Phonological text commentary

A phonological commentary of texts is an evaluative study of the components corresponding to the form of expression. Both in phonematics, in which phonemes and typographic uses are examined, and in prosodematics, in which suprasegmental units, stress, intonation, phonic groups and pauses are scrutinized, specific and particular uses that distinguish the writing of any author, and that make up his or her personal style, stand out. Thus, a phoneme that is not part of the system, an irregular spelling, a displaced accent, a very long phonic group, a special intonation... are instruments and resources that can provide information about the identity, the writing and the way of thinking of a writer. In this book we offer a practical model of phonological commentary that we apply to a series of texts corresponding to six recurring themes in the novels of the Argentine writer Ernesto Sábato: El túnel (1948); Sobre héroes y tumbas (1961); Abaddón el exterminador (1973). These themes (the underground world, blindness, dream, incommunication, the mask, hope) largely reflect the worldview of our author.