The new edition of the Ortografía de la lengua española (the Spanish Language Orthography), a publication of the Spanish Royal Language Academy (Real Academia Española, RAE), has caused debate in several Internet forums. This is according to the webpage of the RAE, an academy of professionals that works to maintain the unity and purity of the Spanish language.
Some of the most controversial rules are: the distinction of the “Greek i” (y) for “ye”, as well as the removal of the accent from the word “guión” (“script”) and the use of the accent to differentiate “solo” and “sólo” (“alone” and “only”, respectively).
Members of the social networking site Facebook have also created pages criticizing these standards. These pages are: “Me declaro objetor de conciencia de la nueva ortografía de la RAE” ( I declare myself a conscientious objector of the RAE’s new orthography), “No me gusta la nueva reforma ortográfica de la RAE ):” (I do not like the new orthographic reform of the RAE), among others. Some Internet users have also written negative remarks on Twitter.
Behind their casual criticism is perhaps a deeper polemic. Many Spanish speakers have been concerned by the RAE’s marketing practices since its governing committee appointed Victor García de la Concha as the Academy’s director. Some of them have commented on this situation in blogs such as Addenda & Corrigenda.
As stated on the RAE’s webpage, the approval of the new edition of the Ortografía de la lengua española will be formally announced on November 28, 2010 at the Guadalajara International Book Fair in Guadalajara, Mexico. The new orthography is scheduled to be published in late December.