Fighting against Beasts: Arabic and Hebrew in Covarrubias's Tesoro

The present study examines the representationof Arabic and Hebrew in Covarrubias's Tesorode la lengua castellana o española (Madrid,1611) from a comparative perspective. Ana-lyzing the lexicographer's ideological andmeta-linguistic discourse, I reconstruct hispostulates regarding the respective histories ofArabic and Hebrew, their interrelationship,and place in the history of Spanish. In light ofthese postulates, and taking into account thelexicographer's access to knowledge, sources,and informants, I examine some of his etymo-logical practices, focusing on his attempts touse grammatical and lexical knowledge of Hebrew to illuminate Arabic etymologies of Spanish words. Combining the ideologicaland technical levels of the text, I reflect on the interplay of knowledge and ignorance in Covarrubias's treatment of Semitic languages.