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Spanish Dialectology

Code: 106373
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Spanish Language and Literature OB 3

Contact lecturer

Name :
Assumpció Rost Bagudanch
Email :
assumpcio.rost@uab.cat

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

It is assumed that the basic knowledge in phonetics, phonology, and morphosyntax that is guaranteed by the specific subjects taught in previous courses has been achieved.

Since the student has demonstrated, through obtaining the credits corresponding to the basic and compulsory subjects, that they have acquired the basic competencies, they must be able to express themselves correctly both orally and in writing. For this reason, any spelling and expression errors they may make will result in a decrease in the final grade (0.25 points deducted per error in the assessment tests).

Activities, practical sessions, and papers submitted in the course must be original, and under no circumstances will the total or partial plagiarism of third-party materials published on any medium be admitted. Any submission of non-original material without properly indicating its origin will automatically result in a failure rating (0). A plagiarized work can not be reassessed (cf. Evaluation section).

It is also assumed that students are familiar with the general rules of submission of academic work, so they will be able to apply them. However, if necessary, students should use other specific rules that the teacher may indicate in certain cases. In these cases, these guidelines will be available at Campus Virtual.

Objectives

The main purpose of this subject is to provide an accurate description of the dialectal varieties of Spanish, with special regard to their origins and to the historical and social factors that condition them. The students should be able to recognize the most prominent linguistic characteristics of each of these varieties. Moreover, they are expected to learn and to apply the working methodologies in the field.

Learning outcomes

  1. Analyse inequalities due to sex or gender and gender bias in the field of social-historical knowledge.
  2. Communicate using a non-sexist use of language.
  3. Relate the linguistic norm with other grammatical disciplines.
  4. Learn the necessary skills to carry out discourse analysis of oral and written texts.
  5. To gain theoretical and practical knowledge of the linguistic diversity of Spanish.
  6. Know the current geolectal varieties of Spanish in the world, with special attention to the sociolinguistic varieties of Spanish in America.
  7. Recognise the processes of linguistic change.
  8. Place linguistic changes in their chronological context.
  9. Know the linguistic phenomena according to the social, geographical and stylistic variability of the Spanish language and know how to relate them to the normative.
  10. Learn to use linguistic terminology related to norm and variation accurately.
  11. Acquire techniques and methods of linguistic analysis related to variation.
  12. Solve problems of the Spanish language, and carry out linguistic analysis and commentary, from both a synchronic and historical-comparative perspective.
  13. Identify different theoretical and methodological perspectives in discourse analysis.
  14. Describe and analyse pragmatic variation taking into account verbal, paraverbal and non-verbal communication.
  15. Apply the knowledge and methodological uses of discourse analysis and pragmatics to interpret texts and communicative intentions and argue accordingly.
  16. Acquire knowledge of techniques and methods of dialectal linguistic analysis for their application in the learning and teaching of the Spanish language.
  17. Be able to solve problems related to discourse analysis in professional linguistic situations (political communication, electoral campaigns, business interaction, language teaching, etc.).
  18. Be tolerant of linguistic diversity and richness.
  19. Appreciate the importance of the Pan-Hispanic norm in the international context.
  20. Use discourse analysis to take a critical stance on different social linguistic uses (discourse of power, discourse of gender and sexism, etc.).
  21. Manage databases and Internet sources or materials for the analysis of linguistic variation in Spanish.

Contents

1. Introduction


1.1 The origins of Dialectology. Basic concepts

1.2 Geographic variation in Spanish: origins and evolution


2. Geographical varieties in the Spanish of Spain


2.1 Northern Romance varieties

2.2 Geographic dialects of Spanish

2.2.1 \"Castellano\"

2.2.2 Southern varieties

2.3 Spanish in bilingual areas


3. Geographic varieties in the Spanish of America, Africa and Asia


3.1 Spanish in America

3.2 Spanish in Africa

3.3 Spanish in Asia

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
problem-solving exercices, complete assignments, individual/group study 65 2.6 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 19, 21
theoretical sessions, practical sessions and/or seminars 42 1.68 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 19, 21
programmed tutorials 20 0.8 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 19, 21

A mixed teaching methodology will be used in this subject. It will be organised as follows:

  • Directed activities: they mix both theoretical sessions with classroom exercices (cooperative learning: problem based learning). These activities will take place in the scheduled class time. If possible, it will be of great interest to organise a seminar taught by an external expert. Classroom evaluation activities (exams) are also included here.
  • Supervised activities: individual or group meetings (tutorials), devoted to solving doubts or to the supervision of mandated tasks.
  • Autonomous activities: they include both time devoted to individual study and to the completion of assignments (particularly, a final work employing the project based learning and the research based learning methodologies).


Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Final work 30% 20 0.8 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
Test 2 35% 1.5 0.06 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 19, 21
Test 1 35% 1.5 0.06 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 19, 21

ASSESMENT SYSTEM


The assessment system is continuous, and it implies the completion of the following tasks:

  • 2 partial exams (35 % + 35 %, recoverable activity)
  • 1 final essay (pair work or reduced group work) which entails the application of the fieldwork in Geolinguistics (30 %, not recoverable), which will imply two deliveries: (a) the creation of geolinguistic maps, and (b) the linguistic analysis of the phenomenon (20%).


The professor will explain the characteristics and procedures for completing these activities correctly in the first class session. The most important data for them will be available from the first week on Campus Virtual. The procedure for the revision of the obtained marks will also be indicated in Campus Virtual.

Erasmus students who request an advance in the date of an exam must provide a written document from their university that justifies the need for this change.

This subject does not incorporate a single assessment.


Note 1: The students who do not take part in or hand in more than 30% of the activities will be considered 'not assessable'.

Note 2: Orthography errors will be penalized with 0.25 points each in the activity's score. On the other hand, participation in extra activities suggested by the teacher will be rewarded with 0.1 points each on the final grade of the course (only in case the student has passed the exams).


RECOVERY METHOD

The recovery of the subject is possible when a grade lower than 5 has been obtained. As detailed above, only the partial exams are recoverable activities. The recovery assessment method will consist of an exam (corresponding to the failed part) whose mark will replace the previously failed exams in the final grade of the course.

Only the students who have completed tasks that amount to at least 66% of the total mark (2/3 out of the total amount of the tasks) can take part in the recovery process. The teacher will indicate the exact date for the revision of the marks through Moodle.


PLAGIARISM

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.


ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)

This course allows the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies exclusively for data mapping or the use of computer scripts. The use of translation must be authorized by the instructor. The final result must reflect a significant contribution from the student in the analysis and personal reflection. If AI is used, the student must (i) identify the parts generated using AI; (ii) specify the tools used; and (iii) include a critical reflection on how these tools influenced the process and the final result of the activity.

Lack of transparency regarding the use of AI in the assessable activity will be considered academic dishonesty and will result in a grade of 0, which cannot be retaken, or in more severe penalties in serious cases.

Bibliography

  • Aleza Izquierdo, Milagros & José M.ª Enguita (coords.) 2010. La lengua española en América: normas y usos actuales Universitat de València [https://www.uv.es/aleza/esp.am.pdf].
  • Alvar, Manuel. Textos hispánicos dialectales. Antología histórica. CSIC.
  • Alvar, Manuel (dir.). 1996a. Manual de dialectología hispánica. El español de América. Ariel.
  • Alvar, Manuel (dir.). 1996b. Manual de dialectología hispánica. El español de España. Ariel.
  • García Mouton, Pilar. 1994. Lenguas y dialectos de España. Arco Libros.
  • Gil Fernández, Juana & Joaquim Llisterri Boix (eds.). 2024. Fonética y fonología descriptivas de la lengua española. Georgetown University Press. 2 volumes.
  • Hualde, José Ignacio. 2014. Los sonidos del español. Cambridge University Press.
  • Lipski, John. 1994. El español de América. Cátedra.
  • Moreno de Alba, José G. 1988. El español en América. Fondo de Cultura Económica.
  • Moreno Fernández, Francisco. 2009. La lengua española en su geografía. Arco Libros.
  • Moreno Fernández, Francisco. 2020. Variedades de la lengua española. Routledge.
  • Moreno Fernández, Francisco & Rocío Caravedo (eds.). 2023. Dialectología hispánica. The Routledge Handbook of Spanish Dialectology. Routledge.
  • Pato, Enrique (ed.). 2025. Dialectología hispánica aplicada. Variación, enseñanza, interdisciplinariedad. Routledge.
  • Penny, Ralph. 2000. Variation and change in Spanish. Cambridge University Press. [Traduction: 2004. Variación y cambio en español. Gredos.]
  • Poch, Dolors (ed.) 2016. El español en contacto con las otras lenguas peninsulares. Iberoamericana Vervuert.
  • RAE-ASALE. 2011. Nueva Gramática de la Lengua Española. Fonética y Fonología. Espasa-Calpe [DVD: Las voces del español. Tiempo y espacio].
  • Schmeiser, Benjamin. 2024. Las variedades del mundo hispano. Introducción a la dialectología española. Routledge.
  • Vaquero Ramírez, María. 1996. El español de América (I). Pronunciación. Arco Libros.
  • Vaquero Ramírez, María. 1996. El español de América (II). Morfosintaxis y léxico. Arco Libros.
  • Zamora Vicente, Alonso. 1960. Dialectología española. Gredos.

Software

  • Boersma, Paul & David Weenink. 2024. Praat: Doing Phonetics by Computer. [https://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/].
  • ESRI. 2026. ArcGIS. Redlands, California [https://uab.maps.arcgis.com/home/index.html].
  • Google. 2025. My Maps. [https://www.google.com/intl/es_ES/maps/about/mymaps/]
  • QGIS Development Team. 2025. QGIS Geographic Information System. Open Source Geospatial Foundation Project. [http://qgis.osgeo.org]

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed