Guatemalan Spanish
Español guatemalteco
Pronunciation[espaˈɲol ɣwatemalˈteko]
Native toGuatemala
RegionCentral American Spanish
Native speakers
7,2 million (2014)[1]
2,470,000 in Guatemala (2014)
Early forms
Latin (Spanish alphabet)
Official status
Official language in
 Guatemala
Regulated byAcademia Guatemalteca de la Lengua
Language codes
ISO 639-1es
ISO 639-2spa[2]
ISO 639-3–
GlottologNone
IETFes-GT

Guatemalan Spanish (Spanish: Español guatemalteco) is the national variant of Spanish spoken in the Central American country of Guatemala. While 93% of Guatemalans in total speak Spanish,[3] it is the native language of only 69% of the population due to the prevalence of languages in the indigenous Mayan and Arawakan families.[4] Guatemalans typically use the second-person singular personal pronoun vos alongside the standard Spanish second-person singular pronouns tú and usted to form a three-level system of second-person singular address.[5]

Phonetics and phonology

  • The presence of seseo wherein there is no distinction between /θ/ and /s/. Seseo is common to all of Latin American Spanish, and the Andalusian and Canarian Spanish varieties in Spain.
  • /x/ is realized as glottal [h].[6][7]
  • Syllable-final /s/ is only occasionally aspirated, and only when before consonants or a pause. It's weakened less often than in any other Central American dialect.[8]
  • Word-final /n/ is pronounced velar [ŋ].[6][7]
  • As Guatemala was part of the First Mexican Empire, the Guatemalan dialect adopted the voiceless alveolar affricate [t͡s] and the cluster [tl] (originally /tɬ/) represented by the respective digraphs ⟨tz⟩ and ⟨tl⟩ in loanwords of Nahuatl origin, quetzal and tlapalería [t͡ɬapaleˈɾia] ('hardware store'). Even words of Greek and Latin origin with ⟨tl⟩, such as Atlántico and atleta, are pronounced with /tl/: [aˈtlantiko], [aˈtleta] (compare [aðˈlantiko], [aðˈleta] in Spain and other dialects in Hispanic America).[9]
  • The alveolar trill /r/ is often assibilated to a fricative [ʒ]. Syllable-final /ɾ/ may also be assibilated, often sounding somewhat like [s] or [z], although this is less common among younger and urban speakers. In central Guatemala, /tɾ/ is often pronounced as an affricate, almost like English [tɹ̝̊]. This is more common after consonants as in entre 'between'. This feature is not as frequent in Guatemala as in Costa Rica or the Andes and is less common among younger and urban speakers.[8]

Grammar

Guatemalan Spanish uses vos, alongside tú and usted as second-person singular pronouns.

In Guatemala and El Salvador, indefinite articles are commonly placed before a possessive pronoun, as in una mi tacita de café lit. 'a my cup of coffee'. Very rarely a demonstrative can go before the possessive pronoun, like aquella su idea lit. 'that his/her/their idea'. This construction was occasional in Old Spanish and is still found in Judaeo-Spanish, but its prevalence in Guatemalan and even Salvadoran Spanish is due to similar constructions appearing in several Mayan languages.[10]


Vocabulary

A number of words are widely used in Guatemala which have Mayan or other native origins such as names for flora, fauna and toponyms. Some of these words are used in most, or all, Spanish-speaking countries, such as chocolate and aguacate ("avocado"). However, some words are only used in Mexico and most Central American countries. The latter include guajolote "turkey" < Nahuatl huaxōlōtl [waˈʃoːloːt͡ɬ] (although chompipe can be used; pavo is also used as in other Spanish-speaking countries); papalote "kite" < Nahuatl pāpālōtl [paːˈpaːloːt͡ɬ] "butterfly"; and jitomate "tomato" < Nahuatl xītomatl [ʃiːˈtomat͡ɬ]. For a more complete list see List of Spanish words of Nahuatl origin. Local words include:

  • chapín – Guatemalan
  • chish - interjection signifying disgust[11]
  • cincho - belt
  • chucho - dog
  • chumpa - jacket
  • canche – blond (not widespread)
  • cabal – right on
  • colocho - curly (usually when speaking of hair)
  • ishto - kid (brat) (not widespread)
  • mosh - oat porridge (more formally used is "avena")
  • patojo – child (young people)
  • pisto - money
  • poporopos - popcorn
  • shuco - Guatemalan-style hot dog; also means dirty
  • sho - interjection for shut up

There are also many words unique to Central America, for example, chunche or chochadas or babosadas means "thing" or "stuff" in some places. The words used to describe children (or kids) vary among the countries in Central America; in Guatemala, they are often called patojos. In the eastern departments especially Jutiapa, cipotes is used to refer to children; meanwhile, in the western and northern departments, chamacos is used. In Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras, the word güiros is also used. In Guatemala as well as Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, people with money are said to have pisto, a term originally used by Maya peoples in Guatemala.[12]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Spanish → Guatemala at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ "ISO 639-2 Language Code search". Library of Congress. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  3. ↑ "Indigenous languages in Guatemala | Mil Milagros, Inc". www.milmilagros.org. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  4. ↑ "Guatemala", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 2023-08-29, retrieved 2023-09-05
  5. ↑ Pinkerton 1986, p. 690.
  6. 1 2 Canfield, D. Lincoln (1981). Spanish pronunciation in the Americas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 65–66. ISBN 9780226092638.
  7. 1 2 Lipski, John M. (1994). Latin American Spanish. London: Longman. pp. 290–291. ISBN 9780582087606.
  8. 1 2 Lipski, John M. (2008). "Guatemalan and Honduran Spanish in the United States". Varieties of Spanish in the United States. Georgetown University Press. pp. 179–190. ISBN 9781589016514.
  9. ↑ Navarro Tomás 2004, section 98
  10. ↑ Lipski 2000, p. 70.
  11. ↑ Online dictionary of the Real Academia Española (in Spanish)
  12. ↑ "Honduras slang". Archived from the original on 2010-05-29. Retrieved 2010-12-11.

References

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