The Spanish language of New Mexico and southern Colorado: A linguistic atlas is a regional linguistic atlas based on a comprehensive Spanish dialectological investigation. Its descriptions of the geographic distribution of lexical items in New Mexican Spanish are presented in clearly illustrated, well-organized sets of maps and tables. The technical explanations of the linguistic material accommodate the lay audience while meeting the expectations of more specialized readers.

The book is organized into four parts. Part 1, “The study of New Mexican Spanish,” places the work in the context of existing scholarship on the Spanish of New Mexico and defines the territories covered: the northern and southern divisions of New Mexico and the southeast corner of Colorado. The contrasts between the two major Spanish dialects of New Mexico, “Traditional Spanish” and “Border Spanish,” are defined in both cultural and linguistic terms. Issues such as dialect myth, methodological considerations, and the influence of Peninsular Spanish history and culture on the Spanish of New Mexico are addressed in the four chapters of Part 1. Part 2, “The formation of Traditional New Mexican Spanish,” addresses the historical circumstances that influenced the development of the regional dialect(s). Chs. 5 and 6 describe the direct influence of other Spanish varieties on the Spanish of New Mexico, most notably those of Spain and the Caribbean. Ch. 7 focuses on the role of Nahuatl, a Uto-Aztecan language of Central Mexico, and its influence on New Mexican Spanish. The influence of Nahuatl is emphasized in order to point out the largely Mexican Spanish origins of Traditional New Mexican Spanish, dispelling popular myths that romanticize the dialect as a direct linguistic descendant of Golden Age Spain.

In Part 3 Garland and Vigil describe the features that define Traditional New Mexican Spanish in light of social and geographical circumstances. These include (i) forms unique to Traditional Spanish as a result of centuries of isolation, (ii) the contribution of local indigenous languages, (iii) the contribution of English in the form of Anglicisms, and (iv) the current influence of Mexican Spanish. Each of these topics is covered in turn in Chs. 8 through 11. Part 4 discusses the present situation and the future of New Mexican Spanish. Chs. 12 through 15 address the inexorable processes of language change and language attrition, in which the abundance of Anglicisms, the integration of standard Spanish, and the constant influx of Mexican immigration play major roles. Ch. 16, the concluding chapter, is dedicated to the linguistic variation in New Mexican Spanish. The three subdialects highlighted are Río Abajo, The Northeast Dialect, and the West Central dialect.

This book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in a detailed account of New Mexican Spanish for the purposes of scholarly investigation or general inquiry.