tu problema cual es? que "limpia, fija y da esplendor" no te parece que estén en imperativo? bueno, depende de como se mire, es imperativo impersonal ya que no lleva un sujeto activo, ya que una Academia no puede ser sujeto activo de esos verbos al no ser persona, sino algo inmaterial

por ello es imperativo y no es tercera persona del singular

espero haberte ayudado

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Note added at 2004-01-08 13:34:12 (GMT)
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a ver, me he explicado mal, la historia no es que el lema esté en imperativo, sino que las órdenes por las cuales se fundó la Academía eran un imperativo de mantener la lengua española siempre limpia! y eso es lo que quiere transmitir la frase

es evidente que está en tercera persona del singular, pero el redactor del texto le da un aire político al tema, del antiguo Imperio Español colonial, y es por ello que dice eso

claramente, se traduce con la tercera persona del singular: Cleans, fixes and polishes

I understand you very well. It is definitely not imperative. Your guess is perfect. Best regards. Pampi

Madeline,

I have always taken it to mean (and still do) that the Academy is the subject.

It is the Academy which "limpia, fija y da esplendor.." - it isn't an imperative to the general public to do the Academy's job for them.

Were it an order, I would expect "limpiad, fijad y dad esplendor..."

El objetivo con el que se fundó la Academia fue el de fijar "las voces y vocablos de la lengua castellana en su mayor propiedad, elegancia y pureza". La RAE se presentó con un emblema formado por un crisol al fuego donde se podía leer la ya emblemática leyenda "limpia, fija y da esplendor".
Este lema obedeció al propósito inicial de combatir todo aquello que alterara la elegancia y sobre todo la pureza del castellano, y de fijarlo en el estado de plenitud en el que se encontraba desde el siglo XVI.

El arduo trabajo realizado por los académicos que conformaban tal academia y las normas lingüísticas y literarias que emanarían de esta institución, le darían la fijación y el brillo del que puede presumir la prestigiosa Real Academia Española. La creencia de poder conseguir los objetivos fijados por la institución era habitual en la España del siglo XVIII.



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Note added at 21 mins (2004-01-08 12:41:21 GMT)
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In other words, you\'re entirely right. \"My dilemma is that I disagree with the text.\"
I don\'t think the writer has understood the expression in the slightest.

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Note added at 26 mins (2004-01-08 12:46:41 GMT)
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In other words, you\'re entirely right. \"My dilemma is that I disagree with the text.\"
I don\'t think the writer has understood the expression in the slightest.

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Note added at 31 mins (2004-01-08 12:51:03 GMT)
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\"My question is then about how to translate a statement that I think is flawed in the Spanish into English\".

Whether it\'s flawed or not is not really an issue. Suppose you were translating a text by someone who thinks the Earth\'s flat or that Tony Blair is really an alien - that\'s their problem.
(Actually....those ears.....nah!)

... in the imperative? It is probably just a description of what the Academy does, i.e. it cleans, fixes and polishes (or whatever you may choose to say).
Try translating the whole thing on that assumption and you should come up with something acceptable.

exhorting verbs to be rulers.


1) To get rid of the apparent confusion between imperativo and the lema

2) To make the meaning come through


3) by using the "rule" meaning of imperativo (imperare)

4) Incorporate the object after the color into the sentence...

Isn't the meaning clear now?

:)

Its verbal (or language) enterprise remains limited to that antiquated lemma that conjugates its verbs in the imperative: clean up, prevent change, add splendour.

I understand it clearly, as I do the original.

Comments:

1. If limpia, fija and da are not imperative forms (morphologically) what are then, prey tell, the imperative forms for the second person singular? I know of no others.

2. Word play is an art, not accounting. The author is most assuredly not claiming that the supposed lemma (I assume it is made up, but that does not matter) is actually in the imperative (semantically).

3. The same ambiguities as in the original are, as it happens, preserved in my naïve version.

4. The whole idea is that RAE is, in the view of some, too prescriptive. It tells you what to do. It cleans up, and makes you clean up; it makes immutable, and wants you to follow suit; it thinks it adds slendour, and so must you, willy nilly.


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Note added at 2004-01-08 20:53:28 (GMT)
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By the way, the author is also sugesting that the RAE does not do a bunch of other things that it ought to do, such as are done in the English speaking world and a few others. This is something A LOT of people believe. Still, we would all be lost without the old, dusty and musty DRAE, right?

I should have said: Word play is an art, not bean counting. More pk.



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Note added at 2004-01-08 21:16:33 (GMT)
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About ambiguities.

In the original the play is between the imperative (I am talking to YOU, buddy; AND also RAE, you do that!) and the indicative present (RAE does this and does that). In a lemma either of the last two can be read in, but certainly not the first. This is the play.

In English it is the two imperatives plus a \"non-tense\" informal infinitive without \"to\" with something like a nominal sense. Again, the last two can be read into a lemma, but not the first. So, same play, pretty much.

Well, I am going to go against the grain. The text refers to their "Motto". All old mottos are imperative... let us remember the phrase "eat, drink, and be merry". If this were your motto (could be, for example, in a fraternity), it would imply that you are expected to carry out these activities.
Having said this, then if you are a member (or employee?) of the Academia, your motto is imperative: (you, the member, not stated but implied) are expected to clean, fix, and polish... the motto orders you to do so.