Diccionario del Espanol Actual :2 vol set [Hardcover]

Gabino Ramos (Author), Olimpia Andres (Author), Manuel Seco (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 8429464727 | ISBN-13: 978-8429464726 | Publication Date: November 30, 1999 | Edition: 2nd edition

Manuel Seco and his dedicated group of language professionals developed this successful project over a thirty-year period. The Diccionario del Espaol Actual is the first Spanish Dictionary, which includes the vocabulary of the second half of the twentieth-century using real records. All the information has been compiled from more than 1,600 books of all genres and thousands of periodic publications. In over 4,600 pages this dictionary studies 75,000 words, with 141,000 meanings and 200,000 quotes of uses of the actual Spanish language.

The distribution of senses and definitions has been done under new criterions to inform the users not only about the meanings, but also about the functions and places of every word in a sentence. Seco and his group focused and emphasized on two sides of a words content: the semantic value and the syntactic value, making this dictionary one of the most complete and practical works of reference.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Seco and his group have created the most valuable testimony of todays Spanish Language. -- Rafael Lapesa

Language Notes

Text: Spanish

Product Details

• Hardcover: 4638 pages
• Publisher: Santillana S.A.; 2nd edition edition (November 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8429464727
• ISBN-13: 978-8429464726
• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 7.5 x 6.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,961,146 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful dictionary to be read for its own sake, October 19, 2002

By 

Ingenioso Hidalgo (Chicago, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diccionario del Espanol Actual :2 vol set (Hardcover)

A couple of things should be kept in mind when considering the purchase of this dictionary. First, it is a work that focuses on Spanish as written in Spain. If regionalisms exist, it is because they are Spanish or were found in the source material--books and periodicals (primarily newspapers)--published within that country. Second, the material it references was published between 1955 and 1993.

This is an important work that should be used as much for primary study as for secondary reference. It limits its entries to words in current use. Rather than relying on sample sentences created by its authors, the dictionary cites real published Spanish to illustrate a particular meaning of an entry--similar to the OED, though limited to the second half of the twentieth century.

In as far as comparing this dictionary with others. I don't believe it is competing with any other. No, it does not have the latest terms. I don't think any voluminous dictionary can--particularly where innovation and techology are concerned. But its authority is unassailable. It deserves a place on the same bookshelf as Maria Moliner's Diccionario de Uso del Espanol and Rufino J. Cuervo's Diccionario de construcción y régimen de la lengua castellana.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good dictionary that could have been better, October 5, 2002

By 

Yuri Munoz (Buda, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diccionario del Espanol Actual :2 vol set (Hardcover)

This dictionary has a broad vocabulary coverage and numerous usage notes as well as regional definitions. One of its weaknesses is, however, that it surprinsingly fails to include several words of widespread use today such "Internet", "Web", and others.

Additionally, and to justify its considerable price, Aguilar (its publisher) should have included the CD version of this title. I do not know if such version exists (Aguilar does not list it among its products) but its apparent unavailability makes this dictionary technologically outdated. Advances in word processing and application software integration, and increasing consumers' technological sophistication make dictionaries in CD format a required product offering if publishers are to meet the demands of new generations of users.

In summary, although I acknowledge Mr. Seco and his team's commendable efforts to develop a quality dictionary, they need to update it to succesfully compete with similar products in the market. As an alternative to Mr. Seco's book, I recommend Maria Moliner's "Diccionario de Uso del Español" 2nd. ed. which comes in print and CD formats; its price, however, is also high, although many consider it worth the investment.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars spanish dictionaries, June 26, 2007

By 

rwtw (australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Diccionario del Espanol Actual :2 vol set (Hardcover)

For the English speaker wanting a monolingual dictionary for translation purposes, to find out present day usage, this dictionary is very helpful. I t seems comprehensive,providing 20th cent examples, from an array of authors, of a huge range of words with very nice distinctions. For many purposes it is to be preferred for example to the RAE dictionary, which however records a vast number of archaic uses.I bought it as an adjunct to my other dictionaries (RAE, Maria Moliner and bilingual ones), but have found it to be my preferred source. It is,however, peninsular Spanish.