Spanish Mexican language. What language is spoken in Mexico. Is Spanish official?

Mexican people can speak different languages. There are more than 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 in which most Mexicans communicate.

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

Spanish video lessons for beginners

little mustachioed mexicans

Mexican version of Spanish.

Mexican Spanish (Spanish) Español mexico listen)) is the native language of about 125 million people (of which over 100 million live in Mexico and about 25 million in the United States, mainly in the border areas of Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, etc.). In addition, Mexican Spanish is the most widespread linguistic variant of the Spanish language, as it is the native language of the majority of Mexicans, who make up about 29% of all Spanish speakers in the world.

The Mexican version of Spanish is understood not only in the historical homeland of the language and throughout Latin America, but also in the southern United States - in the Latin quarters of Los Angeles there are eateries where not only do they not speak English, but they also accept dollars for payment without much desire, better than pesos.

The emergence and spread of Mexican Spanish.

In 1521, Spanish colonialists arrived in Tenochtitlan(now Mexico City), thus introducing the Spanish language to the territory of modern Mexico. The Creole Spanish language of Mexico begins to emerge when the first children are born in Mexico, however, their parents still spoke European Spanish.

It is known that the Indian languages ​​that dominated the territory of what is now Mexico before the arrival of the Spaniards had almost no impact on the phonological and grammatical level of the Spanish language in Mexico. On the other hand, all linguists recognize their influence on the lexical composition of the language. Thus, in the Spanish of Mexico and Spain, by the way, too, we can find a huge amount Indianisms, specifically originating from the Nahuatl language:
avocado, cocoa, chili(the name of the pepper has nothing in common with the name of the country Chile), coyote, mezcal, ocelot, quetzal(name of bird and coin), tomato, chocolate...

In addition to Nahuatlisms, in the Mexican version of the Spanish language there are borrowings from other Indian languages, for example, Mayan, which, however, are present mainly in the southeast of the country and are dialect variants that are not included in the norm of the entire Mexican version of the Spanish language, which is the basis is the cultural speech of Mexico City.

Characteristics of Mexican Spanish.

Mexico is a country overly susceptible to infection English language. Being a neighbor to the United States, it has a border with them that is more than 2,500 km long. She maintains close economic relations with its powerful neighbor, annually receives a significant number of American tourists, and hundreds of thousands of Mexicans leave temporarily to work in the United States. At the same time, having lived there for a couple of decades (illegally or having received a residence permit), they still do not master the English language. What for? They still work for “their own people” - in restaurants serving Mexican cuisine (which, as you might guess, is extremely common in the States), live in “their” areas and communicate only with “their own people”.

When I worked part-time as a waitress in a Mexican restaurant in Washington, I quickly had to master several super-necessary phrases in Spanish, because the cooks in the kitchen didn’t speak English, and it was oh so difficult to explain to them once again what these beans were There is no need to put it in this fajita - this American family is allergic to them.

Well, yeah, I digress.

Of course, it is not surprising that such close proximity leaves its traces in the lexical set of the Mexican language. Exists a large number of Anglicisms, which are usually not registered by most dictionaries, however, dominate over common Spanish words. Such anglicisms are absent in other national varieties of the Spanish language. For example:
Shorts— Pantalon corto (Shorts)
Lunch— Comida a media mañana
Penthouse— Ultimo piso de un edificio
Office boy— Mensajero (Messenger)…

Phonological features

1. don't discriminate s and interdental z, c(developed in Castile), which are all pronounced /s/. The sound [s] in Mexico is identical to the Russian sound “s”.
2. there is no longer any difference in pronunciation y And ll; pronounced as /ʝ/ or Russian [И], a feature passed into standard Spanish.
3. final and intervocalic consonants in Mexico have a fairly distinct quality, and vowels vice versa are reduced. (Cómo ’stás- como estás’, nec'sito,'necesito' palabr's'palabras', much's grace, ‘muchas gracias’).
4. final [s](index plural and second person verbs) intervocalic d is always preserved but is never completely reduced. Thus, "amado", "partido", "nada" do not become "amao", "partío" and "naa".
5. in most of Mexico, meaningful phonemes [R] and [r] standard Spanish (especially final -r) often are stunned and the contrast between them is somewhat blurred: [‘ka§ta] ‘carta’ or ‘amor’, at the same time in northern states the difference between /rr/ and /-r/ remains. In some areas of the Yucatan Peninsula, r even takes on a uvular quality (as in French).

Learning Mexican Spanish.

Teaching Spanish in many countries geographically far from Latin America, including in Russia, is focused on the Iberian variant, while Latin American variants have to be mastered in practice.

The Internet makes its contribution to the language practice of modern students, as well as correspondence with Latin American peers and colleagues. As a result, students often ask teachers questions such as:

1. Why should I pronounce the interdental sound [θ] if Latin Americans (i.e. almost 400 million people) manage without it?

2. I spoke to a Mexican (Venezuelan, Peruvian, etc.) and he said “Hoy desayuné a las 8”, but in class they tell us that this is a mistake and we should say “Hoy he desayuné a las 8”. How is that correct?

3. I talked to Mexicans about Russian cuisine and tried to tell them that a typical soup is borscht, i.e. soup with beets. I used the word remolacha, but they didn’t understand me. What word should I have used?

Textbook of the Mexican "language".

Mexican Spanish Textbook

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

What language do Mexicans use?

In fact, in everyday communication they use Spanish - more precisely, its Mexican dialect. This happened historically, as a result of the conquest of local lands by European conquistadors. Therefore, there is no Mexican language as such. 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?

It remains the most widespread in Mexico - it is spoken almost everywhere. Although Spanish is widely spoken, it is not official language. This is a very common misconception. The fact is that the Mexican constitution states: Mexico is a multinational country. That's why she always advocates bilingualism, or Spanish plus vernacular.

English in Mexico

Some tourists heading to Mexico rush to find a Russian-Mexican phrasebook. Others, knowing that now the vast majority of Mexicans communicate in Spanish, grab their heads: before the trip they need to learn as quickly as possible new language. However, there are also travelers who are sure that you can survive in any country if you know English. This is a big misconception about Mexico. English not only won’t help here, but can also seriously hinder you. The fact is that Mexicans do not like their neighboring Americans. Therefore, if a tourist begins to communicate with local resident in English, most likely, he will take on an indifferent look. Or he will communicate in an unfriendly manner.

Local dialects

Indigenous dialects are spoken by no more than 6% of the country's total population. And this is about 6 million people. It is interesting that the number of those who stubbornly consider themselves descendants of the great Indians is twice this number. Most common local mexican language 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 displaced by invading Europeans. Gradually, the Aztec language began to break up into dialects. On this moment classical Nahuatl is classified as However, it has preserved a large number of literary monuments recorded using the Latin alphabet. Many people call the Nahuatl language Mexican. Translation to different languages and even courses in studying Nahuatl have now ceased to be exotic.

Mayan languages

The next most common language is occupied by the language of the ancient Mayans - Maaya Taan, or Yucatecan 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 Yucatecan dialects is the Proto-Mayan language.

Q'eqchi - Mayan dialect

About 450 thousand people speak the Qekchi language. This language is spoken mainly in Guatemala. Here, about 90% of the total number of residents communicate in it. However, Qekchi can also be heard in El Salvador and Belize. Very for a long time The Qeqchi 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. Q'eqchi is distinguished by the fact that among its representatives there is the largest number of monolingual speakers.

Mixtec dialects

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

Zapotec Mexican languages

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

Mexico is one of ancient countries With rich history and numerous peoples who have lived on its territory since ancient times. It ranks third after the United States in terms of the number of people living on its territory.

Initially, Indians lived in this country; this continued for many thousands of years until it was settled by Africans and settlers from Europe. This determined the current composition of the country's population, the vast majority of which are mestizos and mulattoes, born as a result of mixing of blood and international marriages. Therefore, there are many languages ​​spoken in modern Mexico.

In contact with

Tourists who are preparing to travel to this country often wonder what language is the official language, what dialects are still spoken by the local population, and whether it is possible to communicate with Mexicans in English.

Short story

To understand Mexico's linguistic diversity, let's look at its history. The Indians, who mostly inhabited the entire territory of the country until the 16th century, spoke a huge number of Mexican dialects, their number reaching several dozen. Dialects and national languages differed from each other in different regions of the country. So, residents of the center of the country said in Maaya language, and in the north the most common was Navajo. However, after the active settlement of the country by Europeans began in the 16th century, the overwhelming majority of the population began to speak in Spanish already by 1750 - 60.

During the settlement process, Europeans brought not only their languages ​​to Mexico, but also diseases that affected the indigenous population. there was no immunity. Among the local population, infant mortality increased, which could not but affect the numerical ratio different nations Mexico. This caused a sharp decline in the number of Indians. However, the remaining indigenous population did not stop speaking their languages, and the Spaniards did not have the goal of getting rid of Indian dialects. Therefore, to this day, the ancient Mexican dialects of the local population exert their influence on the generally accepted national one and give it a unique color.

In modern Mexico share of adverbs and Indian alphabets is about 8–10%, which is quite a lot.

Even Spanish in Mexico has its own peculiarity. It is similar to the Spanish spoken in Madrid itself four centuries ago, because in the Mexican territories it has not received such active development as in its native Spain. Because of this, the seemingly same language in these two countries is very different. This is associated with the emergence of such a concept as “Mexican Spanish”.

Although most people believe that Spanish is state language country, there is no such clause in Mexican legislation. The constitution states that due to the multinationality of the country, Spanish and Mexican languages perform at equal rights as official.

Most of the population, of course, speaks Spanish. Arriving in this country, you may not hear any other speech at all, the Spanish language is so widespread here. However, at the state level in this country, the right of indigenous peoples to submit official documents and requests to government agencies in Mexican languages ​​is enshrined, and the government agency is obliged to provide answers to them to the population.

Modern Spanish in Mexico is a mixture of dialects that emerged as a result of mixing with local dialects and became a kind of cultural heritage of this country. It is spoken by about 130 million people, not only at home, but also in the United States. This number is even higher than the number of speakers in Spain. Approximately 30 million people abroad continue to speak and develop their native language. In the USA they are even introducing educational programs and training courses Spanish.

Mexican local languages ​​and dialects

In Mexico, the indigenous population continues to use Mexican dialects and dialects. Now there are about 7 million people in the state who do not use Spanish in their speech. This is quite an impressive figure, even though the nationality of the Indians is twice as high. larger number of people.

Most often, the local population speaks the following Mexican dialects:

In Mexico, the historically established division of dialects and dialects throughout the country remains. In the south you can most often hear from locals Nahuatl in the states of Morelos, Hildago and others. The majority of the population speaking this dialect lives in rural areas. It continues to be spoken by about one and a half million people and is the most widespread among Mexican languages.

About 800 thousand people still continue to speak Maaya Taan dialect, which remained a legacy from the Mayan civilization. This dialect even spread to other states. Previously, it was spoken only in its homeland - the Yucotan Peninsula, and later, as a result of migrations and relocations, it appeared in Guatemala and other neighboring countries.

Mixtec language ranks third among the surviving Mexican dialects in terms of prevalence. It is spoken by about 500 thousand Mexicans living in the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca.

At the state level, it is stipulated that all Mexicans can speak any native language, and their total number is more than 60. There are also very few, but in Mexico even a special direction has been allocated by law for the maintenance and development of ancient local dialects, and educational and cultural events are held.

Do Mexicans speak English?

English is the most international language, so before traveling to this state, tourists often look for information about whether it is spoken in Mexico.

Of course, Mexico is actively developing, and the young population speaks English well and even in Portuguese and French. Therefore, if you only know English and you need to ask something on the street, Mexicans will understand you and will be able to help and explain something.

Tourism in the country is developing, and when recruiting personnel for restaurants and hotels, employers pay attention to ensuring that the candidate knows foreign languages:

Russian tourists may be pleasantly surprised that in some luxury hotels or restaurants the staff will communicate with them in Russian! All entertainment activities and excursions prepared specifically for tourists are conducted in English, so there should be no language barrier. In any case, sign language helps out in different situations, even now, when people travel a lot and visit countries with a new culture.

Despite the colloquial differences in the population of Mexico, all its inhabitants are united by their love for their country and an incredibly colorful culture, which attracts many tourists to the country every year.