Varieties of Spanish in the United States (Georgetown Studies in Spanish Linguistics series) - Softcover

Belongs in the personal library of every linguist who specializes in the Spanish of the United States. Language Problems and Language Planning An engaging style and impeccable publication ... Obligatory reading for teachers involved in bilingual or heritage language education. Modern Language Journal A very welcome addition to our accumulation of knowledge on the subject of Spanish in the United States. It has the advantage of being accessible to, and usable by, a wide spectrum of interested readers, both in linguistics per se and in the sociology of language. The author is to be congratulated for a job well done, well organized, and exquisitely presented. Journal of Sociolinguistics The book shares with the rest of Lipski's work the fruits of his broad reading, wide-ranging fieldwork, impeccable scholarship, excellent organization, and exceptional clarity. Varieties of Spanish in the United States is a valuable and important contribution to the fields of Hispanic dialectology and language contact phenomena, and will be of interest to specialists and non-specialists alike. Revista Internacional de Linguistica Iberoamericana This book offers a wealth of information in mostly very accessible and well-structured form. Bulletin of Spanish Studies

This book presents an overview of the major varieties of Spanish in the United States--the second most used language in the country, spoken by more than thirty-three million people. John Lipski traces the importance of the Spanish language in the United States, the scholarship that documents the variation and richness of the language as spoken here, and probes the phenomenon popularly called "Spanglish." He provides useful descriptions of the major varieties, from Cuban and Puerto Rican through Mexican and various Central American strains to the traditional varieties found in New Mexico and Louisiana that date back to the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, respectively. Each profile contains a concise historical sketch of the background of each Spanish-speaking group, current demographic information, its sociolinguistic configurations, and information about the phonetics, morphology, syntax, lexicon, and interactions with English and other varieties of Spanish. This reference for teachers, scholars, students, and interested bystanders is a testimony to the vitality and legitimacy of the Spanish language in the United States. It will be of value in courses on Spanish in the United States, Spanish dialectology and sociolinguistics, and teaching Spanish to heritage speakers.