Rubén Cobos
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Rubén Cobos (1911 — 2010) was an American folklorist, linguist, professor, journalist, and musician whose work focused on the language and culture of the Southwestern United States. Cobos was born in Piedras Negras, Coahuila in 1911. Cobos wrote the first dictionary of New Mexican Spanish, A Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado Spanish.
Cobos was born in Piedras Negras, Coahuila in 1911 and moved to San Antonio, Texas with his family in 1925 after the death of his father. In 1927 the family moved to Albuquerque and Cobos starting taking classes at the Menaul School. Cobos realized the Spanish spoken in New Mexico was distinct from Mexico and Texas, and that there was a difference in dialects between northern and southern New Mexico. Cobos attended the University of New Mexico and taught Spanish and folklore there from 1944 until 1977. Cobos died in 2010.
History
[edit]Cobos was born in 1911 in what was then known was Ciudad Porfirio Díaz, Mexico. During the 1910-1920 Mexican Revolution, the city was renamed Piedras Negras. Cobos' younger siblings Noe and Rebecca died during the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic.[1] After his father died the family moved to San Antonio, Texas. The family moved to Albuquerque in 1927 after his sister Consuelo got tuberculosis.[2]
Cobos attended the University of New Mexico from 1936 to 1936, graduating with honors. Cobos would teach Spanish, natural sciences, the history of the United States, and coach basketball in Wagon Mound, New Mexico in 1937 and 1938. In 1938 Cobos taught and at Normal University (now New Mexico Highlands University). As he physical education teacher, he trained "a kind of CCC camp... a little army" of students to be ready for a possible world war since Europe was "not looking too well."[3] He also received a master's degree from UNM in 1938. Cobos was drafted during World War II and served as a translator and language consultant because he spoke Spanish, English, French, Italian, Portuguese and German. Cobos was discharged from the army in 1944 and became a professor at UNM. In 1950 Cobos received a PhD from Stanford University and taught there before returning to UNM. Cobos taught Spanish, Southwestern United States Hispanic American folklore, and Ibero-American civilization. He became a professor emeritus in 1977.[2]
Cobos was the first person to write a dictionary of New Mexican Spanish. The first edition was released in 1983 and the second in 2003.[4]
Personal life
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References
[edit]- ^ Cobos (2010), "10"
- ^ a b "Ruben Cobos Collection of Southwestern Folklore and Folk Music (MSS 892 BC), Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections, University of New Mexico Libraries". Retrieved November 11, 2024.
- ^ García (2011), "76-77"
- ^ Cobos (2003), "Introduction"
Sources
[edit]- Cobos, Rubén (1983). A Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado Spanish (1st ed.). University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0-89013-142-2.
- Cobos, Rubén (2003). A Dictionary of New Mexico & Southern Colorado Spanish (2nd ed.). Museum of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0-89013-452-9.
- Cobos, Rubén (1973). Refranes: Southwestern Spanish Proverbs (1st ed.). Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press.
- Cobos, Evelia (2010). They That Laugh Win: To Dr. Ruben Cobos with Love: A Memoir. Río Grande Books.
- García, Nasario (2011). An Indelible imprint: Rubén Cobos, a Multi-Talented Personality. Río Grande Books.