What language is Mexican similar to? Is there a Mexican language? Spanish video lessons for beginners

Many tourists, planning to visit Mexico, wonder what language is spoken in this country. Since the United Mexican States is one of the former colonies of Spain, its residents communicate with each other mainly in Spanish. This official language Mexico, or rather, one of them.

Mexico's location on the globe

The country is inhabited by approximately a third of the planet's Spanish-speaking population. But it is worth noting that the Spanish dialect in this country is still different from the usual modern Spanish language. These changes occurred as a result of influences from local traditions and dialects, as well as the survival of some older spoken forms.

Until the mid-19th century, or more precisely until 1821, the country was called New Spain. The influence of the Spanish conquerors on it was so strong that as a result, today 92% of the population is Spanish-speaking and considers this dialect to be their native language.

An interesting fact is that, despite its prevalence, Spanish is not official in Mexico. This country positions itself as a multicultural state and promotes bilingualism. That is, in fact, Spanish remains the main spoken form; it is spoken everywhere. But at the same time, Mexicans of Indian origin can draw up documents in government agencies in his native dialect.

What language to speak in Mexico, watch the video.

Story

Before the arrival of the Spaniards on the American continent, the Aztec Empire was located in a vast territory stretching from the central regions of modern Mexico to the Isthmus of Panama. The dialect that the local population used to communicate was called Nahuatl.

It has survived to this day and includes various related languages and spoken dialects. It is spoken by about 1.5 million people, most of whom live in Mexico and are direct descendants of the Aztecs. There are many variants of Nahuatl, which is spoken by residents of different regions of the country, but most of these variants are similar to each other.

The version that can be heard in Mexico City is recognized by the Mexican Constitution as one of the official ones. They write on it modern books, the press is published, and various legal documents are published.

By the way, you and I also use in our speech words borrowed from the ancient Nahuatl dialect. This:

avocado;
cocoa;
chili (name of pepper);
tomato;
chocolate and many other words that are still used both in modern Mexico and throughout the world.

In addition to Nahuatl, there are approximately 60 dialects spoken by indigenous peoples in Mexico. These are the descendants of the Mayans, Zapotecs and other Indian peoples. Their numbers are not so great, but many have retained their native language, using Indian dialects as a language for intraspecific communication. It is the second most popular among the Indian population.

But still, the main percentage of Mexicans prefer to speak Spanish. It is this colloquial form that is the most popular means of communication in Mexico. But as mentioned earlier, Mexican Spanish has its own linguistic norms that distinguish it from modern mainstream Spanish.

Flags of Spain and Mexico

The states of Chiapas and Yucatan are especially distinguished by their dialects. Those who hear the Mexican version of Spanish for the first time cannot help but notice that it is somewhat “old-fashioned.”

This happened because Mexico, having gained independence at the beginning of the nineteenth century, got rid of the influence of the colonial country and began to develop in its own way. This also affected the Spanish dialect, which began to form independently, absorbing local ethnic dialects, but remaining the same in form, as if frozen in the 19th century. Therefore, Mexicans still use words that no one has used in modern speech for a long time.

You're both right. :) Mexican language WAS. It doesn't exist now. This is one of the "dead" languages.
AZTEC LANGUAGES, a group of Indian languages in Mexico and El Salvador, one of the main groups of Uto-Aztecan language family. In total, in the Uto-Aztec family, according to different classifications, there are from 3 to 9 groups. On the basis of territoriality, three groups are often distinguished: Shoshone languages, common in the United States - in the Great Basin and the Southwest, Sonoran languages, common in northwestern Mexico and the surrounding areas of the United States, and Aztec languages. The Aztec group is divided into three subgroups - the extinct Pochutec language in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, the endangered Pipil language in El Salvador, and the Nahuatl group, or Aztec languages proper. Among Aztec proper, the now dead classical Nahuatl (= Aztec; Mexican; Nahuatl) stands out - the language of the Aztec empire, conquered by the Spaniards in the 16th century. In addition, 26 are common in central Mexico modern languages Nahuatl, spoken by a few to several hundred thousand people, and a total of approx. 1.4 million people. The largest of these languages are: Eastern Huastec Nahuatl (about 410 thousand speakers), Western Huastec Nahuatl (about 400 thousand), Guerrera Nahuatl (about 300 thousand). Although these are all different languages, the collective use of "Nahuatl language" is often found, including classical Nahuatl and all modern varieties. Social status Aztec languages are low. Prospects for survival vary among languages; many of them are already extinct or are on the verge of extinction.

Aztec languages have been studied since the mid-16th century, when the first grammar of classical Nahuatl was published. For a long time, Nahuatl was described only by Christian missionaries. At the beginning of the 19th century. One of the Nahuatl languages was studied by the German linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt. Currently, many of the Aztec languages are well documented and taught in schools.

From the beginning of the 15th century, about 100 years before the Spanish Conquest, the Aztecs began to use hieroglyphic, mainly ideographic, writing, which arose under the influence of the Mixtec script; the latter, in turn, goes back to the writing of the Zapotec Indians, who borrowed the idea and basic principles of writing from the Olmecs and possibly from the Mayans (see MAYAN LANGUAGES). Later, the Aztecs developed some elements of phonetic writing, especially when writing names. Currently, Latin-based writing has been developed for many Aztec languages.

Aztec languages are highly synthetic and have accusative sentence construction.

In the Russian language there are a number of indirect borrowings from the Nahuatl language, which came through the Spanish and English (or French) languages: tomato, chocolate, avocado, coyote, ocelot. For example, the word chocolate comes from the Aztec xocolatl, "bitter water."

Etc.). In Mexico, this variety of Spanish is the only official one at the federal level and one of the official ones (along with many Indian languages) at the state level. Mexican Spanish is also the basis for Spanish in the United States (see Spanish in the United States), widely used in the media (Univision, Telemundo, etc.), education, etc. In addition, Mexican Spanish is the most common language variant of Spanish language, since it is native to the majority of Mexicans, who make up about 29% of all Spanish speakers in the world. The main features of the Spanish language in Mexico are the clarity of pronunciation of consonants (especially d and s), closeness to the classical standard Spanish language of the 16th and 17th centuries, with a strong influence of autochthonous languages in the field of vocabulary.

Story

Until the 16th century, the territory of modern Mexico was inhabited by quite numerous Indian tribes who spoke several dozen languages, the most common of which were: Navajo in the north, Maya, Nahuatl in the center and many others, which had a significant substrate influence on the Spanish language, which at first only a small but elite stratum of conquistadors, administrators and officials and immigrants from Spain, who made up about 5% of the population, spoke. However, thanks to its prestige and intensive interracial contacts (mixed race), Spanish became the main means of communication for the bulk of Mexicans already in the 17th century. Yet, unlike the United States, Mexico has never pursued a policy of genocide against the indigenous population. After a sharp reduction in the number of Indians due to diseases introduced by Europeans, their number stabilized already in the 17th-18th centuries. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the number of speakers of Indian languages in Mexico increased quite significantly, although their share of the population as a whole continued to decline due to an even more rapid increase in the number of Spanish-speaking mestizos. However, the influence of Amerindian languages, which are still spoken by 7-10% of Mexicans, remains significant. Many Mexicanisms, that is, words, phrases, phonetic and grammatical phenomena characteristic of the spoken Spanish language of Mexico, are explained precisely by the influence of autochthonous languages. Another important factor in the formation and spread of Mexican Spanish was the status of the city of Mexico City itself (formerly Tenochtitlan), which throughout three centuries was the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (see New Spain and Colonies of Spain), as well as the largest in the Western Hemisphere, where a significant number of people arrived from Madrid and Spain in the 16th-17th centuries. Therefore, just like American English, Mexican Spanish is based mainly on the corresponding European analogue of the language of the 16th-17th centuries. The language, in fact, of Spain continued to develop further, but in Mexico it largely froze as if in a preserved form after gaining independence at the beginning of the 19th century and developed in isolation from Spain.

Phonological features

Seseo: Latin America as a whole, the Canary Islands and Andalusia still do not differentiate s and interdental z, c(developed in Castile), which are all pronounced /s/. The sound [s] in Mexico is laminodental or apicodental and identical to the Russian sound “s”, but [s] in the center and north of Spain took on an apical-alveolar character in the 19th-20th centuries, so for Russians and Mexicans equally it sounds like “ sh" (the non-distinction between s and sh is also characteristic of the Greek language).

Eizmo: There is no longer any difference in pronunciation y And ll; pronounced like /ʝ/ or Russian [Y].

Unlike other varieties of Spanish, which tend to vocalize words according to the Italian model, final and intervocalic consonants in Mexico have a fairly clear quality, and vowels, on the contrary, are reduced: the pronunciation ["tRasts] for "trastes". This often happens on consonant contact [s] with [e], which is dropped. Philologist Bertil Malmberg gives the following example Rafael Lapesa, when many people do not pronounce vowels ( Cómo ’stás, “cómo estás’, nec’sito, ‘necesito’, palabr’s ‘palabras’, much’s gras’s, ‘muchas gracias’).

Unlike Caribbean Spanish, final [s] (indicator plural and second person verbs) is always preserved.

Intervocalic d tends to weaken, but is never completely reduced. Thus, "amado", "partido", "nada" do not become "amao", "partío" and "naa" as in Cuba or Venezuela.

In much of Mexico, the distinctive [R] and [r] phonemes of Standard Spanish (especially the final -r) are often muted and the contrast between them is somewhat blurred: ["ka§ta]"carta" or "amor", while in the northern states the difference between /rr/ and /-r/ remains. In some areas of the Yucatan Peninsula, r even takes on a uvular quality (as in French).

The sound (x) in Mexico is a fricative voiceless velar [x], as in ["kaxa] "caja" (box). This sound is in many ways similar to the Russian "kh" and is quite close to the similar sound of northern and central Spain, but, in contrast, it does not have hard uvular overtones. In Caribbean Spanish (which has a strong influence on the speech of the Atlantic coast of Mexico) due to the general weakening of consonants, the letter. j realized as a voiceless exhalation [h], found in Germanic languages.

Within Mexican Spanish, which has a standardized version, there are a significant number of dialects (especially in the vernacular). Thus, Mexicans themselves, as a rule, can distinguish by ear the speech of people from the states of Nuevo Leon, Sinaloa, Yucatan, Mexico City itself, Jalisco, Chiapas or Veracruz.

In 1521, Spanish colonizers arrived in Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), thus introducing the Spanish language into what is now Mexico. However, it took several generations for the zones to acquire their own personal linguistic character. This happened only 100 years later. The Creole Spanish language of Mexico begins to emerge when the first children are born in Mexico, but their parents still spoke European Spanish, so their children could not yet be said to speak pure Mexican Spanish.

In Mexico, as subsequently in all other countries of Latin America, a number of changes are taking place in the Spanish language system: linguistic territories are expanding (as happened in Spain, when the Spanish language replaced other languages that existed on the Iberian Peninsula), phonological changes are taking place (by -the other begins to pronounce j, the sound θ gradually disappears and is replaced by s, phonetic adaptation of words borrowed from Indian languages occurs), etc.

One of the first impressions that modern Mexican Spanish can make on an observer is that it is “conservative.” In the literary texts of Spanish writers of the 16th and 17th centuries, one can find words that today in Spain are archaisms and are practically unrecognizable to native speakers, or are used extremely rarely. In Mexico these words continue to be used and are not perceived as archaic. Here are some examples of such lexical units:

Mexican word (is archaic in the Castilian version)	Equivalent in Castilian version Spanish	Translation
Aburricion	Aburrimiento	Boredom, annoyance
Alzarse	Sublevarse	Revolt, rebel
Amarrar	Atar	tie, connect
Anafre	Hornillo	Portable oven
Apeñuscarse	Apiñarse	crowd, crowd
Balde (para agua)	Cubo	Bucket, tub
Botar	Tirar	Throw away, throw away
Chabacano	Albaricoque	Apricot
Chapa	Cerradura	Lock
Chicharo	Guisante	Peas
Cobija	Manta	Blanket
Despacio (hablar despacio)	En voz baja	Quiet (speak quietly)
Dilatar	Tardar	To be delayed, to be late
Droga	Deuda	Duty
Durazno	Melocoton	Peach
Ensartar (la aguja)	Enhebrar	Thread a needle)
Esculcar	Registrar	Search, rummage (in pocket)
Expandir	Extender	Expand, spread
Frijol	Judía, habichuela	Beans
Hambreado	Hambriento	Hungry
Postergar	Aplazar, diferir	Save
Prieto	Moreno	Dark
Recibirse	Graduarse	Get a degree
Renco	Cojo	lame
Resfrio	Resfriado	Cold, runny nose
Retobado	Rezongon	Grouchy
Rezago	Atraso	Delay, tardiness
Zonzo	Tonto	Stupid, bad

It's just not a large number of words currently used in Mexican Spanish that have fallen into disuse in the Iberian Peninsula.

The presence of such a lexical layer has given rise to the erroneous view among many linguists of the Mexican version of the Spanish language as an archaic variant (Wagner, 1949; Zamora Vicente, 1974; etc.). However, Moreno de Alba writes about this: “The vocabulary of the Spanish language is the complete sum of all the vocabulary of all its dialects (geographical, historical and social). Therefore, the problem of so-called archaisms must be reconsidered. Of course, there are archaisms in the strict sense of the word and these would be linguistic phenomena that are used sporadically and have disappeared from the entire Spanish language, such as the verb catar meaning “to see” or yantar meaning “to eat”. But there is also an infinite number of archaisms in a relative sense, which, although used in some dialects, have ceased to be the norm in others. Thus, the word estafeta can be perceived as an archaism by Latin Americans, ... and the vocabula prieto will be so for the Spaniards" (Moreno de Alba, 2001: 264 - 265). Thus, these words are archaisms in the Castilian version of the Spanish language, while in the Mexican version they are commonly used and cannot be regarded as archaic.

It is known that the Indian languages that dominated the territory of what is now Mexico before the arrival of the Spaniards had almost no impact on the phonological and grammatical level of the Spanish language in Mexico. On the other hand, all linguists recognize their influence on the lexical composition of the language. Thus, in the Spanish language of Mexico we can find a huge number of Indianisms, in particular those originating from the Nahuatl language. These are mainly words related to flora and fauna. Here are some of them:

Indianisms	Translation
Aguacate	Avocado
Ahuehuete
Cacahuate	Peanut
Cacao	Cocoa
Chayote	Chayote (tree and fruit)
Chile	Indian pepper
Copal	Copal, copal gum, leguminous plant
Coyote	Coyote
Mezcal	Type of alcoholic drink
Ocelote	Ocelot
Quetzal	Quetzal (bird)
Tomate
Zapote	Sapotle tree, akhras, sapota (fruit of the tree, a genus of oblong apple)

The large number of Indianisms recorded in general dictionaries and in dictionaries of regionalisms may suggest that the Indian component is the most important in Latin American national varieties of the Spanish language. It must be taken into account that when compiling dictionaries, authors start from written sources (chronicles, letters, protocols, memoirs, documents, etc.), collecting all found autochthonous words, including toponyms, anthroponyms and ethnonyms. However, all this much-needed data for conducting diachronic research distorts linguistic reality when conducting research in a synchronous manner, forcing many researchers to believe that all Indianisms registered in dictionaries are actively used in speech in a particular country. Thus, Dario Rubio believed that such a large number of Nahuatlism in Mexico would “cause a truly terrible chaos” that would make communication between Mexicans difficult (Rubio, 1990: XXII). In fact, many words recorded in dictionaries may not even be known to Mexicans, or they may know them passively, that is, know them but never use them in speech. Mexican linguist Lope Blanche, in his work “Indian Vocabulary in the Spanish Language of Mexico” (1969), divides the Nahuatlisms existing in the Mexican version into six groups. Below are some examples:

Vocable	Translation
Group 1. Vocabularies known to absolutely everyone (99-100% of Mexicans)
Aguacate	Avocado
Cacahuate	Peanut
Cacao	Cocoa
Coyote	Coyote
Cuate	Friend, buddy
Chamaco	Boy, child
Chicle	Gum
Chihuahua	Dog breed in Mexico
Chile	A variety of hot pepper
Chocolate	Chocolate
Escuincle	Small child
Guajolote	Turkey
Jitomate	Tomato (red)
Papalote	Kite
Petatearse	Die
Popote	Drinking straw
Pozole	Posole (national Mexican dish)
Tamal	National Mexican dish
Tequila	Tequila
Tomate	Green tomato (a type of cooking tomato)
Group 2. Vocabularies that are known to almost all Mexicans (85-98%)
Ahuehuete	A type of tree of great height
Ajolote	Mexican amphibian
Ayate	Ayate (rare fibrous fabric made from agave)
Chamagoso	Sloppy, dirty
Mapache	American badger
Mezquite	American acacia genus
Olote	Corn cob without grains
Piocha	Goatee, goatee
Group 3. Vocabularies known to half of the speakers (50-85%)
Chachalaca	Mexican bird of the gallinaceae family
Jicote	A species of wasp
Quetzal	Quetzal (bird)
Tiza	Chalk
Tlaco	Ancient coin
Group 4. Little-known vocables (25-50%)
Acocil	Lobster size 3-6 cm
Colote	Corn storage
Achahuisclarse	Being affected by aphids
Jilotear	Ripen, fill (about corn)
Nauyaca	Naujaca (poisonous snake)
Group 5. Very little-known vocables (2-25%)
Ayacahuite	Pine (species)
Cuescomate	Corn Barn
Juil	Carp (species)
Tepeguaje	Stubborn, persistent
Aguate	Small sharp spine (on the trunk of a cactus)
Group 6. Almost unknown vocables (0-1%)
Cuitla	Bird droppings
Pizote	One of the mammals
Pascle	Thick ash-green moss (used as a holiday decoration in the house)
Yagual	Roller (for carrying weights on the head)
Zontle	Sonte (unit of counting corn, fruits, etc.)

It should be noted that Nahuatlism, being an important factor in the Mexican version of the Spanish language, is currently showing a tendency towards its disappearance due to constant changes in life, economy and education (Yakovleva, 2005:25). In addition to Nahuatlisms, the Mexican version of Spanish also contains borrowings from other Indian languages, for example, Mayan. Examples include words such as balac, chich, holoch, pibinal, tuch, xic. However, borrowings from the Mayan language are mainly present in the southeast of the country and are dialectal phenomena that are not part of the norm of the entire Mexican version of the Spanish language, which is based on the cultural speech of Mexico City. Therefore, we will not dwell in detail on these lexical units.

Coexisting with words of a conservative nature, in the Spanish language of Mexico there are currently a large number of neologisms, that is, vocables that follow an American path that is different from the European one.

In particular, in the Mexican version we can hear anglicisms that are not registered in dictionaries, but dominate in speech over common Spanish words. Such anglicisms are absent in other national varieties of the Spanish language. Examples include words such as:

Many philologists, writers and cultural figures are concerned about the unjustified and excessive inclusion in everyday life English vocabulary and oppose its negative consequences, considering this phenomenon a reflection of the political, economic, scientific and technological expansion of the United States and its partners, a consequence of the Americanization of Mexican popular culture. Quite often you can hear the opinion that the abundance of Anglicisms is one of the distinctive features Spanish in Mexico (Lopez Rodriguez, 1982). However, Lope Blanche, in the article “Anglicisms in the Cultural Norm of Mexico,” states the following: “Mexico is a country overly susceptible to contamination by the English language. Being a neighbor to the United States, it has a border with them that is more than 2,500 km long. She maintains close economic relations with his powerful neighbor. It receives a significant number of American tourists every year, and hundreds of thousands of Mexicans go temporarily to work in the United States. English language most studied foreign language in Mexico. ... However, it is quite possible that the Spanish language of Mexico does not differ in this respect from other Spanish-speaking countries much more distant geographically, historically and politically from the United States" (Lope Blanch, 1982: 32 - 33).

In a study of the cultural speech of Mexico City within the framework of the “Project for Collaborative Research on the Cultural Linguistic Standards of the Main Cities” Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula”, the total number of registered Anglicisms was 170 vocables, which is 4% of the 4452 questions of the questionnaire used at that time. However, not all of these Anglicisms are used with the same frequency in Mexico.

Lope Blanche divides Anglicisms into 5 groups.

Commonly used anglicisms: basquetbol, bateo, beisbol, bikini, boxeo, closet, champú, coctel, cheque, elevador, emergencia, esmoquin, futbol, gol, líder, refrigerador, supermercado, etc.
Frequently used anglicisms: bar, bermudas, bistec, chequera, jochey, kinder, poncharse, ponchada, shorts, etc.
Anglicisms of medium frequency: barman, manager, porter, túnel, videotape, zípper, etc.
Little-used anglicisms: bilet, blazer, lonch, mofle, ofside, standar, stewardess, stop, tándem, etc.
Spontaneous anglicisms: bartender, comics, game, gorra de golf, locker, magazine, pull-over, rosbif, etc.

One third of Anglicisms denote concepts related to sports. In second place are words related to technology, followed by vocabulary related to clothing and food. However, despite the geographical proximity of Mexico and the United States, the Spanish language of Mexico lacks whole line Anglicisms actively used in other Spanish-speaking countries, including Spain. We are talking about words such as clown (payaso), bacon (tocino), espíquer (locutor), shut (tiro, disparo), water (excusado), autostop (aventón), aparcar / parquear (estacionar), etc.

Thus, Mexican Spanish has anglicisms. However, their number in cultural speech does not differ much from other national varieties of the language.

Not really

Sí - Si - Yes
No - But - No
Muy bien / Está bien - Muy bien / Está bien - Very good /
Okay, in the broadest sense, like OK
Naturalmente - Naturalmente - Of course, naturally
Por supuesto - Por supuesto - Of course, of course
Exacto - Exacto - Precisely
Con mucho gusto - Con mucho gusto - With great pleasure

Thank you, please

Gracias - Gracias - Thank you
Muchas gracias - Muchas gracias - Thank you very much
Muchísimas gracias - Muchísimas gracias - Well, very big
Thank you
Por favor - Por favor - Please
in the sense of a request, no thank you
answer. It's more of a "please be kind."
De nada - De nada - You're welcome, please, as an answer to thank you.
Igualmente - Igualmente - Another response to thank you: to you too
also, mutually
Lo siento - Lo siento - Sorry if you have anything to apologize for.
Perdone - Perdone - Sorry (if someone stepped on someone's foot)
Disculpe - DiskUlpe - Sorry, but also as an appeal so that
attract attention
Con permiso - Com permiso - Allow me - a very useful phrase, with
with her alone you can
ask for transport
the person in front move, sit down
at the table if there is already someone at it
sitting, etc.

Hello-goodbye

Buenos días - Buenos días - Good morning, until 12
Buenas tardes - Buenos tardes - Good afternoon, 12-18
Buenas noches - Buenos noches - Good evening; good night, after 18
Hola! - Ola! - Hello. It’s also “hey,” so you can attract the attention of a waiter, driver, etc.
Adios! - Adios! - Goodbye; Bye.
Hasta la vista - Hasta la vista - Goodbye. Verbatim.
Hasta mañana - Hasta mañana - See you tomorrow.
Hasta luego - Hasta luego - See you soon (perhaps the most common farewell option).
Mucho gusto - Mucho thick - Very pleasant when meeting. It was very pleasant - when parting
Suerte! - Suerte! - Good luck! Farewell wishes to good people.

Mainya's name is Vasia

How about se llama usted? - Komo se yama usted? - What is your name?
How about te llamas? - Como te yamas? - What is your name?
Me llamo... - Me yamo... - My name is...
Soy Ivan. Soy Ruso. - Soy Ivan. Soy ruso. - I'm Ivan. I am Russian.
Soy de Rusia - Soy de Rusia - I am from Russia.
Somos rusos (de Rusia) - Somos rusos (de Rusia) - We are Russians (from Russia)
No soy gringo - But soy gringo - I'm not an American. After this phrase, the attitude towards you will noticeably warmer

I do not understand you

No entiendo - But entiendo - I don’t understand
No hablo español - But ablo español - I don't speak Spanish. In principle, it is enough to learn only these two phrases from a phrasebook, all the rest are optional.
Qué? / Cómo que? / Como? And what? This is how they ask again if they didn’t understand or didn’t hear.
Mande? Mande? What did you say? And this is how cultured people ask a stranger.
Habla usted ingles (ruso) Habla usted ingles (ruso) Do you speak English (Russian)
Yo no sé Yo no sé I don't know
How about se dice… en español? Como se dise... en español How do you say... in Spanish? You can improve your Spanish vocabulary with this genius phrase.

Buy Sell

Cuánto vale esto? Quanto vale (esto)? How much is this)? Since you most likely will not understand the answer, use a calculator for further communications.
Caro. Es muy caro Caro. Es muy karo. Expensive. It is very expensive.
Barato Barato Cheap
Mucho Mucho Much
Un poco / un poquito Um poco / um poquito A little bit / a little bit
Mas Mas More (about quantity)
Menos Menos Less (about quantity)
Grande / Mas grande Grande / mas grande Big / bigger in the sense of larger
Pequeño / Mas pequeño Pequeño / mas pequeño Small / smaller
Medio Medio Medium
Rebajas Rebajas Sale
Necesito esto Necesito esto I need this
Quiero cambiar dolares / euros Quiero cambiar dolares / euros I want to change dollars / euros - that’s what you’ll say at the exchanger

Where-where?

Donde? Donde Where?
A donde? And donde Where?
De donde? Dae donde Where from?
Aquí Aki Here
Alli Ayi Tam
Por asa Por aka Here
Por allá Por aya There
Mas alla Mas aya A little further away, you can say, for example, if a taxi driver stops early.
Izquierda Izquierda Levo
Derecha Derecha Right
A la izquierda / derecha A la izquierda / derecha Left / Right
Adelante Adelante Forward
Atrás Atras Back
Arriba Arriba Up, from above
Abajo Avajo Down, below
Done está… Done está… Where is…
... el metro ... el metro ... metro
… la parada del autobús … la parada del autobus … bus stop
… el restaurante … el restaurante … restaurant
... el servicio (el baño) ... el servicio (el baño) ... toilet
… zócalo (el centro de la ciudad) … zócalo (el centro de la ciudad) … zócalo (city center)
... la calle ... ... la caillet ... ... street ...
... la playa ... la playa ... beach
… la oficina de cambio … la oficina de cambio … exchange office
… lavandería … lavanderia … laundry
... la farmacia ... la farmacia ... pharmacy

Eat and drink

La carta, por favor La carta por favor Menu, please
El desayuno El desayuno Breakfast
La comida La comida Lunch
La cena La cena Dinner
Listos? Listos? Ready? I mean, ordering is a question from the waiter.
Para mí, por favor... Para mi, por favor... Me, please... and list the dishes, and if you can’t, point your finger at the menu
Para señor... Para señor... Here for this señor... you point your finger at your friend, and then at the dishes from the menu
Y para señora (señorita)… And para señora (senorita) And for senora, if you have an older lady with you or senorita, if you have a girl with you… etc. In general, never approach senor girls - it’s almost an insult; a young girl is always a senorita, even if she is a waitress.
Ahora (ahorita) o más tarde? Aora (aorita) o mas tarde? Now (right now) or later? Also a question from the waiter, for example, when to bring drinks. Answer that way, either “aora” or “mas tarde”.
Picante. Está picante? Picante. Esta picante? Spicy. Is it spicy? Another phrase that must be learned without fail. Keep in mind that if they answer you “But, but, but picante!” This doesn't mean you won't need a fire extinguisher - Mexicans have their own standards.
Agua (con gas / sin gas) Agua (con gas / sin gas) Water (with gas / without gas). You will ask for it a little later.
Café Cafe Coffee
Te, te de manzanilla (te negro) Te, te de manzanilla (te negro) Tea, chamomile tea (black tea). Keep in mind that if you order just “te” in a small restaurant, they may bring you chamomile tea; their usual tea is “te negro”.
Leche Leche Milk
Jugo. Jugo de naranja (manzana, tomate, papaya) Hugo. Hugo de naranja (manzana, tomate, papaya) Juice. Orange (apple, tomato, papaya). The Spanish word zumo is not used in Mexico.
Cerveza Servesa Beer
Tequila Tequila Tequila
Vino tinto / rojo/blanco Wine tinto / rojo / blanco Wine red / also red / white
Huevos fritos Huevos fritos Fried eggs, i.e. fried eggs
Papas Papas Potato
Ensalada Ensalada Salad
Carne Carne Meat
Pescado Pescado Fish
Camarón Camarón Shrimp
Pollo Poyo Chicken, literally chicken
Sopa Sopa Soup
Sal Sal Salt
Azúcar Azúcar Sugar
Salsa Salsa Sauce
Frutas Frutas Fruits
Postre Postre Dessert
Helado Elado Ice Cream
Nievo. Paletas Nievo. Paletas. Snowball. Pallets. Also a type of ice cream.
Tortillas Tortillas Tortillas. Thin tortillas served instead of bread.
Antojitos Antojitos Light snacks (such as tacos) that usually consist of a tortilla with something wrapped in it.

Tacos Tacos Popular Mexican food. Small corn tortillas with filling.
Quesadillas Quesadillas Popular Mexican food. Toasted tortilla with cheese and something else
Fajitas Fajitas Popular Mexican food. Fried meat on tortilla with vegetables and seasonings
Enchiladas Enchiladas Popular Mexican food. Rolled tortillas filled with sauce

La cuenta, por favor La cuenta, por favor Account please
El servicio (no) incluido El servicio (no) incluido Service (not) included. The inscription on the receipt, if included, no tip required.

Chief, touch it!

Necesito Grand Hotel Necesito Grand Hotel I need a Grand Hotel
Voy a…Cuánto vale? Boy a... Quanto Vale I'm going to... How much does it cost?
Vamos a restaurante Carabas-Barabas (al centro, a la playa) Vamos a restaurante Carabas-Barabas (al centro, a la playa) We are going to the restaurant Carabas-Barabas (in the center, on the beach)
Por allá, por favor Por aya, por favor Here, please - with these words the taxi driver is handed a piece of paper with the address
Pare! Pare! Stop the car!
Puede esperarme (esperarnos), por favor Puede esperarme (esperarnos), por favor Wait for me (us), please
Falta Falta! Lacks! This is how taxi drivers shout, and only if they think they haven’t been paid enough.
Tengo (tenemos) prisa Tengo (tenemos) prisa I'm in a hurry (we're in a hurry)!

To the rooms!

Habitación sencilla / doble Habitación sencilla / doble Room for one / for two
Necesito un habitación doble I need a room for two
Con baño / sin baño Com baño / sim baño With shower / without shower
Aire acondicionado Aire acondicionado Air conditioning
Telefono Telefono Telephone
Television Television
Alberca Alverca Swimming Pool
Necesito una toalla nueva Necesito una toalla nueva I need a new towel
La luz (el baño) no funciona La luz (el baño) no funciona The light (toilet) does not work
En mi habitación En mi habitación In my room. You can add to the previous statement.
Todo incluido Todo incluido All inclusive
Me voy (nos vamos) de final Me voy (nos vamos) de final I am leaving (we are leaving) finally. With these words, you hand over the key if you want to check out.

Danger! Keep out!

Atención Atención Attention
Bienvenido Bienvenido Welcome
Abierto Abierto Open
Cerrado Cerrado Closed
Tirar / Jale Tirar / Jale For yourself. Pull
Empujar Empujar From myself. Push
Entrada Entrada Login
Salida Salida Exit
No Fumar No fumar No smoking
Prohibido Prohibido Prohibited
Peligro / peligroso Peligro / peligroso Danger / dangerous
Reservado Reservado Reserved
Ocupado Ocupado Busy
Cuidado Cuidado Be careful
Aguas! Aguas! Carefully! Nice! This is no longer an inscription, it is colloquial.

Monday Tuesday

Lunes Lunes Monday
Martes Martes Tuesday
Miércoles Miercoles Wednesday
Jueves Jueves Thursday
Viernes Viernes Friday
Sábado Sabado Saturday
Domingo Domingo Sunday
El año Nuevo El año Nuevo New Year
Navidad Navidad Christmas
Cinco de Mayo Cinco de Mayo Fifth of May - Independence Day
Los Dios De Las Muertes Los Dios de las Muertes Day of the Dead

One two Three

Cero Cero 0
Uno Uno 1
Dos Dos 2
Tres Tres 3
Cuatro Cuatro 4
Cinco Cinco 5
Seis Seis 6
Siete Siete 7
Ocho Ocho 8
Nueve Nueve 9
Diez Diez 10, further for the bravest
Once Onse 11
Doce Doce 12
Trece Trece 13
Catorce Catorce 14
Quince Kinse 15
Dieciséis Dieciséis 16
Diecisiete Diecisiete 17
Dieciocho Dieciocho 18
Diecinueve Diesinueve 19
Veinte Veinte 20
Veintiuno Veintiuno 21
Veintidos Veintidos 22
Treinta Treinta 30
Treinta y uno Treinta and uno 31
Treinta y dos Treinta y dos 32
Cuarenta Cuarenta 40
Cincuenta Cincuenta 50
Sesenta Sesenta 60
Setenta Setenta 70
Ochenta Ochenta 80
Noventa Noventa 90
Cien (Before Nouns and Adjectives) / Ciento Cien / Ciento 100
Ciento Uno Ciento Uno 101
Doscientos Doscientos 200
Trescientos Trescientos 300
Cuatrocientos Quatrocientos 400
Quinientos Quinientos 500
Seiscientos Seiscientos 600
Setecientos Setecientos 700
Ochocientos Ochocientos 800
Novecientos Novecientos 900
Mil Miles 1000
Dos mil Dos miles 2,000
Diez mil Diez mil 10,000
Cien mil Cien miles 100,000
Un millón Um millon 1,000,000
Mil novecientos ochenta y tres Mil novecientos ochenta y tres 1983 Ufff!
Dos mil tres Dos mil tres 2003

Put her in a swing!

Caramba! Caramba! Damn it! We won’t list any other curse words – Mexicans are hot-tempered people, so you have to watch your language.

Mexico is a huge country in North America, with a total area of 1.95 million km. Mexico borders the United States on 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 ancient cities. But does this country have its own language?

What language do Mexicans use?

In fact, in everyday communication they use Spanish - more precisely, its Mexican dialect. This happened historically, as a result of the conquest of local lands by European conquistadors. Therefore, there is no Mexican language as such. However, in addition to Spanish, about 68 local languages are also used. But the vast majority of the population - about 90% - still communicates in Spanish.

Is Spanish official?

It remains the most widespread in Mexico - it is spoken almost everywhere. Although Spanish is widely spoken, it is not official language. This is a very common misconception. The fact is that the Mexican constitution states: Mexico is a multinational country. That's why she always advocates bilingualism, or Spanish plus vernacular.

English in Mexico

Some tourists heading to Mexico rush to find a Russian-Mexican phrasebook. Others, knowing that now the vast majority of Mexicans communicate in Spanish, grab their heads: before the trip they need to learn as quickly as possible new language. However, there are also travelers who are confident that you can survive in any country if you know English. This is a big misconception about Mexico. English not only won’t help here, but can also seriously hinder you. The fact is that Mexicans do not like their neighboring Americans. Therefore, if a tourist begins to communicate with local resident in English, most likely, he will take on an indifferent look. Or he will communicate in an unfriendly manner.

Local dialects

Indigenous dialects are spoken by no more than 6% of total number population of the country. And this is about 6 million people. It is interesting that the number of those who stubbornly consider themselves descendants of the great Indians is twice this number. Most common local mexican language called Nahuatl, which includes various dialects. Nahuatl is used in everyday life by about 1.3 million people.

One of the main languages of the Aztec group is Classical Nahuatl. Beginning in the 16th century, it was systematically displaced by invading Europeans. Gradually, the Aztec language began to break up into dialects. At the moment, classical Nahuatl is classified as However, it has preserved a large number of literary monuments recorded using the Latin alphabet. Many people call the Nahuatl language Mexican. Translation to different languages and even courses in studying Nahuatl have now ceased to be exotic.

Mayan languages

The next most common language is occupied by the language of the ancient Mayans - Maaya Taan, or Yucatecan language. Its carriers are about 759 thousand people. It is distributed mainly in 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 Yucatecan dialects is the Proto-Mayan language.

Q'eqchi - Mayan dialect

About 450 thousand people speak the Qekchi language. This language is spoken mainly in Guatemala. Here, about 90% of the total number of residents communicate in it. However, Qekchi can also be heard in El Salvador and Belize. For a very long time, the Kekchi ethnic family was isolated from other regions. Therefore, different dialects of this language differ from each other very insignificantly. The main dialect is the Western dialect. Q'eqchi is distinguished by the fact that among its representatives there is the largest number of monolingual speakers.

Mixtec dialects

Another 423 thousand people. They use the languages of the Mixtec group in everyday life. The area where the Mixtec Mexican language is spoken is the area called La Mixteca. The word "Mixtec" means "resident, inhabitant." Typically, speakers of this group of languages use the poetic phrase “Word of Rain” to denote their native dialect. In total, the Mixtec language has 52 local dialects.

Zapotec Mexican languages

410 thousand people in Mexico are native speakers of Zapotec languages. The Zapotec civilization began around 700 BC. e. In the 16th century it was finally conquered by European conquerors. The Zapotec Empire was located in 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 Mixtecs neighboring to the north were the constant enemies of the state.