Joan Coromines

Bio: Joan Coromines is an academic researcher. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 2 publications receiving 283 citations.

Long Term Persistence of Dehesas. Evidences from History

Abstract: Dehesas are agrosilvopastoral systems characterized by a savanna-like physiognomy. Today the central problem for the continuity of the dehesas is the gradual decay of tree canopy. We have investigated the history of the vegetation and management of dehesas from the middle ages to the present day in order to know in which conditions they have persisted in the long run. The results show that the word dehesa has been used historically for private grazing lands, with no reference to any vegetation type. According with the resources used during the middle and modern times the vegetation was a mixture of grasslands, shrubs and trees. The first descriptions of the vegetation of SW Spain in the 18th century showed that open oak parklands were scarce, while oak shrublands were very common. After the privatization of the land in the 19th century large private farms called dehesas developed in SW Spain, that were devoted to livestock raising in combination with agriculture and forestry. The change in management practices favored open oak parklands over oak shrublands in the dehesas, becoming the dominant vegetation of these farms in the 20th century. Is in this moment when dehesa passed to mean open oak parklands devoted to grazing, cultivation and forestry. The effect of the change in vegetation structure and management practices on oak regeneration is discussed.

The making of the myth in postcolonial development: material-conceptual landscape transformation in sixteenth-century Veracruz

Abstract: European colonialism entailed material and conceptual landscape transformations that continue to define the parameters for postcolonial development. The major conceptual landscape transformation, termed the “pristine myth” for the Americas, remains a cultural foundation for the binary categorization of the world into a rationally progressive West versus an irrationally traditional non-West, thus driving the social and environmental contradictions of postcolonial development efforts. Despite much evidence that contradicts the pristine myth—the myth in postcolonial development—it retains a pernicious grip on the Western popular imagination because attempts to falsify it have not demonstrated its emergence through a colonial process that materially and conceptually transformed landscapes while simultaneously obscuring such transformation. Study of sixteenth-century landscape transformation in the environs of the port of Veracruz demonstrates the significance of a material-conceptual, positive-feedback proces...

Etnobotánica del sur de los andes de la primera región de chile: un enlace entre las culturas altiplánicas y las de quebradas altas del loa superior ethnobotany of the southern andes within the first region of chile: a connection between altiplano cultures and the high canyons of the superior loa

Abstract: Se presenta un estudio etnobotanico en el territorio andino limitrofe entre la I Region y II Region de Chile, area que, histori camen-te, ha funcionado como un enlace entre diversas culturas andinas. Para la flora consultada (146 taxa), se registraron 384 verna culos,correspondiendo el mayor porcentaje a las lenguas aymara-quechua (70% de los nombres). El 90% tenia utilizacion, registrandoseun total de 228 usos, distribuidos en forrajes (36%), medicinas (31%) y comestibles (10%).Se registra: (a) Predominio de vernaculos aymara-quechua y etnocate gorias, preferentemente, de acuerdo a la nomenclatura de laI Region; (b) Etnoclasificaciones con hasta tres niveles jerarquicos; (c) Frecuente uso del principio de opuestos complementarios,tanto en los criterios de distincion de especies como en los procedimientos terapeuticos de la flora; (d) Especies ceremonialessimilares a las usadas en el extremo norte de Chile, Bolivia y Loa Superior; (e) Heterogeneidad dentro del territorio estudiado,entre las comunidades del area de Ollague y las residentes en el Oasis de Pica, tanto en las especies ceremoniales como en losnombres vernaculares. Estos rasgos destacan al area de estudio como transicional, entre las culturas del altiplano de la Region deTarapaca y las de quebradas altas, de la Region de Antofagasta.Palabras claves: Etnobotanica andina, norte de Chile, transicion cultural.Historically, the Andean territorial boundary between Regions I and II of Chile has functioned as a link between diverse Andeancultures. Here, we present an ethnobotanical study from this region which indicates that for the consulted flora (146 taxa) weregistered 384 common names, with the majority of these being of Aymara-Quechua origin (70%). A total of 228 uses of the florawere recorded (90%), distributed among fodder (36%), medicine (31%) and food (10%).Our results indicate: (a) A predominance of Aymara-Quechua common names and ethnocategories closer to the nomenclature ofRegion I (Tarapaca); (b) Ethnoclassifications with up to three nested levels; (c) Frequent use of opposed complementary terms, inboth species distinction criteria and therapeutical procedures; (d) Ceremonial uses of species similar to northernmost Chile andBolivia as well as in the Upper Loa; (e) Site heterogeneity, between the communities of the Ollague area and the residents of P ica,regarding ceremonial uses as well as common names. These features characterize the area as transitional between the Altiplanocultures of the Tarapaca Region (I) and those from the high altitude canyons, of the Antofagasta Region (II).Key words: Andean ethnobotany, northern Chile, cultural transition.

Introducción a la lingüistica hispánica

Abstract: Written entirely in Spanish, this is the ideal introduction to Spanish linguistics for students. Using clear explanations, it covers all the basic concepts required to study the structural aspects of the Spanish language – phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics – as well as the history of Spanish, its dialects, and its linguistic variation in Latin America, Spain, and the US. This third edition incorporates new features designed to enhance its usefulness for classroom teaching: a new chapter on the teaching and learning of Spanish as a second language, expanded discussion of syntax, and more detailed coverage of Spanish semantics and pragmatics. Numerous exercises have been added throughout the text, some of which are now presented as problems for students to solve, allowing students to gain a more complete mastery of the analytical concepts at hand.