When this book was first published in 1982, there were approximately eleven million Spanish-speaking people in the United States. This volume constitutes a comprehensive and accessible set of readings on the Spanish spoken in the United States. The authors examine various aspects of language structure and language use by the American Chicano, Puerto Rican and Cuban populations. Chapters include descriptions of language variation, reports of language contact and language change and analyses of the ethnography of language use in bilingual communities with particular emphasis on code-switching. Several chapters explore the educational implications of language structure and language use. This collection will be of interest to a wide range of linguists, anthropologists and sociologists. Bilingual educators and language planners in bilingual communities will find it of particular value and students of sociolinguistics will discover in it the main trends of sociolinguistic analysis usefully exemplified.

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.

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.

The Spanish Language in the United States addresses the rootedness of Spanish in the United States, its racialization, and Spanish speakers’ resistance against racialization. This novel approach challenges the "foreigner" status of Spanish and shows that racialization victims do not take their oppression meekly. It traces the rootedness of Spanish since the 1500s, when the Spanish empire began the settlement of the new land, till today, when 39 million U.S. Latinos speak Spanish at home. Authors show how whites categorize Spanish speaking in ways that denigrate the non-standard language habits of Spanish speakers—including in schools—highlighting ways of overcoming racism.

An American Language is a tour de force that revolutionizes our understanding of U.S. history. It reveals the origins of Spanish as a language binding residents of the Southwest to the politics and culture of an expanding nation in the 1840s. As the West increasingly integrated into the United States over the following century, struggles over power, identity, and citizenship transformed the place of the Spanish language in the nation. An American Language is a history that reimagines what it means to be an American—with profound implications for our own time.

Thirteen Chicano scholars draw upon their personal experiences and expertise to paint a vivid, colorful portrait of what it means to be a Chicano. "We have come a long way," says Arnulfo D. Trejo, editor of this volume, "from the time when the Mexicano silently accepted the stereotype drawn of him by the outsider." He identifies himself as a Chicano, and his "promised land" is Aztlán, home of the ancient Aztecs, which now provides spiritual unity and a vision of the future for Chicanos. In these twelve original compositions, says Trejo, "our purpose is not to talk to ourselves, but to open a dialogue among all concerned people." The personal reactions to Chicano women's struggles, political experiences, bicultural education and history provide a wealth of information for laymen as well as scholars. In addition, the book provides the most complete recorded definition of the Chicano Movement, what it has accomplished, and its goals for the future. Contributors: Fausto Avendaño Roberto R. Bacalski-Martínez David Ballesteros José Antonio Burciaga Rudolph O. de la Garza Ester Gallegos y Chávez Sylvia Alicia Gonzales Manuel H. Guerra Guillermo Lux Martha A. Ramos Reyes Ramos Carlos G. Vélez-Ibáñez Maurilio E. Vigil