The history of any state is reflected in great detail in the history of the development of the languages spoken by its population. Today we will find out which language is official in Argentina, and what other dialects and dialects can be heard on the territory of this country. Such knowledge will help to some extent come closer to the culture and spirit of the people who inhabit the amazing South American republic.
Argentina: what language is officially spoken in this country
Argentines joke that they actually came from ships. And this is not far from the truth, since 90% of the country's population are descendants of emigrants from Europe who once crossed the ocean.
The population of Argentina speaks at least 40 languages and dialects. But, despite the fact that the ancestors of the bulk of the citizens of the republic are immigrants not only from Spain, but also from Italy, Germany and France, Spanish is the official language of Argentina. Accordingly, it is owned by the majority of the population (almost 33 million people). True, in each of the 22 provinces of the republic they speak it with their own unique accent.
By the way, this country ranks fourth after Spain, Colombia and Mexico in the number of people who speak Spanish. True he's here represented by a dialect that the Argentines themselves call "Castellano." This is a kind of cocktail from Spanish and Italian, approaching in pronunciation to the Neapolitan dialect.
How do the indigenous languages of Argentina feel?
Today, only 1% of the population speaks the indigenous languages of South America . Modern residents of Argentina, descendants of the natives, use Mapuche, Pilag, Aymara, Mokovi, Toba, Chorote, Tuelche, Guarani and a few other dialects.
And some ancient American dialects were unlucky: two of them have completely disappeared - these are the ancient languages of Abilon and Chan, and only a small number of elderly people own them, with the death of which they will also sink into oblivion. So, for example, as of 2000, only six people spoke Puelche, and 4 people spoke Tehuel!
Native speakers - Indians - live in small tribes and, speaking among themselves, use their native dialect, and when communicating with representatives of official organizations and other residents of the state - Spanish. But the descendants of the proud Indians and Métis prefer to communicate only the official state language of Argentina.
Unfortunately, as in many countries, the ancient linguistic heritage here constantly suffered from cultural genocide, which could not but affect its preservation.
Languages of the First Emigrants
The very first settlers from Europe spoke Cocolic and Spanish-Italian, Creole. These dialects disappeared over time, thanks to more and more new immigrant flows that filled the country in search of a better life. Now they are not spoken, but sometimes, however, they use the old language of Argentina in theatrical productions.
And in modern slang only some words and expressions borrowed from kokoliche are preserved.
What other languages besides Spanish are popular in Argentina
On the streets of Buenos Aires you can hear Italian, French and German.
Italian is the second largest speaker language of Argentina: it is used by more than fifteen million inhabitants. By the way, it was with the help of immigrants from Italy and their descendants that the official language in the country took the form that many foreigners confused it by ear with Italian.
German is also quite common in the state (at least 1,800,000 people use it). It is recognized as the third largest carrier. Mingling with the locals, the Germans created the “Belgrandeich” dialect - a mixture of German and local Spanish.
Thanks to emigrants from the Middle East, Israel, Lebanon and Palestine, 1 million people communicate in Levantine Arabic.
List of Argentina Languages
More than eight hundred thousand people use the Quechuan language of Argentina and its six dialects in their communication (they were spoken by the indigenous population of this territory). Moreover, the Quechua script, which was developed on the basis of the Spanish alphabet, is also used.
Due to the constant influx of foreigners wishing to settle in the country, the state speaks Yiddish, Russian and Chinese, as well as Welsh and Catalan dialects. There are residents of Argentina who speak Ukrainian, Romanian and Bulgarian. True, their number has not been established.
The country has immigrant communities uniting people who speak Japanese, Korean, and Cantonese.
And immigrants from South Africa brought their numerous dialects to South American territory.
What language in Argentina arouses the rejection of linguists
In addition to the above, Argentines quite widely use the dialect of the Spanish language, which can more likely be attributed to a variety of street slang (the so-called sociolect) - "lunfardo."
This remarkable dialect of poor working quarters is distinguished by a large number of interjections and, like any street language, by an absolute lack of political correctness. It is somewhat akin to the Russian "hair dryer." Therefore, probably, part of the Argentine linguists flatly refuses to consider this criminalized derivative a dialect of the Spanish language.
The formation of the modern Argentine language
Due to the fact that the country's population uses many languages, the classic Spanish and local "Argentinean" differ in the same way as, for example, Surzhik, which is spoken in the regions of Ukraine bordering with Russia, differs from both Russian and Ukrainian. Many words may seem unfamiliar, amaze or even amuse, but you can still communicate.
The modern language of Argentina took a large number of turns and single words from Italian and Portuguese, and borrowed something from English, while fundamentally changing the meaning. And, for example, from the French, the Argentinean adopted the stress on the last syllable in the imperative mood of pronouns. And, despite this, a person who knows classic Spanish can quite easily communicate with representatives of the local population.