U.S. Mexican Spanish West of the Mississippi

U.S. Mexican Spanish West of the Mississippi proposes a macro-dialect of the most widely spoken Spanish variety in the western United States from a number of social and linguistic angles. This book is unique in its focus on this one variety of Spanish, which allows for a closer investigation of the social context and linguistic features through a number of different topics. Comprised of 13 chapters divided into two sections, this textbook provides insight into the history, demographics, migration, and social issues of US Mexican Spanish in the first section and its lexicography, phonology, and structure in the second. Useful for scholars interested in Spanish in the United States, dialectology, and sociolinguistics, this is also an ideal resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of Spanish.

Daniel J. Villa is Professor Emeritus of Spanish Linguistics at New Mexico State University, USA. His primary research interests are in Spanish of the Southwest, US Spanish, language maintenance and loss, and Spanish for native and heritage speakers. Jens H. Clegg is Professor of Spanish Linguistics at Purdue University Fort Wayne, USA. His research interests include US Spanish, language contact, bilingualism, and sociolinguistics.

Part I. Social contexts 1. Introduction 2. U.S. Mexican Spanish West of the Mississippi 3. A (very) brief history of migration: The spread of Spanish speakers 4. Identity: What is in a name? 5. U.S. Mexican Spanish speakers: Race, power and language 6. Language policy and planning 7. Bilingual dynamics: Spanish and English in contact in the West Part II. Linguistic perspectives 8. Thinking about how we think: The relationship between theory and practice 9. The lexicon: Part I 10. The lexicon: Part II 11. Phonology 12. Language structure 13. Concluding remarks