Verbal offenses in 16th century theatre

Abstract

This article analyzes the verbal offenses registered in the hagiographic works of the Codex of Old Auto Sacramental (16th century). Bearing in mind that these voices are linguistic forms integrated in a dramatic speech, the study is carried out from a double approach: a pragmatic one, that values statements in the situation in which the act of communication takes place in which relations are established among speakers; and a semantic one, which studies the linguistic elements whose meanings (grouped in conceptual spheres) are shown in their different contexts and in light of the social factors of the time. The applied method answers to the study of the words (motivations, expressiveness and linguistic functions) and is complemented by their comparison in historical dictionaries of the language and in lexical summaries. The article states that the registered terms are restricted by a theatre in which religious drama prevails, and that the necessary lexical creations that qualify characters and situations with great expressive force are limited by the transcription that their writing involves.