Search

This article explores the equivalence between linguistic evolution and biological evolution in the metaphorical epistemological perspective of linguistic (neo)Darwinism. It analyses the survival of these evolutionary ideas in the columns on language (CSL) when explaining changes in Spanish. Six CSLs, spanning the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, are selected to represent the genre’s beginnings in the Spanish press to the present day. These selections coincide with the consolidation of models that offer new perspectives on linguistic change. The influence of (neo)Darwinism in each columnist’s discourse is examined, along with the infrequent use of associated biologicist metaphors, except in cases where the genetic-biological is transferred to the genesis of the language. Ultimately, the article concludes that the evolutionist ideology underlies some CSLs due to the principle of naturalism in linguistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]