Las primeras ejemplificaciones en ELE

The Anonymous Leuven grammars were two of the first grammars for teaching/learning Spanish as a foreign language (ELE) in history. The have been compared because of their contextual similarities. The aim of this paper is to compare both grammars, paying attention to an object of study wich is receibing increasing attention in linguistic historiography and which is fundamental in the teaching of ELE: the grammar exemplification. The main objective is to better understand the two grammars through the study of exemplification, and the influence of linguistic and extralinguistic factors on it. The analisis has been carried out based on the exemplification’s theory developed in previous works (e. g. Escudero Paniagua, 2022, 2023a, 2023b). Specifically, we have analysed: i) the quantity of exemplification in each grammar; ii) the exemplification mechanisms used; iii) the thypological variety of language’s (anti)fragments used in exemplification; iv) the languages in which the exemples are written; and v) the sources of exemples. The results show substantial differences in almost all aspects, althought both exemplificaions are simple, aimed at illustration rather than inciting linguistic reflection. Only the 1559 grammar provides a more complex exemplification of the pronunciation and writing of Castilian, especially by comparing exemples in different languages.