The popular Valencian vocabulary in the literature of the first decades of the 20th century: the contribution of Faust Hernández Casajuana

Abstract

Abstract: In his literary works, Hernández Casajuana used an interesting popular vocabulary, which in part connects with the linguistic tradition of 19th century Valencian playwrights, and in part represents an innovation, as it takes into account the social change and new customs arising in the 20th century, and which were reflected in the language. The article deals with Hernández Casajuana’s more innovative lexicon, though it also considers the work of other contemporary
and earlier authors. It provides new ideas in relation to historical and etymological dictionaries and explains the motivation and origin of certain words and meanings; it also shows the presence of several neologisms at the time when they were being introduced into the Catalan language. Some of these new words have disappeared in today’s language, while others continue, but at the beginning of the 20th century, when they were as yet unconsolidated, they sometimes had different forms from those that have eventually prevail.

Key words: history of the lexicon, 19th and 20th century literary language, popular vocabulary, neologisms, Hernández Casajuana.