Argentina

Argentinian language

Argentina's flag

The Republic of Argentina is a country belonging to South America, whose capital is Buenos Aires. It has a population of 44 million inhabitants (31st) and an area of ​​2,780,400 km 2 (8th), making it the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. Its human development index is very high (47th) and its official currency is the Argentine peso. And what language is spoken in Argentina?

What language do you speak in Argentina?

Argentina does not have any official language; the de facto national language is Spanish, spoken by practically the entire population.

Provinces such as Corrientes or Chaco establish other languages ​​as co -official (along with Spanish as official): Guaraní, in Corrientes; the Qom, the Wichí and the Mocoví in Chaco.

After Spanish, the most widely spoken languages ​​are: English (2.8 million), Italian (1.5 million), Arabic (1 million), German (400,000), Yiddish (200,000), Guarani (200,000), Catalan (174,000).), Quechua (65,000), Wichi (53,700), Vlax Roma (52,000), Albanian (40,000), Japanese (32,000), Aymara (30,000), Ukrainian (27,000), and Welsh (25,000). These figures take into account both native and second language speakers; if only native speakers are taken into account, Italian is the second language of the country (since English barely has 100,000 native speakers).

map of indigenous languages ​​in argentina

Guaraní is present in the northeast (especially in the interior of the province of Corrientes); Quechua in the province of Santiago de Estero and in areas of the province of Jujuy; the Mapudungun in the provinces of Patagonia; Portuñol (a hybrid language between Portuguese and Spanish) in some areas of the border with Brazil (in Corrientes, Entre Ríos and, above all, in the province of Misiones).

In total, up to 24 languages ​​coexist in the Argentine country, of which 15 are indigenous and 9 are non-native. Another 5 indigenous languages ​​were present in the country in the past, now extinct.

In education, English is compulsory from primary school in several provinces.

The Spanish language

Spanish is spoken by almost the entire population. It is the only language used in administrative functions, even though it is not declared official. The Spanish spoken in Argentina has Italianisms (laburo, manyar…), Quechuisms, Guaranisms and Araucanisms. Another characteristic feature is that of the rehilan yeísmo (pronunciation of the y and the ll in the same way, as if it were the sound sh), with the exception of the north. Guarani words are in common use, such as the expression che.

The best known dialect outside the country is the River Plate dialect, with strong influences from Italian, and with the use of the voseo even in formal registers.

map of spanish dialects in argentina

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