The Dialects of Spanish

Book excerpt: Spanish is one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world, and there is extensive lexical variation between its numerous dialects. This book, the first of its kind, focuses uniquely on the origin, diversity, and geographic distribution of portions of the lexicon. The hundreds of words analysed – related to food, clothing, vehicles, and certain miscellaneous items – provide a representative study not only of the many etymological routes by which they have entered the Spanish language over time, but of the considerable diatopic variety which they display across the different Spanish-speaking nations and regions. Representative maps are provided to illustrate several instances of these astounding dialectal differences. This variation is also discussed in terms of its evident link to the historical developments of Spanish. Providing a compelling overview of lexical variety in the Spanish-speaking world, this book will interest anyone who wants to delve into the richness of this fascinating language.