Note: This conference has continued under the name Sound Systems of Latin America (SSLA). SSMCA may also be referred to as SSLA 1.

The Workshop on the Sound Systems of Mexico and Central America took place on April 4-6, 2014, at Yale University. The conference was a phenomenal success, drawing more than 50 participants to New Haven and hosting 27 talks and posters. International participation was particularly exceptional, with many presenters traveling from Mexico, and many presentations in both Spanish and English.

Generous support from sponsors made SSMCA possible, including Yale’s Center for Latin American and Iberian Studies, the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International Understanding and Area Studies, the Edward J. and Dorothy Clarke Kempf Fund, and the Graduate and Professional Student Senate.

The lion’s share of credit for both the logistical and academic success of SSMCA belongs to Assistant Professor Ryan Bennett, then of the Yale Linguistics Department, now at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who worked tirelessly to facilitate the conference. The graduate students of the organizing committee, Emily Gasser, Dolly Goldenberg, Ryan Kasak, Patrick Patterson, and Rikker Dockum, were also instrumental in each phase of the process, from early stage planning to the final cleanup.

We sincerely thank everyone for their involvement, and especially for the enthusiastic and collaborative spirit of the conference overall. It is our hope that through this proceedings volume the papers presented at SSMCA will continue to educate many new readers on the indigenous languages of Mexico and Central America, and serve to foster excitement and collaboration in this area for many years to come.

The Workshop on the Sound Systems of Mexico and Central America took place on April 4-6, 2014, at Yale University. The conference was a phenomenal success, drawing more than 50 participants to New Haven and hosting 27 talks and posters. International participation was particularly exceptional, with many presenters traveling from Mexico, and many presentations in both Spanish and English.

Generous support from sponsors made SSMCA possible, including Yale’s Center for Latin American and Iberian Studies, the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International Understanding and Area Studies, the Edward J. and Dorothy Clarke Kempf Fund, and the Graduate and Professional Student Senate.

The lion’s share of credit for both the logistical and academic success of SSMCA belongs to Assistant Professor Ryan Bennett of the Yale Linguistics Department, who worked tirelessly to facilitate the conference. The graduate students of the organizing committee, Emily Gasser, Dolly Goldenberg, Ryan Kasak, Patrick Patterson, and Rikker Dockum, were also instrumental in each phase of the process, from early stage planning to the final cleanup.

We sincerely thank everyone for their involvement, and especially for the enthusiastic and collaborative spirit of the conference overall. It is our hope that through this proceedings volume the papers presented at SSMCA will continue to educate many new readers on the indigenous languages of Mexico and Central America, and serve to foster excitement and collaboration in this area for many years to come.