THE SPOKEN CORPORA OF CENTRAL AMERICAN SPANISH: COMPILATION AND EVALUATIVE OVERVIEW

Abstract

This paper offers a current overview of the main spoken corpora of Central American Spanish, a language spoken by over forty-five million people in six different countries (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama). The article compiles information about the primary existing spoken corpora of Central American Spanish. Specifically, its description focuses on providing details regarding five aspects: general data (coordinator, represented city, collection year, etc.), recording process, collected sample, transcription process, and, finally, access and support. In conclusion, the article reflects upon the current state of these corpora and identifies deficits and unresolved issues related to their design, construction, access, and usage. This study has been able to compile 10 corpora that are part of various projects, 8 of which collect semi-directed interviews, and 2 collect spontaneous conversations. Most of the collected samples are from cities in three countries: Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras.