This paper presents a morphophonemic analysis of the characteristics that distinguish verb structure in New Mexican Spanish from that of Standard Spanish. Verb structure and classification are discussed, and verbs are analyzed as being composed of four components: stem, thematic vowel, tense-aspect, and person-number. Verbs are classified as regular or irregular according to deviations in these four components. The following phonological rules and tendencies are proposed as highlighting significant points of contrast between Standard and New Mexican Spanish: /yy/ becomes /y/; /cy/ becomes /c/; /y/ drops if the first vowel is stressed and is higher or more front than the second (excluding/u/); /Vr#/ becomes /Vre#/; /gw/ becomes /w/; New Mexican Spanish avoids certain Standard Spanish consonant clusters and sequences; New Mexican Spanish has patterned reductions in the normal stream of speech. The paper concludes that verb patterns in New Mexican Spanish identify it as a distinctive dialect of Standard Spanish; that these modifications are logical and produce more regular patterns; and that New Mexican Spanish deserves to be counted among the prestige dialects of Modern Spanish. (AM)