La Política Lingüística en la Nueva España

Abstract

The domination of New Spain by the Spanish state brought about changes in language use. The biggest change was the introduction and diffusion of the Spanish language. At the same time some Europeans, notably the missionaries, studied the indigenous languages, while many creoles and mestizos learned the native tongues during their infancy. Since pre-Hispanic times Nahuatl had served as a lingua franca in some regions of New Spain; the Catholic Church and the Spanish Crown encouraged and extended this practice. In spite of the attempts to homogenize the linguistic panorama of New Spain, however, neither Spanish nor Nahuatl were suffi cient for the missionary and administrative work in the towns where other languages were spoken. These linguistic communities preserved their ancestral tongues. In this article the linguistic legislation issued by the Spanish monarchy during the early colonial period is discussed, tracing its impact in the Indian towns.