The Oxford Spanish Dictionary [Hardcover]

Beatriz Galimberti Jarman (Editor), Roy Russell (Editor), Carol Styles Carvajal (Editor), Jane Horwood (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198604750 | ISBN-13: 978-0198604754 | Publication Date: July 3, 2003 | Edition: 3rd

Compiled by expert teams of Spanish and English lexicographers, the Oxford Spanish Dictionary provides the richest, most contemporary coverage of Spanish from around the world. The result of thorough research using sophisticated computer programs to search for new terminology and ensure that all the latest vocabulary from Latin American Spanish and American English is covered, this brand new edition covers over 24 varieties of Spanish as it is written and spoken throughout the Spanish-speaking world-from Spain to Mexico, from Peru to the River Plate.
This groundbreaking edition of the Oxford Spanish Dictionary features 20,000 new entries (10,000 in each language), with the updating focused particularly on business, IT, and scientific terminology. Special entries on life and culture explain the differences between institutions, administrative systems, educational systems, and general life in the Spanish and English-speaking worlds, offering vital background to the language. Also, for a limited time only, all OSD's will be packaged with a free CD that contains cutting-edge text-to-speech software. This software enables users to type in any word, phrase, question, or date, and an audio version of the text will immediately pronounce it with appropriate inflection. No other Spanish dictionary offers this revolutionary software.
With a newly designed user-friendly format, the dictionary is more accessible than ever. Each entry is in color making it easy for the reader to distinguish between and search for words. With half of the entries in English and half in Spanish (including the front matter), the Oxford Spanish Dictionary is the ideal reference for native speakers of either language. Handy, easy-to-use, and wide-ranging, this dictionary is also the essential tool for all students and teachers, as well as translators and language professionals. Jacket covers are also available in Spanish.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up--When the Oxford University Press produced the expanded second edition of its Spanish dictionary in 2001, it was broadened to include 275,000 words and phrases and contained 450,000 translations. The hefty tome covered both European and Mexican Spanish. This edition expands the second by 25,000 words (about half on each side of the dictionary) and 50,000 translations. To catch contemporary words and usages, a combination of Web-based technology and vetting by native speakers was employed, resulting in the addition of technological and business vocabulary, as well as slang and buzz words. Covering all 24 varieties of regional Spanish, the dictionary also sports a new layout, with words in blue and definitions in a clean, though small, black type. Cultural notes as well as boxes containing information on grammar and usage--such as phrasal verb forms--extend the coverage of the work. [...] Collections with the second edition of the Oxford or with other unabridged dictionaries such as the Collins Spanish-English, English-Spanish Dictionary (HarperCollins, 1997) may not need to add the third Oxford. However, given the comprehensive coverage, it is worth consideration for most libraries.--Ann Welton, Grant Elementary School, Tacoma, WA
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Review

"Covering all 24 varieties of regional Spanish, the dictionary also sports a new layout, with words in blue and definitions in a clean, though small, black type....Clear definitions, both in English and in Spanish ."--School Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 2030 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 3rd edition (July 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198604750
• ISBN-13: 978-0198604754
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.7 x 3.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #177,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Crystal is honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. He has written or edited over 100 books and published numerous articles for scholarly, professional, and general readerships, in fields ranging from forensic linguistics and ELT to the liturgy and Shakespeare. His many books include Words, Words, Words (OUP 2006) and The Fight for English (OUP 2006).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

315 of 319 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the leaders in the field, August 20, 2006

By 

Doug Rice (Twin Falls, ID USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Oxford Spanish Dictionary (Hardcover)

My Master's thesis was a review and rating of large Spanish-English dictionaries. Since then, I have conducted follow-up studies to keep up with the market.

I find the leaders in the field to be Collins (HarperCollins), Larousse, and Oxford. Each publisher appears to be trying to one-up the others with the newest and best edition. The real winner is the consumer. My joint review of these three dictionaries is found here and duplicated under both of its competitors.

Here are a few of the factors which distinguish a good bilingual dictionary from a bad one.

To begin with, ignore certain publishers' marketing ploys such as entry and translation counts. They says nothing about the value of the words chosen. Likewise, ignore the word "unabridged" in the title. No work is truly unabridged except the monumental monolingual Oxford English Dictionary.

The first valid factor to consider is lexicographic technique. A bad dictionary simply lists translations. Take, for example, the entry in the Cassell's Spanish Dictionary under the English headword loop: "lazo, gaza, nudo; ojal, presilla, alamar; anillo; recodo, comba, curva, vuelta," etc. For the English reader writing in Spanish, this is hopelessly inadequate, as the dictionary provides no clue as to which translation to use in which situation.

Compare the treatment of the same word in the far superior American Heritage Spanish Dictionary. "(length of line) lazo; (coil) vuelta; (bend) curva; (circular path) vuelta, circuito; (fastener) presilla" etc. Here, the user is given glosses in the native language to assist in identifying the right word for the context. Example sentences are also a tremendous help. The Collins, Larousse, and Oxford are all excellent in this respect, presenting a wealth of practical information to guide users through the semantic and syntactic complexities.

The second factor is organization, which is important in large desk dictionaries. In an entry for a complex word like "get," a bad dictionary may force users to lose time searching for their translation through unbroken columns that can extend for more than a page. This was a problem--now corrected--in previous versions of the large Larousse dictionary. Today, the current editions of the Larousse, Collins and Oxford divide long entries by meaning into well-titled paragraphs. This scheme makes these dictionaries a joy to use.

Third, a good dictionary should maintain an up-to-date lexicon, including such cultural and technological additions to the language as "baby sitter," "FAQ's," "hostile takeover," "software," "flash drive." Larousse, Collins and Oxford are leaders in this respect; their frequent revisions are more than mere window dressing and do a creditable job of covering the most recent additions to the language.

Fourth, idioms, slang, and cusswords can present real problems to the language learner, and a dictionary needs to handle them in a clear and frank fashion. All three dictionaries get it right, giving stylistic equivalents for translations as well as clear advice to the user.

One complaint about the Collins is that it often presents Britishisms without labeling them as such. Revisions have only partially corrected the problem. For this reason, I would not recommend this dictionary to native Spanish speakers in the US.

Oxford and Collins contain excellent "language in use" sections which give formulas for language functions such as asking for information, agreeing, disagreeing, etc., as well as formulas for letters and documents.

The bottom line on large dictionaries? Avoid Vox, Velasquez, Langenscheidt, and Cassell's. Simon & Schuster's is unsuitable as a user's only dictionary but may serve some use as part of an advanced collection. I will report on the large Harrap's when I examine it, but my opinion of their other dictionaries is quite favorable. While not perfect, Collins, Oxford, and Larousse are the best large Spanish-English dictionaries I have examined. Except as noted here, most users would be well served by any of the three.

117 of 123 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for travel, but the best dictionary out there, June 29, 2003

By 

"aryln" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Oxford Spanish Dictionary (Hardcover)

Absolute best Spanish-English dictionary on the market. This dictionary was recommended to me as a graduate student in Spanish by my advisor, one of the leading Spanish linguistics professors in the country-and it has never disappointed me.

When buying a foreign language dictionary, it is extremely important to look up a variety of words with multiple definitions, and see whether you are clear which Spanish word corresponds to which definition. A good test case is a word like "kid": be sure that you know the word in Spanish that corresponds to "child" and the word meaning "young goat".

...

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good content; poor material quality., October 5, 2004

By 

Choey (Montesano, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Oxford Spanish Dictionary (Hardcover)

This is a very nice dictionary at an amazingly affordable price. I like the extensive definitions and examples and the blue-colored words for ease of search.

However--here comes the reason for my giving this product 4 stars--, while I was looking through pages, the cover page just ripped right off. This is a new, big dictionary so I was very gentle with it. However, the cover page was not very well fortified.

I taped it and now it's okay (who knows maybe the back side will fall off later), but from this incident I became very dissatisfied with the dictionary, although the content is excellent.

I really wanted this dictionary to last long. It's been only a couple of weeks after purchase.