Ruptura y renovación en la Ortografía castellana (1609): las «novedades verdades» de Mateo Alemán

Abstract

In addition to being one of the founding fathers of the modern novel, Mateo Alemán also wrote a stimulating treatise on spelling reform published in 1609 in Colonial Mexico. Beyond its great significance for the study of the history of language, orthographies and national identity, and the rise of phoneticism in the 16th century, Alemán’s Ortografía castellana represents a clear ethical and aesthetic break not only with some previous philological treatises, but also with some of the more established aristocratic values of the time. Also, the treatise is the result of an extraordinary assimilation of the most important movements of scientific and spiritual renewal of the 16th century. By incorporating to its structure the discourse of disciplines which were in full methodological renewal, our author leans toward a philology which goes beyond the study of the Bible and classical languages and which instead is committed to the transmission of modern ideas linked to the emerging sciences. Thus Alemán takes part in the spirit of Christian humanism as embodied by Benito Arias Montano.

Keywords

• Alemán Mateo
• Arias Montano Benito
• science
• philology