Il Codice Aragonese (1458-1460): la distribuzione delle tre lingue napoletana, catalana e latina

Abstract

Summary: This article is devoted to a 15th century’s codex from Naples under the Catalan-Aragonese Crown of King Ferran. To a sociocultural background I investigate the function of the three varieties involved (Catalan, Neapolitan and Latin) in general and as preferred correspondence languages. Furthermore, and in comparison to a hypothesis by the editor Armand-Adolphe Messer, I show that the use of Catalan and Neapolitan depends on the linguistic knowledge of the receiver and, in the case of bilingual receivers, on the author’s intention. By comparing the two varieties we observe a certain tendency to apply the Neapolitan language to objective messages while Catalan tends to be used for more personal or ‘urgent’ communications [Keywords: Catalan, Neapolitan, Naples, Catalan-Aragonese Crown, chancellery, sociolinguistics, trilingualism].