At this point in the year I usually pull towards my most loving side of language and its most correct use. Last December I recommended these manuals on the subject, so today I propose other 7 titles more. The geeks of the matter always have someone close by, more or less didactic, for consultation or out of simple curiosity. But already If one is a writer, editor, journalist or just an amateur and careful with language, they are mandatory gifts. I did it 20 years ago with that classic that is already owned by Don Fernando Lázaro Carreter, The dart in the word. But there are many more. Let's see these.
The dart in the word - Fernando Lázaro Carreter
The philologist, professor and director of the Royal Spanish Academy Fernando Lazaro Carreter was and is an authority on the matter. This work, published in 1997, gathered the articles for the first time that had appeared with that same title in newspapers in Spain and Latin America. His compilation not only comprises a huge compendium of the use of Spanish, but is also a reflection and chronicle of the evolution of society Spanish in recent decades. His humor, rigor and prose helped to bring the reader closer for the first time almost to that side that costs so much, and it seems that every day more, of the use of the language.
Write, create, tell - Cervantes Institute
The Instituto Cervantes is the public institution created by Spain in 1991 for the promotion and teaching of the Spanish language and of the co-official languages. Also for the dissemination of Spanish and Latin American culture. It is present in 90 cities in 43 countries on five continents. It has two headquarters in Spain, the central one in Madrid and the one in Alcalá de Henares. Your reference portal on the Internet is the Cervantes Virtual Center. And of course he has edited and published several books.
This is another one where, taking advantage of the writing vein that we all get from time to time, he wants to show us thethe keys to becoming efficient storytellers or improving our technique. It does not matter if we are first-timers or if we already have a certain level and want to know in detail the main tools of literary construction. So indications are provided for the various challenges of the writer: how to overcome the blockade creative or unleash the imagination, learn the basics about structure, ways to approach a story, or how to compose a scene or characterize to a character.
Crocodiles in the dictionary - Cervantes Institute
The Spanish language is in constant process of change. New uses, or those that are considered inappropriate now, will surely end up being accepted and forming part of the norm. In this book, with a agile and carefree style and with many real examples, we are seeing how phenomena that at the beginning were incorrect in the end become correct. It also analyzes how Spanish is spoken and traces an X-ray, especially in Spain. And, in short, it explains what is the appropriate use according to the standard, but examining the reasons why other options might have succeeded.
What Spanish hides - Juan Romeu
Released this year, Juan Romeu, responsible for the web Without faults, encourages us to discover why the Spanish language is the way it is. He does it in a very pleasant way and highlights four ??circumstances??: ?? the temporary (fossils that have survived, words that disappeared); ?? the policy (geographical differences in the scope of current Spanish); ?? the social (popular records, slang,); and the textual (write as you speak and speak as you write).
Palabrology - Virgilio Ortega
From 2014. Virgil Ortega graduated in Philosophy and Letters and has been editorial director for over forty years, in Salvat, Ediciones Orbis, Plaza & Janés and, above all, in Planeta DeAgostini. This is his third book as author.
In this book we discover in an entertaining way how the language has evolved from Egypt, Greece and Rome, through the Middle Ages, to the present day. At the same time we see how these civilizations lived. A journey through the history of words and their formation that helps us understand why some have survived and others fell into disuse.
A very long tongue - Lola Pons RodrÃguez
Lola Pons Rodriguez She is a professor at the University of Seville in the Area of ​​Spanish Language and has also taught Dialectology and History of Spanish at the Universities of Tübingen and Oxford. His research focuses in the history of Spanish and linguistic change, paying special attention to syntax phenomena. You can follow his work on his website.
This book is a collection of stories about the past and present of Spanish and is primarily aimed at readers who use this language. They are hundred stories where questions such as where did the Ñ come fromWhy do you have to write B and V if they are pronounced the same, or why do we complain so much about the abbreviations of the mobile phone if in the Middle Ages it was already abbreviated a lot.
Language in the media - Fernando Vilches Vivancos
Fernando Vilches is philologist and professor of Spanish Language at URJC. He has published several books on language topics such as A new lexicon on the Net o The contempt of the tongue. And he was very critical of the current misuse of language in the media last September.
The author first reflects on the world of media as a reflection of society where we are. And the evils of that society are the tension or manipulation of the facts that said media also have to count on the factor of immediacy. This speed of information leads to carelessness and little concern for the form in which it is counted from both written and audiovisual media.
So try to make this book a call of attention to the use of our language not only for media professionals, but also for politicians and other users who have to constantly use it publicly.