filológico

Filológico is an adjective used in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and other Romance languages to denote relation to philology, the scholarly study of language as it appears in historical texts. A filological approach emphasizes the analysis of written sources to establish authorship, dating, textual variants, and the historical development of language and literature. It often combines linguistic analysis with methods of textual criticism, paleography, and literary interpretation.

The term derives from philology, itself from Greek philologia, meaning love of or pursuit of words. In modern usage, filología and its adjective filológico designate fields, methods, or works that focus on the textual and historical aspects of languages, rather than on contemporary theoretical linguistics alone. The scope can include ancient, medieval, or modern languages, and it frequently intersects with literary studies, archaeology, and history.

Common applications include filología clásica (study of Latin and Greek texts and their language and literature), filología hispánica (study of Spanish language and literature), and filología románica or filología comparada (comparative philology of Romance languages). Related activities include crítica textual (textual criticism) and paleografía (the study of ancient writing systems and manuscripts). In contemporary academia, philology often overlaps with linguistics and digital humanities, while still emphasizing textual evidence and historical context.

See also: philology, textual criticism, paleography, historical linguistics, linguistics.