Royal Spanish Academy
Real Academia Española
AbbreviationRAE
Formation1713 (1713)
FounderThe Duke of Escalona
PurposeLinguistic prescription and research
HeadquartersMadrid, Spain
Region served
Hispanophone regions and populations
Official language
Spanish
Director
Santiago Muñoz Machado
Main organ
Junta de Gobierno
AffiliationsAssociation of Spanish Language Academies
Websitewww.rae.es

The Royal Spanish Academy (Spanish: Real Academia Española, generally abbreviated as RAE) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with national language academies in 22 other Hispanophone nations through the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language.[1] The RAE's emblem is a fiery crucible, and its motto is Limpia, fija y da esplendor ("It purifies, it fixes, and it dignifies").[2]

The RAE dedicates itself to language planning by applying linguistic prescription aimed at promoting linguistic unity within and between various territories, to ensure a common standard. The proposed language guidelines are shown in a number of works.

History

RAE motto from the title page of one of its publications.
Inauguration of the RAE building in Madrid by Alfonso XIII, 1894
Title page of Fundación y estatútos de la Real Académia Españóla (Foundation and statutes of the Royal Spanish Academy) (1715)

The Royal Spanish Academy was founded in 1713, modeled after the Accademia della Crusca (1582), of Italy, and the Académie Française (1635), of France, with the purpose "to fix the voices and vocabularies of the Spanish language with propriety, elegance, and purity". King Philip V approved its constitution on 3 October 1714, placing it under the Crown's protection.

Its aristocratic founder, Juan Manuel Fernández Pacheco, Duke of Escalona and Marquess of Villena, described its aims as "to assure that Spanish speakers will always be able to read Cervantes" – by exercising a progressive up-to-date maintenance of the formal language.

The RAE began establishing rules for the orthography of Spanish beginning in 1741 with the first edition of the Ortographía (spelled Ortografía from the second edition onwards). The proposals of the Academy became the official norm in Spain by royal decree in 1844, and they were also gradually adopted by the Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas. Several reforms were introduced in the Nuevas Normas de Prosodia y Ortografía (1959, New Norms of Prosody and Orthography). Since the establishment of the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language in 1951, the Spanish academy works in close consultation with the other Spanish language academies in its various works and projects. The 1999 Orthography was the first to be edited by the twenty two academies together.[3] The current rules and practical recommendations on spelling are presented in the latest edition of the Ortografía (2010).

The headquarters, opened in 1894, is located at Calle Felipe IV, 4, in the ward of Jerónimos, next to the Museo del Prado. The Center for the Studies of the Royal Spanish Academy, opened in 2007, is located at Calle Serrano 187–189.

Fundamentals

According to Salvador Gutiérrez, an academic numerary of the institution, the Academy does not dictate the rules but studies the language, collects information and presents it. The rules of the language are simply the continued use of expressions, some of which are collected by the Academy. Although he also says that it is important to read and write correctly.[4] Article 1 of the statutes of the Royal Spanish Academy, translated from Spanish, says the following:[5]

The Academy is an institution with legal personality whose main mission is to ensure that the changes experienced by the Spanish language in its constant adaptation to the needs of its speakers do not break the essential unity it maintains throughout the Hispanic world. It must equally ensure that this evolution preserves the characteristic nature of the language, as gradually consolidated over the centuries, as well as establishing and disseminating the criteria for its proper and correct use, and contributing to its splendor.

To achieve these ends, it shall study and promote the study of the history and present of Spanish, it shall disseminate the writings, literary—especially classics—and non-literary, that it deems important for the knowledge of such matters, and will seek to keep alive the memory of those who, in Spain or in the Americas, have cultivated our language with glory.

As a member of the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, it shall maintain a special relation with the corresponding and associated academies.

Composition

Partial view of the library at the RAE

Members of the Academy are known as Académicos de número (English: Academic Numerary), chosen from among prestigious people within the arts and sciences, including several Spanish-language authors, known as The Immortals (Spanish: Los Inmortales), similarly to their French Academy counterparts. The numeraries (Spanish: Números) are elected for life by the other academicians. Each academician holds a seat labeled with a letter from the Spanish alphabet, with upper and lower case letters denoting separate seats.

Countries with a Spanish language academy

The Academy has included Latin American members from the time of Rafael María Baralt, although some Spanish-speaking countries have their own academies of the language.

Current members

Seat Member Year
O Pere Gimferrer Torrens 1985
p Francisco Rico Manrique 1987
c Víctor García de la Concha 1992
l Emilio Lledó Íñigo 1994
C Luis Goytisolo Gay 1995
L Mario Vargas Llosa 1996
u Antonio Muñoz Molina 1996
V Juan Luis Cebrián Echarri 1997
t Ignacio Bosque Muñoz 1997
ñ Luis María Anson Oliart 1998
I Luis Mateo Díez Rodríguez 2001
N Guillermo Rojo Sánchez 2001
k José Antonio Pascual Rodríguez 2002
E Carmen Iglesias Cano 2002
T Arturo Pérez-Reverte Gutiérrez 2003
G José Manuel Sánchez Ron 2003
j Álvaro Pombo García de los Ríos 2004
o Antonio Fernández Alba 2006
h José Manuel Blecua Perdices 2006
a Pedro García Barreno 2006
S Salvador Gutiérrez Ordóñez 2008
D Darío Villanueva Prieto 2008
m José María Merino Sánchez 2009
g Soledad Puértolas Villanueva 2010
P Inés Fernández-Ordóñez Hernández 2011
Q Pedro Álvarez de Miranda de la Gándara 2011
e Juan Gil Fernández 2011
f José B. Terceiro Lomba 2012
r Santiago Muñoz Machado 2013
b Miguel Sáenz Sagaseta de Ilúrdoz 2013
n Carme Riera Guilera 2013
Z José Luis Gómez García 2014
B Aurora Egido Martínez 2014
F Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón 2016
H Félix de Azúa Comella 2016
U Clara Janés Nadal 2016
s María Paz Battaner Arias 2017
J Carlos García Gual 2019
M Juan Antonio Mayorga Ruano 2019
K José María Bermúdez de Castro Risueño 2022
i Paloma Díaz-Mas 2022
d Dolores Corbella Díaz 2023
q Asunción Gómez Pérez 2023
X Clara Sánchez 2023
A Pedro Cátedra García TBA[lower-alpha 1]
  1. ↑ Numerary was elected but has not yet taken the assigned seat
View of the front facade of the RAE building

Notable past academicians

Publications

Joint publications of the RAE and the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language
  • Diccionario de la lengua española (Spanish Language Dictionary). The 1st edition was published in 1780, and the 23rd edition in 2014.[6] It can be consulted for free online as of October 2017[7] and was published in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries to mark the tricentennial of the founding of the RAE.
    • The Diccionario esencial de la lengua española (Essential Dictionary of the Spanish Language) was published in 2006 as a compendium of the 22nd edition of the Dictionary of the Spanish Language.[8]
  • Ortografía de la lengua española (Spanish Language Orthography). The 1st edition was published in 1741 and the latest edition in 2010. The edition of 1999 was the first spelling book to cover the whole Hispanic world, replacing the Nuevas normas de prosodia y ortografía (New Rules for Prosody and Spelling) of 1959.
  • Nueva gramática de la lengua española (New Spanish Language Grammar, 1st edition: 1771, latest edition: 2009).[9][10] The latest edition is the first grammar to cover the whole Hispanic world, replacing the prior Gramática de la lengua española (Grammar of the Spanish Language, 1931) and the Esbozo de una Nueva gramática de la lengua española (Outline of a New Grammar of the Spanish Language, 1973). The Nueva gramática de la lengua española is available in 3 different versions: The Edición completa (Complete Edition) includes 3,800 pages in two volumes to describe morphology and syntax (published December 4, 2009) plus a third volume of phonetics and phonology and a DVD (early 2010).
    • The Manual edition is a single 750-page volume, which was presented at the 5th Congress of the Spanish Language which convened virtually in Valparaíso, Chile, due to the earthquake, and was released on April 23, 2010.[11]
    • The Gramática básica (Basic Grammar) is a 305-page volume directed to people who received secondary education, and which can be adaptable for school use; it was first published in 2011.[12][13][14]
    • The RAE has also published two other works by individual editors: Gramática de la lengua española (Grammar of the Spanish Language, by Emilio Alarcos Llorach, 1994) and Gramática descriptiva de la lengua española (Descriptive Grammar of the Spanish Language, 3 volumes, directed by Ignacio Bosque and Violeta Demonte, 1999).
  • Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Doubts, 1st edition: 2005). Resolves doubts related to the use of the Spanish language. Can be consulted online since 2006.[15]
  • Diccionario del estudiante (Student's Dictionary, 1st edition: 2005). Directed to students in secondary education between 12 and 18 years-old.[16]
    • Diccionario práctico del estudiante (Student's Practical Dictionary, 1st edition: 2007) is an adapted version for Latin America of the Student's Dictionary.[17]
  • Diccionario de americanismos (Dictionary of Americanisms) is a listing of Spanish language terms of the Americas and their meaning. First edition published in 2010.[18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ASOCIACIÓN DE ACADEMIAS DE LA LENGUA ESPAÑOLA" (PDF). Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 4, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  2. ↑ Gale Group (2001). Encyclopedia of European Social History from 1350 to 2000. Scribner. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-684-80581-8. Archived from the original on 2023-05-21. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
  3. ↑ Real Academia Española (1999). Ortografía de la Lengua Española (PDF) (in Spanish). pp. v–viii. ISBN 84-239-9250-0. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  4. ↑ Plaza, J. M. (12 December 2013). "Dequeístas, leístas y compañía... hay una salida" [Dequeístas, leístas, and company... there is a way out]. El Mundo. Spain. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  5. ↑ "ESTATUTOS Y REGLAMENTO DE LA REAL ACADEMIA ESPAÑOLA" (PDF). Real Academia Española. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 28, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Ediciones del diccionario académico" (PDF). Real Academia Española. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Diccionario de la lengua española". Real Academia Española. Archived from the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  8. ↑ Diccionario esencial de la lengua española. Real Academia Española. 2006. ISBN 9788467023145. Archived from the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Prólogo" (PDF). Real Academia Española. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  10. ↑ Nueva gramática de la lengua española. Real Academia Española. 2009. ISBN 9788467032079. Archived from the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  11. ↑ "El diccionario de americanismos incluye setenta mil entradas", Diario ABC, no. 27 de febrero de 2010, 2010, archived from the original on 2016-03-04, retrieved 2010-04-04
  12. ↑ "La Real Academia Española y la Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española presentan la Nueva gramática de la lengua española.", Real Academia Española, 2010, archived from the original on March 25, 2010
  13. ↑ "La Real Academia Española y la Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española presentan la Nueva gramática de la lengua española". Real Academia Española. Archived from the original on February 13, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Nueva gramática básica". Real Academia Española. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Diccionario panhispánico de dudas". Real Academia Española. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Diccionario del estudiante". Real Academia Española. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Diccionario práctico del estudiante". Real Academia Española. Archived from the original on October 31, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Diccionario de americanismos". Real Academia Española. Archived from the original on November 17, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
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