Association of Academies of the Spanish Language

Association of Academies of the Spanish Language

Abbreviation	ASALE
Formation	1951 (1951)
Headquarters	Madrid, Spain
Official language	Spanish
President	Santiago Muñoz Machado[1]
General Secretary	Francisco Javier Pérez
Main organ	Permanent commission
Website	asale.org

The Association of Academies of the Spanish Language (Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española; ASALE) is an entity whose end is to work for the unity, integrity, and growth of the Spanish language.^[2] It was created in Mexico in 1951 and represents the union of all the separate academies in the Spanish-speaking world. The association publishes reference works on the Spanish language and commemorative editions of Hispanic literature, among other publications.^[3][4][5][6]

History

Through the initiative of then-president of Mexico Miguel Alemán Valdés, the first congress of academies convened with the purpose of maintaining the integrity of and fostering the further growth of Spanish.^[4] The meeting was held from 23 April to 6 May 1951 and resulted in the creation of the association^[7] and its permanent commission.^[8] The Royal Spanish Academy (Spanish: Real Academia Española or RAE) was not present at the initial meeting but participated in the permanent commission.^[8] Ever since the second congress convened in 1956, the RAE has been a regular participant.^{[citation needed]}

In 2000 the association organised the School of Hispanic Lexicography and the Carolina Foundation to promote Spanish lexicography^{[citation needed]}, and together with the RAE, the association earned the Prince of Asturias Award for peace.^[7]

An academy for Equatorial Guinea was created in 2013 and joined the association in 2016.^[9]

Works

The collaboration between RAE and the other academies was expressed in the coauthorship, since the 22nd edition published in 2001, of the Dictionary of the Spanish Language (Spanish: Diccionario de la Lengua Española), and the 1999 edition of the Orthography (Spanish: Ortografía) was considered a true pan-Hispanic work. Joint projects include the editing of the Grammar (Spanish: Gramática) and the compilation of the Dictionary of Americanisms (Spanish: Diccionario de americanismos).^{[citation needed]}

Organization

The association convenes every four years, led by a Permanent Commission composed of a President (position held by the Director of the Spanish Royal Academy), a Secretary General (one of the directors of the other academies), a Treasurer (chosen by the Spanish Royal Academy), and at least two board members drawn from the associated academies, whose nomination rotate annually.^[3][10][11] During the Third Congress of Academies, held in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1960, an agreement was reached whereby the governments of countries with a member in the association would be obliged to provide financial support to their respective academies and the greater association.^[12]

Academies

Although Israelis mainly speak Hebrew, Arabic, English, and Russian, an ASALE conference on Judaeo-Spanish held in 2015^[13] led to plans for the creation of an Israeli branch.^[14] A group of academics was founded by ASALE in 2018 and submitted to the government of Israel for recognition. The National Academia of Judaeo-Spanish in Israel will then have the ability to petition to join as a full member, likely in 2019.^{[15][needs update]} There are no plans for Andorra, Belize, Gibraltar, or Western Sahara to have their own academies, despite each having a majority Spanish-speaking population either as a first or second language.

See also

• Autoridad Nasionala del Ladino – a defunct Israeli body that regulated Ladino
• Cervantes Institute – a Spanish cultural institution
• Panhispanism – promotion of unity among Spanish speakers
• List of language regulators
• International Conference of the Spanish Language

References

External links

• Official website