De la proprietas linguae al genio de la lengua: introducción y desarrollo de estas nociones en la lingüística española (siglos XVI-XVIII)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide a panoramic view that accounts for the phases involved in the denomination, conceptualization, and application of the idea of “particular or genuine nature of languages” in the Spanish linguistic thinking. Mainly based on apologetic texts, we conduct a review whose terminus a quo is the notion of linguistic property and whose terminus ad quem is the expression genius of the language. From the first one, used in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, we place emphasis on Correas’ contribution, which is related to López Madera’s doctrine. From the second one, imported from France, we point out its evolution in the 18^th century Spanish tradition.