Who wrote the first grammars of Nahuatl and Quechua?

Friars write the first grammars of American languages

Las primeras gramáticas y vocabularios de lenguas americanas

1555–1571. To preach in the languages of the Americas, missionaries had to study them, and in doing so they wrote the first grammars and dictionaries of Nahuatl, Quechua…

Where: Mexico, Peru, Mexico City, Valladolid

What happened

To preach in the languages of the Americas, missionaries had to study them, and in doing so they wrote the first grammars and dictionaries of Nahuatl, Quechua and dozens of other languages. In 1555 fray Alonso de Molina printed in Mexico City, at the press of Juan Pablos, his Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana, the first dictionary of any indigenous language printed in the New World, enlarged in 1571 with a Nahuatl-Spanish part and a grammar. In 1560 the Dominican Domingo de Santo Tomás published in Spain (Valladolid) the first printed grammar of Quechua and a Lexicón. In 1583 the Council of Lima ordered chairs of Nahuatl, Quechua and Chibcha. These books preserved languages at the moment of contact and are still used by linguists.

Say it

Los frailes escribieron los primeros diccionarios del náhuatl y del quechua.

The friars wrote the first dictionaries of Nahuatl and Quechua.

Why it matters

Spanish friars were the first to describe the languages of the Americas, and their books are why Nahuatl and Quechua words entered Spanish with their meanings recorded.

Read about it

Connected

Sources

  1. Gramáticas, diccionarios y catecismos coloniales en lenguas indígenas — Memoria Chilena, Biblioteca Nacional de Chile
  2. El Vocabulario de fray Alonso de Molina (Miguel León-Portilla) — UNAM, Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas
  3. Aqui comiença un vocabulario en la lengua Castellana y Mexicana (exhibit) — Lehigh University Libraries
  4. DidactiRed: Texto y afirmaciones (14 octubre 2013) — Centro Virtual Cervantes