The Spanish word playa () literally means "beach". Alkali flats are known by this name in some parts of Mexico and the western United States. On the Llano Estacado and other parts of the Southern High Plains, playa refers to a dry lake, a smaller seasonal depression. In South America, the usual term for a dry lake is salar, Spanish for "salt pan". Hardpan is a dry terminus of an internally drained basin in a dry climate, typically used in the Great Basin of the western US. In Arabic, an alkali flat is called a sabkha (also spelled sabkhah, subkha or sebkha) or shott (chott).