A reading on the colloquial expressions present in Samuel Darío Maldonado's epistolary discourse

Abstract

Samuel Darío Maldonado Vivas (1870-1925) was a prominent Venezuelan physician, anthropologist, writer, journalist, and politician. Much of his literary and journalistic work appeared in publications such as El Cojo Ilustrado, El Universal, and El Tiempo. These pieces not only showcased his ideas but also revealed a distinct aesthetic approach. This public discourse is what Maldonado is best known for. However, his more intimate voice, found in letters to his wife Dolores, remains largely unexplored. Delving into this correspondence opens a window into a verbal universe rich with colloquial expressions, offering insights into Maldonado's personality and collective imagination. Therefore, an analysis of the idioms presents in two of his letters to Dolores provides a way to examine his language and demonstrate how, through everyday colloquialisms, Maldonado captured the reality of his surroundings through his speech acts. The idioms in these letters are analyzed using the theoretical framework provided by Mario García-Page in Introducción a la fraseología española. Estudio de las locuciones (2008). We also consider the classifications of idioms made by the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) and the Association of Spanish Language Academies (ASALE) in the Diccionario de lengua española (DLE). Through this analysis, we aim to sketch an initial approach to Maldonado's private discourse.