MADRID, 22 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) is going to evaluate “urgently” a possible correction in the dictionary of the language of the word ‘diminished’ with respect to what is established “in view of the change in uses” that reflects the reform of the Constitution, as sources from the institution have explained to Europa Press.
Until now, the RAE maintains in the entry for ‘disabled’ in its Spanish dictionary a section in which its synonyms are the words ‘disabled’ and ‘disabled’, all of them without marks that clarify that they can be used as derogatory terms.
The term ‘disabled’ has been in the news last week after the green light from Congress to reform article 49 of the Constitution and eliminate this word from the Magna Carta and replace it with ‘people with disabilities’. In this way, as agreed by Pedro Sánchez and Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the modification has been carried out by express means.
The dictionary definition of ‘disabled’ is that of an adjective – although it can sometimes be used as a noun – referring to people who have “lost strength or abilities, or have them to a lesser degree than normal.” Synonyms for this word are ‘reduced’, ‘shrunken’, ‘disabled’ or ‘handicapped’.
In none of these words does the ‘derogatory’ mark appear in the definition that the RAE does use for other terms in the dictionary, clarifying that it can be used in that way.
Although the institution has not commented on this change, it is not the first time that the word ‘disabled’ is at the center of the debate, since in 2005 the then President of the Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, already He proposed changing it – on that occasion, the proposal was for ‘disabled’ -.
So, there was a reaction from several academics of the institution, as was the case of Gregorio Salvador, Manuel Seco or Valentín García Yebra – all of whom have already died -. These philologists and language experts were reluctant to change.
“There are no differences between both words and the term ‘disabled’ is even more negative due to its definition: reality is not changed with words, especially when the two terms have the same meaning,” lamented Gregorio Salvador, for example.
