Spanish and latin american paremiology. Paremic americanisms

Theoretical discussions regarding the concept of lexical Americanisms, which are understood differently depending on the criteria adopted by the scholar, have been raised in the Spanish language since the mid-20th century. In any case, it is evident that there is a universal lexicon alongside numerous individual words belonging to certain regional varieties. This article extends the analysis to proverbs and, after a general description of sayings and a reflection on their current use in Spanish, it deals with the geographic variation they display. It is argued that, just as there is a pan-Hispanic collection of sayings, which has resulted from there having been spread from Spain to America, there have also been minor modifications to these aphorisms, as well as the appearance of coinages in different parts of the new world. Many examples are offered, and the use of the label paremic Americanism is proposed, in parallel to the already traditional lexical Americanism.