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Spanish Language Dictionaries

By Lauren Somers

Dictionaries exist all over the world and provide us with an indispensable source of information. Many dictionaries have now adapted to modern-day technology and have online versions so that we can access all types of linguistic information whenever we need it. In learning a foreign language like Spanish a good language dictionary is vital so that we can fully understand the sometimes varied meanings of the same word. There are many different Spanish language dictionaries, but probably the most well-known is that of the Real Academia Española, who published their first dictionary, the “Diccionario de Autoridades”, in the 18th century.


Diccionario de Autoridades

This was the first Spanish dictionary edited by the Real Academia Española, published between 1729 and 1736 and containing six volumes. It followed existing French and Italian models, but was created in a relatively short period of time compared to the others. In its prologue it sets out the lexical and orthographical criteria of the RAE, along with the RAE slogan “Limpia, fija, y da esplendor” (It cleans, sets, and casts splendour). This referred to one of its principal preoccupations at the time, that is, the purity of the Castilian language. In this way it tried to establish a linguistic model and standardise Castilian by including the most frequently used words. It is known as “de Autoridades” because it quotes the work of authors which exemplify or corroborate the definition given. It attempted to improve the work of its major predecessor, the “Tesoro de la lengua española o castellana”, written by Sebastián de Covarrubias and published in 1611. As a pioneering European monolingual dictionary, its flaws and virtues are mentioned in the prologue of Diccionario de Autoridades. The latter dictionary, however, was not without flaws. Its grammar was heavily based on Latin, instead of Castilian forms. The editors tried to be very descriptive in their analysis of the language but at times failed to do so, as they described the language they way they wanted it to be, rather than describing the actual state of the language, which they felt was being corrupted. Moreover, their descriptions were often derogatory, offensive or even racist, particularly towards marginalised groups such as gypsies or Jews; or marked by the prominent religious beliefs at the time.


Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española (DRAE)

This is the most authoritative Spanish language dictionary and was first published in 1780. The Real Academia Española was founded in 1713, and is the official royal institution responsible for regulating the Spanish language. Based on the Diccionario de Autoridades, the DRAE was compiled as an abridged version and published in 1780. It was a cheaper and more accessible dictionary than the exhaustive Diccionario de Autoridades, and so when its second edition was published it became the principal dictionary, superseding its ancestor. It has developed a huge amount since this time, with the first CD Rom edition being made available in 2001. Nowadays the DRAE can be accessed on paper, CD Rom and free of charge online.

Historically it was the RAE who had the power to add, modify or delete words from the Spanish dictionary after consulting with other language authorities (particularly those of Latin America) when there was an uncertainty. Since 1992, however, the RAE and 21 language academies of Latin America collaborate in producing the DRAE.

In the same way as the Diccionario de Autoridades, the DRAE was also criticised for including racist and offensive definitions. An example of this is the description of sinagoga (synagogue), which although has a nominal definition, is also defined as a “meeting for illicit ends”. Moreover, gitano (gypsy) is defined as “one who practices deceit”. Various groups have petitioned for these definitions, among others, to be removed, but the RAE has dismissed the complaints as “political correctness gone mad”, saying “we simply photograph the landscape, we don´t create it”.


Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas (DPD)

This dictionary is the result of work carried out by the 22 Spanish Language Academies, with the aim of resolving the doubts related to the use of the Spanish language in the entire Spanish-speaking community. Its first edition was published in 2005, and it is now integrated on the RAE website. It is made up of:

·        The dictionary itself
·        5 appendixes about symbols, abbreviations, verb conjugation models and demonyms (adjectives that describe someone´s origin, e.g. Spaniard)
·        Glossary of linguistic terms (e.g. seseo, leísmo)
·        List of sources quoted.


Diccionario de María Moliner

María Moliner (1900-1981) was a Spanish librarian and lexicographer who started writing the “Diccionario de uso del español” in 1952 and published it in 1966. This language dictionary was much more detailed than the DRAE, and contained extensive definitions, synonyms, expressions and families of words. Currently, three versions of this Spanish dictionary exist. The first version is the original as written by María Moliner; it is not edited and follows the author´s original structure. Her aim was to take the definitions of words from the DRAE and rewrite them in a more contemporary style. She did not follow strict alphabetical order, but instead grouped the terms like a thesaurus, etymologically. It was not so much used as an encyclopaedic language dictionary, but as a reference for all sorts of writers, novelists and journalists. The second edition was published after her death by the Editorial group Gredos, who owned the publishing rights. They put the words in alphabetical order and modified several definitions. These changes offended Moliner´s descendants, who made various demands and complaints about the new version. However they were all refused and the first version is now only available second-hand. The third and current version was published in 2007, and according to the editor is “due to a process of revision, and certain changes which have permitted the clarification of the text and the facilitation of its use”. It is also available on CD Rom.

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