Explores multiculturalism, indigenous communities and bilingualism in the Amazon region!

Review by J. Clancy Clements, Indiana University

Research on varieties of Spanish and Portuguese and the dynamics of their ecological settings receives a significant impetus with this collection of studies. It is the first English-language volume that addresses the range and complexity of Spanish in the Amazon. It starts with a useful and informative overview of the Amazonian language families involved in the contact situations with Spanish (and Portuguese, to a lesser extent), highlighting some interesting features of these post-colonial language varieties. Issues of language acquisition in contact situations are also addressed as these interact with social factors in the process of contact-induced language change. The various stages of language documentation, revitalization, and language community involvement are also explored. These approaches are complemented by five studies that focus on intonation, consonant production, object clitic use, and language choice in Amazonian Spanish varieties in Peru and Ecuador. In all, this volume covers a wide spectrum of approaches and topics. I highly recommend it for students and contact linguists alike.