The third edition of Current Spanish Dictionary (DEA), reference work in The Lexicography of Spanish projected by the academic Manuel Seco in the late 1960s. This dictionary offers a systematic lexical inventoryas well as information on the grammatical functioning of each word with real-life examples of use.
This third edition records the lexicon documented in Spain during the last 73 years (since 1950), more than 83,000 slogans, collected in a corpus of about three thousand books and five hundred journals.
It is a version that modernizes and expands the previous one more than 8,000 mottos and in which several levels of advice are offered to the user: a simple visualization with the definition and the main meanings of the use of the lemma, typical of the usual dictionaries, and an advanced visualization that provides information about it grammar functions of the various elements of the definition and the texts on which it is based.
A huge documentation base
“The Dictionary of Current Spanish (DEA) is the most important dictionary that has been published in three centuries,” he points out. Pedro Alvarez de Miranda, letter Q in the Royal Spanish Academy. “This is the second time in history that a documented dictionary has been produced, not with invented examples, but with true and real documentation of the usage of words. This had not happened since 1739“, he adds.
The RAE scientist emphasizes that the work is “of tremendous value and merit: in method, breadth, and technical accuracy, it is admirable work that goes beyond that has grown remarkably since its first edition (whose lexicon covered up to 1993) to the current one, which includes terms from that year 2023.
Digital support allows for constant updating and expansion, freeing the work from the bondage of paper
Regarding the timeliness of the votes collected, Álvarez de Miranda highlights a distinctive feature of the DEA: the slogans marked as “rare today” correspond to words that have almost fallen out of use, but which became widespread in the second half of the 20th century; Such is the case with the word, to give a minimal example Yes; In his opinion, collecting it with the less useful sign is more interesting than eliminating it.
“It’s excellent news that this tool is now available in digital form: reference works, including dictionaries and encyclopedias, now make almost no sense in printed form, as digital support allows them to do so.” constant updating and expansion“Free the work from the bondage of paper,” he concludes in his assessment of the work.
“Manuel Seco borrowed a number of concepts and techniques from both the Historical Dictionary and the DEA French lexicography. He liked to distinguish between the theological lexicographer and the missionary lexicographer, i.e. between lexicographic theory and practice,” explains the expert.
“The publication of this third edition, to which he himself contributed, is the best tribute that can be paid to his memory; and a merit that corresponds above all to the admirable diligence and constant dedication of Olympia Andres“, realize.
a living work
Lexicographer Olimpia Andrés is the director of the third edition of the DEA, as she was with the second, and she was also responsible for that writing the worktogether with Manuel Seco himself, since 1971. Gabino Ramos, the third of the authors, was instrumental in the documentation on which definitions and examples are based.
You need to have your antenna on to notice the vocabulary flowing in regular conversation
“This project was presented by Seco in 1969 with the idea of capture the vocabulary of a generation and that the words were documented, but ambition grew and it was felt that it was necessary to document not just the word but all its meanings,” Andrés recalls.
“The dictionary is a continuous process. It is in constant revision in view of new readings that have not stopped since the first edition. This third article reviews the articles that appeared in the previous two and adds some new ones, either because they appeared at that time or because appearances have been confirmed we had documented but not confirmedand are therefore awaiting confirmation of use,” says the lexicographer.
In this third edition we present more than 83,000 mottos, which tie in with the compilation begun in the 1970s: “Not only articles are renewed, but also meanings,” emphasizes the director of the publication. “Even the great cathedrals are evolving: the verb ‘to put’ is not new, but the use of ‘it puts me’ as ‘I like it’ is. In order to perceive, the antenna must be switched on how the encyclopedia flows in regular conversations.
The transition from paper to digital support
According to Andrés, the digital version is very important: “In this dictionary, two basic features stand out: Grammar information and documentation. As for the first, the simple vision, comparable to that of other dictionaries. Expanded vision, on the other hand, allows you to see the grammatical function each and every element of the definition and the texts that establish and support it”.
“As far as the dates are concerned, the paper said it was an extension necessarily limited and therefore, under normal conditions, we have given only one example per meaning. Now we can afford to offer more examples if it seems desirable,” he stresses.
The lexicographer mentions the key work of Carlos Dominguez“who translated the entire dictionary into computer language.” Specifically, the paper dictionary was converted to the XML language typical of digital publications, and all information contained in the dictionary was encapsulated in tags that allow for management.
In this third edition, Dominguez has also created a database of the entire dictionary. “The fact that the DEA is now being put online represents fundamental progress for the work itself; it should really be made accessible to users, otherwise it would not be possible to implement it on paper in these times, for example,” concludes the computer scientist.