Domaine | Traditions non-occidentales |
Secteur | Grammaires amérindiennes [4607] |
Auteur(s) | Vetancurt, Augustin de |
Variantes: Also spelled as Agustín de Betancourt. Datation: 1620-1700 Augustin de Vetancurt was born in Ayotzingo, east of Mexico-city. He entered the order of the Franciscans (O.F.M.) in Puebla de los Ángeles and preached in San José de los Naturales in Mexico. He was ‘lector de teología’ and ‘preceptor de la lengua mexicana’. He worked in the missions of Tlaxcala, Veracruz and Actopan and returned to Mexico in 1671 as ‘Comisario general de las Indias’. As an official chronicler of the ‘Provincia del Santo Evangelio’, he wrote the works Crónica de la Provincia del Santo Evangelio de México, Menologio Franciscano (1697) and Teatro mexicano (1698). | |
Titre de l'ouvrage | Arte de lengua mexicana, dispuesto por orden |
Titre traduit | Grammar of the Mexican language, made available by order |
Titre court | Arte de lengua mexicana |
Remarques sur le titre | The entire title is: Arte de lengua mexicana, dispuesto por orden, y mandato de N. Rmo. P. Fr. Francisco Treviño, Predicador Theologo, Padre de la santa Provincia de Burgos, y Comissario General de todas de la Nueva-España, y por el Reverendo, y Venerable Diffinitorio de la Provincia del Santo Evangelio. Dedicado al Bienaventvrado S. Antonio de Padva, por el P. Fr. Augustin de Vetancurt hijo de la dicha Provincia del Santo Evangelio, Predicador jubilado, ex lector de Theologia, y Preceptor de la lengua Mexicana, Vicario de la Capilla de S. Joseph de los Naturales en el Convento de N. P. S. Francisco de Mexico [Grammar of the Mexican language, made available by order of and under the authority of the very Reverend Father Francisco Treviño, theologist, preacher and Father of the Saint Province of Burgos and General commissioner of all the provinces of New Spain, and by order of the Reverend and Venerable “difinitorio” of the Province of Saint Santo Evangelio. Dedicated to the beatified Saint Antonio de Padua, by Father Agustín Verancurt, son of this Province of Santo Evangelio, retired preacher, ex-lector in Theology and preceptor in the Mexican language, vicar of the Chapel Saint José de los Naturales in the Convent of the Fathers of Saint Francis in Mexico]. |
Période | |17e s.| |
Type de l'ouvrage | Complete grammar covering phonology, morphology and syntax. Descriptive grammar, Didactic/pedagogic grammar for beginners, with a section entitled ‘Instruccion breve para administrar los Santos Sacrtamentos de la Confession, Uiatico, Matrimonio, y Velaciones en la la [sic] lengua Mexicana’, containing a confes[i]onario, (10 mandamientos), ‘plática breve’ and ‘aduertencias’, ‘administrar el viatico a los enfermos, matrimonio y velaciones’, and a ‘Catecismo mexicano’ in Nahuatl without translation. |
Type indexé | Grammaire descriptive | Grammaire didactique | Grammaire élémentaire | Texte religieux |
Édition originale | 1673, Mexico, Francisco Rodriguez Lupercio. |
Édition utilisée | Two concurrent editions of this work exist, published the same year (1673): in the first the title page reads “S. Antonio de Padua”; in the other it reads “San Antonio de Padua”. Significant typographical, diacritical and resetting differences, as well as a lack of printed errata on f. [3] v°, 1st count, exist in the second edition. “Instruccion breve para administrar los Santos Sacrame[n]tos de la Confession, Viatico, Matrimonio, y Velaciones en la lengua Mexicana”: f. [1-7] r°, 3rd count. "Catecismo mexicano": f. [7] v°-8, 3rd count. |
Volumétrie | John Carter Brown (call: B673 .V585a2): [6], 49 [i.e. 50], [8] f., 21 cm (in-4°), 14 000 words (the catechism not included). The other edition (call B673 .V585a): [6], 14, 14-49, [8] f., 21 cm (in-4°). Title page printed within ornamental woodcut border; woodcut vignette of Saint Anthony (S. Antonio de Padua); head and tail pieces; initials. |
Nombre de signes | 84000 |
Reproduction moderne | Museo Nacional de México, 1901, p. 539-620 (Biblioteca Mexicana Histórica y Lingüística, Cuadernos 1-4). Paso y Troncoso, Francisco & González Obregón, México, 1904. |
Diffusion | The works is cited by Ávila and Pérez. |
Langues cibles | The Mexican language (the language of the Mexicas) (Nahuatl). |
Métalangue | Spanish and sometimes Latin, as for instance, some adverbs are given in Latin (f. 25v). The Fifth book entitled “De la quantidad de las syllabas, y numero de los accentos” has definitions of the accents in Spanish and in Latin (syllaba, tonus, accentus, acutus, gravis, circumflexus) (f. 45r-v). |
Langue des exemples | Nahuatl |
Sommaire de l'ouvrage | Aprobacion del R.P. Fray Damian de la Serna; Parecer del Doctor, y Maestro Don Antonio de la Torre, y Arellano; Licencia del Ordinario Antonio de Cardenas, y Salazar; Censura del Doctor, y Maestro Don Ygnacio de Hoyos Santillana; Patente de N.M.R.P. Provincial fray Pedro de Eguren; Al lector; Dedicatoria al glorioso S. Antonio de Padua. (Augustin de Vetancurt); Divicion del arte (f. 1r-2r); De las letras que faltan y pronunciacion que tiene. Libro Primero. De las Declinaciones de los Nombres, y Pronombres, y Conjugaciones de los Verbos (f. 2r-15v). § 1. Del Nombre (2r-4r); § 2. Declinacion de los Pronombres (4r-5v); [§ 3.] De la Conjugacion de los Verbos. (5v-7v); § 4. De la Conjugacion Gerundiva de yr, y venir (7v-8r); § 5. De la Conjugacion de los Verbos defectivos, y Anomalos (8v-9v); § 6. De la formacion de los tiempos (9v-10v); § 7. De la passiva de los Verbos (10v-11r); § 8. De los Impersonales de passiva (11r-11v); § 9. De los Preteritos de los Verbos (11v-12v); § 10. Del Participio (12v-13v); § 11. De la Preposicion (13v-15r); § 12. Del Adverbio (15r-15r); § 13. De la Interjecion (15v); § 14. De la Conjuncion (15v); § 15. De las Particulas (15v); § 16. De las ligaduras (15v). Libro Segundo. De la Institucion de la Gramatica Mexicana (16r-28v). Notas I-VIII: a cerca del uso de las Partes para el primero, y tercero libro (16r-18r); Notas IX-XVI: De los pronombres (18r-19v); Notas XVII-XXV: De los Verbos (19v-21v); Notas XXVI-XXXIII: De la Passiva (21v-24v); Notas XXXIV-XXXXIII: De las Preposiciones (24v-25r); Notas XXXII-XXXVII: [adverbios]: (25v-26v); Nota XXXVIII: [interjecion] (26v); Nota XXXIX: [conjuncion] (26v); Nota XXXX-XXXXI: [particulas] (27r-28r); Nota XXXXII-XXXXIII: [ligaduras] (28r-v). Libro Tercero. De la derivacion de nombres, y de verbos (19r-37v). Cap. 1. De los nombres que se deriuan de nombres (19r-30v); § 1. De los Adjetiuos (19r-v); [§ 2.] De los Possessivos (19v-30r); § 3. De derivatiuos de nacion (30r-v); Cap. 2. De los nombres que se derivan de Verbos (30v-31v); § 1. De los Participios (30v-31r); 2. De los substantivos (31r-v); [§ 3.] De los adjetiuos uerbales (31v); Cap. 3. De los nombres derivados de Nombres, y de Verbos (31v-32v); § 1. De los abstractos de Substantivos (32r); § 2. De los abstractos de adjetivos (32r); § 3. De los abstractos de Verbales, y Verbos (32r-v); Cap. 4. De los Verbos derivativos de Nombres (33r-34v); § 1. De los Acabados en Tia, y Ti (33r-v); § 2. De los en Huia, y iHui (33v-34r); § 3. De los verbos en Otia, y Oa (34r); § 4. De los verbos en Cihui (34r-v); Cap. 5. De los verbos derivativos de Verbos (34v sq.); § 1. De los Compulsivos (34v-35v); § 2. De los Aplicatiuos (35v-36r); § 3. De los Reverenciales Comparatiuos (36r-v); § 4. De los Revereniales Superlativos (36v-37r); § 5. De los Frequentativos (37r-v). Libro Quarto. De la composicion, y Syntaxis de las ocho partes de la Oracion (38r-40v). Notas (I-XVI) a cerca del Syntaxis, y composicion Mexicana de las partes (41r-44v). Libro Quinto. De la Quantidad de las Syllabas, y numero de los accentos (45r-48r). § 1. De la quantidad larga (45v-46r); § 2. De la quantidad breve (46r); § 3. Del accento grave (46r); § 4. Del accento agudo (46r-v); § 5. Del accento circumflexo ò saltillo (46v); § Ultimo de algunas dicciones que mudan la significacion por variaciõ del acce[n]to (arranged alphabetically) (46v-48r). Indice de los libros y Paragrafos del Arte (without foliation). Instruccion breve para administrar los Santos Sacrame[n]tos de la Confession, Uiatico, Matrimonio, y Velaciones en la la [sic] lengua Mexicana. Confessionario (without foliation) Catecismo mexicano (without foliation). |
Objectif de l'auteur | In the section “al lector” the author observes that he wrote his grammar particularly for beginners. Most predecessors compiled grammars, but those which appeared earlier usually include less relevant material for the beginner (“cada dia se imprimen de materias menos importantes muchos”), although the author admits that there are no really bad works, and that every work contains also something good (“y pocos ay tan malos, de que no pueda sacarse algo bueno”) (Vetancurt 1673: “Al lector”, no number pages). |
Intérêt général | The grammar of Vetancurt served as one of the most important sources for Manuel Pérez (1713), whose Arte follows more or less the same structure. Francisco de Ávila (1717) also mentions Vetancurt in his prologue and Aldama y Guevara (1754) quotes him often. |
Parties du discours | Vetancurt refers to a discussion about the number of parts of speech. There is more or less consensus and the majority proposes the same eight parts of speech as in Latin, Noun, pronoun, etc. However, apart from these eight, Nahuatl also has ‘particulas’, ‘articulos’ and ‘ligaduras’ who “serve” the eight parts of speech (“sirven á las partes”), as the human body which has ‘joints’ (‘artejos’), muscles (músculos), and ‘ligaturas que ayudan a las partes principales’. Vetancurt says that he follows Nebrija (“siguiendo el estilo del arte latino de Antonio”), but with these additional “notes” to be discussed in the second book of his grammar, entitled “Notas a cerca del uso de las Partes para el primero, y tercero libro” (1673, f. 16r). |
Innovations term. | Although the term ‘Verbo reverencial’ is already used by Carochi and others, Vetancurt extends his metalanguage, introducing ‘reverenciales comparativos’ and ‘reverenciales superlativos’. |
Corpus illustratif | The grammar contains examples in Nahuatl. In the final section of book 4 on speaking manners, several so-called ‘mexicanismos’ are analysed. These texts-examples are difficult to explain, according to the author (“no se pueden reducir á regla”) and here several texts from the Vulgate Bible are used as examples, with reference to Hebrew (f. 44r). The references to the Bible are given in the margins. Some texts have a historical content “dos años antes que llegase la flota de Castilla”. The grammar has been printed together with bilingual sections Nahuatl-Spanish (Instrucción, confessonario, catecismo, and a “plática breve”). The catechism is in Nahuatl without translation. |
Indications compl. | |
Influence subie | The grammar is modelled according to Antonio de Nebrija's Latin grammar and the grammar of Nahuatl of the Jesuit Antonio del Rincón. As Rincón did, Vetancurt adds a short glossary with minimal pairs, varying the length of the vowels. |
Influence exercée | The grammar of Vetancurt served as one of the most important sources for Manuel Pérez (1713). Francisco de Ávila (1717) also mentions Vetancurt in his prologue. The authors who cite Vetancurt frequently are Cortés y Zedeño and Aldama y Guevara. Carranza mentions him sporadically. Vetancurt has contributed to the discussion about the non-existence of syntax in Nahuatl, a theory which was proposed by the Jesuits Rincón and Carochi. According to Vetancurt, Nahuatl does have “syntax” and “construcción”, since he based his views on the semantics of the Latin “cases”, and not on the formal aspects of the cases and declensions (f. 41r). |
Renvois bibliographiques | Guzmán Betancourt I. 2002; Hernández de León-Portilla A. 1988; Paso y Troncoso F. del & González Obregón L. (éd.) 1901; Suárez Roca J. L. 1992; Vetancurt A. de 1870 |
Rédacteur | Zwartjes, Otto |
Création ou mise à jour | 2017-05 |