miércoles, 4 de septiembre de 2019

Spanish: 23 Countries, One Spelling, one punctuation


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The Spanish-speaking world has diverse geographies, climates, backgrounds, idiosyncrasies and gastronomies, but they have something in common: the same spelling and the same punctuation in Spanish. A miracle! A true linguistic "A pluribus unum."
The Real Academia Española was founded in 1713 by Felipe V, the first Bourbon, in order to preserve the purity of Spanish. Altogether there are today 23 Academies of Spanish in 23 different Spanish-speaking countries, including Puerto Rico, The United States, Ecuatorian Guinea, and the Philippines. Even in Israel there is an "Academia Nasionala del Ladino" or Spanish-Jewish language.
All those members get together and decide which norms to adopt, what is valid, what is not, what words to include in the dictionary and which not. The results are binding to all member countries. I repeat: a true linguistic miracle.
English has diverse spellings, punctuations and even pronunciations which contribute to confusion, especially to the unwary learner.
At least linguistically, the Spanish-speaking peoples of the world have achieved unity in grammar, spealling, punctuation and style. A feat. Be grateful for that. 
An let us get it straight: the official name is "Real Academia Española", period. It is NOT Real Academia Española de la Lengua. Just "Real Academia Española." 

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