Enriquecimiento léxico del latín en Nebrija

Abstract

Like other prominent humanists, Nebrija was trying to make Latin a self-sufficient language, capable of meeting the needs of communication in his own age. This ambitious plan was difficult to implement due to a number of lexical gaps, since many institutions, artifacts, materials and concepts characteristic of the Renaissance were completely unknown in Antiquity and, accordingly, lacked a specific designation in Classical Latin. In order to overcome these difficulties, Nebrija had recourse to three different devices. Firstly, he borrowed from ancient authors who till then had been excluded from the classical canon as being too late or too vulgar. Secondly, he coined a number of neologisms using the classical rules of derivation and composition. Thirdly, he expanded the semantic range of some Latin words. By using these three devices, Nebrija distanced himself from the orthodox ciceronians who rejected all words which were not recorded in Cicero or in any other writer of the classical period.