[š]-Words not registered in the Sandoval dictionary

Laura Martin, Ph.D.
Last revised August 2006

This list records a set of words documented in Guatemalan Spanish that are pronounced with the palatoalveolar fricative ([š], orthographic x), but that do not appear in Semántica guatemalense, o Diccionario de guatemaltequismos (1941-42) by Lisandro Sandoval, the most complete dictionary of Guatemalan Spanish. Most of the words listed here are attested in one or more of the three other major dictionaries of Guatemalan Spanish:

Armas, Diccionario de la expresión popular guatemalteca, 1971.
Morales Pellecer, Diccionario de guatemaltequismos, 2004.
Rubio, Diccionario de voces usadas en Guatemala, 1982.

The list also includes words documented in Laura Martin’s field notes from rural Huehuetenango (northwestern Guatemala) in 1972-73 and 1975 (marked as LM) and/or collected by her in 2004-2006 (marked as LM2).

This list is an appendix to the essays on the status of [š] in modern Guatemalan Spanish elsewhere at this site and to the individual word histories accessible there. The words are offered as additional evidence for the vitality of the palatal fricative in modern Guatemalan Spanish, and as a resource for researchers interested in pursuing the study of this intriguing phonological feature. To see the list, click here.