Specialized Communication and Spanish Golden Age Drama

Medical Language and Technicalities

Medical Language: Medical language is characterized by imprecision. In contrast to the precision of the language used in the exact sciences, medical language is imprecise because it reflects the breadth, complexity, and uncertainty of the content it addresses.

Abundance of Technicalities: Medical language contains between 40,000 and 100,000 technical terms, and new ones are created all the time:

• Derivation and Cultured Composition: Unlike other technical languages, which are fed mainly from English, the language of medicine is based primarily on the combination of a few thousand members of Greek or Latin origin.
• Analogy: This involves creating concepts through metaphors—that is, a relation of similarity between words.
• Eponymy: This is the practice of designating a reality based on the name of an illustrious personage.

The Language of Economics

Terms with Multiple Meanings: In the language of economics, the same term can have multiple significant meanings. For example, consider the word income.

Neologisms and Semantic Changes: The language of economics creates new words and also gives new meanings to familiar words.

Jargon and Acronyms: The difficulty of this kind of language, along with a plenty of jargon and acronyms, requires the existence of specialized textbooks and dictionaries.

Anglicisms: The language of economics is highly influenced by the syntax and vocabulary of the English language as a reference.

Bartolomé de Torres Naharro

Dramatic Theory and Ideas

Sitcom: Torres Naharro aimed to capture the viewer's attention through amazing intrigue; verisimilitude was less important than the succession of wild actions.

His Ideas About the Theater

• The theater is a spectacle and must be written to be performed rather than just read.
• One can mix tragedy and comedy, although classical norms do not allow it.
• The argument should entertain and amuse the public.
• There will be a maximum of twelve characters and five acts to avoid confusion for the viewer.

Classification of Works

• Comedy "a noticia": These are realistic and satirical works with a simple structure.
• Comedy "a fantasía": These arguments are based on fabulous and imaginative elements and the tangle of the plot.

Lope de Rueda and the Comedy of Manners

The Comedy of Manners: Lope de Rueda criticized certain aspects of society and used contemporary classical theater as a model. The theater of Lope de Rueda represents the triumph of Italian comedy in Spanish theater.

• His best-known works are short theatrical pieces called pasos, which are interspersed throughout the plays.
• He wrote in prose and used the "language of the street," always with a comic purpose. His sense of humor is evident in the beginning of the comedy Eufemia.