Historiographia Linguistica - Volume 36, Issue 1, 2009

The Historias naturales written during the Spanish Siglo de Oro as well as related texts of this time do not only delineate the way of life, customs, and history of the indigenous people of the Americas. In these works the graphical means of expression were also reported on, albeit more sporadically. Using José de Acosta’s (1539–1600) Historia natural y moral de las Indias (1590) and Gregorio García’s (c.1575–1627) Origen de los Indios del Nuevo Mundo (1607) as examples, the present article points out that these early texts anticipate elementary insights of todays’ graphemics. Both authors distinguish between the logographic methods used in pinturas respectively figuras, on the one hand, and letras which function phonographically, on the other. They discuss the advantages and disadvantages concerning these two principles of writing and in agreement they both determine letras as generally superior. Acosta even goes so far as to integrate his observations about writing into his theory about cultural development. He regards the existence of lettering as a major mark for the third and hierarchically highest stage of cultural development.

This article sets out the sources, both lexicographical and other, used to create the Nuevo Tesoro Lexicográfico del Español (s. XIV–1726). Among these, particular attention is due to the pre-1500 sources, especially the works of Antonio de Nebrija (1444?–1522), because of their importance for subsequent lexicography, including the pioneers of bilingual lexicography who set Spanish alongside another language. Information is also supplied about the number of works and records consulted, the difficulties arising from treating the data, and the method adopted for grouping together variants of the same form. Finally, an indication is given of the interest of the NTLE for the history of lexicography.