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Diccionario de la Lengua Española on CD-Rom by Real Academia de la Lengua Española (2003)
, 3 Nov 2014
This is the wholee-guacamole of the Spanish dictionaries out there - to me.
The Real Academia de la Lengua Española (usually called RAE) is a pan-Hispanic institution of linguists, academics and writers that have been creating, modifying, enlarging, and updating this dictionary since the 19th century. Their dictionaries are "The" manual for anybody who makes of the use of Spanish their profession, but also a must reference book in any household. This is not an "urban dictionary" or a "slang dictionary" so do not look for that sort of vocabulary here, but this your dictionary is you are an educated person, University person, teacher, linguist, translator, or a lover of the Spanish language.
Throughout the years, I have used many Spanish dictionaries, but I always come back to this one, because it gives me answers, it gives me an exhaustive collection of words, from those archaic or not much in use nowadays, to those just used in some regions of Spain, or in some countries in the Americas, to those I use in my daily life. I love the simple and understandable way the words are defined and put into context, that the dictionary is pan-Hispanic, the top-notch etymology!
Having said so, this edition was launched more than 10 years ago, so one sees deficiencies and limited explanations of more modern words. However, the main deficiency is the CD-Rom's archaic software, which is really old and odd. Moreover, given the fact that the RAE's website offers consultation of the dictionary for free, one wonders why the pricing of the CD-Rom is so exorbitant?!
The good things about the CD version are:
> Fast opening and closing down,
> Easy to use interface.
> You can cut, paste and print without any hustle.
> The dictionary offers basic search (consulta básica), which is the one I usually use, but also a complex advanced research (consulta avanzada) that allows you to search for specific phonemes, morphemes or even backwards, among other options, which is perfect for linguists.
Among the deficiencies of the CD version, bear with me, the installation program is 10+ years old, so it is very rudimentary for modern standards. To start with, it does not self-install on insertion, you have to locate the install program and launch it. The visual design of the dictionary is bland and boring, with limited visual contrast. Moreover, many display options are not clearly visible, but only accessible via the settings like, for example, the size and colouring of the text. On the other hand, you cannot change the display font, something that I always love.
Let's rejoice, the new edition of the dictionary has been launched mid October 2014. We can only hope that the updated version of the dictionary and the CD will be as good as ever regarding contents, but with an user-friendly up-to-date software CD-Rom.
The Real Academia de la Lengua Española (usually called RAE) is a pan-Hispanic institution of linguists, academics and writers that have been creating, modifying, enlarging, and updating this dictionary since the 19th century. Their dictionaries are "The" manual for anybody who makes of the use of Spanish their profession, but also a must reference book in any household. This is not an "urban dictionary" or a "slang dictionary" so do not look for that sort of vocabulary here, but this your dictionary is you are an educated person, University person, teacher, linguist, translator, or a lover of the Spanish language.
Throughout the years, I have used many Spanish dictionaries, but I always come back to this one, because it gives me answers, it gives me an exhaustive collection of words, from those archaic or not much in use nowadays, to those just used in some regions of Spain, or in some countries in the Americas, to those I use in my daily life. I love the simple and understandable way the words are defined and put into context, that the dictionary is pan-Hispanic, the top-notch etymology!
Having said so, this edition was launched more than 10 years ago, so one sees deficiencies and limited explanations of more modern words. However, the main deficiency is the CD-Rom's archaic software, which is really old and odd. Moreover, given the fact that the RAE's website offers consultation of the dictionary for free, one wonders why the pricing of the CD-Rom is so exorbitant?!
The good things about the CD version are:
> Fast opening and closing down,
> Easy to use interface.
> You can cut, paste and print without any hustle.
> The dictionary offers basic search (consulta básica), which is the one I usually use, but also a complex advanced research (consulta avanzada) that allows you to search for specific phonemes, morphemes or even backwards, among other options, which is perfect for linguists.
Among the deficiencies of the CD version, bear with me, the installation program is 10+ years old, so it is very rudimentary for modern standards. To start with, it does not self-install on insertion, you have to locate the install program and launch it. The visual design of the dictionary is bland and boring, with limited visual contrast. Moreover, many display options are not clearly visible, but only accessible via the settings like, for example, the size and colouring of the text. On the other hand, you cannot change the display font, something that I always love.
Let's rejoice, the new edition of the dictionary has been launched mid October 2014. We can only hope that the updated version of the dictionary and the CD will be as good as ever regarding contents, but with an user-friendly up-to-date software CD-Rom.
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