This is a university textbook that looks at virtually all aspects of the
Spanish language: the sound system, inflectional and derivational
morphology, syntax, the language's history from spoken Latin to the present
day, varieties of Spanish throughout the world, sociolinguistic variation,
Spanish bilingualism and creole
Spanish. Each chapter contains detailed linguistic analysis, together with
numerous illustrations, and is followed by exercises or a list of
seminar/essay topics. Few if any existing volumes contain such a variety of
information about Spanish. The first part of the book covers the 'core'
areas of linguistics - phonology, morphology and syntax - and the focus
here is on Castilian Spanish. In the second part the scope is broadened to
include Spanish as spoken in the rest of the Peninsula, the Canary Islands,
Latin America, the USA and the
Philippines. The final chapter contains, among other things, descriptions
of the Spanish-based creoles Palenquero and Chabacano.
The book is designed to appeal both to linguists and students of
Spanish. Thus the approach is descriptive rather than theoretical. Ideally,
the book should enable its readers to place their practical knowledge of
Spanish within a broader, more scientific framework, although it will also
be of interest to those who are unfamiliar with Spanish.