ABSTRACT

This chapter describes the main features of the foundational texts in Galician grammar and lexicography written between 1863 and 1892, and their basic assumptions on the emerging standard variety. The role played by Spanish in the standardization process of the Galician language and the contrastive perspective adopted by those grammars and dictionaries are also analyzed. Emphasis is placed on issues such as the concern about a Galician–Spanish hybridization, the historical roots of Galician linguistic purism, some of the ideologies underlying the revival of this language and the calls for independence from an overwhelming preeminent language such as Spanish. Our historiographical analyses of the ideologies on language contact underscore the different metalinguistic processes involved, as well as the importance of purism for language standardization.