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21 - Spanish

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 December 2025

Ilan Stavans
Affiliation:
Amherst College, Massachusetts
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Summary

This conversation between Ilan Stavans and Francisco Javier Pere explores the history of Spanish-language dictionaries, both general and regional, in the Iberian Peninsula as well as in Hispanic America, and their respective cultural history. It starts with the work of converso lexicographer Antonio de Nebrija in 1492 and moves on to the making of the Diccionario de autoridades at the dawn of the eighteenth century. The making of the Diccionario de la lengua española and the foundation of the Real Academia Española as an institution devoted to safeguarding the Spanish language is analyzed. Spanish-language lexicographers in the Americas, including Andrés Bello, are discussed. Other topics in the conversation are the processes of traditional creation where ideology has played normatively in their creation. An emphasis is made on the present-day poli-centrism as a basis of the pan-Hispanic policy, anti-hegemonic, anti-purist, and anti-nationalist.

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Conversations on Dictionaries
The Universe in a Book
, pp. 263 - 273
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

Suggested Readings

Alvar Ezquerra, Manuel. De antiguos y nuevos diccionarios del español. Madrid: Arco/ Libros, 2002.Google Scholar
Alvarado, Lisandro. Glosario de voces indígenas de Venezuela [1921]. Prologue by Francisco Javier Pérez. Caracas: Monte Ávila Editores, 2008.Google Scholar
Álvarez de Miranda, Pedro. Los diccionarios del español moderno. Gijón: Ediciones Trea, 2011.Google Scholar
Armellada, Cesáreo de. Las lenguas indígenas venezolanas y el castellano. Caracas: Academia Venezolana de la Lengua, 1978.Google Scholar
Azorín Fernández, Dolores. Los diccionarios del español en su perspectiva histórica. Alicante: Universidad de Alicante, 2004.Google Scholar
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Coseriu, Eugenio. Tradición y novedad en la ciencia del lenguaje: Estudios de historia de la lingüística. Madrid: Editorial Gredos, 1977.Google Scholar
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Pérez, Francisco Javier. Por una democracia de la lengua: Escritores, filólogos y academias frente al panhispanismo lingüístico. Prologue by José Manuel Blecua. San Millán: Fundación San Millán de la Cogolla, 2023.Google Scholar
Real Academia Española. Diccionario de autoridades [1726–39]. 6 vols. 3rd centennial ed. Madrid: Real Academia Española, 2013.Google Scholar
Real Academia Española-Asociación de Academias de La Lengua Española. Diccionario de la lengua española. Tricentenial ed., 23rd printing. Madrid: Real Academia Española, 2014Google Scholar
Seco, Manuel. Estudios de lexicografía española. Madrid: Paraninfo, 1987. 2nd ed.: Madrid: Editorial Gredos, 2003.Google Scholar
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  • Spanish
  • Edited by Ilan Stavans, Amherst College, Massachusetts
  • Book: Conversations on Dictionaries
  • Online publication: 25 December 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009392433.022
Available formats
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Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Spanish
  • Edited by Ilan Stavans, Amherst College, Massachusetts
  • Book: Conversations on Dictionaries
  • Online publication: 25 December 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009392433.022
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Spanish
  • Edited by Ilan Stavans, Amherst College, Massachusetts
  • Book: Conversations on Dictionaries
  • Online publication: 25 December 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009392433.022
Available formats
×