The tilde is the author’s “single” decision

As sources from the EFE Language Academy plenary explain, this innovation has been claimed for years by academic writers who felt that the use of tildes in these words should be “decriminalized” because there were situations of ambiguity.

So far, RAE has been determined when the word “only” is an adverb and equivalent as well as an adjective, as well as the demonstrative pronouns “este”, “ese”, and “aquel” in their feminine and plural forms. Forms that currently serve as pronouns or indicatives should not have diacritics, according to general stress rules.

You May Be Interested: RAE and Microsoft work together to use good language

The general recommendation was not to highlight these words, but this was optional if using them carried a risk of ambiguity.

And while previous spelling rules dictated the use of tildes in the adjective “only” and demonstrative pronouns to distinguish them from the adjective “only” and its modifiers, respectively, both interpretations were possible in the same sentence, and situations of ambiguity were possible. (“Works only on Sundays”: works alone on Sundays or works without company on Sundays), it is assumed that possible uncertainties can almost always be resolved by the context itself.

judgment of the author

The general advice was that these words should not be marked, but this was optional where their use carried a risk of ambiguity, but this was not defined. a grade because it used to depend on the criteria of the teacher or examiner.

The innovation is now that the criterion becomes whether the writer of the text should mark these words or not.

Academic and author Arturo Pérez-Reverte emphasized to EFE his satisfaction with this innovation, pointing out that all scholars agree to put this formulation into practice as it does not violate the original formulation, but in these cases requires a more judicious use of the tilde makes possible. . , because it is the author of the text who decides whether or not to use it.