3 replies to this topic

[jimtaylor]

I recently translated the 'new' rules for the Spanish language, published in 2010 by the RAE.

 

The RAE are Real Academia Española, and they are the body who define everything about the Spanish language.

 

The rules take a few minutes to wade through, and could be summarised on one page, but I prefer to stick to the unexpurgated version.

 

They cover things we already know, like ch and ll no longer being in the alphabet, they clarify the name for all the letters, they explain why foreign words are given Spanish spelling, they explain the rules for using prefixes, and they also state that a tilde should not be used to differentiate the likes of solo the adverb (formerly sólo) and solo the adjective, or to differentiate demonstrative pronouns from adjectives.

 

It's five pages if you're bold enough to download and peruse it.

 

 RAE 2010 Rules.pdf   102.56KB   300 downloads

[Aficionado]

Thank you Jim, it should make interesting reading.

 

Ever since I started to learn Spanish, around 1995, I have treated the alphabet as 27 letters which is how my first teacher (Spanish lady, originally from Alicante) viewed it, to her ch and ll were indeed just sounds, not letters, so this ratification of the 1994 Congress decision will no doubt have pleased her. Similarly, the now standardised names for the letters are - with one exception - what I have always used. The exception is the letter y, I have always used y griega but can fully see the logic in standardising on ye - but will the Spaniards, I wonder?

 

Great bit of translation work, I will digest the rest of it at a more leisurely pace over the next few days.

 

Thanks again,

 

Michael.

[jimtaylor]

I must admit that I've always blithely used y griega myself - I'm just waiting for a chance to use ye and see what the reaction is, perhaps I'll have to go for an eye test!

 

I'm still digesting the sections about removing the tilde when it's just used to differentiate types of words, and think this is probably the biggest challenge for the Spaniards. Reword a sentence to avoid ambiguity? Really? That would mean pausing before speaking, which I can't see happening.

 

I highly recommend the RAE website to anyone learning Spanish, however fluent they may be:

 

http://lema.rae.es/drae/

 

I also recommend their DPD website - for resolving doubts about the language:

 

http://www.rae.es/re...iccionarios/dpd

 

I also find myself using the Chrome browser plugin, so you can just right-click a word on a webpage to get the definition of a word without having to open a new tab at the RAE webpage:

 

https://chrome.googl...her-info-dialog

 

Incidentally, it's nice to get feedback on one of my posts about the Spanish language - I was thinking of not bothering in future, as my Spanish posts seem to get quite a few views, but no feedback, so thanks for the encouragement.

[geoffllo]

I read right through the RAE 2010 rules pdf document and found it very interesting.

So please, be encouraged, Jim!

Geoff.