Resumen de Spanish dialect classifications

Isabel Molina Martos

• This paper presents an overview of the proposals for a dialect division of the Spanish language in Europe. Given the enormous number of studies published on this subject, rather than being exhaustive, the aim of paper is to present a selection of research that is representative of the main schools of thought in linguistics that underpin the classifications. After a brief review of the different proposals of the classic studies habitually cited in textbooks on Spanish dialectology, we centre on more recent approaches. The paper also comments on some studies that emphasise the perceptive dimension of languages and the application of this approach to dialect zoning, as well as works based on complex approaches to variation and their application for the same purposes. Dialectal research has also investigated the evolution of languages as a consequence of large waves of migration and the impact of urbanisation. This complex perspective situates traditional dialect areas in the continuum of linguistic change, evidenced by the processes of levelling and urbanisation that currently dominate the Spanishspeaking world. Finally, we point out the need to tackle geolectal variation from a dynamic approach, where dialects are abstract complex constructs undergoing a constant process of transformation that can be represented in dynamic linguistic atlases.