What is the official language in Mexico? What language is spoken in Mexico? National language of Mexico

Common phrases
Please		por favor
Sorry		sorry
Hello
Goodbye
I don't understand		but comprendo
What is your name?	cual es tu nombre?	Qual estu nombre?
How are you?	como esta usted?	Como esta usted?
Where is the toilet here?	donde esta Servicio	Dondeesta servio?
What is the price?		quanto es?
One ticket to…		un bigietto
What time is it now?		Ke ora es?
No smoking		proivido fumar
Do you speak English?		Abla Ingles?
Where is?		dondeesta?
Hotel
I need to order a room		una abitasyon
I want to pay the bill	la cuenta, por favor	La Cuenta, Port Favor
		passaporte
Room, number		Habitacion
Shop (shopping)
Cash		en effective
By card		con tarheta
To wrap up
No change		sin tener
		desconto
Very expensive
Transport
Trolleybus		trolleybus
Stop
Please make a stop	pare aqui, por favor	pare aki por favor
Arrival
Departure
Airport		aeropuerto
Emergency cases
help me
Fire Department
Ambulance		outpatient
Hospital		hospital
		porosament
		pharmacy
Restaurant
I want to book a table	quiero reservar una mesa	quiero rreservar una-mesa
Check please (bill)	la cuenta, por favor	La Cuenta, Port Favor

Language in Mexico

The official language in Mexico is Spanish (Mexican version of Spanish).

Currently, there are approximately 500 million people who speak Spanish, which is one of the most widely spoken languages ​​in the world.

The Spanish alphabet consists of 30 letters similar to Latin, some of which are read and pronounced differently.

The Mexican version of the Spanish language contains features inherent in local Indian dialects, as a result of which not every Spaniard can understand many words from the vocabulary of Mexican residents.

Mexican Spanish is the native language of 125 million people living in Mexico (100 million people) and the United States (25 million people).

In addition to Spanish, which is spoken by the majority of the population, indigenous languages ​​(Indians) are widespread in the country, which have the status national languages in Mexico, and is spoken by about 6 million local residents.

In the country, almost all local residents speak only their native language and do not know any second language.

Spanish is a fairly simple language, so learn a few words that will be useful to you when communicating with Mexicans, and also take a phrasebook with you.

There should be no communication problems in the tourist centers, as the staff speaks not only Spanish, but also English.

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

Mexico's location on globe

The country is inhabited by approximately a third of the planet's Spanish-speaking population. But it is worth noting that the Spanish dialect in this country is still different from the usual modern Spanish language. These changes occurred as a result of influences from local traditions and dialects, as well as the survival of some older colloquial forms.

Until the mid-19th century, or more precisely 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 native language.

An interesting fact is that, despite 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 with government agencies in their native dialect.

What language to speak in Mexico, watch the video.

Story

Before the arrival of the Spaniards on the American continent, the Aztec Empire was located in 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 this 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 varieties of Nahuatl, which is spoken by residents of different regions of the country, but most of These options are similar to each other.

The version that can be heard in Mexico City is recognized by the Mexican Constitution as one of the official ones. They write on it modern books, the press is published, and various legal documents are published.

By the way, you and I 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 throughout the world.

In addition to Nahuatl, there are approximately 60 dialects spoken by indigenous peoples in Mexico. These are the descendants of the Mayans, Zapotecs 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 that is the most popular means of communication in Mexico. But as mentioned earlier, Mexican Spanish has its own language norms, which 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 the Mexican version of Spanish for the first time cannot help but notice that it is somewhat “old-fashioned.”

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 used in modern speech for a long time. 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 onwards until the 1700s, Spanish colonizers began to change official language

Common words and phrases:
Russian	Pronunciation	Spanish
Sorry	Excuse mi	perdon
Yes	Si	si
Thank you	Gracias	Gracias
Please	Por favor	For your sake,
Entrance	Entrada	entrada
How much time?	Ke ora es?	¿Cuánto tiempo?
Fine	Bien	bueno
No	But	no
Toilet	Servisio	W.C.
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?	What do you think?
Hello	Buenos dias	¡Hola
Good morning!	Buenos dias	¡Buenos días!
Good afternoon	Buenas Tardes	¡Buen día!
Fine	Mui bien	bueno
Hello	Ola	¡Hola
Goodbye	Adios	despedida
Good evening!	Buenos Noches	¡Buenas nights!
Bye	Ola	mientras
Travel / Station / Airport:
Police	polisia	police
Hotel	calving	hotel
Pharmacy	Farmasia	farmacia
Bus stop	La Estacion de Autobuses	parade de autobus
Passport control	El control de pasaportes	control de pasaporte
Supermarket	El supermercado	supermercado
Customs	La Aduana	aduana
Railway station	La Estacion de Tranes	Estación de F / ferrocarril
Where is?	Dongde esta	What do you think?
Where can I buy tickets?	Donde se puede comprar entradas?	¿Dónde puedo comprar las entradas?
Getting around the city / Transport:
I want to rent a car	Quiero alkilar un koche	Quiero alquilar un coche
Take me to the airport	Lleveme al aeropuerto	Llévame al aeropuerto
Stop here, please	Pare aki por favor	Deténgase aquí, por favor
Take me to the hotel	Lievem al otel	Llevame al hotel
Where can I get a taxi?	Donde puedo kocher un taxi	¿Dónde puedo conseguir un taxi?
In a hotel:
Single room	Habitacion individual	Habitation individual
I have reserved 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?	Tenen unabitación libre	¿Tiene habitaciones disponibles?
In the Restaurant:
Wine	Wine	vino
The check, please	La Cuenta, Port Favor	cuenta favor
Do you have a table for two (three, four) people?	Tenen unamesa para-dos (très, cuatro) personas?	¿Tiene una mesa para dos (tres, cuatro) personas?
Coffee	Cafe	cafe
Beer	Servesa	cerveza
Waiter	Camarero	camarero
I want to book a table	Quiro rreservar una-mesa	Quiero reservar una mesa
Tea	Tae	té
Numerals:
Six	ses	seis
One	it	uno
Three	tres	tres
Four	zuatro	cuatro
Seven	sete	siete
Fourteen	tsatortse	catorce
Eleven	soon	once
Thousand	miles	mil
Two	dos	dos
Twelve	doce	doce
Eight	wow	ocho
Five	tsintso	cinco
Twenty	Vente	veinte
Thirteen	Tretse	trece
One hundred	cent	ciento
Ten	des	diez
Nine	Nueve	nueve

Spanish video lessons for beginners

Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages ​​on the planet. Today it confidently takes its place among the top three leading languages ​​and, quite possibly, will receive even more new speakers in the foreseeable future. “Blame” for this in the past - spanish conquistadors and conquerors, in the present - an active increase in the population in states Latin America Spanish speakers.

All about Spanish

If you are starting to learn, then be careful about whether you are really studying Spanish and its literary version. It would never occur to a Russian-speaking person that only in Spain itself this language has several dialects, which differ quite seriously from each other. Only in the North of the country are there three accents and one dialect, which also has its own characteristic differences, especially phonetic ones.
We are talking about Aragonese, Leonese and Castilian dialects, as well as Asturleonese 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 well as 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 are somewhat different, but not so much that residents of different regions do not understand each other.
Let us also note that it is the Mexican version of the Spanish language that is the basis for the replication of Spanish in the United States of America. One of the main differences between this dialect is solid pronunciation consonants and a reduction of vowels, which is not observed in any other variant of Spanish.

Argentine Spanish dialect

Do not know, ? Don't forget that in the Argentinean version of this language everything is much simpler than in classic Spanish. Argentine Spanish is called "castesciano". Its ancestor was the Castilian dialect, which was noticeably simplified. Phonetics has undergone changes. The Argentine dialect is in many ways more reminiscent of Portuguese than Spanish. It is the language of immigrant workers, which eventually captured the rest of the population. In the Argentine dialect, j is pronounced like [sh]. This applies to all words, including names or titles.

Peruvian dialect of Spanish

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

“Neutral” Spanish – what is it?

The non-literary version of Spanish is considered neutral. The phonetic features of “neutral” Spanish were taken from Colombian pronunciation, which is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful. However, native speakers were only confused 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, which can safely be called relatively measured for Latin America, were also used.
“Neutral Spanish” completely lacks Mexican and Argentine intonations, words, speech rate and other features. They can only be used if it is necessary to emphasize the origin of a particular person. All TV series, songs and other cultural products of Latin America today are presented to the world through the use of such “neutral Spanish”, in fact adapted so that all Spanish speakers and foreigners can find common ground and understand each other.
What should a Russian-speaking student who decides to get to know the Spanish language better do? Experts advise starting with literary standardized language that will allow you to conduct business meeting, correspondence and so on. Learning a particular dialect depends on your goals. If you are planning a trip to Latin American countries, then seek help directly from a native speaker who will teach you all the intricacies of the dialect of interest.

Nineteen countries of Latin America, seventeen regions of Spain - in each zone the language has characteristics that depend on linguistic and extra-linguistic circumstances. In this article we will get acquainted with the Mexican version of the Spanish language and outline the features that distinguish it from other varieties and dialects.

Reasons for the emergence of Mexican Spanish

Mexico is home to many ancient civilizations, some of which still retain their languages ​​and dialects. In addition, Mexico is the most northern country Central America, bordering the USA. These two circumstances have a strong influence on the Mexican version of the Spanish language. When the conquistadors, led by Fernando Cortez, conquered southeastern Mexico in the 16th century, they encountered hundreds of tribes, each speaking a local dialect with individual phonetic and grammatical features. The current sociopolitical situation in the country is directly related to the English language, which also influences the speech of Spanish-speaking Mexicans.

Since the ancient languages ​​were the basis for the “introduction” of Spanish at all levels, and with English language Since Spanish in Mexico is related only phonetically and lexically, it is logical to consider the features of the Mexican variant separately at each linguistic level in order to understand the Mexican features and where they come from.

Phonetic level of the Mexican variant

Let's start with phonetic features common to Latin American countries. Due to the fact that Spanish did not develop naturally on the American continent, but was brought and introduced artificially, it underwent simplifications that spread throughout all Latin American countries. The most important of them:

fusion of sounds: interdental sound /θ/ (letters c, z) and sound /s/, pronounced as /s/;
fusion of sounds: into a single /ʝ/ (pronounced like the Russian / й/), the semivowel /y/ and the sound indicated by the fusion of consonants /ll/ merge.

In the scientific field, these phenomena are called seseo And yeahismo. The result of such changes is the merger of words casa(house) and caza(hunting), llanta(tire) and yanta(afternoon snack). However, this does not cause any difficulties in understanding the speech of Latin Americans by Spaniards.

The phonetic feature of the Mexican version, as we noted above, is the sounds borrowed from English, contact with which has been maintained in Mexico for several centuries. IN big cities, and also in the north of the country, Mexicans use the Americanized non-vibrating sound /r/ instead of the Spanish sounds /r/ and /rr/:
merging sounds into one borrowed one: /pe§o/ instead of /pero/ and instead of /perro/;

Thus, when you arrive in Mexico and speak Spanish with the local population, you will immediately feel (or rather, hear) the closeness of the United States.

Another phonetic feature spanish mexico is variety of intonations in the regions. They are studied by the special science of dialectology, since we're talking about about the various regional dialects of Spanish in Mexico, related to the dialects of the ancient Indians. When America was conquered by the Spanish, the indigenous peoples accepted new language, but assimilated it with the languages ​​of their ancestors, due to which Spanish sounds differently in the south of Mexico, where the Mayan Indians lived, or in the north. It happens that northern Mexicans come to the south and have difficulty understanding their compatriots, although lexical features, which we will discuss below, most likely play a larger role here.

Morphology and grammar of the Mexican variant

Neither English nor Amerindian languages ​​are thought to have had a strong influence on the morphology of Mexican Spanish. Despite this, we can talk about changes-simplifications in the Mexican version, associated with the fact of the artificial development of the Spanish language in Latin American countries. Thus, in ancient Indian languages ​​there were many consonant sounds (by the way, close to the Russian sounds /ch/, /sh/, /sch/), due to which the difference in overstressed vowels in the Mexican version was no longer clear. If a Spaniard says , pronouncing each vowel, a Mexican will say , “eating” the endings, like Americans “eating” the endings of English words:

vowel reduction: instead of ;

Another trend is related to creating analogies in verb conjugations. During the development of the Spanish language in Mexico, the final consonant /s/ in the form of the 2nd person singular verb of the present tense (tu hablas) strengthened in the same position in the simple past, from where the forms estuvistes, hablastes, etc. appeared.

creating an analogy: instead of, instead of;

In connection with grammar, features common to Latin America are also important:
using the Ustedes form instead of vosotros: “- ¿Adónde van? ¡Esperenme! " instead of " - ¿Adónde vais? ¡Esperadme!”;
widespread use of the simple past tense(Pretérito Perfecto Simple) and its widespread use instead of the compound past (Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto): “Hoy estuvimos en casa” instead of “Hoy hemos estado en casa”;

These features do not distinguish Mexico's Spanish from other Latin American varieties, but are important because of the strong bias in Spain's Spanish language norms.

Lexical features of the Mexican variant

The most striking features of Mexican Spanish are associated with the most mobile and changeable layer of the language - vocabulary. Here again the influence of neighboring English and ancient Indian languages ​​is important. The Mexican Spanish vocabulary is full of borrowings from English:

shorts (English shorts)– shorts (instead of the Castilian pantalón corto);
rentar) - rent/rent (instead of Castilian alquilar);
checar (English check)– check, find out (instead of Castilian investigar);
lunch (English lunch)– afternoon snack, lunch (instead of Castilian almuerzo), etc.

Via Mexican variant in Spanish different countries a considerable number have spread indigenisms(indígena from Spanish - native, aborigine):
Avocado, chocolate, chile etc.

Indian words associated with Mexican realities are preserved only in the Mexican version:
Pozole(corn dish) jícara(painted bowl), turush(Mayan utensils), etc.

At the same time, the spoken language of Mexicans is rich in spontaneous innovations that are not associated with the influence of other languages. The most popular expressions in Mexico:

buey- an analogue of the Spanish colloquial address tio: “Buey ¡espera!”;
¡a poco!– “come on!”, as a natural reaction to new information: “-La biblioteca está cerrada. “A poco buey, por qué estará cerrada a esta hora”;
No mames!- “come on!”, similar to the previous expression: “¡No mames buey, como puede ser posible!”
¡a huevo!- an analogue of the American colloquial exclamation “yes!”, “uhu!” (Russian colloquial “yuhu!”), used by Mexicans in joyful situations: “¡No hay clases mañana! “¡A huevo!”;
chin– the use of which coincides with the Russian use of the word “devil”: “Chin, vamos a llegar tarde por el tráfico...”

Such colloquial addresses, phrases, interjections and curses develop uniquely in each country and for the youth of Latin American countries they seem to be the most interesting and significant in the context of linguistic self-determination or the definition of residents of other regions. Latin Americans, like Spaniards, are proud of the colloquial features of their variant. So, when you are planning to go to Mexico, do not forget to learn a couple of such phrases in order to immediately make friends. ¡A huevo!

Text: Anastasia Lukyanova