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The aim of this paper is to present the social and stylistic variation in the speech prosody of the Spanish of Mérida, Yucatán. Assertive utterances from sociolinguistic interviews and discourse completion tasks are analyzed considering the social variables of age, gender and educational level. The prosodic analysis is carried out within the Autosegmental Metrical model (Pierrehumbert 1980, Ladd 2008) and with the Sp_ToBI labeling conventions (Hualde & Prieto 2015). The results show that this variety of Spanish is characterized by a prominent descent starting from the first tonal peak, the early-peak alignment in some prenuclear positions, and the presence of some non-falling boundary tones. The social and stylistic variation suggests that the last two are features that indicate vernacularity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes Onto4AIR2, an ontology to manage theses from open repositories, this fosters unique and formal definitions of concepts from the Mexican repositories domain in English and Spanish languages, its goal is to support the construction of machine-readable datasets that are semantically labeled for further consultations in educational organizations. The ontology instances are sample data of theses from the National Repository of Mexico, an initiative promoted by the National Council of Science and Technology. The paper describes advantages derived from the formalisms of the ontology, and describes an assessment technique where participants are developers and potential users. Developers followed a competency questions-based approach and determined that the ontology represents questions and answers using its terminology; whereas potential users participated in a satisfaction survey; the results showed a positive perception. At present, the level of the ontology is proof of concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the nuclear configurations of declarative broad focus utterances in Yucatecan Spanish, a Mexican variety spoken in southeast Mexico in contact with Yucatec Maya, from a sociolinguistic perspective. We draw on a corpus of 276 utterances elicited from 16 speakers, eight Maya–Spanish bilinguals (four female/four male) and eight Spanish monolinguals (four female/four male). We particularly concentrate on the roles of bilingualism, gender, and their relationship to local (Hispanic) identity. Although the intonation of Yucatecan Spanish is known to be very different from Central Mexican Spanish, we find in our data a considerable number of contours that Martín Butragueño (2017) refers to as typical "Central Mexican circumflex intonation" (p. 153). What is more, this feature is distributed unevenly among speaker groups in our data. First of all, it is much more frequent in the bilingual than in the monolingual group. We suggest that this is due to the monolinguals' higher degree of identification with the local Spanish language and culture (whereas the bilingual speakers are more oriented toward the Mayan language and culture and less toward the local Spanish ones; see Uth, 2018b). Secondly, as regards gender, there are many sociolinguistic works that suggest that women tend to be less oriented toward local vernaculars than men. Building on that, we argue that a greater decrease of the supraregional circumflex configuration within the monolingual male group than within the monolingual female is to be expected. However, this hypothesis is not confirmed by our data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Born in New Spain, fray Juan Bautista Viseo (b. 1555) authored perhaps a dozen books in Nahuatl, Castilian, and Latin, making him one of the most prolific writers of the colonial period in Mexico. While many are lost, his available texts provide a valuable window into religious conversion efforts in the Spanish monarchy around 1600. This paper investigates his recommendations regarding how priests and members of religious orders ought to use indigenous languages. In the sixteenth-century Spanish territories, Church and Crown officials discussed language strategies on several fronts. This paper also compares Juan Bautista's ideas about language use in Mexico to similar discussions elsewhere in the Spanish kingdoms. Existing scholarship has highlighted parallels in how the Spanish monarchy dealt with Native American and Islamic communities. However, an examination of Juan Bautista's writing, together with that of contemporary churchmen, suggests fundamental differences in the ways that Spanish officials thought about and approached Amerindians and Moriscos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thie main objective of this paper is the conceptual study and characterization of slow journalism from an academic and professional perspective. As a methodological process, a total of 76 files have been analyzed, of which 58 correspond to publications of authors from the academic world and 18 to journalism professionals. Thie publications come from the academic world on information and journalistic quality, on digital journalism and narrative journalism, as emerging journalistic routines with potential and creative dynamics in the media sector. Thie other part of the analysis corresponds to 18 professional journalism experts. Among the most outstanding results is the preeminence of the academic world when it comes to studying the phenomenon, given that among those who practice journalism there is less production of works in this regard compared to those coming from the university environment. Also in academia there is a greater profusion of denominations to refer to the phenomenon in Spanish, although both in academia and in the journalistic profession itself the most commonly used term is the Anglo-Saxon term slow journalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the findings of the Neuropsychological Norms for the U.S.-Mexico Border Region in Spanish (NP-NUMBRS) Project and offers a roadmap for future research. The NP-NUMBRS project represents the largest and most comprehensive co-normed neuropsychological battery to date for native Spanish-speaking healthy adults from the U.S. (California/Arizona)-Mexico borderland region (N = 254; ages 19–60 years). These norms provide demographic adjustments for tests across numerous domains (i.e., verbal fluency, processing speed, attention/working memory, executive function, episodic memory [learning and delayed recall], visuospatial, and fine motor skills). This project: 1) shows that the NP-NUMBRS norms consistently outperformed previously published norms for English-speaking non-Hispanic (White and African-American) adults in identifying impairment; 2) explores the role of Spanish-English bilingualism in test performance; and 3) provides support for the diagnostic validity of these norms in detecting HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment. Study limitations include the limited assessment of sociocultural variables and generalizability (e.g., other Latina/o populations, age limit [19 − 60 years]). Future research is needed to: 1) investigate these norms with U.S.-dwelling Spanish-speakers of non-Mexican heritage and other clinical subpopulations; 2) expand coverage of cognitive domains (e.g. language, visuospatial); 3) develop large normative datasets for children and older Latina/o populations; 4) examine how sociocultural factors impact performance (e.g., bilingualism, acculturation); 5) investigate these norms' diagnostic and ecological validity; and 6) develop norms for neurocognitive change across time. It is hoped that the NP-NUMBRS norms will aid researchers and clinicians working with U.S.-dwelling Spanish-speakers from the U.S.-Mexico borderland to conduct research and evidence-based neuropsychological evaluations in a more culturally responsive and ethical manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper describes the methodology and sample characteristics of the Neuropsychological Norms for the U.S.-Mexico Border Region in Spanish (NP-NUMBRS) Project, which aimed to generate demographically-adjusted norms for a battery of neuropsychological tests in this population. The sample consisted of 254 healthy Spanish-speakers, ages 19-60 years, recruited from the U.S.-Mexico border regions of Arizona (n = 102) and California (n = 152). Participants completed a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery assessing multiple domains (verbal fluency, speed of information processing, attention/working memory, executive function, learning and memory, visual-spatial skills and fine motor skills). Fluency in both Spanish and English was assessed with performance-based measures. Other culturally-relevant data on educational, social, and language background were obtained via self-report. Demographic influences on test performances were modeled using fractional polynomial equations that allow consideration of linear and non-linear effects. There were no significant demographic differences between participants tested in Arizona and California. Age and gender were similar across education ranges. Two thirds of the sample were Spanish dominant and the remainder were considered bilingual. Individual articles in this Special Issue detail the generation of demographically adjusted T-scores for the various tests in the battery as well as an exploration of bilingualism effects. Norms developed through the NP-NUMBRS project stand to improve the diagnostic accuracy of neuropsychological assessment in Spanish-speaking young-to-middle-aged adults living in the U.S.-Mexico border region. Application of the present norms to other groups should be done with caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students from Mexico, ranging from elementary to university levels, regularly commute across the United States-Mexico border (physically and digitally) to attend class. These individuals are known as transfronterizos/as/istas, terms stemming from the Spanish word for "cross-border" that highlights their bicultural experiences. They are characterized by dual citizenship, frequent travel across a borderland geography, and fluid identities. The unique experience of toggling and acquiring knowledge and experiences from different countries constitutes a distinct identity and movement. Transfronterizos legally cross the border in both directions for various reasons, including for work, healthcare, to escape violence, and seek opportunities; however, the primary aim of this paper is to investigate the occurrence, rationale, and perspectives of cross-border students. What circumstances cause them to cross the border in order to go to school? How does the digital and physical commute affect learning and identity? Are teachers and administrators aware of the challenges and opportunities playing out in their classrooms, virtual and otherwise? These questions are addressed and contextualized through secondary literature and primary interviews with transfronterizos who commute across the border to attend school. The article concludes with a call for more research and policy focused on bilingual education, transparency, empathy, mobility, and an expanded spectrum of identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper we will account for the semantic composition of a productive class of predicates in Mexican Spanish formed by lexical verbs that combine with a defective morphosyntactic clitic. Our analysis is that le corresponds to a lexical affix that is syntactically analysed as a defective High Appl head that selects for intransitive roots or intransitivized verbal bases, and projects a LeP. Semantically, le encodes an intensive meaning and imposes certain restrictions on the specific event schemas denoted by the V it may combine with. We show that le modifies the selected event by classifying it as an Action; and, in addition, the whole modified event may intersectively combine with a locus or goal property denoted by an external locative or oblique topic adjunct. Le is not an argument of the predicate, and therefore can be associated neither with a referential nor with a coreferential interpretation, but is not expletive either. This paper is relevant for showing how morphosyntax feeds semantics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper studies the singular or plural agreement between Spanish verb haber with existential meaning and its plural argument, in 108 interviews collected in Mexico City as a part of a sociolinguistic corpus structured by age, gender and educational level. All relevant data (633) are considered. For the analysis, the proposed methodology in the "Project for the sociolinguistic study of Spanish from Spain and from America (PrESEEa)" is followed, using a wide range of linguistic and social variables. The results are subjected to rigorous statistical analysis and compared with those obtained in other studies. The singular/plural alternative has received considerable attention in the field of study of linguistic variation in Spanish. Mexico City Spanish is grouped with other conservative areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our paper we tackle the topic of the knowledge of Mexican Spanish vocabulary through several types of dictionaries registering it. We make an historical overview recalling the impact of Spanish on the autochthonous people, as well as some remarks on the influence of the Castillian norm, as the leading norm, on Mexican Spanish. We also offer points of analysis for the knowledge of the privative and we analyze the theoretical tendencies of actual lexicography in registering Mexican Spanish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the linguistic and sociolinguistic distribution of future forms (morphological -FM- or periphrastic variants -FP-) in 1519 examples from 36 speakers, a fraction in the materials included in the Sociolinguistic corpus of Mexico City. Main results are three: 1) even though FM is still alive in Mexico City, its use is residual in several ways; 2) more significant variables are referred to the sort of variation between forms, temporal distance, epistemic character, presence of a negative domain, school years and age, among others; 3) the process -a change from below- is in its last steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the implementation of an ambitious bilingual instructional programme in the P'urhepecha-speaking region of Michoacán state in Mexico, the Meseta Tarasca. A curriculum of indigenous language preservation and cultural affirmation, overturning the previous Spanish-only programme, has been developed by a group of indigenous teachers in two P'urhepecha elementary schools, ‘Miguel Hidalgo’ of San Isidro and ‘Benito Juárez’ in the neighbouring village of Uringuitiro. Today, the P'urhepecha language is the nucleus of the curriculum. With the previous curriculum largely discredited, the bilingual teachers embarked on a project that would both provide instruction to children in a language they understand, and contribute to the preservation of their indigenous language, which in these communities, in all cases, is children's first language (L1). Being cognizant of the importance of learning Spanish as a second language, a major current planning and curriculum design priority is to find a way to integrate Spanish language instruction into the academic subject areas in accordance with current models of content-based second language teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]