This book presents an overview of the major varieties of Spanish in the United States--the second most used language in the country, spoken by more than thirty-three million people. John Lipski traces the importance of the Spanish language in the United States, the scholarship that documents the variation and richness of the language as spoken here, and probes the phenomenon popularly called "Spanglish." He provides useful descriptions of the major varieties, from Cuban and Puerto Rican through Mexican and various Central American strains to the traditional varieties found in New Mexico and Louisiana that date back to the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, respectively. Each profile contains a concise historical sketch of the background of each Spanish-speaking group, current demographic information, its sociolinguistic configurations, and information about the phonetics, morphology, syntax, lexicon, and interactions with English and other varieties of Spanish. This reference for teachers, scholars, students, and interested bystanders is a testimony to the vitality and legitimacy of the Spanish language in the United States. It will be of value in courses on Spanish in the United States, Spanish dialectology and sociolinguistics, and teaching Spanish to heritage speakers.