The Arte Sangley in the archives of the University of Santo Tomás in Manila

Daniele Quaggiotto
Independent researcher

This article provides a brief description of a Hokkien grammar held in the Archives of the University of Santo Tomás in Manila which, as far as I am aware, has not been studied before. The article is only meant to provide a brief description of the Arte Sangley and some preliminary observations pending a more thorough study of the grammar. It contains some suggestions about its authorship and the date on which it was produced. It also compares, where appropriate and within the constraints of its limited scope, the Arte Sangley with the Arte de la lengua Chio Chu and Francisco Varo’s Arte de la lengua mandarina.

Publication history

Date received: 6 January 2025

Date accepted: 2 March 2025

Published online: 8 April 2025

Table of contents

The catalogue of the Archives of the University of Santo Tomás in Manila (UST) contains the following three documents under the same entry (Anonymous 1716–1720):

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References

Annua
1631 ARSI Philipp.6 II, F.455.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Anonymous
ca. 1617 Bocabulario de la lengua sangleya por las letraz de el A.B.C. British Library MS 25317. This manuscript includes a versión of the Arte de la lengua chio chu .Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1620 Arte de la lengua chio chu. MS 1027, 33 ff Biblioteca de la Universidad de Barcelona.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1716–1720 Cathecismo Christiano sinico en lengua chincheo, con todas las oraciones y preguntas necessarias de la doctrina christiana p[ar]a cathequizar los Sangleys que nuevam[en]te se bautizan en estas Islas, al qual communem[en]te llamamos rezo vago o nuevo. Ms Manila, University of Santo Tomás, folletos – Tomo 211. Includes also “Varios Sermones” and “Notas previas al Arte Sangley”.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1640–1641 “Arte de la lengua mandarina”. Text appended to the Vocabularium Hispanico-Sinense. Bodleian Library, MS Marsh 696, fols. 202r-207v. For an edition, analysis and translation, see Zwartjes (2024).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Arte Sangley
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Zwartjes, Otto
2024 Missionary Grammars and Dictionaries of Chinese: The contribution of seventeenth century Spanish Dominicans. (= Studies in the History of the Language Sciences, 131). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
 
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