Polyglossia doesn't accent limits (lím) in Spanish

Question

I'm currently writing a text in Spanish that includes limits and I have to use Times New Roman font, so I'm using XeTeX, and thus, Polyglossia.

The problem is: when writing the \lim command, the text displayed is "lim" and not "lím" (with accent mark) as is used in Spanish.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont{Times New Roman}
\usepackage{polyglossia}
\setmainlanguage{spanish}

\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}

\begin{document}

Éste es el estilo textual: $ \lim_{n \to \infty} \sum_{k=1}^n \frac{1}{k^2} = \frac{\pi^2}{6} $,
y éste el estilo de visualización:
\begin{equation}
\lim_{n \to \infty} \sum_{k=1}^n \frac{1}{k^2} = \frac{\pi^2}{6}
\end{equation}

\end{document}

That gives this result:

Is there something I can do to overcome this issue? Must we consider it a bug?

Answer 1

In my opinion, “lim” is a symbolic abbreviation for “limes” (Latin), just like “sin” is for “sinus”.

The fact that the word is translated in various languages doesn't mean the symbol should follow. So, in my opinion, using “lím” is plainly wrong, just like using “sen” as done by almost all Italian school books (later, students learn it's written “sin”).

Of course you're free not to follow this advice or, maybe, some authority (usually the thesis supervisor ;-)) gently asks for the accent. With babel you get it, polyglossia doesn't impose it.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}

\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont{Times New Roman}
\usepackage{polyglossia}
\setmainlanguage{spanish}

\makeatletter
\appto\inlineextras@spanish{\renewcommand\lim{\qopname \relax m{lím}}}
\appto\blockextras@spanish{\renewcommand\lim{\qopname \relax m{lím}}}
\makeatother

\begin{document}

Éste es el estilo textual: $ \lim_{n \to \infty} \sum_{k=1}^n \frac{1}{k^2} = \frac{\pi^2}{6} $, y
éste el estilo de visualización:
\begin{equation}
\lim_{n \to \infty} \sum_{k=1}^n \frac{1}{k^2} = \frac{\pi^2}{6}
\end{equation}

\end{document}