Traditional New Mexican Spanish: The Past, Present and Future.

Abstract

The Traditional New Mexican Spanish (TNMS) dialect is on the verge of extinction, primarily due to the sociocultural changes that have taken place in New Mexico in the last century. As its time of usefulness begins to fade, there is an increased need to showcase the value of language contact, language change, and language documentation in the development of this unique variety. The richness of its history and the unparalleled features portrayed in TNMS could be lost forever if not for the work of several researchers who have invested in studying its characteristics. In this chapter, we argue that increased urgency and dedication to the task of documenting these features is necessary in order to preserve data regarding not only this dialect, but also to all varieties of Spanish that find themselves in the same situation. As older generations begin to die and younger ones eschew the dialect in favor of others, the ability to document the features will decrease and leave this history incomplete. Understanding the historical development of a given dialect and sociological factors revolving around it will give researchers deeper understanding into how isolated dialects develop and disintegrate. The decline in the use of TNMS is inevitable. The motivation to document it while speakers still exist is both pressing and urgent, as it happens with other varieties of the language. Without resources dedicated to preservation of its sounds and features, this rich, linguistic treasure of the American Southwest will fade into history, and speakers of all dialects who might have benefited from its study will lose valuable tools for evaluating the future of their own dialects.