional scheme:
- thesis, i.e. an idea that must be logically proven, substantiated or refuted;
- substantiation of the expressed thoughts, evidence, arguments supported by examples;
- conclusion, conclusion (may be absent from the text).
The thesis must be clearly provable, clearly formulated, the arguments must be convincing and in sufficient quantity to confirm the thesis put forward. There must be a logical and grammatical connection between the thesis and arguments (as well as between individual arguments). For the grammatical connection between the thesis and arguments, they are often used introductory words: firstly, secondly, finally, so, therefore, in this way. In argumentative texts, sentences with conjunctions are widely used: however, although, despite the fact that, because.
The development of word meanings usually proceeds from the particular (concrete) to the general (abstract). Let's think about the literal meaning of such words as education, disgust, previous. Education literally means feeding, disgust means turning away (from an unpleasant person or object), previous means going ahead. Words-terms denoting abstract mathematical concepts: “segment”, “tangent”, “point”, come from very specific verbs of action: cut, touch, stick (poke).
Notes:
- Text, especially fiction, often combines different types speech. For example, in an excerpt from K. Paustovsky’s story “The Golden Rose,” all types of speech successively replace each other - narration, description and reasoning:
The old steamer left the pier in Voznesenye and went out into Lake Onega.
The white night spread all around. For the first time I saw this night not over the Neva and the palaces of Leningrad, but among wooded spaces and lakes.
A pale moon hung low in the east. She gave no light.
The waves from the steamer silently ran away into the distance, shaking pieces of pine bark. On the shore, probably in some ancient churchyard, the watchman struck the clock on the bell tower - twelve strokes. And although it was far from the shore, this ringing reached us, passed the steamer and went along the water surface into the transparent twilight, where the moon hung.
I don’t know what better way to call the languid light of the white night. Mysterious? Or magical?
These nights always seem to me to be an excessive bounty of nature - there is so much pale air and the ghostly shine of foil and silver.
Man cannot come to terms with the inevitable disappearance of this beauty, these enchanted nights. Therefore, it must be that white nights cause a slight sadness with their fragility, like everything beautiful when it is doomed to live short-lived.
- In speech practice, different types of speech are often combined with each other, and in this case they are described by noting the leading type of speech and elements of other types of speech (for example, “reasoning with elements of description”).
Sources:
- Section “Types of speech” in the textbook by E.I. Litnevskaya “Russian language”
More information about text and types of speech on the site licey.net:
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- Exercises for the topic “Basic rules for constructing text
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- Exercises for the topic “Functional and semantic types of texts
- Description text and its types
- Exercises for the topic “Description text and its types”
- Narrative text and its types
- Exercises for the topic "
