What is a text: meaning, origin, text types

The question seems naive, but you know what is a text? We spend a good part of our days reading the most diverse texts, interpreting and reacting to them through new texts. From the most common texts, such as traffic signs or greetings, to the most elaborate, such as works of art or scientific treatises, humanity reads and writes texts. But, in fact, what is a text?

Meaning

Set the meaning of the expression "text" it may seem like a simple task. However, there are still many discussions in Linguistics (science that studies language) about this definition, there are several currents that, each in its own way, classify text in a different way. In general, it is possible to say that:

Text is a unit of meaning produced by an author and interpreted by a reader.

AUTHOR → TEXT → READER

Based on this definition, it is possible to say that text is everything to which we attribute a meaning when reading and writing.

Read too:Know the 10 commandments of good writing.

Videoclass: What is a text?

Origin

The origin of the text is confused with the origin of man himself, since communication between human beings takes place through texts. The text, therefore, is born at the moment when a man communicates with the world or with the other. It is worth noting, however, the

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etymological origin of text: the Latin term textus, in textum (fabric, weaving). The text, therefore, would be the interweaving of linguistic signs, that together produce meaning.

A school essay written in a disconnected way, with parts confused or inconclusive, for example, can be considered a poorly written text, given that the weaving between the words is failing. A good writing, on the other hand, must have cohesion and coherence between words, sentences, sentences and paragraphs.

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Features

Each area of Linguistics categorizes texts according to their interest in scientific observation.. However, for school purposes of reading and writing, it is possible to organize the infinite amount of texts existing in some groups, such as literary or non-literary, verbal or non-verbal, or belonging to certain types of genres or the others.

See too: How to improve writing?

Verbal and nonverbal text

One of the possible divisions given to the texts is:

Textverbal: such texts are those writingswithwords. All texts composed by this type of linguistic sign – written, therefore, in Portuguese, Spanish, French, etc., are considered verbal.
Textnoverbal: by contrast, these texts are those produced without words, using significantvisuals (paintings and photographs, for example) or sonorous (such as instrumental songs);
Textmixed: it is important to remember that texts are not always just verbal or non-verbal. In fact, there are numerous texts that bringelementsvisuals and sonorous. A television advertisement, for example, often presents significant images and sounds, as well as a set of words that try to convince the viewer to buy what is being sold.

Literary and non-literary text

Another way to divide the texts would be through the criterionartistic. On the one hand, there are texts traditionally literary, like novels, short stories and poems. On the other, a set of productions eminently noliterary, such as newspaper editorials, buy and sell advertisements or scientific treatises.

However, it is not always so simple to say whether a text is literary or not. the textual genre chronic, for example, would not traditionally be literary. But there are chroniclers who use poetic language to produce their texts and, in many cases, there are even authors of literature who also produced chronicles. Carlos Drummond de Andrade, to cite one case, spent his life publishing chronicles and, nowadays, his texts are gathered in books that are, to a large extent, considered literary.

Textual Types and Genres

It is possible to classify texts by type and genre to which they belong. Textual type or typology are the different ways that a text can be presented. The main typologies are:

Narrative;
Descriptive;
Exhibition;
Essay;
argumentative.

You genrestextual, on the other hand, are categories that gathertextswithfeaturessimilar. For example, there are several texts published by newspapers to affirm their respective points of view: this type of text is called editorial. In another example, there are numerous texts used to sell or buy items or services: these are called advertisements. It would be impossible to list all the genres that exist, but it's worth knowing the characteristics of the following:

⇒ Literary Genres