Mexico is an extremely common vacation spot for vacationers. It’s no shock that everybody desires to take a look at the Mayan ruins, white-sand beaches, unique wildlife and amazing food.
However should you’re assuming—hopefully as you pack your suitcase and seize your passport!—that what language is spoken there, we’d higher have a phrase.
Positive, Spanish is spoken in Mexico, but it surely’s Spanish with a Mexican twist.
Is that this sufficient to make “Mexican” its personal language?
Let’s test it out!
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Contents
Fast Reply: Nope, “Mexican” is Not a Language
Spanish is essentially the most generally spoken language in Mexico. Though Mexican Spanish has its personal unique slang, expressions and terms, it’s still very similar to standard Spanish, so it’s considered a Spanish dialect and part of Latin American Spanish. We’ll go into the details below!
Interestingly, the most widely spoken indigenous language in Mexico, Nahuatl, is sometimes referred to as “Mexican”—don’t confuse it with Mexican Spanish, though.
Is Mexican a Language or Dialect?
A language is a structured form of communication. Spanish is a language.
A dialect is a regional version of a language. Castilian Spanish and Latin American Spanish would possibly differ in some ways however they’re nonetheless forms of Spanish and so they’re mutually intelligible—that’s, somebody from Spain can simply perceive somebody from Peru, and vice versa.
The road between dialects and languages is definitely fairly blurry and not uniformly agreed on, so it may be troublesome to find out if a technique of talking is a language or a dialect.
To make issues much more sophisticated, you’ll discover regional dialects even inside the nation itself.
After all, as we talked about earlier, this isn’t to be mixed up with the “Mexican language,” of Nahuatl.
The truth is, Spanish isn’t even the official language of the country, though it’s essentially the most broadly used one: To provide indigenous teams extra rights, the official language was deliberately left clean so varied languages could possibly be utilized in official paperwork and authorities affairs.
We by no means mentioned this could be easy!
Contemplating their similarities, and the truth that the Spanish language in Mexico nonetheless follows practically all the identical guidelines as commonplace Spanish, for the aim of this submit we’ll be calling Mexican a dialect of Spanish (extra particularly, Latin American Spanish).
That mentioned, the Spanish spoken in Mexico (very like many languages) was strongly influenced by its location and historical past. Let’s learn the way!
All About Mexican Spanish
Mexican Spanish was influenced by the Nahuatl language that was used throughout the Aztec Empire. The empire flourished in central Mexico till 1519 when Europeans arrived on the scene.
There are many indigenous languages nonetheless being spoken in Mexico: Six million individuals in Mexico communicate a language that’s indigenous to the world.
These languages have left their mark and traces can nonetheless be heard in Mexican Spanish as we speak—however it is a two-way road and Spanish has, in flip, influenced the development of the Nahuatl language and different indigenous tongues, as properly.
It’s fascinating to notice that the English language has additionally been influenced by the Nahuatl language in a lot of cases!
Mexican Spanish additionally incorporates loads of slang and a few of it is rather colourful and enjoyable to make use of. Fortunately for you, a number of slang phrases are on our listing on the finish of this submit.
Lastly, the proximity of Mexico to the English-speaking portion of North America implies that a whole lot of what you’ll hear on the road and in retailers is a mix of English married to Spanish. Many phrases and phrases are a mix of each languages.
An ideal instance of this fusion is the phrase actualmente (truly, presently). In commonplace Spanish, you’d use en realidad to get the concept throughout however this morphing of two languages into one phrase is broadly practiced and usually understood in Mexico.
Spanish in Mexico vs. Spanish in Spain
Mexican Spanish is often known as Latin American Spanish as a result of it differs barely from the Spanish spoken in Spain.
As we talked about earlier, you can also make an extra distinction, separating Mexican Spanish from Latin American Spanish. Listed below are a number of points of the Mexican model of Spanish:
- Mexican Spanish usually makes use of suffixes to indicate ranges of affection or respect. For instance, -ito (little) is frequently added to show fondness. Juan becomes Juanito and even abuela (grandmother) becomes abuelita in a show of warmth and deference.
- Colloquial expressions liberally pepper Mexican Spanish. One well-recognized word, guey , has been used for decades to call a person without actually saying their name. It certainly comes in handy—especially if you’re not good at remembering names!
- The vos (you) form isn’t used in Mexico so leave out vosotros (you [plural]) and insert ustedes (you [plural]) in its place.
Vosotros is, however, still in use in some smaller villages and is found in print in Bibles so it won’t be totally off the mark if you do use it.
- There are a few nouns that are used in Mexico and some other Latin American countries that aren’t commonly used in Spain. For example, in Mexico, glasses would typically be lentes (glasses) instead of gafas (glasses). And you’d drive a coche (car), not a carro (car).
A great way to get comfortable with Mexican Spanish would be to watch Mexican vlogs, telenovelas and movies. You may additionally attempt FluentU, a language studying platform that helps you be taught via genuine Spanish media clips from totally different Spanish-speaking international locations—together with Mexico. These include interactive subtitles, quizzes and transcripts so you possibly can dig deep into the vocabulary and different components of the language.
Standard Mexican Phrases and Phrases
Now that a lot about Mexican Spanish, listed below are some widespread phrases and expressions that’ll make you are feeling proper at house in Mexico!
No hay pedo. (There’s no fart.)
Before you start sniffing the air, let’s get right to the heart of this. It has nothing to do with flatulence!
What this phrase actually means is that “There’s no problem!” or that “Everything’s okay!”
It’s the ideal way to show that you’re down with a situation, issue or person.
It’s an expression that’s almost guaranteed to make people smile so it’s a great one to add to your Spanish skills.
Nunca falta el negrito en el arroz. (There’s always a spot in the rice. [Literally: Never miss the black in the rice.])
Rice is a staple food in many Spanish-speaking countries, including Mexico. White rice is a side dish served with most meals. That goes for breakfast, too.
This modest phrase illustrates that in life, as in rice, nothing is ideal. There could also be just a little black spot or imperfection in even the happiest life—or within the fluffiest rice.
Rice usually has little stones in it, relying on the place it’s harvested. Many cooks are accustomed to eradicating as lots of these stones as doable earlier than cooking the rice.
So in case your dinner order comes with a tiny speck in it, do not forget that it’s not the tip of the world.
There are a few methods to interpret this phrase.
A small imperfection is nothing to somebody who sees the worth in the entire dish (or state of affairs) and simply removes the little black spot.
If somebody seems to be for a destructive in even the nice occasions (or biggest meals) they’re prone to discover one thing “unsuitable” like just a little black spot.
Fault-finders will hunt down the little black spots of their rice whereas those that low cost the little issues will look previous an imperfection. So this little phrase holds a whole lot of which means behind it!
¡A poco! (A little bit!)
This phrase is used to point shock.
Be taught your neighbor is shopping for a ship? ¡A poco!
He’s shifting to Paris? ¡A poco!
And it’s all as a result of he received the lottery? ¡A poco!
This little phrase is expressive with out being wordy so it’s a very good one to make use of liberally.
Sepa la bola. (The ball is aware of.)
If you’re requested a query that you simply don’t have a solution to, this little phrase says loads. The truth is, it says all of it!
It’s like a verbal shoulder shrug and it means “Who is aware of?” or “I don’t know!”
And that’s all you must say!
En todos lados se cuecen habas. (Broad beans are cooked in every single place.)
Suppose you’re particular or that you simply’ve bought one thing occurring that’s the one one in every of its variety? Suppose once more!
This phrase cuts that line of pondering down—and it does it utilizing a vegetable.
It signifies {that a} state of affairs isn’t distinctive—that it’s as widespread as beans.
It’s a pleasant approach of claiming you must recover from the state of affairs—and possibly your self! It may also be used if you really feel like one thing occurring to you is an excessive amount of to deal with.
Chela (Beer)
Chela is a slang phrase for beer.
It made this listing as a result of beer is common in Mexico. Spend any period of time there and also you’re prone to hear this one loads.
In case you’re going to Guatemala, it is a phrase that you simply’ll hear there, too.
Estoy crudo. (I’m uncooked.)
That is one other Mexican phrase that brings meals into issues.
The expression would possibly make you consider greens, but it surely’s truly a approach to inform somebody that you’re hungover or that you simply’ve already had an excessive amount of to drink.
You simply would possibly need to preserve this one helpful. Mexican events could be legendary!
¡Te están haciendo de chivo los tamales! (They’re making goat tamales! [Literally: They’re making your tamales from goat!])
Only a few individuals order goat tamales. Like, nobody. Most individuals order pork, hen or beef tamales.
But when somebody says that your tamales are being constituted of goat—don’t push the dish away.
It simply implies that you’re being lied to or cheated on.
In different phrases, one thing’s being misrepresented! That beef does look suspicious…
Todos dicen que maten al toro, pero el toro no mate a nadie. (The entire area tells them to kill the bull, but the bull ought to kill nobody.)
This Mexican expression is an statement of the inequality and injustice on the earth.
It reveals that life isn’t truthful, particularly should you’re the bull.
For extra common Mexican expressions, try this video:
Given the listing of phrases above and the assets I’ve talked about, it simply goes to point out that there’s a variety of Mexican Spanish to be taught, recognize and use.
Talking Spanish in Mexico is usually a actual journey!
Decide up a few of these Mexican phrases to assist elevate your international citizen standing. Chat with locals and revel in each minute of your go to!
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This weblog submit is on the market as a handy and moveable PDF that you simply
can take wherever.
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