Linguistic and social Consideration of insult in the Tesoro by Covarrubias

Abstract

This study aims at the concept of injury, the presence of insulting words and their sociolinguistic labels in the Tesoro of Covarrubias. This paper analyzes the mentions of the offense, the insults and the treatment of the words that the sources of the Golden Age give as coded lexemes to insult, as well as the possible social stratification of such words. The result shows the Tesoro as a reflection of social significance of the offense and the starting work of a lexicographical tradition, continued to the present, that avoids lexical representation of injury and the loss of meaning of these terms. Furthermore, this dictionary proves that injurious words do not distinguish speakers socially; they must, however, respect some conditions of use.