A menudo / -ear: frequentative verbs in the Vocabulario (1513) by Nebrija

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the particle of the metalanguage a menudo with which Nebrija accompanies some words of the revised Vocabulario (1513). In Spanish, this expression is used to denote frequentatives or iterative verbs. The analysis will show whether the metalanguage refers to the entry or to the definition. As has been previously demonstrated, the structure of the dictionary in many cases follows the Latin term. We will discuss the nature of the lexical items’ structure and how we expect it to be used. We also analyse the frequentative verbs ending in -ear which appear in the dictionary, as well as their definitions, in order to determine whether they are equivalent to the verbs studied before, i.e. those marked with the expression a menudo. The study will evidence the methodology underlying the Vocabulario in the area of frequentative verbs. It is important to remember that Nebrija’s dictionaries (the Dictionarium latinum-hispanicum and the Vocabulario de romance en latín) were designed to translate Latin into Romance or vice versa. Therefore, the aspectual nuance of the verbs was absolutely necessary for a correct interpretation of the texts.