Abstract

Approximately 500 million people have Spanish as their native language, primarily in Europe and the Americas. Despite the absence of substantial differences between the variants of Spanish spoken in both regions, dialectal variation is observed, a common linguistic phenomenon encompassing aspects such as vocabulary, syntax, discourse, or intonation, among others. Disregarding these differences can negatively impact speech therapy practice and research. This work aims to review dialectal variation in the context of speech therapy to guide both practice and research with Spanish speakers. To this end, examples of dialectal variation among Spanish-speaking countries are presented at various language levels, along with theoretical comments on the subject. Furthermore, cases of dialectal variation at a national level, language contact processes between indigenous languages and Spanish, and variation resulting from recent migratory processes are commented on. © 2024, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Catholic University of Temuco. All rights reserved.