In all languages, humans frequently use linguistic combinations called phraseological units (PUs) in communicative acts. These PUs are characterized by their institutionalized fixation and, in many cases, by their opacity. Traditionally, the work on phraseology has placed the emphasis on the total fixing of components and structures of verbal expressions. Variation in PUs is currently an uncontested fact and has been extensively studied and analyzed. In addition, in the case of languages like Spanish, English, French, spoken in many countries, new creations or diatopic variants arise. While these diatopic expressions have been collected or analyzed in their territory of influence, no comprehensive collection showing all the expressions and contrastive analysis to observe the similarities and differences between these diatopic creations with all their idiosyncratic and cultural references have been made so far. The content of this volume deals with numerous linguistic, lexicographic and translational problems in the context of language variation in general, as well as specifically related to diatopic variation. The aim is to make progress in these challenging and highly interesting areas which still pose many comprehension and translation problems.

Clandestine Crossings delivers an in-depth description and analysis of the experiences of working-class Mexican migrants at the beginning of the twenty-first century as they enter the United States surreptitiously with the help of paid guides known as coyotes. Drawing on ethnographic observations of crossing conditions in the borderlands of South Texas, as well as interviews with migrants, coyotes, and border officials, Spener details how migrants and coyotes work together to evade apprehension by U.S. law enforcement authorities as they cross the border. In so doing, he seeks to dispel many of the myths that misinform public debate about undocumented immigration to the United States. The hiring of a coyote, Spener argues, is one of the principal strategies that Mexican migrants have developed in response to intensified U.S. border enforcement. Although this strategy is typically portrayed in the press as a sinister organized-crime phenomenon, Spener argues that it is better understood as the resistance of working-class Mexicans to an economic model and set of immigration policies in North America that increasingly resemble an apartheid system. In the absence of adequate employment opportunities in Mexico and legal mechanisms for them to work in the United States, migrants and coyotes draw on their social connections and cultural knowledge to stage successful border crossings in spite of the ever greater dangers placed in their path by government authorities.

The Enciclopedia de Linguistica Hispánica provides comprehensive coverage of the major and subsidiary fields of Spanish linguistics. Entries are extensively cross-referenced and arranged alphabetically within three main sections: Part 1 covers linguistic disciplines, approaches and methodologies. Part 2 brings together the grammar of Spanish, including subsections on phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. Part 3 brings together the historical, social and geographical factors in the evolution of Spanish. Drawing on the expertise of a wide range of contributors from across the Spanish-speaking world the Enciclopedia de Linguistica Hispánica is an indispensable reference for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Spanish, and for anyone with an academic or professional interest in the Spanish language/Spanish linguistics.