Spanish dialects

Spanish dialects: from Castilian to Mexican

Each language has its own dialects. For example, English is perceived differently in North America, UK and Australia. As for Spanish, then only within Spain four dialects of this language are used. And then there's Mexico., Argentina, Cuba and other countries, in which Spanish is used with a mixture of local languages. Let's analyze each of the dialects and find out, which one is better to learn.

Dialects within Spain

Castilian

Named after the Kingdom of Castile, the dialect "castellano" is considered the most popular. It is spoken by the majority of the country's citizens, living in the north and center of Spain. Based on classical Latin, and the dialect itself is used at the official level.

Catalan

The autonomy of Catalonia has become the heart of the spread of the second most popular dialect "catala". This version of the language is also used by residents of Valencia and the Balearic Islands, Principality of Andorra, Italian Sardinia and southern regions of France. You may also come across several dialects of "catala", for example, Mallorquin or Valencian.

Galician

The “galego” dialect originated in the north-west - in the province of Galicia. The nearby border with Portugal has had its influence on the Spanish language. As a result, the dialect is successfully used by about three million people in Spain, and there are even three subspecies of “galego”: west, eastern and central.

Basque

Residents of Navarra successfully use the "euskara" dialect in everyday activities. Even if it has little in common with the Castilian form of Spanish, but it is officially recognized and spoken by almost a million native Spaniards.

Foreign dialects of Spanish

Mexican

The indigenous people of Mexico made their own adjustments to the Spanish language, resulting in the formation of the Mexican dialect. Words in this form sometimes have nothing in common with Spanish, and, often, not even known to the representative of Spain.

Argentinian

The so-called Latin American Spanish is based on a large number of Italian word forms. The Argentinean dialect also has little in common with the Spanish "castellano", and its appearance is associated with a large flow of immigrants from Southern Italy.

Guatemalan, Ecuadorian, Panamanian and Peruvian

Residents of the northern regions of South America at one time slightly modified the Castilian dialect of ordinary Spanish. As a result, for those, who considers “castellano” native, will feel comfortable in this region: encountering unfamiliar words is inevitable, but the context will be very clear.

Caribbean

Popular in Cuba, in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, the Caribbean dialect is difficult to understand even among native Spaniards. This species has a different pronunciation and vocabulary.: there are a lot of Americanisms here, and the language itself is quite distant from the classical varieties of Spanish.

Which dialect should you prefer to study??

The choice of dialect depends on the goals, What are your goals when learning Spanish?. If this is a serious move to a specific region of Spain or a Spanish-speaking country for the purpose of settling and further work, then it makes sense to devote the educational process to studying a specific dialect.

If the goal does not have a geographic basis, for example, you learn spanish, to read books or just chat, just focus on the Castilian version. If necessary, You can switch from Castilian to any other dialect in a short time.

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