New Words Added to the Dictionary of the Spanish Language

3 minutes

At the 16th Congress of the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language (ASALE), the Dictionary of the Spanish Language (DLE)was featured, with the latest updates to its 23rd edition announced to the media.

The presentation took place this Thursday at Fundación Cajasol, with contributions from Santiago Muñoz Machado (director of the RAE and president of ASALE), Paz Battaner (director of the DLE) and Raquel Montenegro (director of the Guatemalan Academy of the Spanish Language). The design of the RAE's new website was also previewed.

In total, 1,100 changes were made in the latest update of the Dictionary of the Spanish Language (DLE) and 229 entries were added, bringing words into the dictionary such as: antitaurino (opposed to bullfighting), arboricidio (destruction of trees), beatlemanía (Beatlemania), brunch, cumplemés (monthly anniversary), identitario (identity-related), and panhispanismo (pan-Hispanism) —a word particularly in keeping with the spirit of the congress being held in Seville—and colloquialisms such as bordería (rudeness), casoplón (a large, luxurious house), and the long-awaited zasca (a sharp retort).

Among the added senses (88 in total), particular attention was drawn to aplicar in the sense of ‘submitting an official application for something,’ marked as a usage specific to the Americas, and sieso, which, when applied to people, is now also defined as ‘unpleasant, unfriendly, surly,’ marked as a usage in Spain.

Finally, among the 284 changes to definitions, a notable one concerns homeopathy, which went from “healing system” to “practice.” This was the third update to the 23rd edition of the Dictionary of the Spanish Language (DLE).

GLOSSARY OF GRAMMATICAL TERMS

The Glossary of Grammatical Terms (GTG) was also presented at an event in the University of Seville's main hall, featuring academy member Ignacio Bosque, the work's coordinator; Juan Carlos Vergara, a member of the Colombian Academy of the Spanish Language; and Alicia María Zorrilla, a member of the Argentine Academy of Letters.

The Glossary is an educational work that represents a contribution by the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) and the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language (ASALE) to the task of improving Spanish teaching worldwide. “The aim of secondary education is to develop citizens and people. It is to help students understand the world around them and also understand themselves,” said Ignacio Bosque; and this glossary certainly teaches.

The work is aimed at teachers in secondary and upper-secondary education, teachers of Spanish as a foreign language, and students in their first university courses, among others. It contains 500 entries on morphological and syntactic terms, as well as around 50 graphics, including tables and diagrams. There will be print and digital editions (PDF, EPUB, etc.), and an online version is being considered that would link its information directly to other academic works.

The 16th ASALE Congress, organized by the Royal Spanish Academy, is attended by delegations from all twenty-three Spanish-language academies worldwide, which share responsibility for maintaining the unity and proper use of Spanish, now the common heritage of more than 580 million people. His Majesty the King of Spain holds the honorary presidency of this congress.

The program has two parts: an internal academic program reserved for members of ASALE's academies, and a cultural program open to all citizens. The broad and varied range of cultural activities offered by the congress is a new initiative designed to strengthen the academies' relationship with society as a whole and increase the reach of their pan-Hispanic work.

Source: Rae.es