Official language of Mexico. What language is spoken in Mexico? Official language of Mexico

You are both right. :) Mexican WAS. Now it doesn't exist. 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 the Uto-Aztecan language family. In total, in the Uto-Aztec family, according to various classifications, from 3 to 9 groups are distinguished. On a territorial basis, three groups are often distinguished: the Shoshone languages, common in the United States - in the Great Basin and the Southwest, the Sonoran languages, common in the northwest of Mexico and the adjacent regions of the United States, and the 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 the 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 modern languages Nahuatl, spoken by a few people 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), Guerrere Nahuatl (about 300 thousand). Although these are all distinct languages, the collective use of "Nahuatl" is common, including Classical Nahuatl and all modern varieties. The social status of the Aztec languages ​​is low. Survival prospects are different for different languages; many of them are already extinct or are on the verge of extinction.

The Aztec languages ​​have been studied since the middle of the 16th century, when the first classical Nahuatl grammar 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. Many of the Aztec languages ​​are now 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 Maya (see MAYAN LANGUAGES). Later, the Aztecs developed some elements of phonetic writing, especially when writing names. Currently, many Aztec languages ​​have written scripts based on Latin.

The Aztec languages ​​are highly synthetic, with accusative sentence construction.

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

Spanish in Mexico(Spanish) Español mexicano) - a group of dialects, dialects and sociolects, constituting a special language variant of the Spanish language in Mexico, based on the language norm of the Mexican capital - the city of Mexico City, which is the literary standard of this variant. The Spanish of most other regions of the country is quite close to the metropolitan norm, with the exception of special dialects of Yucatán (Yucatan Spanish based on Caribbean Spanish) and Chiapas (Central American Spanish). Mexican Spanish (as well as various dialects within it) is the native language of approximately 125 million people (of which over 100 million live in Mexico and about 25 million in the United States, mainly in the border regions of Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, etc.). d.). In Mexico, this variant of Spanish is the only official at the federal level and one of the official (along with many Amerindian languages) at the state level. Mexican Spanish is also the basis for Spanish in the US (see Spanish in the US), widely used in the media (Univision, Telemundo, etc.), education, etc. In addition, Mexican Spanish is the most common language variant Spanish, as 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 the pronunciation of consonants (especially d and s), proximity to the classical standard Spanish 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 fairly 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 substratum influence on the Spanish language, which at first only a small but elite layer of conquistadors, administrators and officials and immigrants from Spain, who made up about 5% of the population, spoke. Nevertheless, thanks to its prestige and intense interracial contacts (mestizo), Spanish became the main means of communication for the bulk of Mexicans already in the 17th century. And 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 from diseases introduced by Europeans, their number stabilized already in the 17th-18th centuries. AT XIX-XX centuries The number of Amerindian speakers in Mexico has increased quite significantly, although their proportion in the general population has continued to decline due to an even faster 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. Many others an important factor in the formation and spread of Mexican Spanish was the status of the city of Mexico itself (the former Tenochtitlan), which for three centuries was the capital of the viceroyalty of New Spain (see New Spain and the Colonies of Spain), as well as the largest in the Western Hemisphere, where in the XVI-XVII centuries arrived a significant number of people from Madrid and Spain. Therefore, as well as 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, and in Mexico it largely froze, as it were, in a mothballed 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 distinguish s and interdental z, c(developed in Castile), which are all pronounced /s/. The sound [s] in Mexico is laminodental or apicodental and is 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 to the same extent it sounds like “ sh” (non-distinguishing with and sh is also characteristic of the Greek language).

• Eizmo: Pronunciation is no longer different y and ll; pronounced like /ʝ/ or Russian [Y].

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

• Unlike Caribbean Spanish, the final [s] (indicator of the plural and second person of verbs) is always retained.

• The intervocalic d tends to be weakened, but never completely reduced. Thus, "amado", "partido", "nada" do not become "amao", "partío" and "naa" as in Cuba or Venezuela.

• In much of Mexico, the discriminative phonemes [R] and [r] of Standard Spanish (especially the final -r) are often stunned and the contrast between them is somewhat blurred: ["ka§ta]"card" 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 voiceless velar fricative [x], as in ["kaxa] "caja" (box). This sound is very similar to the Russian "x" and is quite close to the similar sound of northern and central Spain, but, in contrast, it does not have harsh 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 is realized as a deaf exhalation [h], found in the Germanic languages.

• Within the Spanish language of Mexico, which has a standardized variant, there is a significant number of dialectal adverbs (especially in the vernacular). So, the 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 bringing the Spanish language into what is now Mexico. However, several generations were needed for the zones to acquire their own personal linguistic character. This happened only after 100 years. Mexican Creole Spanish begins to take shape when the first children are born in Mexico, but their parents still spoke European Spanish, so it cannot yet be said that their children already spoke 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 Spanish replaced other languages ​​that existed on the Iberian Peninsula), phonological changes are taking place (according to in another way, j begins to be pronounced, 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 almost unrecognizable by 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:

word in mexican (is archaic in the Castilian version)	Equivalent in Castilian Spanish	Translation
Aburricion	Aburrimiento	Boredom, annoyance
Alzarse	sublevarse	rebel, revolt
Amarrar	Atar	tie, connect
Anafre	Hornillo	portable oven
Apeñuscarse	Apinarse	Crowd, crowd
Balde (para agua)	Cubo	Bucket, tub
Botar	Tirar	Throw, throw away
Chabacano	Albaricoque	Apricot
Chapa	Cerradura	Lock
Chicharo	Guisante	Peas
Cobija	Manta	Blanket
Conyo	Konna	Buddy
Despacio (hablar despacio)	en vozbaja	Quiet (speak quietly)
Dilatar	Tardar	linger, be late
Droga	Deuda	Duty
Durazno	Melocoton	Peach
Ensartar (la aguja)	Enhebrar	Thread a needle)
Esculcar	Registrar	Search, fumble (in your pocket)
expandir	Extender	expand, spread
Frijol	Judia, habichuela	Beans
Hambreado	Hambriento	Hungry
Postergar	Aplazar, diferir	Save
Prieto	Moreno	Dark
Recibirse	Graduation	Get a degree
Renco	cojo	lame
Resfrio	Resfriado	Cold, runny nose
Retobado	Rezongon	obese
Rezago	Atraso	Delay, delay
Zonzo	Tonto	Silly, stupid

These are just a few of the words currently in use in Mexican Spanish that have fallen into disuse in the Iberian Peninsula.

The presence of such a lexical layer has given rise among many linguists to an erroneous view of Mexican Spanish as an archaic variant (Wagner, 1949; Zamora Vicente, 1974; and others). However, Moreno de Alba writes about this: “The vocabulary of the Spanish language is the total 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 will be such linguistic phenomena that are used sporadically and have disappeared from the whole Spanish language, such as the verb catar in the sense of "see" or yantar in the sense of "is". But there is also an infinite number of archaisms in a relative sense, which, being used in some dialects, have ceased to be the norm in others. Thus, the word estafeta may be perceived as archaic by Latin Americans, ..., and the vocabulary prieto will be such 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 common and cannot be regarded as archaic.

It is known that the Indian languages ​​that dominated the territory of present-day Mexico before the arrival of the Spaniards had almost no effect 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, originating from the Nahuatl language. Basically, these are words related to flora and fauna. Here is 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	Sapotli tree, akhras, sapote (fruit of a tree, genus of an oblong apple)

A large number of Indianisms registered in general dictionaries and dictionaries of regionalisms may suggest that the Indian component is the most important in the Latin American national varieties of Spanish. It should be taken into account that when compiling dictionaries, the authors start from written sources (chronicles, letters, protocols, memoirs, documents, etc.), collecting all found autochthonous words, including toponyms, anthroponyms and ethnonyms. However, all these much-needed data for conducting diachronic studies distort the linguistic reality when conducting studies in a synchronous way, forcing many researchers to believe that all Indianisms registered in dictionaries are actively used in speech in one country or another. Thus, Dario Rubio believed that such a large number of Nahuatlisms in Mexico would "cause a really terrible chaos" that would make communication between Mexicans difficult (Rubio, 1990: XXII). In fact, many words registered in dictionaries may not even be known to Mexicans, or they may be passive, that is, know but never use in speech. The Mexican linguist Lope Blanche, in his work "Indian Vocabulary in Mexican Spanish" (1969), divides the Nahuatlisms that exist in the Mexican variant 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	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 kind of cooking tomato)
Group 2. Vocabules that are known to almost all Mexicans (85-98%)
Ahuehuete	Large variety of tree
Ajolote	mexican amphibian
Ayate	Ayate (rare fibrous tissue from agave)
Chamagoso	Sloppy, dirty
Mapache	American badger
Mezquite	Genus of American acacia
Olote	Corn cob without grains
piocha	Goatee, goatee
Group 3. Vocabules known to half of the speakers (50-85%)
Chachalaca	Mexican bird of the chick family
Jicote	wasp species
Quetzal	Quetzal (bird)
Tiza	Chalk
Tlaco	ancient coin
Group 4. Little-known vocables (25-50%)
Acocil	Lobster size 3-6 cm
Colote	Corn storage
Achahuislarse	Be afflicted by aphids
Jilotear	To ripen, pour (about corn)
Nauyaca	Nauyaca (venomous snake)
Group 5. Very little known vocables (2-25%)
Ayacahuite	Pine (variety)
Cuescomate	corn barn
July	Carp (variety)
Tepeguaje	Stubborn, persistent
Aguate	Small sharp thorn (on the trunk of a cactus)
Group 6. Practically unknown vocables (0-1%)
Cuitla	bird droppings
Pizote	One of the mammals
pascle	Dense ash green moss (used as a festive decoration in the house)
Yagual	Roller (for carrying weights on the head)
Sontle	Sonte (counting unit for corn, fruit, etc.)

It should be noted that Nahuatlisms, being an important factor in the Mexican version of the Spanish language, is currently showing a tendency to disappear due to constant changes in life, economy and education (Yakovleva, 2005:25). In addition to Nahuatlisms, Mexican Spanish borrows from other Indian languages, such as Maya. 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 included in the norm of the entire Mexican version of the Spanish language, the basis of which is the cultural speech of Mexico City. Therefore, we will not dwell on these lexical units in detail.

Coexisting with words of a conservative nature, the Spanish language of Mexico now has a large number of neologisms, that is, vocables that follow the American path, 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 Spanish. Examples include words such as:

Many philologists, writers and cultural figures are concerned about the unjustified and excessive use of 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 Americanization. mass culture Mexico. Quite often one can hear the opinion that the abundance of anglicisms is one of the distinguishing features of the Spanish language of Mexico (Lopez Rodriguez, 1982). However, Lope Blanche in his article “Anglicisms in the Cultural Norm of Mexico” states the following: “Mexico is a country excessively subject to infection by the English language. Being a neighbor with the United States, it has a border with them, with a length of more than 2500 km. It maintains close economic relations with its powerful neighbor. It receives a significant number of American tourists every year, and hundreds of thousands of Mexicans leave temporarily to work in the United States. English is the most studied foreign language in Mexico. … However, it is quite possible that the Spanish of Mexico is no different 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 the study of the cultural speech of Mexico City in the framework of the "Project for joint research on the cultural language norm of the main cities of Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula" total number registered anglicisms amounted to 170 vocables, which is 4% of the 4452 questions of the then applied questionnaire. However, not all of these anglicisms are used in Mexico with the same frequency.

Lope Blanche divides Anglicisms into 5 groups.

1. Common Anglicisms: basquetbol, ​​bateo, beisbol, bikini, boxeo, closet, champú, coctel, cheque, elevador, emergencia, esmoquin, futbol, ​​gol, líder, refrigerador, supermercado, etc.
2. Commonly used Anglicisms: bar, bermudas, bistec, chequera, jochey, kinder, poncharse, ponchada, shorts, etc.
3. Anglicisms of medium frequency: barman, manager, porter, túnel, videotape, zípper, etc.
4. Little-used anglicisms: bilet, blazer, lonch, mofle, ofside, standar, stewardess, stop, tándem, etc.
5. 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 vocables related to clothing and food. However, despite the geographical proximity of Mexico and the United States, Mexican Spanish lacks a number of anglicisms that are 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 variants of the language.

The second article of the basic law of this country defines it as a multicultural state, recognizing the right of indigenous peoples to preserve and develop their own dialects and dialects, and therefore there is no official state language of Mexico. But most of the inhabitants of the tequila and cactus country still prefer Spanish.

Some statistics and facts

• The Mexican government recognizes the existence of 68 national languages ​​as complementary to Spanish.
• From 10 to 15 percent of the country's inhabitants, according to various sources, consider themselves Indians.
• In total, about 6 million people live in the country, who are native speakers of indigenous languages.
• The largest group of indigenous speakers are the descendants of the Indians who speak Nahuatl.
• The first attempts to introduce Spanish into Mexico were made in the 16th century.
• In the 150 years from the beginning of the 19th to the middle of the 20th century, the number of Mexicans speaking their ancestral languages ​​decreased from 60% to 6% of the total population of the country.

The percentage of Mexican citizens who speak English is quite high. This is due to the close proximity and frequent seasonal work of Mexicans at enterprises and farms in the United States.

Difficulties in translation

Even visitors to Mexico who speak modern Spanish may experience certain difficulties in understanding here. Certain changes have taken place in the system of local Spanish, as a result of which the sound of individual sounds only remotely resembles today the classics of the language common in the Pyrenees. At the same time, some linguists consider the state language of Mexico to be very conservative, since it contains words in everyday use that the Spaniards have considered archaisms for two hundred years and no longer use in their own speech.

Note to tourists

Going on a trip to Mexico, be prepared for the fact that English-speaking hotel or restaurant staff are found only in large cities and tourist resorts. In places where independent travelers prefer to lay a route, the percentage of such polyglots is negligible. The menu in a cafe away from the main streets of even the capital no longer contains the names of dishes in English, and it will be impossible to explain your gastronomic preferences to the waiter.
In general, a Russian-Spanish phrase book on a trip can greatly facilitate the life of a tourist, especially since the Mexicans are very sociable, open and friendly.

According to 2008 estimates population Mexico has about 114 million residents. However, the 2010 census showed that this number was somewhat overestimated, and therefore the number population Mexico today is 112324000 human.

According to the demographic growth scale Mexicans became larger every year, and the growth was always smooth and progressive.

So back in 1961 amount residents in the United Mexican States (so by the way, officially called this Latin American state) was about 38 million people. Curve growth of Mexico's population looks more upwardly directed in seventies years. It was then that the birth rate in this country was the highest in the history of demographic research. Since the early 1990s, birth rates several fell, but today there is natural population growth of Mexico and Mexicans becomes More.

Mexico is one from those countries of Latin America, on the territory of which resides least whites. According to the official data, then the white citizens of Mexico are no more than five percent. overwhelming a number of Mexicans are mestizos.

Population Mexico within the mestizo ethnic-racial group is near 65 million people. Apart from Mexicans-mestizos and citizens with light skin color (Caucasian race) in Mexico There is also a fairly large ethnic group Indians. Incidentally, the indigenous peoples of Mexico his numbers are second only to mestizos. Among indigenous Mexican peoples dominated by descendants Mayan who have already gone far from their historical roots and assimilate into contemporary Mexican society.

Speaking of those languages, which speaks the population of Mexico, then Spanish is the most common. He also has the status state the language of Mexico. It is spoken by almost 93% in this country population.

Of course, the Spanish language Mexico was influenced by local Indian dialects, and today many words from the Mexican lexicon are not for every Spaniard will understandable. Amerindian languages ​​in Mexico are spoken about one percent of the Mexican population. It's about 1.2 million human.

These people are completely unaware of Spanish language, so they have significant difficulties in getting an education. Exactly a significant part of the indigenous population of Mexico does not have no education. According to official figures, about 9 percent Mexicans remain illiterate (this nearly 11 million people). Low literacy rate population Mexico leads to the fact that among certain public layers flourishes crime.

According to Interpol contemporary Mexico is one of the most criminal countries Latin America. In the capital of Mexico alone daily up to several hundred, and sometimes even thousand crimes. Most of the crimes Pocket thefts and robberies are carried out precisely illiterate or illiterate Mexicans who difficult find Good work. The economic situation in Mexico is such that for one average Mexican the total annual income is determined by about 8.9 thousand dollars.

This is a fairly low level. even for Latin America. Mexico like most countries latin America, with the exception of Haiti, differs high average life expectancy for women. In 2010, this figure was 79 years.

Mexican men live an average of six years fewer women. population population Mexico. corresponding to the Catholic confessional accessories, is about 85 million people (this is 76.5%). Beyond Catholics in Mexico resides enough big number Protestants (6.3%), and also atheists (3.1%).

The rest, answering question about their religion, they say that they are with a confession bye have not decided. By number of undecided Mexico keeps first place among all countries in the region. Annual annual population growth in mexico is from 1 to 1.2%. On average Mexican a woman has about 2.4 births in her life. it several lower than it was 10-15 years ago and much lower than It was in the 70s of the 20th century.

In Mexico today, the majority population(77%) live in cities, with the vast majority majority- in the capital - the huge city of Mexico City. Quantity Mexicans infected with HIV evaluated at the level of 0.35%. See also: State symbols of mexico state symbols Mexico reflect its cultural and historical development. Coat of arms, the flag and anthem of Mexico are a set of principles way of life life and aspirations of a multinational Mexican people. Consider the symbols of this Latin American states in detail.

Spanish in Mexico (Spanish) Espanol mexicano) - a group of dialects, dialects and sociolects, component a special language variant of Spanish language in Mexico, based on the language norm Mexican capital cities Mexico City. which is literary standard for this option. Spanish majority other regions of the country is quite close to the capital norm, per with the exception of special dialects of the Yucatán ( Yucatan Spanish based on Caribbean Spanish) and Chiapas(Central American Spanish). Mexican Spanish(as well as various dialects within it) is native language for approximately 125 million people (out of which over 100 million live in Mexico and about 25 million in the USA. mainly in border areas Texas. California, Arizona, New Mexico, etc.).

All countries in Central and South America speak Spanish, except Brazil, where they speak Portuguese. That is, there is no Mexican language as such. BUT! Spanish in Spain and Spanish in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, etc. will be different. How different, for example, is English in the UK, Australia, USA, etc. Slightly different pronunciation, slang, some words, sometimes slight differences in grammar. But in any case, it's the same language.

In Mexico, this option Spanish language is the only official at the federal level and one of the official (along with many Indian languages) at the state level. Mexican Spanish is also the basis for Spanish language in the United States (see Spanish in the United States), widely used in the media, (channels Univision, Telemundo, etc.), education etc. Also, Mexican Spanish is most common variant of Spanish language, since it is native to most Mexicans. making up about 29% of all Spanish speakers in world.

Key Features Spanish language in Mexico - the clarity of pronunciation of consonants ( especially d and s) proximity to the classic standard Spanish language of the 16th-17th centuries with a strong influence of autochthonous languages ​​in the field of vocabulary.

Until the 16th century, the territory contemporary Mexico was inhabited by quite numerous Indian tribes that spoke several dozens languages, the most common which were: Navajo in the north, Maya. Nahuatl in the center and many other, which had a significant substrate influence into Spanish, which she first spoke only a small but elite layer of conquistadors. administrators and officials and immigrants from Spain, constituting about 5% of the population. However, thanks to his prestige and intense interracial contacts ( miscegenation), Spanish becomes the main language means communication for the bulk of Mexicans already in the XVII century.

The official language of Mexico is Spanish, but many descendants of indigenous peoples still live in this country: the Aztecs, Mayans, Totonacs, Otomi, Miche, Tzeltal, Tzotzili, Masahua and others. Naturally, they all speak the languages ​​of their ancestors, but they also use Spanish.

Yet, unlike the United States, Mexico never pursued a policy of genocide against an indigenous population. After a sharp decline in the number of Indians from diseases introduced by Europeans, their number stabilized already in the 17th and 18th centuries. In XIX-XX centuries number of Amerindian speakers in Mexico increased quite significant, although their share in the population as a whole continued shrink due to faster growth quantity Hispanic mestizos. However, the influence of Indian languages, which are still spoken by 7-10% Mexicans remains significant.

Where is Mexico located?
Mexico or the United Mexican States is a state in Latin America. To the north, Mexico borders the United States. The country is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east. There is also the Gulf of Mexico. In the south, Mexico borders on Guatemala and Belize (other Latin American countries). It should be noted that 1/5 of the total population of Latin America is now in Mexico.

Who discovered Mexico?
The first European to set foot on the lands of Mexico was the Spanish navigator Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba, who in 1517 discovered the settlement of the Maya civilization. In 1518, the Spaniard Juan de Grijalva discovered that a rich Aztec civilization lived in open lands. In 1519, Hernan Cortes (a famous pirate) landed on the territory of the future Mexico with a large detachment. He began to fight the Aztecs. In 1521, the Aztecs lost the war, as a result of which their lands became colonies of the Spaniards.

What kind historical facts know about Mexico?
Before the Spaniards conquered Mexico in the 16th century, Mayan and Aztec civilizations lived on its territory. In 1521 Cortés, a Spaniard, captured Mexico. New Spain was founded in 1535 in Mexico. In 1824, Mexico received its first constitution. In 1845, Texas seceded from Mexico and became an independent state. In 1846-48, the Mexican-American War took place, in which Mexico lost. As a result, half of this country passed to the United States. In 1862-67, French troops invaded Mexico, over which the Mexicans won a number of victories. The Mexican Revolution took place in 1910-20. In 1994, the Zapatista uprising took place in Mexico, which demanded equalization of the rights of the indigenous population of Mexico with all the inhabitants of its country. The last significant event in Mexico was the "cactus revolution" in 2006. These were numerous speeches against President Felipe Calderon, who was elected in the same year.

Which city is the capital of Mexico?
The capital of Mexico is Mexico City. This city is located on the Mexican Highlands, whose height above sea level is 2 kilometers 234 meters. During the year, small tremors are noted in the capital, which do not cause destruction and do not particularly disturb local residents. However, stronger earthquakes sometimes occur. Dust storms are also frequent.

What attractions are there in Mexico?
Mexico has many attractions. The main ones are, of course, the pyramids, of which the pyramids of Teotihuacan are the most famous. In addition to them, the pyramids of Mitle and Monte Alban are well known. The capital of Mexico is the city of Mexico City, founded by the Indians in 1325. It also has many attractions: the pyramid of 450 BC, the Aztec pyramid, the National Cathedral, the building of the Jesus Nazareno hospital, the municipal palace, where the presidential residence and parliament are now located, the Sagrario Metropolitano church, monasteries and 10 archaeological parks. Interestingly, Mexico is famous all over the world for its cheap resorts, such as Cancun. It is a network of beaches that stretch for 140 kilometers. Mexico is also famous for the sacred city of the Mayan tribe with the curious name of Chichen Itza. Another world famous Mayan city is Palenque. It has many monuments of Mayan architecture and writing.

What animals live in Mexico?
The nature of Mexico is diverse with rare species of animals. These include the musk ox, the gray and black bear, the otter, the monk seal, and the marsupial rat. In addition to these animals, the following are also widespread: chinchilla, Canada deer, puma, jaguar, tardigrade, tapir and llama. Now in Mexico, a large number of animals are under threat of extinction.

Who are the indigenous people of Mexico?
On the territory of Mexico, before the foot of a European set foot there, there were several civilizations. The very first civilization was the Almecs. This civilization existed from 1500 to 600 BC. The next civilization was the Mayan tribe, which fully flourished in the 6th century AD. Four centuries later, the state of the Toltecs arose on the territory of Mexico, and a hundred years later they were forced out by the Chichimec tribe. The latter were conquered by the northern Nahua people, whose most famous tribe was the Aztecs. Over time, they came to the fore, and by the 15th century they had become the most powerful state in Latin America. However, sailors who arrived from Europe soon enslaved the Aztecs.

What language is spoken in Mexico?
The official language of Mexico is Spanish, but many descendants of indigenous peoples still live in this country: the Aztecs, Mayans, Totonacs, Otomi, Miche, Tzeltal, Tzotzili, Masahua and others. Naturally, they all speak the languages ​​of their ancestors, but they also use Spanish.