This book offers a diversification model of transplanted languages that facilitates the exploration of external factors and internal changes. The general context is the New World and the variety that unfolded in the Central Highlands and the Gulf of Mexico, herein identified as Mexican Colonial Spanish (MCS). Linguistic corpora provide the evidence of (re)transmission, diffusion, metalinguistic awareness, and select focused variants. The tridimensional approach highlights language data from authentic colonial documents which are connected to socio-historical reliefs at particular periods or junctions, which explain language variation and the dynamic outcome leading to change. From the Second Letter of Hernán Cortés (Seville 1522) to the decades preceding Mexican Independence (1800-1821) this book examines the variants transplanted from the peninsular tree into Mesoamerican lands: leveling of sibilants of late medieval Spanish, direct object (masc. sing.] pronouns LO and LE, pronouns of address (vos, tu, vuestra merced plus plurals), imperfect subjunctive endings in -SE and -RA), and Amerindian loans. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of variants derived from the peninsular tree show a gradual process of attrition and recovery due to their saliency in the new soil, where they were identified with ways of speaking and behaving like Spanish speakers from the metropolis. The variants analyzed in MCS may appear in other regions of the Spanish-speaking New World, where change may have proceeded at varying or similar rates. Additional variants are classified as optimal residual (e.g. dizque) and popular residual (e.g. vide). Both types are derived from the medieval peninsular tree, but the former are vital across regions and social strata while the latter may be restricted to isolated and / or marginal speech communities. Each of the ten chapters probes into the pertinent variants of MCS and the stage of development by century. Qualitative and quantitative analyses reveal the trails followed by each select variant from the years of the Second Letter (1520-1522) of Hernán Cortés to the end of the colonial period. The tridimensional historical sociolinguistic model offers explanations that shed light on the multiple causes of change and the outcome that eventually differentiated peninsular Spanish tree from New World Spanish. Focused-attrition variants were selected because in the process of transplantation, speakers assigned them a social meaning that eventually differentiated the European from the Latin American variety. The core chapters include narratives of both major historical events (e.g. the conquest of Mexico) and tales related to major language change and identity change (e.g. the socio-political and cultural struggles of Spanish speakers born in the New World). The core chapters also describe the strategies used by prevailing Spanish speakers to gain new speakers among the indigenous and Afro-Hispanic populations such as the appropriation of public posts where the need arose to file documents in both Spanish and Nahuatl, forced and free labor in agriculture, construction, and the textile industry. The examples of optimal and popular residual variants illustrate the trends unfolded during three centuries of colonial life. Many of them have passed the test of time and have survived in the present Mexican territory; others are also vital in the U.S. Southwestern states that once belonged to Mexico. The reader may also identify those that are used beyond the area of Mexican influence. Residual variants of New World Spanish not only corroborate the homogeneity of Spanish in the colonies of the Western Hemisphere but the speech patterns that were unwrapped by the speakers since the beginning of colonial times: popular and cultured Spanish point to diglossia in monolingual and multilingual communities. After one hundred years of study in linguistics, this book contributes to the advancement of newer conceptualization of diachrony, which is concerned with the development and evolution through history. The additional sociolinguistic dimension offers views of social significant and its thrilling links to social movements that provoked a radical change of identity. The amplitude of the diversification model is convenient to test it in varied contexts where transplantation occurred.

Improve your spoken Spanish from home with 101 real-world conversations in intermediate Mexican Spanish.Real Mexicans don't speak like your textbook... so it's no wonder you struggle with the slang and expressions of spoken Mexican Spanish! This book fixes that. For the first time, you'll learn to move beyond beginner level, and speak Spanish in the real world! With 101 authentic conversations in intermediate Mexican Spanish, and a brand-new story in this edition, you'll become confident in the words, phrases and expressions you need to communicate like a local.101 Conversations in Mexican Spanish transports you into a real-world, brand-new story that unfolds between eight Mexican characters, told by the people themselves. Over 15,000 words of real Mexican Spanish, you'll immerse yourself in a gripping Mexican drama and get an education in natural Spanish in the process. Here's what you'll get:101 conversations in intermediate Mexican Spanish, so you can learn the real Spanish spoken in the street, understand spoken Mexican slang with ease, and have local expressions roll off your tongue more fluentlyOver 15,000 words of dialogue - an unparalleled resource that will immerse you in Spanish, at a level you can understand. You'll learn real spoken Spanish without getting lost or overwhelmedReal, daily spoken Mexican Spanish throughout - it's as if we held up a microphone and recorded the exact words coming out of people's mouths - so you can learn the expressions that real people use on the street (not in textbooks). You'll sound more authentic when you speak and make Spanish-speaking friends more easily.Situational dialogues from typical daily circumstances, so you can prepare yourself to survive realistic Mexican Spanish encounters, in shops, cafés, and on the street, making meeting people second natureConversations that are carefully written to be accessible for intermediate learners (B1-B2 on the CEFR), so you can learn from real, spoken conversations, without having to go through the rollercoaster of difficult conversations with strangersEach conversation is limited to around 15 lines of dialogue (150 words), so you can get that crucial sense of achievement and motivation when you finish each conversation, and say "I actually understood all of that!"Word lists with English definitions in every chapter, so you can get instant translations of any difficult words. This means you can focus on enjoying the story rather than wasting time in a dictionary.Summaries of each conversation which contextualise each dialogue, so you can easily follow the plot and enjoy the story without getting lostCreated by Olly Richards, internationally-renowned language teacher and author, 101 Conversations in Mexican Spanish gives you an experience in real Spanish that you won't find anywhere else. You'll be better prepared for using Spanish in the real world, speak with more confidence, and take a giant leap towards fluency in Spanish!

The world's best-selling phrase book & CD series.

This collection offers a rich sampling of the finest Mexican prose published from 1843 to 1918. Nine short stories appear in their original Spanish text, with expert English translations on each facing page.

An extraordinary retelling of the passionate and tragic love between the conquistador Cortez and the Indian woman Malinalli, his interpreter during his conquest of the Aztecs. Malinalli's Indian tribe has been conquered by the warrior Aztecs. When her father is killed in battle, she is raised by her wisewoman grandmother who imparts to her the knowledge that their founding forefather god, Quetzalcoatl, had abandoned them after being made drunk by a trickster god and committing incest with his sister. But he was determined to return with the rising sun and save her tribe from their present captivity. Wheh Malinalli meets Cortez she, like many, suspects that he is the returning Quetzalcoatl, and assumes her task is to welcome him and help him destroy the Aztec empire and free her people. The two fall passionately in love, but Malinalli gradually comes to realize that Cortez's thirst for conquest is all too human, and that for gold and power, he is willing to destroy anyone, even his own men, even their own love.

This Spanish slang lexicon explains & translates many of the obscure expressions in common usage on Mexican streets today, most of which are not in standard English/Spanish dictionary. (Contains some adult language.)

When political activists rallied for the abolition of bilingual education and even called for the declaration of English as an official language, Mexican Americans and other immigrant groups saw this as an assault on their heritage and civil rights. Because language is such a defining characteristic of Mexican American ethnicity, nearly every policy issue that touches their lives involves language in one way or another. This book offers an overview of some of the central issues in the Mexican American language experience, describing it in terms of both bilingualism and minority status. It is the first book to focus on the historical, social, political, and structural aspects of multiple languages in the Mexican American experience and to address the principles and methods of applied sociolinguistic research in the Mexican American community. Spanish and non-Spanish speakers in the Mexican American community share a common set of social and ethnic bonds. They also share a common experience of bilingualism. As MartA-nez observes, the ideas that have been constructed around bilingualism are as important to understanding the Mexican American language experience as bilingualism itself. Mexican Americans and Language gives students the background they need to respond to the multiple social problems that can result from the language differences that exist in the Mexican American community. By showing students how to go from word to deed (del dicho al hecho), it reinforces the importance of language for their community, and for their own lives and futures.