Re: Seeking info on Old Spanish

On Mon, 26 Nov 2001 18:01:52 -0500, Karapcik, Mike
<Karapcik@...> wrote:

>Hello,
....
>        I am looking for information on old Spanish (1600's and 1700's),
>preferably guides to pronunciation, basic grammar, and vocabulary. (A
primer
>on old Spanish.)
>        My father is a volunteer at Ft. Matanzas and the Castillo in St.
>Augustine, FL. He has the uniform, and is licensed to fire a musket and
>mortar/cannon on the premises. I am primarily seeking this information for
>him and the fort's park service, though I have a personal interest in old
>and obscure languages.
>At the fort, all of the military and firing drills are done in old Spanish.
>(They regularly have to explain to people who try to "correct" their
>Spanish that it's colonial era Spanish.) The problem is, they don't have
>anyone on hand who knows much about old Spanish. The commands were set in
>the early 1600's, and so were considered "old fashioned" when Las Floridas
>became a US territory. There are a few Spanish speakers on staff, but
>there are many old terms that are poorly understood, and their
>pronunciation is based on modern Castilian.
>
>        I have found one book on Amazon, "An Introduction to Old Spanish :
> A Guide to the Study of the History of Spanish With Selected Readings
> (Romance Languages & Literature Srs, Vol 130)", by Virgil L. Poulter,
> ISBN: 0820411701. The problem is, I can't find any good information on
> the on any web page. I can't tell if it's a grammar or a study of
> literature from that era. (It also may be out of print.)
>
>        So, my questions. First, if anyone is familiar with this book,
>could you please let me know if it is what I'm looking for? Second, would
>any of the language collectors or students of history out there happen to
>know any good references for learning the basics of colonial era Spanish?
>A book is preferable [even a college text], though a web page would be
>good.
....
>Thank you very much for any help,
I remember reading a couple books on the subject many years ago; one was
called something like: A History of the Spanish Language. I don't think
I've ever run across the book you mentioned.

IIRC, Spanish pronunciation and vocabulary changed quite a bit during the
early colonial era -- pretty much Old Spanish in 1500, but by 1700 was
almost like modern textbook Spanish.

Sorry for not being more helpful.

Jeff