Lovers of Spanish language

meet to decide on new words

for dictionary
Many teachers, writers, scientists and language experts met in Puerto Rico
recently. They were debating and discussing the future of the Spanish
language.
What were the topics they debated? Things like whether words such as
selfie will be admitted into the Dictionary of the Royal Academy. That is like
the Oxford English Dictionary but for the Spanish language.
There were more than 150 people at the meeting. They included writers from
Chile, Puerto Rico and Cuba. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain were
there. Various Latin American leaders also attended.

Spanish Woven Into American Life

Held every three years, the meeting is about etymology. Etymology is the
study of how words come to be and how their meanings change over time. It
may not sound like it, but it was a fascinating meeting.
Spanish is a language that unites about 500 million people around the world.
Millions of people in the United States speak it. Part of the point of these
meetings is to help Spanish speakers from different parts of the world talk
with each other.
King Felipe noted that Spanish is spoken more and more in the United States.
He pointed out that the meeting was held in Puerto Rico this year. Puerto
Rico is a U.S. territory and its people are U.S. citizens. It was the first time
meetings were held in a U.S. territory.
King Felipe cited a study that said that the United States could one day
become the largest Spanish-speaking nation on Earth. He said that Spanish
has stopped being a language spoken by people who have just moved to the
United States from Spanish- speaking countries. It has become part of
American society.

And English Has Found Its Way Into Spanish

But not all English words will be included in the Spanish dictionary. The
academy is carefully deciding. Take "selfie," for example. The head of the
academy thinks that perhaps a better word for selfie might be "auto-foto."

Why not include "selfie" in the dictionary? Because some Spanish-language

experts are concerned that history and tradition is being lost when English
slang words are included in the Spanish dictionary.
David Pharies is a teacher at the University of Florida. He wrote A Brief
History of the Spanish Language. He thinks that people who try to protect
Spanish from changes "are doomed to failure."
The truth is the Spanish language is always changing. It is a descendant of a
language called vulgar Latin. In parts of the Roman Empire, vulgar Latin
was a kind of Latin spoken by the common people.

A Melting Pot Of Languages

Spanish already has significant traces of other languages.
Arabic contributed a number of words to the language as a result of the
Muslim presence in (parts of Spain), Pharies wrote. Arabic did not affect the
grammar of the Spanish, but it ... helped determine the nature of Spanish.
Over the years, the United States and parts of North and South America have
contributed increasing numbers of words to Spanish. So there are many more
words from there in the academys dictionary.

More Than Double The Words From U.S.

Only a small number of the worlds Spanish speakers live in Spain. Many
contributions to the Spanish language are drawn from words that are native
to the places where Spanish is spoken. One example is "tomate," the Spanish
word for "tomato." It comes from "tomatl," which is the Aztec word for the
fruit. The Aztecs lived in parts of Mexico.
The last time the academy dictionary was published, it contained more than
28,000 words that came from the United States. That is twice as many as
before.
The academy just added a Latin-Americanism to its pages:
"puertorriquenidad." That word translates roughly to Puerto Rican-ness. So
far, the more anglicized "Nuyorican" remains out of the book. It means
someone is a New Yorker of Puerto Rican roots. However, it might just be a
matter of time before that word is also included.

Comprehension Questions
1.
Some people are worried about adding too many words
from different languages into the Spanish dictionary.

Select the sentence that BEST explains this idea.

A. King Felipe cited a study that said that the United

States could one day become the largest Spanish-speaking nation
on Earth.
B. Because some Spanish-language experts are concerned
that history and tradition is being lost when English slang words
are included in the Spanish dictionary.
C. He thinks that people who try to protect Spanish from
changes "are doomed to failure."
D. Arabic contributed a number of words to the language
as a result of the Muslim presence in (parts of Spain), Pharies
wrote.

2. Read the third paragraph of the article.

There were more than 150 people at the meeting. They included
writers from Chile, Puerto Rico and Cuba. King Felipe VI and Queen
Letizia of Spain were there. Various Latin American leaders also
attended.
What conclusion can you make based on this information?

A. The meeting was important.

B. The meeting was very fun.
C. Most people really wanted to go to the meeting.
D. People had to be invited to the meeting.
3. Which statement BEST expresses the main idea of the article?
A. Some people disagree over which words are most important to the
Spanish language.
B. Some people think that the United States will have the largest
number of Spanish-speaking people someday.

C. Many leaders met to discuss the future of the Spanish language and
make a dictionary.
D. Many leaders met to find out whether the Spanish language is
always changing.

4. Read the section "A Melting Pot Of Languages." What is the BEST

summary of this section?

A. Spanish is becoming more common as people move more.
B. Spanish is similar to Arabic in some important ways.
C. Spanish is spoken differently in North and South America.
D. Spanish has always been influenced by other languages.