The Spanish language has numerous words that are similar in appearance to English words but have different meanings. These false cognates can have vastly different meanings from the English words they resemble, or may only differ in nuance. This dictionary covers Spanish false cognates.

Dictionaries are among the most frequently consulted books, yet we know remarkably little about them. Who makes them? Where do they come from? What do they offer? How can we evaluate them? The Dictionary of Lexicography provides answers to all these questions and addresses a wide range of issues: * the traditions of dictionary-making * the different types of dictionaries and other reference works (such as thesaurus, encyclopedia, atlas and telephone directory) * the principles and concerns of lexicographers and other reference professionals * the standards of dictionary criticism and dictionary use. It is both a professional handbook and an easy-to-use reference work. This is the first time that the subject has been covered in such a comprehensive manner in the form of a reference book. All articles are self-contained, cross-referenced and uniformly structured. The whole is an up-to-date and forward-looking survey of lexicography.

From the language mastery era to today's focus on communicative proficiency, language teachers and learners in America and Europe have disregarded the importance of the Cognate Lexis and Syntax that English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French, among other languages, share. What are Cognates? From the Latin cognatus (co- 'together' + gnatus, pp. of gnasci, 'to be born'), Cognates are words descended from a common ancestor; that is, words having the same linguistic family or derivation (English), la misma familia lingüística o derivación (Spanish), a mesma família lingüística ou derivação (Portuguese), la stessa famiglia linguistica o derivazione (Italian), la même famille linguistique ou dérivation (French). In other words, cognates are those foreign terms we easily understand because they resemble their equivalents in our mother tongues. As a result, we will find for example, that a thousand English -tion nouns have their exact equivalents as Spanish -ción, Portuguese -ção, Italian -zione, and French -tion. This large number of 'similar words and sounds', contrary to what some language learners and teachers think, is not limited to advantageous coincidences; and contrary to what some linguists think, it is not limited to Latin and Greek derivations present in scientific terms. The statistical data provided by our extensive research support the assertion that cognates represent at least 25% of the unique English written words met by Romance language speakers, and vice versa. One of the several outcomes of this research project is The Dictionary of Cognates (DOC), which features 20,000 English-Spanish cognate words + 25,000 frequent cognate collocations. All these words were selected manually from several renowned dictionaries keeping to a minimum infrequent technical, scientific or historical cognate terms. The development of both works, The Dictionary of Cognates and our introduction book on Cognate Linguistics, was based on practicality and frequency rather than on exhaustiveness. Although these books have been introduced in their English - Spanish versions, The Cognate Project as a whole also refers to and applies to Portuguese, Italian, French, Catalan and Romanian. Samples of Portuguese, Italian and French cognates are available at cognates.org, the project’s support site. While reading this book, you will realize that cognate words, collocations and phrases are not regarded as new or foreign by your mind given that they are immediately and effortlessly recognized and comprehended. Actually, our mind does not seem to read foreign words but their cognates in our mother tongue. Even before starting learning a new cognate language, or better said, even without the need of being engaged in the process of learning a new cognate language, the Immediate and Effortless Recognition of Cognates (IERC) is a pleasurable experience. In summary, we can claim that the Cognate Lexis and Syntax shared by certain related languages have not been clearly identified as one of the most important foundations for foreign language acquisition. The teaching and learning approaches and methods available may have overestimated for long the time and effort needed by cognate speakers to learn cognate languages. Additionally, cognates are innate motivators; there is nothing better than comprehensible language to encourage learning and language production. We have disregarded for too long this fantastic linguistic asset of ours; but that is over now. Welcome to the Cognate World.

Language, apart from its cultural and social dimension, has a scientific side that is connected not only to the study of 'grammar' in a more or less traditional sense, but also to disciplines like mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology. This book explores developments in linguistic theory, looking in particular at the theory of generative grammar from the perspective of the natural sciences. It highlights the complex and dynamic nature of language, suggesting that a comprehensive and full understanding of such a species-specific property will only be achieved through interdisciplinary work.

More than 18,000 entries. Includes scientific, medical, literary , and legal terms.

An easy-to-use guide that will help the user understand confusing words and their usage and to then choose the correct spelling or meaning of a word for any given situation.

This book will help you master confusing words and their usage. This easy-to-use reference focuses on three major classes of complicated words: Words that are pronounced alike but are different in spelling, meaning or both, such as sail and sale; gilt guilt.

A book for English speaking learners of Spanish.