Introduction

Seventeenth-century Manila was a place of actual decision-making rather than being a so-called colonial “way station” for luxury commodities or Catholic missionaries from Acapulco to China. Yet, knowing little about how Manila assumed its position, it is necessary to first recognize and then unravel the strong agency of different groups in the administrative, religious, intellectual and commercial center of the Spanish colony (1571– 1898). Thus, the aim of this article is to show how individual action connected early historical processes, whilst focusing on a specific element of its multi-linguistic landscape in particular. I will introduce early modern language policies and translation practices in Manila against the backdrop of fluctuating Sino-Iberian collaboration and attempted Iberian theological and linguist imperialism. The article studies the encounter and gradual co-existence of the disparate languages Castilian (a.k.a. Spanish) and Sinic (“Chinese”) Hokkien in everyday practices to ultimately trace both vertical and horizontal connections and point at non-elite and ethnolinguistic elements within these processes.

Focusing especially on the example of linguistic encounters of Castilian and Hokkien, the article confronts Peter Burke's thesis on early modern language policies and translation practices in Renaissance Europe with research from missionary linguistics. In so doing it ultimately combines microhistorical data of non-elite actors with colonial policies and thus attempts to study linguistic dynamics related to the two largest foreign languages spoken in Manila. As language use and language policies were an integral part of the maritime landscape during the Age of Commerce, the effects of linguistic concurrences in the Manila area are crucial for understanding Southeast Asia in the critical period between 1500 and 1800 which opens up for new avenues in the study of encounters in the maritime realm and the many actors involved in shaping these processes.

Any serious attempt to study Manila's linguistic landscape from below has to acknowledge the lack of sources. Despite abundant Spanish data on the period of interest, relevant information on language use and bilingual practices tend to be widely scattered. In many cases court records or declarations of visiting merchants and residents are more insightful than normative documents such as administrative records or chronicles.