Article published in:
History of Linguistics 2005: Selected papers from the Tenth International Conference on the History of the Language Sciences (ICHOLS X), 1–5 September 2005, Urbana-Champaign, IllinoisEdited by Douglas A. Kibbee
[Studies in the History of the Language Sciences 112] 2007
► pp. 236–251
The European linguistic tradition and early missionary grammars in Central and South America
Manuel Breva-Claramonte | Universidad de Deusto
The work of early missionary linguists in Central and South America received some criticism in the 19th and 20th centuries. This paper seeks to show that such comments were unfair in that they lacked proper historical contextualization. The first part focuses on the educational background of early missionaries. The second part outlines the theoretical model under which missionary grammarians operated. A perusal of their works reveals that they analyzed exotic languages at two different levels: at a universal or notional level; and at the level of usage or the ways universal features were manifested in particular languages. The third part examines the linguistic terms particleand case within the two-tiered model. The conflicting statements perceived by some modern scholars regarding the application of such terms to linguistic data vanish if one considers such statements within their theoretical framework. Previous linguistic currents have to be judged within their own epistemological framework; otherwise the risk of misrepresentations is great.
Published online: 28 November 2007
https://doi.org/10.1075/sihols.112.19bre
https://doi.org/10.1075/sihols.112.19bre
Cited by
Cited by 2 other publications
Zwartjes, Otto
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 may 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.