Bernardo de Aldrete and the problem of linguistic variation

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how Bernardo de Aldrete judges linguistic change in his book Del origen y principio de la lengua castellana o romance que oi se usa en Espana (1606). In order to do this I will study his linguistic ideas in comparison with the linguistic ideology that appears in The Bible, De vulagri Eloquentia (ca. 1305) by Dante Alighieri, and, finally, Discursos de la cetidvmbre de las reliqvias descvbiertas en Granada desde el ano 1588 hasta el de 1598 (1601). I will demonstrate that Aldrete needs to find a way to accept that Castilian is the result of the corruption of the Latin language and, at the same time, it can become an elegant and dignified language as a symbol of the Spanish Empire.;Aldrete indicates that there are four reasons why languages change in time: Divine punishment, the mutability of everything that is human, human hatred, and the influence of other languages. The structure of my essay is based on these four criteria and how they are approached in the four books that I am analyzing.;After my study it is obvious that Aldrete shares a linguistic optimism that is already present in all the works that I have studied except for the book written by Gregorio Lopez Madera. For example, The Bible considers linguistic change and linguistic diversity a divine punishment and, therefore, it is clearly a negative consequence of human pride. However, the New Testament reinterprets linguistic diversity in the episode of Pentecost. Dante has a firm belief in the superiority of Italian over Latin because it is a natural language than can be cultivated. Aldrete accepts the theory of corruption to explain the birth of the Castilian language, which has become the language of the Spanish Empire. However, Aldrete explains that the origin of Castilian is the result of human will, since Spaniards decided to adopt Castilian in order to show their hatred towards the Romans. Therefore, this corruption is, from the very beginning, a sign of a human will that has conquered the world during Aldrete's times. In all these books there is a clear linguistic optimism when analyzing linguistic change. The only author that shows a deep pessimism when studying linguistic change is Madera, since his thesis is that Castilian has not changed and linguistic immutability is a sign of weakness. When he is faced with the undeniable influence that other languages have had on the Castilian language, he remains silent.;Consequently, Bernardo de Aldrete is able to combine linguistic corruption and linguistic change with the possibility of dignity in a language that has been able to represent the Spanish Empire.