Spanish is the main language of Mexico. Official languages ​​of Mexico. Is spanish official

Many tourists, when planning to visit Mexico, are wondering what language is spoken in this country. Since the United Mexican States is one of the former colonies of Spain, its inhabitants communicate with each other mainly in Spanish. This is the state language of Mexico, or rather, one of them.

Location of Mexico on the globe

The country is inhabited by about a third of the Hispanic population of the planet. But it is worth taking note that the Spanish dialect in this country is still different from the usual modern Spanish language. These changes have come about as a result of influences from local traditions and dialects, as well as from the survival of some obsolete colloquial forms.

Until the middle of the 19th century, or rather until 1821, the country was called New Spain. The influence of the Spanish conquerors on it was so strong that, as a result, today 92% of the population is Spanish-speaking and considers this dialect to be their mother tongue.

An interesting fact is that for all its prevalence, Spanish is not official in Mexico. This country positions itself as a multicultural state and promotes bilingualism. That is, in fact, Spanish remains the main spoken form, it is spoken everywhere. But at the same time, Mexicans of Indian origin can draw up documents in state bodies in their native dialect.

What language to speak in Mexico, look at the video.

Story

Before the arrival of the Spaniards on the American continent, the Aztec Empire was located on a vast territory stretching from the central regions of modern Mexico to the Isthmus of Panama. The dialect that the local population used to communicate was called "Nahuatl".

It has survived to the present day and includes various related languages ​​and spoken dialects. It is spoken by about 1.5 million people, most of whom live in Mexico and are direct descendants of the Aztecs. There are many variants of Nahuatl spoken by people from different regions of the country, but most of these variants are similar to each other.

The variant that can be heard in Mexico City is recognized by the Mexican Constitution as one of the official ones. Modern books are written on it, the press is issued, and various legal documents are published.

By the way, we also use in our speech words borrowed from the ancient Nahuatl dialect. This:

• avocado;
• cocoa;
• chili (name of pepper);
• tomato;
• chocolate and many other words that are still used both in modern Mexico and around the world.

In addition to Nahuatl, there are approximately 60 dialects spoken by the indigenous peoples of Mexico. These are the descendants of the Maya, Zapotec and other Indian peoples. Their numbers are not so great, but many have retained their native language, using Indian dialects as a language for intraspecific communication. It is the second most popular among the Indian population.

But still, the main percentage of Mexicans prefer to speak Spanish. It is this colloquial form in Mexico that is the most popular means of communication. But as mentioned earlier, Mexican Spanish has its own language norms that distinguish it from modern, common Spanish.

Flags of Spain and Mexico

The states of Chiapas and Yucatan are especially distinguished by their dialects. Those who hear Mexican Spanish for the first time cannot fail to notice its somewhat "old-fashioned" quality.

This happened because Mexico, having gained independence at the beginning of the nineteenth century, got rid of the influence of the colonial country and began to develop in its own way. This also affected the Spanish dialect, which began to form independently, absorbing local ethnic dialects, but remaining the same in form, as if frozen in the 19th century. Therefore, Mexicans still use words that no one has been using in modern speech for a long time.

Mexico is a huge state in North America, with a total area of ​​​​1.95 million km2. To the north and east, Mexico borders the United States. From the eastern part, the country is washed by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Caribbean Sea. Mexico also includes numerous Pacific islands. The capital of this state is Mexico City - one of the oldest cities. But does this country have its own language?

What language do Mexicans use?

In fact, Spanish is used in everyday communication - more precisely, its Mexican dialect. This happened historically, as a result of the conquest of local lands by European conquistadors. Therefore, as such, the Mexican language does not exist. However, in addition to Spanish, about 68 local languages ​​are also used. But the vast majority of the population - about 90% - still communicates in Spanish.

Is Spanish official?

In Mexico, it remains the most common - it is spoken almost everywhere. Although Spanish is widely spoken, it is not an official language. This is a very common misconception. The fact is that the constitution of Mexico states: Mexico is a multinational country. Therefore, she always advocates bilingualism, or Spanish plus the vernacular.

English in Mexico

Some tourists heading to Mexico are in a hurry to find a Russian-Mexican phrasebook. Others, knowing that the vast majority of Mexicans now communicate in Spanish, clutch their heads: before the trip, you need to learn a new language as soon as possible. However, there are also travelers who are sure that in any country you can survive by knowing English. With regard to Mexico, this is a big misconception. English here not only will not help, but can seriously interfere. The fact is that the Mexicans do not like the Americans next to them. Therefore, if a tourist begins to communicate with a local resident in English, most likely he will take on an indifferent look. Or at all will communicate in an unfriendly manner.

Local dialects

Indigenous dialects are spoken by no more than 6% of the total population of the country. And this is about 6 million people. Interestingly, the number of those who stubbornly consider themselves descendants of the great Indians is twice that number. The most common local Mexican language is called Nahuatl, which includes various dialects. Nahuatl is used in everyday life by about 1.3 million people.

One of the main languages ​​of the Aztec group is Classical Nahuatl. Beginning in the 16th century, it was systematically driven out by invading Europeans. Gradually, the Aztec language began to break up into dialects. At the moment, classical Nahuatl is classified as one. However, a large number of literary monuments recorded using the Latin alphabet have been preserved on it. Many people call Nahuatl the Mexican language. Translation into different languages ​​and even Nahuatl courses are no longer exotic.

Mayan languages

The next most common language is the language of the ancient Maya - Maaya Taan, or the Yucatec language. Its carriers are about 759 thousand people. It is distributed mainly in the Yucatan Peninsula. The oldest written language of the Mayan Indians is the language of the classical era of this civilization. It is believed that the common ancestor of the Yucatec dialects is the Pramaic language.

Kekchi - Mayan dialect

About 450 thousand people communicate in the Kekchi language. This language is spoken mainly in Guatemala. Here, about 90% of the total number of all residents communicate on it. However, qekchi can also be heard in El Salvador and Belize. For a very long time, the Kekchi ethnic family was isolated from other regions. Therefore, different dialects of this language differ from each other very insignificantly. The main dialect is the Western dialect. Kekchi is distinguished by the fact that among its representatives the largest number of monolingual speakers.

Mixtec dialects

Another 423 thousand people. use in everyday life the languages ​​​​of the Mixtec group. The territory where Mixtec Mexican is spoken is an area called La Mixteca. The word "mishtek" means "resident, inhabitant". Usually, speakers of this group of languages ​​​​use the poetic phrase "Rain Word" to designate their native dialect. In total, the Mixtec language has 52 local dialects.

Zapotec Mexican languages

410 thousand people in Mexico are native speakers of the Zapotec languages. The Zapotec civilization began around 700 BC. e. In the 16th century, it was finally conquered by the European conquerors. The Zapotec Empire was located in what is now the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The largest settlement of the Zapotecs was a city called Monte Alban, which was the first of the capitals of the empire. The constant enemies of the state were the Mixtecs neighboring from the north.

Mexican people can speak different languages. There are over 60 indigenous languages ​​in Mexico, although this is only 6%, but this percentage roughly corresponds to about 6 million people in Mexico. The official language in Mexico is Spanish, simply because it is the language most Mexicans communicate in.

Initially, when the Spanish arrived, they tried to keep Nahuatl as the country's official language. However, in the late 1600s and on until the 1700s, the Spanish colonizers began to change Mexico's official language from Nahuatl to Spanish. In the 1990s, an amendment to the Mexican constitution led to the adoption of indigenous languages ​​as national languages. In this way, legal documents can now be written down in all indigenous languages, as well as in Spanish.

Common words and phrases:
Russian	Pronunciation	Spanish
Sorry	Excus me	perdon
Yes	Xi	si
Thank you	Gracias	Gracias
Please	Por favor	por favor,
Entrance	entrada	entrada
How much time?	Ke ora es?	¿Cuánto tiempo?
Fine	Bien	bueno
No	But	no
Toilet	Servisio	WC
Exit	Salida	salida
Sorry	Perdone	triste
I don't understand	But entiendo	no entiendo
Closed	Cerrado	cerrado
Open	Avierto	abierto
Greeting / Farewell:
How are you?	Ke tal?	¿Como estas?
Hello	Buenos dias	¡Hola
Good morning!	Buenos dias	¡Buenos dias!
Good afternoon	Buenas tardes	¡Buen dia!
Fine	mui bien	bueno
Hello	Ola	¡Hola
Goodbye	Adios	despedida
Good evening!	Buenos noches	¡Buenas nights!
Bye	Ola	mientras
Travel / Station / Airport:
Police	policy	policia
Hotel	hotel	hotel
Pharmacy	Pharmasia	farmacia
bus stop	La estacion de autobuses	parada de autobus
Passport control	El control de pasaportes	control de pasaporte
Supermarket	El supermercado	supermercado
Customs	La aduana	aduana
Railway station	La estacion de trenes	Estación de F / ferrocarril
Where is?	dongde esta	¿Donde está?
Where can you buy tickets?	Donde se puede comprar entradas?	¿Dónde puedo comprar las entradas?
Movement around the city / Transport:
I want to rent a car	Quiero alkylar un coche	Quiero alquilar un coche
Take me to the airport	Lleveme al Aeropuerto	Llevame al aeropuerto
Stop here, please	Pare aka por favor	Detengase aquí, por favor
Take me to the hotel	Lievame al hotel	Llevame al hotel
Where can I get a taxi?	Donde puedo coher un taxi	¿Dónde puedo conseguir un taxi?
In a hotel:
Room for one	Habitation individual	Habitacion individual
I have booked a hotel room	Tengo una-habitacion rreservada	Yo reserve una habitación en el
Room for two	Habitacion con dos camas	Doble
Do you have rooms available?	Tieneng unabitacion libre	¿Tiene habitaciones disponibles?
In the Restaurant:
Wine	Wine	wine
The check, please	La cuenta, por favor	cuenta favor
Do you have a table for two (three, four) people?	Tienen unamesa para-dos (tres, cuatro) personas?	¿Tiene una mesa para dos (tres, cuatro) personas?
Coffee	cafe	café
Beer	Serves	cerveza
Waiter	Camarero	Camarero
I want to book a table	Kyero rreservar una-mesa	Quiero reservar una mesa
Tea	Tae	te
Numerals:
Six	ses	seis
One	it	uno
Three	tres	tres
Four	cuatro	cuatro
Seven	set	siete
Fourteen	catorce	catorce
Eleven	once	once
Thousand	miles	mil
Two	dos	dos
Twelve	doce	doce
Eight	ocho	ocho
Five	tsinzo	cinco
Twenty	vente	veinte
Thirteen	treze	Trece
One hundred	cent	ciento
Ten	des	diez
Nine	nueva	new

Spanish video lessons for beginners

Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages ​​in the world. Today, it confidently takes its place in the top three leading languages ​​and, quite possibly, will receive even more new speakers in the foreseeable future. The "fault" for this in the past is the Spanish conquistadors and conquerors, in the present - an active increase in the population in the states of Latin America that speak Spanish.

All about Spanish

If you are starting to learn, then be careful about whether you are studying really Spanish and whether you are studying a literary version of it. It would never occur to the Russian-speaking language that only in Spain itself this language has several dialects that differ quite seriously from each other. Only in the North of the country there are three accents and one dialect, which also has its own characteristic differences, especially phonetic ones.
We are talking about the Aragonese, Leonese and Castilian dialects, as well as the Asturleone dialects. Each of the dialects has its own dialects, localized geographically. In the southern part of this state, the Andalusian dialect is widespread.

Mexican Spanish

The capital of the Mexican dialect, as, in fact, of Mexico itself, is Mexico City. In other regions of the country, the dialect is close to the capital, but only some lands have their own characteristics. For example, the dialects of Yucatan and Chiapas differ somewhat, but not so much that the inhabitants of different regions do not understand each other.
We also note that it is the Mexican version of Spanish that is the basis for replicating Spanish in the United States of America. One of the main differences of this dialect is the firm pronunciation of consonants and the reduction of vowels, which is not observed in any other Spanish variant.

Argentine Spanish

Do not know, ? Do not forget that in the Argentinean version of this language, everything is much simpler than in classical Spanish. Argentine Spanish is known as castesciano. Its progenitor was the Castilian dialect, which was noticeably simplified. Phonetics has changed. The Argentine dialect is in many ways more reminiscent of Portuguese than Spanish. This is the language of working immigrants, which eventually captured the rest of the population. In the Argentinean dialect, j is pronounced like [w]. This applies to all words, including names or titles.

Peruvian Spanish

The Peruvian dialect has such characteristic features: the sound [z] is mixed with the sound [s], representing a cross between these two sounds. Some consonants are pronounced softer than in traditional Spanish.

"Neutral" Spanish - what is it?

Non-literary Spanish is considered neutral. The phonetic features of "neutral" Spanish were taken from the Colombian pronunciation, which is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful. However, native speakers were confused only by the pace of speech, which was too fast in the "Colombian original" and not always understandable to speakers of other dialects. Therefore, the phonetic features of the Caribbean dialect were also used, which can be safely called relatively measured for Latin America.
"Neutral Spanish" completely lacks Mexican and Argentinean intonations, words, speech tempo, and other features. They can only be used if it is necessary to emphasize the origin of a particular person. All serials, songs and other cultural products of Latin America today are served to the world through the use of such "neutral Spanish", actually adapted so that all Hispanics and foreigners can find a common ground and understand each other.
What should a Russian-speaking student do who decides to get to know the Spanish language better? Experts advise starting with a standardized literary language that will allow you to conduct business negotiations, correspondence, and so on. Learning a particular dialect depends on your goals. If you are planning a trip to the countries of Latin America, then ask for help directly from a native speaker who will dedicate you to all the intricacies of the dialect of interest.

The second article of the basic law of this country defines it as a multicultural state, recognizing the right of indigenous peoples to preserve and develop their own dialects and dialects, and therefore there is no official state language of Mexico. But most of the inhabitants of the tequila and cactus country still prefer Spanish.

Some statistics and facts

• The Mexican government recognizes the existence of 68 national languages ​​as complementary to Spanish.
• From 10 to 15 percent of the country's inhabitants, according to various sources, consider themselves Indians.
• In total, about 6 million people live in the country, who are native speakers of indigenous languages.
• The largest group of indigenous speakers are the descendants of the Indians who speak Nahuatl.
• The first attempts to introduce Spanish into Mexico were made in the 16th century.
• In the 150 years from the beginning of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, the number of Mexicans speaking their ancestral languages ​​decreased from 60% to 6% of the total population of the country.

The percentage of Mexican citizens who speak English is quite high. This is due to the close proximity and frequent seasonal work of Mexicans at enterprises and farms in the United States.

Difficulties in translation

Even visitors to Mexico who speak modern Spanish may experience certain difficulties in understanding here. Certain changes have taken place in the system of local Spanish, as a result of which the sound of individual sounds only remotely resembles today the classics of the language common in the Pyrenees. At the same time, some linguists consider the state language of Mexico to be very conservative, since it contains words in everyday use that the Spaniards have considered archaisms for two hundred years and no longer use in their own speech.

Note to tourists

Going on a trip to Mexico, be prepared for the fact that English-speaking hotel or restaurant staff are found only in large cities and tourist resorts. In places where independent travelers prefer to lay a route, the percentage of such polyglots is negligible. The menu in a cafe away from the main streets of even the capital no longer contains the names of dishes in English, and it will be impossible to explain your gastronomic preferences to the waiter.
In general, a Russian-Spanish phrase book on a trip can greatly facilitate the life of a tourist, especially since the Mexicans are very sociable, open and friendly.