Mexico is a huge state in North America with a total area of 1.95 million km. Mexico borders the United States with the northern and eastern parts. 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, the people of Mexico use the Spanish language in everyday communication - more precisely, its Mexican dialect. This happened historically, due to 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 speaks Spanish.
Is spanish official?
Spanish in Mexico remains the most widely spoken language spoken almost everywhere. Although Spanish is ubiquitous, 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 a local dialect.
English in Mexico
Some tourists traveling to Mexico are in a hurry to find a Russian-Mexican phrasebook. Others, knowing that now the vast majority of Mexicans speak Spanish, clutch their heads: before the trip you need to learn a new language as soon as possible. However, there are some travelers who are sure that in any country you can survive, knowing English. With regard to Mexico, this is a big mistake. English here not only does not help, but can seriously interfere. The fact is that Mexicans do not like the Americans neighboring them. Therefore, if a tourist begins to communicate with a local in English, most likely he will take an indifferent view. Or he will communicate in an unfriendly manner.
Local dialects
The root 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 the descendants of the great Indians exceeds this number by half. The most common local Mexican language is called Nahuatl, which includes various dialects. I use about 1.3 million people in everyday life.
One of the main languages of the Aztec group is the classic Nahuatl. Starting in the 16th century, it was systematically supplanted by the invading Europeans. Gradually, the Aztec language began to disintegrate into dialects. At the moment, the classic Nahuatl is counted among the dead languages. However, it preserved a large number of literary monuments recorded with the help of the Latin alphabet. Many people call the Nahuatl language Mexican. Translation into different languages and even Nahuatl courses are no longer exotic.
Mayan languages
The next place in terms of prevalence is the language of the ancient Mayans - Maaya Taan, or Yucatec language. Its carriers are about 759 thousand people. It is distributed mainly on 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 Pramai language.
Kekchi - Mayan dialect
About 450 thousand people speak Kekchi. This language is distributed mainly in the territory of Guatemala. Here, about 90% of the total number of all residents communicate on it. However, kekchi can also be heard on the territory of El Salvador and Belize. For a very long time, the Kecchi ethnic family was isolated from other regions. Therefore, different dialects of this language differ from each other very slightly. The main dialect is the western dialect. Kekchi differs in that among its representatives the largest number of monolingual carriers.
Mishtek dialects
Another 423 thousand people. use in everyday life the languages of the Mishtek group. The Mistek Mexican language is a region called La Misteca. The word "teddy bear" means "resident, layman." Typically, native speakers of this group of languages use the poetic phrase "Rain Word" to denote their native dialect. In total, the Mistek language has 52 local dialects.
Zapotec Mexican Languages
410 thousand people in Mexico are native speakers of Zapotec languages. Sapotek civilization was born around 700 BC. e. In the XVI century, it was finally subdued by European conquerors. The Zapotec Empire was located on the territory of 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 constant enemies of the state were the neighboring Mishtecs.