Chilango, cortazariano, micromachismo, dotcom, among the new in the dictionary

Micromachismo, nanoscience, single dose, dotcom, mastitis, conspiracy. These are some of the accessions that have been recognized by the Dictionary of the Spanish Language (DLE) from the presentation of its version 23.6 for the online edition of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE).

There are 3,152 novelties incorporated this year and recently announced by the RAE, not only considering incorporations but with modifications in meanings to update the dictionary according to “the revolutions of our time”, in fields such as the environment and technology, as well as to recognize important groups of words related to gastronomy, leisure, sexuality and gender.

In the presentation of this update, the lexicologist, academic and director of the DLE, Paz Bettaner, highlighted some additions.

A meaning is added to the word “trade”: “ability and dexterity achieved by the practice of an activity or profession”, and to the adjective “basic”, to which is added: “excessively simple or lacking in complication”. The usual verb “go” adds four additions: to refer to the dress or appearance of a person; to the content of a book, a movie or a conversation; to exhibit or appear to have a certain attitude, and, finally, to refer to a main or recurring characteristic of an issue or situation.

In cultural terms, the anthroponyms cortazariano and garciamarquiano are recognized, to refer to what is related to the writers Julio Cortázar and Gabriel García Márquez, respectively.

In the same way, the director of the DLE shared that the recurring use and, above all, due to the large numbers of registered searches of the word “haiga”, the following meaning is added: “incorrect form of the third person singular of the present of subjunctive of the verb to have.

From Mexico and Latin America

Among other curiosities, Bettaner highlighted that thanks to the work of the Mexican Academy of Language and due to the effect of the change of name of the Mexican capital from Federal District to Mexico City, the definition of chilango is modified to recognize the native of the City of Mexico, instead of Federal District, and the adjective defeño or defeña is preserved, but its definition is modified with the following: “native of Mexico City, formerly Federal District.”

Likewise, due to colloquial use in some regions of our country, a meaning for “forro” is recognized as a definition of a very attractive person. The colloquialisms ma and pa are also added, to refer to the mother or father, commonly used in Latin America.

“The speakers ask us”

The director of the RAE and president of the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language (ASALE), Santiago Muñoz Machado, explained that the online dictionary receives an average of one billion visits per year.

When asked by the media about whether there is any trend among these incorporations that obeys the current social context, particularly due to the presence of health emergencies and the origin of armed conflicts, he replied: “if an analysis is made of the dictionary changes in recent years it will be seen that this kind of revolution of words is being addressed in the technology sector and in the health sector (…) technology has given us many new words, many neologisms that we are assuming because they have been kept in our language in a raw state and others that we have made Spanish”.

For her part, in response to the question about whether the pace at which the Academy incorporates new terms and updates is accelerating, Paz Bettaner replied:

the speakers are continually reflecting on the language, not only the academics but the people in general (…) that is to say that the speakers ask us”.

The academic recognized that technology has facilitated the increase in interaction between Spanish-speakers from all over the world to present their perspectives on the use and definition of words according to context, and this allows the dictionary to be enriched in abundance.

Finally, the president of the RAE indicated that at the same time work is being done on the 24th edition of the DLE, which will completely renew the current edition in all its modulations. It is expected that this edition will be presented in the year 2026. The edition will be digital native, with a structure totally designed for the virtual plane.

He explained that the next Language Congress is planned to take place in Arequipa, Peru, at the end of next March and that the intention remains in force despite the current instability in the Andean country.

The RAE president also advanced that the congress will present novelties such as the second edition of the New Grammar of the Spanish Language, a new edition of the Panhispanic Dictionary of doubts and advances in the historical Dictionary of the Spanish Language, as well as news on the project “Spanish language and artificial intelligence” (LEIA).

Other incorporated words:

• Anti-community, ra.
• Ciberpunk
• Curatorial
• direct
• ageism
• elitization
• encryption
• Phytopathogen
• Garciamarquian
• georeference
• Hagioscopio
• hypoactivity
• Macrodatos
• Micromecenas
• nanoscience

End of discussion?

• Punishment, ga.

The term was defined by the RAE as a colloquial demonym to refer to people who are born or live in Mexico City.

ricardo.quiroga@eleconomista.mx