ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the manifestations of the emerging theories of border sociolinguistics through studies of Spanish in the US Southwest. It considers the role of the border in early dialectological studies of Southwest Spanish. The chapter demonstrates how the border has been reinserted within the dialectological study of Spanish in the Southwest. Dialectological studies of Spanish in the Southwest began by squeezing out the influence of the border, opting instead to focus on the remote and 'untainted' varieties of the language. Lillian Gorman studies mixed Mexican-nuevo-mexicano households in New Mexico and offers a penetrating qualitative analysis of the sociolinguistic dynamics that are present in family life. Her findings suggest that rather than competition and absorption, the contact between Traditional Spanish and Border Spanish can result in transculturation. While some studies suggested that the border sharpens differences in the perceptions of varieties of Spanish, other studies showed that the border can also soften those differences.
