dictionary recommendations for older spanish
Hi, I'm doing some translation of a Spanish newspaper from 1850s LA. Can anyone recommend a dictionary or other resource that would help me get a hang of the older Spanish vocabulary, grammar, etc.?
Thanks!
5 Answers
Give us something more specific, and I'll try every Spanish dictionary I have (i.e. all since the 16th century until now). The English counterpart will require someone whose English is far better than mine, of course.
I agree with James. You need an outstanding command of both languages to be able to do such a translation properly.
OK, that wasn't clear. If you have specific questions, post them here, and I bet someone will know the answers.
Still, a good translation will use English of a similar vintage.
No, I have no problem with the English part, I meant with the Spanish--a number of words or phrases aren't listed in Spanish dictionaries or seem to have different usages.
No dictionary will be able to tell you how to write English that sounds as if it were from the 1850's. Such writing requires considerable skill and experience, which can only be obtained by extensive reading of works from that time period.
If you really want to do your best on this, you'll need to go to your library and read some contemporary newspaper articles.
