Phonological Description in New Spain
Descripción fonológica en Nueva España
Object Details
Subject Language | Spanish Nahuatl Purepecha Otomí |
Language PID(s) | ailla:119496 ailla:119659 ailla:119815 ailla:119711 |
Title [Indigenous] | |
Language of Indigenous Title | |
Title | Phonological Description in New Spain |
Language Community | |
Country(ies) | Mexico |
Place Created | Mexico City, Mexico |
Date Created | 2005 |
Description [Indigenous] | |
Language of Indigenous Description | |
Description | Traditionally it has been affirmed that the colonial grammars of American languages were especially deficient in their treatment of phonology. Nevertheless, by focusing on their achievements rather than their failures, and considering them in terms of contemporary levels of linguistic knowledge rather than our modern expectations, it can be argued that missionary linguists advanced in phonological description significantly. Based on material of 20 authors who wrote about a dozen languages of six families of New Spain between 1547 and 1767, it is shown that they identified numerous types of new sounds that did not exist in Spanish, were able to assess phonological data in phonological terms, recognized phonological and morphophonological processes, recorded phonotactic data, used minimum pairs to identify distinctive oppositions, and justified their analysis with phonological argumentation. The work of the Franciscans Olmos, Gilberti, Lagunas and Cárceres, and of the Jesuits Rincón and Carochi, in particular, stand out by their descriptive acuity. It is important to recognize that the scope of this period were made possible in part by the participation of a cast of native speakers intelligent, reflective, and experienced in the manipulation of their languages as objects of study. |
Genres | Article |
Source Note | |
References | Smith-Stark, Thomas C. 2005. Phonological description in New Spain. Missionary Linguistics II. Zwartjes, O., Altman, C., eds. |
Contributor(s) Individual / Role | Smith-Stark, Thomas C. (Author) |
Contributor(s) Corporate / Role |
Media Files
There are 1 objects in this resourceObject | File Types | Access Level |
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Phonological_Description_in_New_Spain.pdf | application/pdf | 1 |