Dialects of Guatemala: main characteristics

The Spanish It's one of the most spoken languages of the world. It is the official language in Spain and in most of the countries of Central and South America. Spanish in each of the countries where it is spoken presents a series of linguistic variations that correspond to different geographical areas. In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to show what are the characteristics of dialects of Guatemala.

Guatemala is located in America and is one of its official languages. Along with him coexist other 25 indigenous languages ​​also official and that are spoken by 41% of the country's population. This makes the characteristics of the Latin Spanish, the incorporations and contacts with the different languages ​​that are spoken in the country are added creating a dialect of its own.

In the first place, we can point out that the Spanish spoken in America has a series of peculiarities that are shared by almost all the countries in this area of ​​the planet. One of the most important characteristics of the Castilian spoken in the area has its origin in the people who came from Spain in the fifteenth century, the vast majority were from areas of Extremadura and Andalusia, so the particularities of these two

dialects from the south of our country are very present in the American dialects. Thus, we can point out:

• Seseo: when pronouncing the sounds / c / and / z / they are replaced by / s /.
• Yeísmo: the differentiation between the ll and the Y. Both are pronounced with the / and / sound.
• Weakening of the s final: especially at the end of a syllable or word. This is elided or softened in its pronunciation.
• Replacing the / r / sound with / l /: occurs mainly when the r sound is at the end of a syllable or word. This is replaced by a sound similar to that of the l.
• Voseo: It is common to use this form in which the pronoun tú is replaced by vos and the you by you.
• Use of simple times vs. compound times: especially in the case of the simple past perfect. This is generalized compared to the use of the compound.
• Use of diminutives: The use of words with diminutive endings is very frequent.
• Entering the formula no more: it is usually added at the end of sentences as a tagline.

Guatemalan Spanish is a geographic variant of Spanish. It shares broad features with the language of origin, but due to historical factors and contact with other languages ​​and speakers it has developed its own features creating your own dialect.

• Yeísmo: Guatemalans do not distinguish between the sounds / ll / e / and /. All are pronounced like the second.
• Seseo: It's very common. In it there is a confusion between the sounds / s /, / c / and / z / that are always pronounced using the s.
• Voseo: change of the pronoun tú by vos.
• Differentiation between the / b / and / v / sounds
• Formation of your own syntactic formulas: the most common is in which it is composed of an indefinite article, a name and a possessive. While in Spain we would say: I'm going to see a friend, in Guatemala it is common to use, I'm going to see a my friend.
• These particularities and syntactic formations have to do with contact with the pre-existing Mayan languages ​​in the area. Thus, it is common for the Guatemalan dialect to use the construction of sentences using a possessive double. That is, the possessive is going to be repeated even if it is not necessary. To understand it better, let's look at an example: My brothers went in their car.

As you have seen, the dialects of Guatemala have many points in common with the Spanish spoken in America, but they have their own peculiarities derived from the contact with the 25 official indigenous languages ​​that coexist in the country, therefore we can find different variations and dialects in their areas of influence. In other words, the analysis of the different dialects of Guatemala could only be done in comparison with each of the existing languages ​​in the country.

In addition to the variations that we have seen previously, we can notice the lexical influence of other indigenous languages ​​in the use of certain words such as:

• Slap: press or squish.
• Exact: exactly.
• Canche: blond.
• A lot: group of people.
• Homemade: lover
• Mule: stupid
• Battery: smart.
• Pisto: money.
• I relax: mess.
• Colocho: person with curly hair.
• Duck: boy.
• Bell: favor.
• beer: Beer.
• Clove: trouble.
• Pull: take someone somewhere by car.
• Caquero: conceited.

We hope these basics about dialects in Guatemala have helped you. If you want to continue learning about linguistic varieties of Spanish or its different dialects in the world, we invite you to visit our sections of Spanish language in which you will find more information about them.

Company, Concepción (2005): “Frequency of use and linguistic contact in syntax: Indefinite article + possessive in American Spanish”, Spanish in Context, 2: 2, 131-156.

García Tesoro, Ana Isabel (2002): "Spanish in contact with the Mayan languages: Guatemala", in Azucena Palacios and Ana Isabel García (eds.), El Indigenismo Americano III, Valencia, Universitat de València, 31-58.