Spanish Language use, Maintenance, and Shift in the United States

Abstract

The United States has a formidable presence in the Spanish-speaking world. Various social factors contribute to whether or not a language is maintained in a community. This chapter provides a discussion on measuring language maintenance and shift, and a discussion of Spanish language use in different areas of the United States, first at the city and county level, then considering large, multi-state zones where the Spanish language is undergoing different levels of growth, maintenance, or loss. As immigrant populations move to new linguistic communities, the invariable result is a shift away from the immigrant language to the dominant language in the community. Given the widespread use of the Spanish language through the country, the reality is that communities of heritage speakers can be found in almost every corner of the nation. These communities are as diverse as they are ubiquitous.