The introductory section of this study of Spanish dialects in the United States, commissioned by the ERIC Clearinghouse for Linguistics, presents the plan and the ethnic distribution of Spanish speakers in the U.S.. (The 1960 census shows the preponderance of population contribution to be from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Spain.) A description of standard Spanish is followed by descriptions of the major varieties of Spanish in the U.S.: (1) Mexican (and Texan, New Mexican and Southern Coloradan, Arizonan, Californian, and other U.S. urban area subvarieties); (2) Puerto Rican; (3) Cuban; and (4) Peninsular. The third section of this study presents a contrastive analysis of intonation in terms of pitch, terminal junctures, stress, and rhythm. The final section, on vocabulary, deals briefly with certain lexical items and innovations brought about by current bilingualism. A bibliography concludes the study. (AMM)