This linguistic exploration delves into the language as it is spoken by the Hispanic population of New Mexico and southern Colorado.

This book, continuously in print since 1983, has become a classic Spanish reference book, widely used in classrooms across the United States. Linguist and folklorist Rubén Cobos, now in his nineties, has been diligently working on revisions for the past decade. Much expanded—the number of pages has increased by seventy—this revised edition will assume its place as the most authoritative reference on the archaic dialect of Spanish spoken in this region.

New Mexico's Spanish legacy has informed the cultural traditions of one of the last states to join the union for more than four hundred years, or before the alluring capital of Santa Fe was founded in 1610. The fame the region gained from artist Georgia O'Keefe, writers Lew Wallace and D.H. Lawrence and pistolero Billy the Kid has made New Mexico an international tourist destination. But the Spanish annals also have enriched the Land of Enchantment with the factual stories of a superhero knight, the greatest queen in history, a saintly gent whose coffin periodically rises from the depths of the earth and a mysterious ancient map. Join author Ray John de Aragón as he reveals hidden treasure full of suspense and intrigue.

The Spanish language and Hispanic culture have left indelible impressions on the landscape of the southwestern United States. The role of cultural and geographical influence has had dramatic effects on the sustainability of the Spanish language and also its development and change. In a linguistic exploration that delves into a language as it is spoken by the Hispanic population of New Mexico and southern Colorado, historical substantiation shows the condition of New Mexican Spanish and what the future holds for its speakers. With two major dialect regions, one in the north and one in the south, detailed maps illustrate the geography of linguistic variation for the Spanish spoken in the region, whose generations of speakers were not only influenced by other languages, but also developed their own variations of words and structure out of need or innovation. This diverse language has evolved since its origin in Spain with influences that include Native American languages, exposure to English, and Mexican immigration in the twentieth century. Snippets of New Mexican folklore and folk etymology give voice to that evolution. Though this work doesn't attempt to save the New Mexican Spanish language, Bills and Vigil detail the effects of inevitable encroachment that intensified during the twentieth century and seriously threaten the continued viability of this unique dialect.

The sacred hymns of New Mexico compiled by the expert on church literature in a handsome bilingual volume.

This collection of original papers presents current research on linguistic aspects of the Spanish used in the United States. The authors examine such topics as language maintenance and language shift, language choice, the bilingual's discourse patterns, varieties of Spanish used in the United States, and oral proficiency testing of bilingual speakers. In view of the fact that Hispanics constitute the largest linguistic minority in the United States, the pioneering work in the area of sociolinguistic issues in the U.S. Spanish presented here is of great importance.