(abridged and revised) This reference grammar offers intermediate and advanced students a reason ably comprehensive guide to the morphology and syntax of educated speech and plain prose in Spain and Latin America at the end of the twentieth century. Spanish is the main, usually the sole official language of twenty-one countries,} and it is set fair to overtake English by the year 2000 in numbers 2 of native speakers. This vast geographical and political diversity ensures that Spanish is a good deal less unified than French, German or even English, the latter more or less internationally standardized according to either American or British norms. Until the 1960s, the criteria of internationally correct Spanish were dictated by the Real Academia Espanola, but the prestige of this institution has now sunk so low that its most solemn decrees are hardly taken seriously - witness the fate of the spelling reforms listed in the Nuevas normas de prosodia y ortograjia, which were supposed to come into force in all Spanish-speaking countries in 1959 and, nearly forty years later, are still selectively ignored by publishers and literate persons everywhere. The fact is that in Spanish 'correctness' is nowadays decided, as it is in all living languages, by the consensus of native speakers; but consensus about linguistic usage is obviously difficult to achieve between more than twenty independent, widely scattered and sometimes mutually hostile countries. Peninsular Spanish is itself in flux.
Author: Butt
ISBN: 0071440496
Category: Language/Spanish
Trim Size: 6 3/4 x 9 1/2
UPC: 639785387497
Price: $32.95
[category] Language/Spanish
"A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish is an essential reference tool for all interested in the Spanish language. The most extensive and accurate single-volume comprehensive source of information on contemporary Spanish language currently in existence in the English language."
--George DeMello, Professor of Hispanic Linguistics, University of Iowa
"Although I have several Spanish grammar reference texts in my collection, A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish is the one I reach for first. I find it to be not only comprehensive, but very user friendly."
--Patricia Seaver, Assistant Professor of Spanish, State University of New York (SUNY)
A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish is internationally known as the standard English-language reference grammar for the Spanish language. This bestselling resource has provided teachers and language learners with a comprehensive, accessible, and jargon-free guide to the forms and structures of Spanish as it is currently spoken and written in Spain and in across Latin America.
Each grammar concept is introduced by a thorough explanation, including helpful information on the level of usage (formal, familiar, colloquial, and popular) and regional use. Examples from contemporary sources--such as the Internet, magazines, and newspapers--illustrate each point and clarify the nuances of current usage.
Newly updated throughout, this revised edition includes:
- The latest findings on Spanish usage from the Royal Spanish Academy--not found in other grammars
- Fresh example sentences featuring the differences between Spanish and Latin American Spanish
- A new page layout, with more tables and summary sections, to make grammar explanations even more accessible
- A glossary of grammatical terms
John Butt is emeritus Professor of Hispanic Studies, King's College, London. Carmen Benjamin is a former lecturer in Hispanic Studies at King's College, London.
