Resumen

RAMOS, Elvira  y  GARCIA, Marisol. Notes on weights and measurements in testaments issued in Mérida in the XVll century. Letras [online]. 2010, vol.52, n.83, pp.75-101. ISSN 0459-1283.

We have compiled a brief lexicon referring to measures in testaments issued in Mérida, Venezuela, during the XVII century. From the basis that Spanish, as any other language, has presented changes that respond to factors which are generally related to social transformations (Boyd-Bowman, 1980, 1982; Obediente, 2000; Marimón, 2006), our objective has been to verify whether a semantic change has occurred in the course of time. To do so, we have systematized the meaning of lexical items and have analyzed those terms that currently maintain their particular use in America and Venezuela, as well as the items of common use in colonial Spanish which have fallen into disuse. The selection was made by means of contrastive analysis with support on the DRAE (2001). We have found fifteen terms that refer to measures of weight, content, length or surface, some of which have a different meaning in current Spanish.

Palabras clave : lexicon; weights and measures; colonial Venezuelan Spanish.

        · resumen en Español | Francés | Italiano | Portugués     · texto en Español     · Español ( pdf )