ABSTRACT
The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) has published various dictionaries throughout its history. The most important of these is the Dictionary of the Spanish Language (Diccionario de la lengua española, DRAE, today known as the DLE), which since its first appearance has been considered an instrument for regulating language as well as a lexicographical tool.
In this chapter, we address how the DLE functions now and how this may develop in the future. We examine how it is disseminated by the institutions charged with compiling it, namely the RAE and the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language (ASALE). We also look at how it is received by its users, the media, and the scientific community. We show how the DLE aims to describe usage rather than imposing norms and how it has established metalexicography in Spanish as a scientific discipline.
The lexicographical tradition in Spanish is rooted in the work of the Academy and its dictionary. Today, technology makes it easier to insert changes and add more detailed information.
