Comparative vocabulary chart compiled by C. Hermann Berendt from various sources, with approximately 350 main entries in both Spanish and English, and the equivalents (when available) given in 7 languages or dialects of Costa Rica, under the following headings: Viceita, Cachi, Talamanca, Guatuso, Guaymi, Muoi, and Boruca. The first three languages or dialects are likely related to Bribri and/or Cabecar, of the Talamanca region. Muoi is apparently a dialect of Guaymi. Over the column on the far left, which generally contains Spanish, the heading Suere is written in red ink on several pages; in those instances, near the relevant Spanish words, Berendt notes in red ink the handful of vocabulary entries from what was once known as the province of Suere (Suerre), as given in a work by Girolamo Benzoni; in Berendt's separate transcription of that vocabulary, he associates it with the Guetar Indians (see Ms. Coll. 700, Item 155). Also inserted in the column for Spanish is one vocabulary entry from Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés (urba: vaso, vasija, olla; f. 3v). The chart allows 2 columns for Viceita, with one of them attributed to Lucas Alvarado, who is also given as the source for Cachi; in Berendt's separate transcription of those 2 sets of vocabulary from Alvarado, he dates the collection of them to 1866 (see Ms. Coll. 700, Item 151, for Berendt's transcription, and Item 150 for Alvarado's original manuscript). The other column of Viceita vocabulary is attributed to Philipp J. J. Valentini, and is separately transcribed by Berendt in Ms. Coll. 700, Item 156, where he indicates that Valentini collected it in 1866. The vocabulary labeled Talamanca is attributed to Karl von Scherzer. In Berendt's separate transcriptions of the same vocabulary (see Ms. Coll. 700, Item 158 and, a revised version, Item 159) he labels it Viceita (in Scherzer's publications from which Berendt took the vocabulary, he associates it with the Blanco, Valiente, and Talamanca tribes, or, alternatively, the Viceitas and Blancos). The Guaymi and Muoi vocabularies are attributed to A. L. Pinart; and the Boruca vocabulary to Valentini. The Guatuso is unattributed. The chart includes many blank spaces, and Guatuso and Muoi, in particular, are sparsely represented.
Language:
Spanish; Castilian
Provenance:
From the collection of C. Hermann Berendt, later acquired by Daniel Garrison Brinton (ex libris stamp on f. 1r).
9 leaves : paper; 352 x 214 mm bound to 352 x 217 mm
Geographic Subject:
Costa Rica -- Languages; Costa Rica
Rights:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
Notes:
Ms. codex.; Title from cover.; Foliation: Paper, iii + 9 + i; modern foliation in pencil, lower right recto. The manuscript comprises 8 two-page spreads (f. 1v to 9r), which have contemporary numeration, 1-8 (numeration in pencil in upper-left corner of left-hand page of each spread). After f. 9 are the stubs of 5 leaves that were cut away.; Layout: Written in equally-spaced, ruled columns of approximately 50 lines, across a 2-page spread, with 5 columns to each page, displaying vocabulary entries in the two far left columns in Spanish and English, respectively, followed by equivalents under the following headings (left to right): Viceita (Alvarado), Cachi, Viceita (Valentini), Talamanca (Scherzer), Guatuso, Guaymi, Muoi, Boruca.; Script: Written in the hand of C. Hermann Berendt.; Binding: Contemporary paper covers.; Origin: Written sometime between the collection of the vocabularies by Lucas Alvarado and Philipp J. J. Valentini in 1866, and C. Hermann Berendt's death in 1878.; Spanish; English; dialects related to Bribri and Cabecar (Viceita, Cachi, and Talamanca); Guatuso; Guaymi; Muoi; Boruca; and a few words in Guetar.
Physical Location:
Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Manuscripts, Ms. Coll. 700
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