Seseo, “ese” sigmática y edición de textos vascos

Abstract

The historical reconstruction of seseo (substitution of /q/ for /s/) in the Castilian found in Basque texts is still in need of revision in both archive and literary-didactic sources. In any case, the study of this phenomenon from documents dating from its first appearances up to the XVIth century requires the careful analysis of graphic confusion in the reproduction of dental sibilants. Any analysis of this nature comes up against the problem posed by the solutions most commonly adopted in edited texts, namely putting the sigmatic /s/. For this reason, and given the peculiar nature of these source collections, it would seem reasonable to suggest an element of reservation in the criteria used for the transcription of the sigma, when it comes to editting Basque texts from this period.