There exists a need to identify and recognize the Spanish dialect used in the Southwest United States in order to change the tradition of looking at it as inferior to standard Spanish and to English. The history of the Spanish-speaking people in the Southwest and of the changes in their culture brought about by colonialism is connected with the story of the development of their language. The general characteristics of Southwest Spanish that are identified are the following: (1) it has been maintained by oral tradition; (2) archaisms are prevalent; (3) borrowings from indigenous languages, Pachuco Spanish, and English are prominent; (4) there is a high incidence of code-switching; and (5) the intonation patterns are very rhythmic. A transcript of a telephone conversation is analyzed for specific linguistic differences between standard Spanish and the Southwest dialect. The categories examined are lexicon change; reduction of consonants; archaisms; reduction to diphthongs; dropping of initial syllables; the verbs "estar,""ir," and "ser"; dropping of final syllables; loss of use of "se," the personal "a," and the definite article; vowel change; and syntax change. (AMH)