Lexicographical remarks on José Manuel Montenegro's Glossary of Barbarisms

Abstract

The concern of intellectuals about the preservation of language, as an identity product that reflects a social reality, is part of a trend in which different authors are inserted in the late nineteenth century and on the eve of the twentieth century. In this sense, we find José Manuel Montenegro, journalist, lawyer, liberal leader, parliamentarian and civil servant, who, between 23 October 1903 and 7 April 1904, published in Los Ecos de Cojedes: ‘Barbarismos que se usan en Venezuela. Obra inéditaa por el Doctor José Manuel Montenegro’. Given Montenegro's significance as a journalist, lawyer, liberal leader, parliamentarian, and civil servant, and the limited scholarship on his ideology, this research offers a concise overview of his political and intellectual contributions, alongside a modest lexicographical analysis of his glossary: ‘Barbarismos que se usan en Venezuela’. The study describes purist attitudes evident in the commentary on various entries within the work. Methodologically, this is a documentary study drawing upon Haensch's (1997) lexicographical criticism, analyzing a corpus of 223 lexicographical articles. The findings indicate that Montenegro not only illustrates linguistic variations within the socio-historical transformations of his era but also captures and reflects the public's perception of language as an identity marker. A review of the lexicon reveals a pronounced prescriptivist stance against perceived deviations from linguistic norms. The acknowledgement and dissemination of contemporary "barbarisms" through the press likely fostered linguistic awareness, navigating between an embrace of novelty and adherence to tradition.