Attitudes towards lexical Arabisms in sixteenth-century Spanish texts
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Patricia Giménez-Eguíbar
Abstract
This article studies the linguistic attitudes towards Arabisms as reflected in various texts of the sixteenth-century and offers abundant comments from diverse authors that demonstrate their status as linguistic stereotypes. Through an examination of the revision of La Primera parte de una recopilación de algunos nombres arábigos (circa 1593) by Diego de Guadix, the relationship between language and society is demonstrated through the linguistic attitudes evident toward both the Arabic language and Arabisms. Another prominent aspect of the Recopilación is the case of lexical prescription (e.g. almadía, alfayata, zaguera or adarve) that may result during the process of substitution for Arabisms, a topic widely mentioned by many scholars. One of the immediate consequences of these evolving linguistic attitudes was the gradual elimination of Arabisms during the processes of reviewing and editing texts of the period. There are six editions of Gabriel Alonso de Herrera’s Obra de Agricultura, all of them revised by the author. A collation of the editions sheds light on one the most opaque processes in the history of the lexicon: the replacement of Arabisms.
Abstract
This article studies the linguistic attitudes towards Arabisms as reflected in various texts of the sixteenth-century and offers abundant comments from diverse authors that demonstrate their status as linguistic stereotypes. Through an examination of the revision of La Primera parte de una recopilación de algunos nombres arábigos (circa 1593) by Diego de Guadix, the relationship between language and society is demonstrated through the linguistic attitudes evident toward both the Arabic language and Arabisms. Another prominent aspect of the Recopilación is the case of lexical prescription (e.g. almadía, alfayata, zaguera or adarve) that may result during the process of substitution for Arabisms, a topic widely mentioned by many scholars. One of the immediate consequences of these evolving linguistic attitudes was the gradual elimination of Arabisms during the processes of reviewing and editing texts of the period. There are six editions of Gabriel Alonso de Herrera’s Obra de Agricultura, all of them revised by the author. A collation of the editions sheds light on one the most opaque processes in the history of the lexicon: the replacement of Arabisms.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgments ix
- Introduction xi
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Part I. Cutting-edge Methodologies in Sociolinguistics
- Quantitative analysis in language variation and change 3
- Combining population genetics (DNA) with historical linguistics 33
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Part II. Bilingualism
- Los Angeles Vernacular Spanish 91
- On the tenacity of Andean Spanish 109
- Spanish and Valencian in contact 135
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Part III. Language Acquisition
- Children’s Spanish subject pronoun expression 157
- The role of social networks in the acquisition of a dialectal features during study abroad 177
- Lexical frequency and subject expression in native and non-native Spanish 197
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Part IV. Phonological Variation
- On glottal stops in Yucatan Spanish 219
- Vowel raising and social networks in Michoacán 241
- Bilingualism and aspiration 261
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Part V. Morpho-Syntactic Variation
- Spanish and Portuguese parallels 285
- The tuteo of Rocha, Uruguay 305
- A corpus-based sociolinguistic study of contact-induced changes in subject placement in the Spanish of New York City bilinguals 323
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Part VI. Lexical Variation
- Social factors in semantic change 345
- Attitudes towards lexical Arabisms in sixteenth-century Spanish texts 363
- “Trabajar es en español, en ladino es lavorar” 381
- Index 401
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgments ix
- Introduction xi
-
Part I. Cutting-edge Methodologies in Sociolinguistics
- Quantitative analysis in language variation and change 3
- Combining population genetics (DNA) with historical linguistics 33
-
Part II. Bilingualism
- Los Angeles Vernacular Spanish 91
- On the tenacity of Andean Spanish 109
- Spanish and Valencian in contact 135
-
Part III. Language Acquisition
- Children’s Spanish subject pronoun expression 157
- The role of social networks in the acquisition of a dialectal features during study abroad 177
- Lexical frequency and subject expression in native and non-native Spanish 197
-
Part IV. Phonological Variation
- On glottal stops in Yucatan Spanish 219
- Vowel raising and social networks in Michoacán 241
- Bilingualism and aspiration 261
-
Part V. Morpho-Syntactic Variation
- Spanish and Portuguese parallels 285
- The tuteo of Rocha, Uruguay 305
- A corpus-based sociolinguistic study of contact-induced changes in subject placement in the Spanish of New York City bilinguals 323
-
Part VI. Lexical Variation
- Social factors in semantic change 345
- Attitudes towards lexical Arabisms in sixteenth-century Spanish texts 363
- “Trabajar es en español, en ladino es lavorar” 381
- Index 401
