Creating Spanish words
EUS 3937/SPN 3224
Spring, 2013
Tuesday p. 8, MAT 108
Ana María Díaz Collazos
anamdiaz@ufl.edu
Office hours: Tuesday p. 7/ 9, or by appointment
Office: Yon 323
Description and objectives
The art of lexicography goes back to ancient times when Sumerians first recorded in 2600
BC the most valuable signs of their language on clay tablets (Ahumada Lara 1989). This long
lexicographical tradition, however, involves an evolution, from old dictionaries written on paper
mixed with velum to modern on-line dictionaries. Despite these changes, lexicography continues
to play an important role in the process of decoding and recoding the known signs of a language.
The focus of our course, thus, is to study lexicography as conceived and practiced in the
Spanish-speaking world through the leadership of the Real Academia Española (RAE, Royal
Spanish Academy) and the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española (DRAE, Dictionary of the
Royal Spanish Academy). The RAE is an institution created in 1713 for the purpose of
regulating the lexicon of the Spanish language during its political domination of Latin America,
then called the Indias. Despite the creation of Latin American republics in the 19th century, the
RAE has continued its efforts to maintain and renew the dictionary, along with other projects.
Nowadays, the DRAE is a valuable resource for consultation and research among students,
scholars, and Spanish speakers in general. However, dictionary users do not usually have the
preparation required to obtain the most complete results from a search. Thus, this course is
designed to impart basic training in the process of dictionary consultation.
We are going to do short readings from blogs, newspapers and other on-line material to
discuss the problems of lexicography in the Spanish domain, following the recent advances of a
discipline that has taken scientific shape since the birth of linguistics in the 20th century. We are
also going to discuss the history of the DRAE since the earliest version, called Diccionario de
Autoridades (Dictionary of Authorities) to understand how the tradition has an impact on the
modern version of the dictionary. This will be followed by an exploration of the on-line
resources available for the DRAE and the technical nomenclature needed to understand the
information available.
The course will involve class discussions, workshops, and homework assignments. Class
discussions will be based on the readings assigned for each day, which will provide the
theoretical basis for our lexicographical practice. In workshops you will practice word-searching
and discuss its relationship with lexicographic concepts and nomenclature. In addition, you will
have the opportunity to individually practice your lexicographic skills through homework
assignments that will resemble the activities introduced in the workshops. They will contain a
maximum of five short consultation problems with on-line DRAE. Finally, you will produce a
brief essay on theoretical lexicography and its impact on practical issues regarding language
learning. By the end of the course, you should be more aware of the tools available in the DRAE,
as well as of the problems that may arise from its use.
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The objectives of these activities are: 1) to gain skills to use the DRAE, which will be
useful for other monolingual Spanish dictionary; 2) to achieve a critical approach to information
given in dictionaries; 3) to understand and contextualize lexicography within linguistics; 4) to
acquire the basic theoretical knowledge of lexicography.
Textbook
Diccionario de la Real Academia Española. Madrid: Real Academia Española. Available at:
www.rae.es
Additional readings are available on the web, as listed in the bibliography, or on e-learning. We
will be using instructor’s notes, which summarize lexicographical theory from different sources.
Pre-requisites
Ideally, students should have taken SPN 3700 and SPN 4940. However, the course is open to
anyone with a grade of C or better in SPN 3300 and 3350, or the equivalent, with instructor’s
permission.
Grade
Workshops
Class participation and preparation
Homework assignments
Final project
28%
22%
25%
25%
You will submit five (5) homework assignments during the semester. You will answer a set of
questions in which you will apply class discussions and readings to the task of word searching,
using the DRAE. You will turn in your homework at the beginning of the class on the date
assigned.
There will be seven (7) workshops in which you will practice your skills in using dictionaries.
They will resemble the homework assignments, but will take place during class. You will use the
on-line version of DRAE in the Language Learning Center and produce a brief report at the end
of each workshop, which will be graded on completion. You are allowed one (1) make-up for
unexcused absences. After that, you will lose four (4) points per workshop missed.
The grade for class participation and preparation will be based on your ability to discuss the
readings assigned for each of the days. We will discuss the readings in small groups or as a class,
so you will need to be prepared. Most readings are available on the web as listed in the
bibliography, or they will be posted on Sakai. The instructor may require you to turn in written
evidence of your class participation, even during days where there is not workshop scheduled.
You are allowed one (1) unexcused absence, after which you will lose two (2) points per
absence.
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The final project will be a two (2)-page, double-spaced essay in which you will provide a
lexicographic analysis of some aspect of the DRAE. You will choose any reading in Spanish and
will select a list of five (5) words to analyze, taking care to select words that are challenging or
problematic in some respect. You will look up them in the dictionary and read their definitions.
The essay will consist of an examination of yourself as a dictionary user. You will attach the
selected text choice, the list of words, and the definitions, but they will not count toward the page
limit. You should turn in a copy of your selection before March 26th to receive approval by your
instructor, and a first draft of your final essay on April 26th. These drafts will be worthy 5% of
the final project grade. You will submit an electronic copy of your work on April 27th before
midnight. You should receive confirmation from your instructor that the paper was received.
Coursework:
January 8th
Course presentation and objectives
January 15th
The art of storing words and meanings
Reading: “La ciencia de la Real Academia.” For this class you need to read from the beginning
to the sentence “a una redacción eficiente y clara o a una visión laica y civil.”
January 22th
Exploring words in old dictionaries
Reading: “La ciencia de la Real Academia”, continuation to the end.
Workshop 1. Meeting: Little 215.
January 29th
Ordering the letters and their names
Reading: “La ‘i griega’ se llamará ‘ye’.”
Homework 1.
February 5th
Typing Spanish words into on-line dictionaries
Reading: “Las formas simples de las palabras”. Instructor’s notes on Sakai.
Workshop 2. Meeting: Little 215.
February 12th
Exploring definitions
Reading: “Análisis de un artículo lexicográfico”, on Sakai.
Homework 2.
February 19th
Comparing on-line with paper dictionaries
Reading: “La utilización de los diccionarios electrónicos para el aprendizaje de la lengua
española en Taiwan”, Yu-Wen Tang (p. 225-230)
Bring any paper dictionary you have in home.
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Workshop 3. Meeting: Little 215.
February 26th
Words beyond the dictionaries
Reading: “La utilización de los diccionarios electrónicos para el aprendizaje de la lengua
española en Taiwan”, Yu-Wen Tang (p. 230-235)
Homework 3.
March 5th: NO CLASS, Spring Break
March 12th
Gender: Political or grammatical correctness?
Reading: “Morfología. Algunos cambios destacados,” Gómez Torrego, 8-12
Workshop 4. Meeting: Little 215.
March 19th
What is regional or general Spanish?
Reading: “En ningún sitio se habla el mejor español del mundo”, El País, Dec. 15th, 2011.
Homework 4
March 26th
Forming Spanish verbs
Reading: “Vosotros vs. ustedes by native speakers travelling”.
Workshop 5. Meeting: Little 215.
Assignment: Bring the reading you will use for the final project with a selection of words.
April 2nd
Borrowing foreign words
Reading: “Bluyín, uno de los extranjerismos de moda aceptados en el español”, El Tiempo, Jul.
31st, 2012
Homework 5.
April 9th
Creating your own corpus
Reading: “RAE creará el corpus del español del siglo XXI”, Jun. 14th 2007
Workshop 6. Meeting: Little 215.
April 16th
Creating your own definitions
Assignment: Bring the first draft of your final Project.
Workshop 7. This workshop will take place in regular classroom (MAT 8).
April 23rd
Dictionary and language policy
Reading: “El Cervantes no debe ser discusión permanente entre ministros”, El País, Jan. 27th,
2012
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I will return your first draft with comments for your use in the final version of your project.
Bibliography
"Análisis De Un Artículo Lexicográfico." BuenasTareas.com. 10, 2010. consultado el 10, 2010.
http://www.buenastareas.com/ensayos/An%C3%A1lisis-De-Un-Art%C3%ADculoLexicogr%C3%A1fico/929494.html.
“Bluyín, uno de los extranjerismos de moda aceptados en el español”, El Tiempo, Jul. 31st, 2012
http://www.eltiempo.com/vida-de-hoy/educacion/ARTICULO-WEBNEW_NOTA_INTERIOR-12083463.html
“El Cervantes no debe ser discusión permanente entre ministros”, El País, Jan. 27th, 2012
http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2012/01/27/actualidad/1327696174_970777.html
Gómez-Torrego, Leonardo. (c2011). Las normas académicas: Últimos cambios. Available in:
http://www.sm-ele.com/ArchivosColegios/NuevoELEAdmin/Archivos/Descargables/
Colecci%C3%B3n%20G%C3%B3mez%20Torrego/134002_normativa%20FOLLETO%
20VERSI%C3%93N%20GLOBAL.pdf
“En ningún sitio se habla el mejor español del mundo,” El País, Dec. 15th, 2011
http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2011/12/15/actualidad/1323903603_850215.html
“La ciencia de la Real Academia,” Dec. 2nd, 2012,
http://www.elcastellano.org/ns/edicion/2012/diciembre/ciencia.html
“La ‘i griega’ se llamará ‘ye’,” El País, Nov. 5th, 201
http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2010/11/05/actualidad/1288911609_850215.html
“RAE creará el corpus del español del siglo XXI,” June 14th, 2007.
http://www.elcastellano.org/noticia.php?id=451
Tang, Yu-Wen. “La utilización de los diccionarios electrónicos para el aprendizaje de la lengua
española en Taiwan”.
http://cvc.cervantes.es/ensenanza/biblioteca_ele/asele/pdf/12/12_0225.pdf
“Vosotros vs. ustedes by native speakers travelling. Available in:
http://www.antimoon.com/forum/t6551-0.htm
Academic Integrity
All students are required to abide by the Academic Honesty Guidelines which have been
accepted by the University. The UF Honor Code reads: We, the members of the University of
Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honesty
and integrity.
On all work submitted for credit by students at the University of Florida, the following pledge is
either required or implied: “On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in
doing this assignment.” For more information please refer to
http://www.dso.ufl.edu/studentguide
Accommodations
Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students
Office. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then
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provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation. For more
information see http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc
Counseling and Wellness
A variety of counseling, mental health and psychiatric services are available through the UF
Counseling and Wellness Center, whose goal is to help students be maximally effective in their
academic pursuits by reducing or eliminating emotional, psychological, and interpersonal
problems that interfere with academic functioning. The Center can be found online at
http://www.counseling.ufl.edu/cwc or reached by phone at 392-1575.
Grade Scale
The final grading scale is as follows:
A = 100-93
A- = 92-90
B+ = 89-87
B = 86-83
B- = 82-80
C+ = 79-77
C(S) = 76-73
C-(U) = 72-70
D+ = 69-67
D = 66-63
D- = 62-60
E = 59-0
NOTE: A grade of C- will not be a qualifying grade for major, minor, Gen Ed, Gordon Rule or
Basic Distribution Credit courses. For further information regarding passing grades and grade
point equivalents, please refer to the Undergraduate Catalog at
(http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/regulationgrades.html ).
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