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Description
It may seem obvious to state that tracing the history of a language involves consulting lexicographical works of all kinds, but the truth is that specialized lexicographical compilations, i.e., those referring to the specialized languages of a particular field of knowledge, have not always been duly considered in the diachronic study of language. In this contribution, we aim to present a computerbased open-access research tool designed to assist researchers in tracing the history of the medical lexicon and, therefore, the evolution of medicine within the Spanish-speaking context. This tool is known as Tesoro Lexicográfico Médico (Medical Lexicographical Thesaurus; see Gutiérrez-Rodilla, 2024) and stands as the first of its kind created for a scientific, specialized field in Spanish. In our presentation, we will outline the phases into which the project was divided and detail some of the results we have achieved to date. In the initial phase, it was essential to first locate and then familiarize ourselves with the dictionaries generated and published in Spain within the medical domain during a specific timeframe. The group of nine researchers leading this initiative has been dedicated for years to delving into the historical and lexicographical background of the medical domain in the Spanish language, placing us in a privileged position to successfully complete the project. The chosen period is linked to a historical juncture that marked a pivotal development in the evolution of specialized lexicography across the European continent, and consequently, in Spain – specifically, the 18th and 19th centuries, along with the early years of the 20th century. Indeed, as is widely acknowledged, this constitutes the significant Achilles heel in the history of metalexicography: our lack of knowledge of how many and which specialized dictionaries were produced in the past. This is certainly regrettable, considering the wealth of valuable information that such dictionaries invariably yield. As McConchie (2014, n. p.) puts it: “dictionaries themselves and those who compiled them remain largely in the outer darkness. (…) [T]he whole area remains a goldmine of rich research pickings.” This gap is gradually being filled in some areas. In the case of medicine, our research group has opened in the last years a line of research that aimed to account for all the existing repertoires of lexicographical interest in the medical field in Spanish and then proceeded to study them (Gutiérrez-Rodilla, 1999; 2017, for instance). During this phase of searching, locating, and compiling medical dictionaries, we also carried out a systematic classification of the identified works based on the following parameters. On the one hand, lexicographic specialized works can be categorized into terminological and encyclopaedic dictionaries. The former have been referred to as ‘word dictionaries’, ‘lexicons’, and ‘vocabularies’. This category of lexicographic works encountered limited success in France but thrived in Spain, addressing a clear need to name the emerging concepts and theories developed north of the Pyrenees. Another criterion for classifying lexicographic works from this period is the specialized subject matter they encompassed. Thus, medical reference works can be divided into general dictionaries of medicine and dictionaries focused on a highly specific medical field, such as Therapeutics or Symptomatology. Another consideration is the intended audience: some dictionaries were tailored for specialists, while others targeted the general public. A final criterion is whether the dictionary was originally composed in Spanish or translated and/or adapted from another language. In a second phase, it became imperative to design the computer-based tool to collect the selected Spanish medical dictionaries, taking into consideration the requirements expressed by researchers from various fields of knowledge, including the history of medicine, the history of specialized languages, the diachronic study of medical Spanish or specialized translation, among many others. In our presentation, we will provide an overview of the user interface and elucidate how the tool has been conceived. Lastly, the current phase, the third one in which we are presently immersed, focuses on enriching the tool with the diverse aforementioned medical dictionaries. As of now, six terminological medical dictionaries originally written in Spanish between 1730 and 1886 have been incorporated for consultation, including more than 60,000 lemmas (such as Suárez de Ribera, 1730; Hurtado de Mendoza, 1840; or Vázquez de Quevedo, 1852). In the last part of the presentation, we will highlight some of the benefits that this tool offers to researchers interested in the study of medical language or specialized language in Spanish. All in all, we will provide examples from recent 94 publications by members of the group and discuss potential future applications of this valuable tool.
