The RAE has decided this Thursday that the adverb “solo” (which is equivalent to only) may carry an accent, as well as the demonstrative pronouns “this, that and that”, with their feminine and plural forms, when in the opinion of the writer there is a risk of ambiguity.
This novelty, as sources from the plenary session of the Academy of Language have explained to EFE, had been claimed for years by academic writers who considered that the use of the tilde in these words should be “decriminalized” since there were cases of ambiguity.
Until now, the RAE determined that the word “only”, both when it is an adverb and is equivalent to only and when it is an adjective, as well as the demonstratives “this, that and that”, with their feminine and plural forms, whether they functioned as pronouns or as determiners, should not have an accent, according to the general rules of accentuation.
And although previously the orthographic rules prescribed the use of tilde in the adverb alone and the demonstrative pronouns to distinguish them, respectively, from the adjective alone and the demonstrative determiners, when both interpretations were possible in the same statement and cases of ambiguity could occur, ( “Works only on Sundays”: works only on Sundays or works without company on Sundays), it was considered that possible ambiguities could almost always be resolved by the context itself.
The general recommendation was not to mark these words, although it was optional when its use entailed a risk of ambiguity, but it was not defined in whose opinion, the sources have explained, who have highlighted that there were cases of examinations and oppositions in which its use detracted from a grade because it used to depend on the criteria of the teacher or the examiner.
The novelty that will be introduced now is that it becomes the criteria of the person who writes the text to mark these words or not.
The academic and writer Arturo Pérez-Reverte has highlighted to EFE his satisfaction with this novelty and has indicated that all the academics have agreed to introduce this formulation, since it does not destroy the initial formulation but allows a more reasonable use of the tilde in these cases, since it is the author of the text who decides whether or not to use it.
