Georgetown Studies in Spanish Linguistics series – serie

"Sonido y sentido" lifts the learning of Spanish pronunciation for American English-speaking students to a new level, with support of an accompanying CD. Written in Spanish by a native speaker who is a leading figure in the field of Spanish phonology, this introduction to Spanish phonetics and phonology will improve both the pronunciation and understanding of spoken Spanish by demonstrating the specific ways in which the sound pattern of Spanish differs from English. Notable in that it explains the "why" of pronunciation with specific information on how the sounds of Spanish are organized - it also highlights the most important differences among varieties within the Spanish-speaking world. Together, the book and CD emphasize the sounds and sound combinations that are most problematic for English speakers learning Spanish. In addition to a clear theoretical analysis of Spanish phonology, "Sonido y sentido" introduces the fundamental concepts of language, Spanish language, and the teaching and learning of phonetics - Spanish phonetics in particular.Utilizing the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) throughout the text to make for more precise phonetic descriptions, Guitart also discusses the relation between both the physical and psychological aspects of pronunciation. "Sonido y sentido" contains exercises, both transcription and pronunciation drills, and each chapter concludes with a section, "Para pensar", which tests comprehension of the concepts presented. Answers to the "Para pensar" exercises appear in a separate appendix. A glossary of technical terms, a subject index, and a basic bibliography of Spanish phonetics and phonology round out this fresh and rewarding contribution to learning the Spanish language.

Thirty-three million people in the United States speak some variety of Spanish, making it the second most used language in the country. Some of these people are recent immigrants from many different countries who have brought with them the linguistic traits of their homelands, while others come from families who have lived in this country for hundreds of years. John M. Lipski traces the importance of the Spanish language in the United States and presents an overview of the major varieties of Spanish that are spoken there. "Varieties of Spanish in the United States" provides - in a single volume - useful descriptions of the distinguishing characteristics of the major varieties, from Cuban and Puerto Rican, through Mexican and various Central American strains, to the traditional varieties dating back to the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries found in New Mexico and Louisiana.Each profile includes a concise sketch of the historical background of each Spanish-speaking group; current demographic information; its sociolinguistic configurations; and, information about the phonetics, morphology, syntax, lexicon, and each group's interactions with English and other varieties of Spanish.Lipski also outlines the scholarship that documents the variation and richness of these varieties, and he probes the phenomenon popularly known as 'Spanglish'. The distillation of an entire academic career spent investigating and promoting the Spanish language in the United States, this valuable reference for teachers, scholars, students, and interested bystanders serves as a testimony to the vitality and legitimacy of the Spanish language in the United States. It is recommended for courses on Spanish in the United States, Spanish dialectology and sociolinguistics, and teaching Spanish to heritage speakers.

Spanish Phonology offers a comprehensive analysis of a variety of crucial issues in the phonology and morphophonology of various dialects of Spanish including syllable types, syllabification algorithms, syllable repair mechanisms, syllable mergers, nasal assimilation, obstruent vocalization and spirantization, obstruent neutralization, diphthongs and hiatuses, glide formation, onset strengthening, aspiration, rhotics, velarization, plural formation, word classes, and diminutives. Written from the perspective of optimality theory and with syllabic structure at its core, this volume highlights recent advances in Spanish phonology. The book includes margin notes to highlight key points and a glossary of constraints. Each chapter includes study questions, lists of the most influential sources for each chapter, and topics for further research. Spanish Phonology is intended as core reading for advanced phonology courses in Spanish linguistics, general linguistics, and related areas such as bilingualism, language variation, language acquisition, and speech and hearing.

"El espanol en contacto con otras lenguas" is the first comprehensive historical, social, and linguistic overview of Spanish in contact with other languages in all of its major contexts - in Spain, the United States, and Latin America. In this significant contribution to the field of Hispanic linguistics, Carol A. Klee and Andrew Lynch explore the historical and social factors that have shaped contact varieties of the Spanish language, synthesizing the principle arguments and theories about language contact, and examining linguistic changes in Spanish phonology, morphology and syntax, and pragmatics. Individual chapters analyze particular contact situations: in Spain, contact with Basque, Catalan, Valencian, and Galician; in Mexico, Central, and South America, contact with Nahuatl, Maya, Quechua, Aimara, and Guarani; in the Southern Cone, contact with other principle European languages such as Portuguese, Italian, English, German, and Danish; and, in the United States, contact with English.A separate chapter explores issues of creolization in the Philippines and the Americas and highlights the historical influence of African languages on Spanish, primarily in the Caribbean and Equatorial Guinea. Written in Spanish, this detailed synthesis of wide-ranging research will be a valuable resource for scholars of Hispanic linguistics, language contact, and sociolinguistics.

This rich textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to the principal concepts and thematic areas of Spanish pragmatics. It is aimed at advanced students of Spanish - upper-level undergraduates and beginning graduate students - who need to hone their language skills for contextually sensitive use of the language. Written entirely in Spanish, with Spanish examples, this volume introduces basic pragmatics, methods of analysis, and new thematic areas such as language and the press and globalization. Theoretical explanations combine with practical exercises in each chapter to help students master the subtleties of language use.

There is growing interest in heritage language learners - individuals who have a personal or familial connection to a nonmajority language. Spanish learners represent the largest segment of this population in the United States. In this comprehensive volume, experts offer an interdisciplinary overview of research on Spanish as a heritage language in the United States. They also address the central role of education within the field. Contributors offer a wealth of resources for teachers while proposing future directions for scholarship.

Fonologia generativa contemporanea de la lengua espanola, in its extensively revised and updated second edition, shows how recent theoretical and methodological advances have enhanced our understanding of Spanish phonology. This comprehensive book, written completely in Spanish, introduces the latest concepts and principles of phonological analysis and applies these theories to the study of the Spanish language. This new edition includes new chapters on intonation and laboratory phonology and greatly expands the coverage of optimality theory. Exercises and further readings at the end of each chapter, as well as the volume's glossary of linguistic terminology, facilitate effective classroom use. This book is an essential reference for scholars of Spanish linguistics and will be required reading for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of Spanish.

Much recent scholarship has sought to identify the linguistic and social factors that favor the expression or omission of subject pronouns in Spanish. This volume brings together leading experts on the topic of language variation in Spanish to provide a panoramic view of research trends, develop probabilistic models of grammar, and investigate the impact of language contact on pronoun expression. The book consists of three sections. The first studies the distributional patterns and conditioning forces on subject pronoun expression in four monolingual varieties - Dominican, Colombian, Mexican, and Peninsular - and makes cross-dialectal comparisons. In the second section, experts explore Spanish in contact with English, Maya, Catalan, and Portuguese to determine the extent to which each language influences this syntactic variable. The final section examines the acquisition of variable subject pronoun expression among monolingual and bilingual children as well as adult second language learners.

This thoroughly updated second edition provides a clear and comprehensive overview of sociolinguistics and the pragmatics of oral communication in Spanish. While maintaining the same structure as the first edition, it includes revised "Ejercicios de reflexion" and new comprehension checks at the end of each chapter, along with numerous bibliographic references throughout, enhancing its use as a classroom text. Among the significant revisions are new sections on corpus linguistics and on statistical modeling programs for studying linguistic variables, an expanded chapter on the study of linguistic attitudes with special attention to Spanish in the United States, greater attention to the relation of pragmatics to sociolinguistics, including coverage of verbal politeness and forms of address, and updated information on Spanglish and on the teaching of Spanish as a heritage language.

This thoroughly updated second edition provides a clear and comprehensiveoverview of sociolinguistics and the pragmatics of oral communication in Spanish. While maintaining the same structure as the first edition, it includes revised "Ejercicios de Reflexion" along with new comprehension checks at the end of each chapter, enhancing its use as a classroom text. Among the significant revisions are more attention to the relation of pragmatics to sociolinguistics, a new section on applied sociolinguistics and the teaching of Spanish as a heritage language, updated information on statistical modeling programs for studying linguistic variables, expanded coverage of the overt versus null pronominal subject variable, a new emphasis on pragmatics in chapter 5, and a new section on Spanglish.

Despite the significant presence of Cuban immigrants in the US, current research on Cuban Spanish linguistics remains underexplored, most crucially its ramifications to areas such as language contact and change. New analyses are desperately called for given the increasing interest in this area of research. The present volume covers these existing lacunae on Cuban Spanish dialectology by providing a state-of-the-art collection of articles from different theoretical perspectives and linguistic areas, including phonological and phonetic variation, morphosyntactic approaches, sociolinguistic perspectives, and the acquisition of Cuban Spanish as a heritage language. The book is highly valuable to students and scholars interested in Hispanic linguistics and Cuban Spanish dialectology.

Despite the significant presence of Cuban immigrants in the US, current research on Cuban Spanish linguistics remains underexplored, most crucially its ramifications to areas such as language contact and change. New analyses are desperately called for given the increasing interest in this area of research. The present volume covers these existing lacunae on Cuban Spanish dialectology by providing a state-of-the-art collection of articles from different theoretical perspectives and linguistic areas, including phonological and phonetic variation, morphosyntactic approaches, sociolinguistic perspectives, and the acquisition of Cuban Spanish as a heritage language. The book is highly valuable to students and scholars interested in Hispanic linguistics and Cuban Spanish dialectology.

The first volume to explore the effectiveness of instructional methods for college-level Spanish heritage learnersIn the United States, heritage language speakers represent approximately 22 percent of the population and 29 percent of the school-age population. Until now, though, few studies have examined the outcomes of classroom teaching of heritage languages.Outcomes of University Spanish Heritage Language Instruction in the United States sheds light on the effectiveness of specific instructional methods for college-level heritage learners. The first of its kind, this volume addresses how receiving heritage classroom instruction affects Spanish speakers on multiple levels, including linguistic, affective, attitudinal, social, and academic outcomes. Examining outcomes of instruction in the Spanish language—the most common heritage language in the United States—provides insights that can be applied to instruction in other heritage languages.These thematically linked empirical studies and their pedagogical implications build a foundation for heritage language instruction and directions for future research. Scholars and educators alike will welcome this volume.