ABSTRACT
What will be the fate of Northern New Mexican Spanish? At the 1992 Wildflower Festival in Las Vegas, New Mexico, Nasario García of New Mexico Highlands University predicted it will be dead in 30 years: “The tenacity of Northern New Mexican Spanish since the 16th century makes its imminent loss so tragic. We’ve lost many of the old words for lack of use.” No one disputes the continuing decline in traditional New Mexican Spanish-language use and facility, but blame for the loss of language goes around and comes around. Students and teachers blame the parents for not reinforcing Spanish at home; parents first blame their own teachers for punishing them for speaking Spanish, and then their children’s teachers for not instilling the language in the young; former teachers blame the state for forcing them to comply with the Englishonly law; and, finally, the state department of education blames current teachers for not immersing students in Spanish.
