Customer Reviews

Diccionario del Espanol Actual :2 vol set

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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(Aguilar does not list it among its products) but its apparent unavailability makes this dictionary technologically outdated.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.

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.

These books were very helpful! The best Spanish dictionary I have ever had. Although it is NOT FOR THE BEGINNER!!! The only downside is that they are two giant tomes! But well worth the money it cost. Excellant for native speakers and advanced students alike!

Maria Moliner's "Diccionario de Uso del Español" is old as can easly be seen reading the definitions employed on the internet by various ppl! No disrespect intended but her book is dated and was rather conservative at the time it was written. Rufino J. Cuervo's Diccionario de construcción y régimen de la lengua castellana was a book started over a century ago which was only published by Gredos editorial within the past decade. This book is 8 volumes and retails for over 400 €! M. Seco's dictionary on the other hand is both recent and the definitions are well worded, clear and concise, while providing all necessary grammatical information and many examples of locutions in a economical but comprehensive manner. This is one of the best dictionaries I've ever used (although I only have the 1 vol. abreviated edition, which is the same by the way except that it's striped of its documentary examples. It retains the great definitions and grammatical infos) Go ahead and buy it, many ppl agree that Manuel Seco's Dictionary is the best Spanish reference currently available.

The citations used for this dictionary are taken almost exclusively from news papers and revistas. (But the preface claims this is a descriptive [as oppoped to pre-] dictionary) The base definitions are very good imo but i feel the dictionary would be much better had the authors constructed there own example. But then the dict couldn't claim to be documented w/ actual usage, which means little given the source. (No offence but do you honestly consider journalists to be great writers worthy of emulation? Really this is nothing more than a CONSEVATIVE PRE-scriptive DICTIONARY, & if the authors claim otherwise they lie. Also this perhaps amongst the worst dictionaries for a learner of castillana.
Go to [http://terminotica.upf.es/etl/es/altres/qbe.htm] where you will find an example page in .gif format. Also the paper used in this dictionary is to thin, to the point when the reading the verso is almost readable from the recto.
*** I highly recommend the Lema dictionary published by Vox. I use it and it's effiency makes it a true joy to consult. Lema's definitions will not lead the learner of castillana to other etries as this dictionary will. Compare them oth on the link above and see for yourself. Hope this review helps.

Being Spanish and living in any Latino-american country is not always an easy task. Apart from the problems of the people asking you to give back the gold the Conquistadores took away (I always answer with the suggestion that they should ask certain Central European bankers of those times and of the present times)there are the problems of the language. Well, this wonderful instrument gives you, us, the possibility to discus- in a friendly way- of OUR common spanish language, from both sides of the Atlantic, at this time of History. The huge number of quotes make it enyoyable to read even as a book.Una delicia, que espero disfrutar plenamente, a sorbos cortos como el buen café, cuando me lo compre.