Languages of South America

Last updated

Official languages in South America Languages of South America (en).svg
Official languages in South America

The languages of South America can be divided into three broad groups:

Contents

Main languages

Spanish is the most spoken language of South America with Portuguese as a very close second.

Other official languages with substantial number of speakers are:

LanguageSpeakersCountriesSource
Spanish 214,265,000 Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Brazil [1]
Portuguese 211,754,600 Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela [2]
Quechua 7,735,620 Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Colombia [3]
English 6,925,850 Falkland Islands , Guyana, Colombia ( San Andres y Providencia ) [4]
Guarani 6,162,790 Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil [5]
Talian 4,000,000 Brazil [6]
Hunsrik 3,000,000 Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay [7]
Aymara 1,677,100 Bolivia, Peru, Chile [8]
German 1,285,800 Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay [9]
Italian 1,259,900 Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela [10]
Dutch 575,000 Suriname [11]
Japanese 425,000 Brazil [12]
Wayuu 416,000 Colombia, Venezuela [13]
French 319,400 French Guiana , Brazil ( Amapá ) [14]
Sranan Tongo 307,600 Suriname, French Guiana [15]
Pomeranian 300,000 Brazil [16]
Mapudungun 258,410 Argentina, Chile [17]
Hindustani 164,000 Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana [18]
Surinamese-Javanese 60,000 Suriname, French Guiana [19]

Indigenous languages

Main native languages in Latin America, legend: .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} Quechua Guarani Aymara Nahuatl Mayan languages Mapudungun Map-Most Widely Spoken Native Languages in Latin America.png
Main native languages in Latin America, legend:
  Quechua  Guarani  Aymara
  Nahuatl  Mayan languages  Mapudungun
Main language families of South America (other than Aimaran, Mapudungun, and Quechuan, which expanded after the Spanish conquest). SouthAmerican families.png
Main language families of South America (other than Aimaran, Mapudungun, and Quechuan, which expanded after the Spanish conquest).

Indigenous languages of South America include, among several others, the Quechua languages in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru and to a lesser extent in Argentina, Chile, and Colombia; Guaraní in Paraguay and to a much lesser extent in Argentina and Bolivia; Aymara in Bolivia and Peru and to a lesser extent in Chile; Wayuu in northern Colombia and northwest Venezuela; and Mapudungun in small pockets of southern Chile and Argentina.

In Bolivia, three languages—Quechua, Aymara, and Tupi Guarani—are co-official alongside Spanish. In Paraguay, Guarani shares joint official status with Spanish. In Colombia, the languages of the country's ethnic groups are constitutionally recognized as official languages in their territories; more than 60 such aboriginal languages exist today. Ecuador uses Spanish, Northern Quechua, and Shuar as official languages for intercultural relations. In Peru, Quechua and Aymara, as well as other indigenous languages, are co-official in the areas where they are predominant. There are many other languages once spoken in South America that are extinct today (such as the extinct languages of the Marañón River basin).

In Brazil, there are around 135 indigenous languages confirmed. The regions with the most speakers are North and Central-West Brazil, where there is a larger concentration of native people. Indigenous populations have been trying to keep their traditions of their homeland, with the help of Funai, the agency responsible for the protection of the native people.

Rapa Nui is a Polynesian language spoken on Easter Island, Chile. [20]

LanguageSpeakersCountriesSource
Quechua 7,735,620 Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Colombia [3]
Guarani 6,162,790 Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil [5]
Aymara 1,677,100 Bolivia, Peru, Chile [8]
Wayuu 416,000 Colombia, Venezuela [13]
Mapudungun 258,410 Argentina, Chile [17]

Classification

Source: [21]

Other non-indigenous languages

In Brazil, Italian and German dialects, specifically Talian, East Pomeranian, and Hunsrik, have co-official status alongside Portuguese in about a dozen cities and are mandatory subjects in schools in other municipalities. The states of Santa Catarina [38] [39] [40] and Rio Grande do Sul have Talian officially approved as a heritage language in these states, [41] and Espírito Santo has the East Pomeranian dialect, [42] along with the German language as cultural heritage. [42] [43] [44] [45] [46]

English is an official language in Guyana, and its creole form is the country's most widely spoken language. English is also the official language in the territories of the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

French is the official language in French Guiana, an overseas region of France. Dutch is the official language in neighboring Suriname.

Italian is spoken by communities in Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Brazil. [10] [47]

German is used by some in Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Colombia. [9] [48]

Welsh is spoken and written in the historic towns of Trelew and Rawson in Argentine Patagonia. [49]

There are also small clusters of Japanese speakers in Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia (including Okinawans from the island of Okinawa). Brazil currently holds the largest Japanese community outside Japan. [50] [12]

Caribbean Hindustani is spoken by the Indo-Guyanese and the Indo-Surinamese. [51] In Suriname, the language is known as Sarnámi Hindustáni and is still widely spoken. However, in Guyana, where it is known as Guyanese Hindustani or Aili Gaili, [52] the language is nearly extinct as a spoken language, with only words and phrases still remaining. [53]

Surinamese-Javanese is spoken by the Javanese Surinamese who form about 14% of the Suriname's population. [54]

Sranan Tongo, an English-based creole, serves as one of the lingua francas of Suriname, alongside Dutch. [15]

Other non-indigenous languages spoken include Arabic, [55] Chinese, [56] Romani, [57] Haitian Creole, [58] Romanian, [59] Greek, [60] Polish, [61] Ukrainian, [62] and Russian. [63]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous languages of the Americas</span>

The Indigenous languages of the Americas are the languages that were used by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas before the arrival of non-Indigenous peoples. Over a thousand of these languages are still used today, while many more are now extinct. The Indigenous languages of the Americas are not all related to each other; instead, they are classified into a hundred or so language families and isolates, as well as a number of extinct languages that are unclassified due to the lack of information on them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rio Grande do Sul</span> State of Brazil

Rio Grande do Sul is a state in the southern region of Brazil. It is the fifth-most populous state and the ninth-largest by area and it is divided into 497 municipalities. Located in the southernmost part of the country, Rio Grande do Sul is bordered clockwise by Santa Catarina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Uruguayan departments of Rocha, Treinta y Tres, Cerro Largo, Rivera, and Artigas to the south and southwest, and the Argentine provinces of Corrientes and Misiones to the west and northwest. The capital and largest city is Porto Alegre. The state has the highest life expectancy in Brazil, and the crime rate is relatively low compared to the Brazilian national average. The state has 5.4% of the Brazilian population and it is responsible for 6.6% of the Brazilian GDP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupian languages</span> Indigenous language family in South America

The Tupi or Tupian language family comprises some 70 languages spoken in South America, of which the best known are Tupi proper and Guarani.

Hunsrik, also called Riograndese Hunsrik, Riograndenser Hunsrückisch or Katharinensisch, is a Moselle Franconian language derived primarily from the Hunsrückisch dialect of West Central German which is spoken in parts of South America. A co-official language in the Brazilian municipalities of Antônio Carlos, Santa Maria do Herval, and São João do Oeste, Hunsrik is spoken in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and Paraná, as well as some regions of neighboring Paraguay and Argentina. It has been an integral part of the historical and cultural heritage of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul since 2012, and considered an intangible cultural heritage of Santa Catarina state since 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German Brazilians</span> Brazilian person of ethnic German ancestry or origin

German Brazilians refers to Brazilians of full or partial German ancestry. German Brazilians live mostly in the country's South Region, with a smaller but still significant percentage living in the Southeast Region.

Talian, or Brazilian Venetian, or Vêneto is a Venetian dialect spoken primarily in the Serra Gaúcha region in the northeast of the state of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. It is also spoken in other parts of Rio Grande do Sul, as well as in parts of Espírito Santo and of Santa Catarina.

The German-based varieties spoken by German Brazilians together form a significant minority language in Brazil. "Brazilian German" is strongly influenced by Portuguese and to a lesser extent by Italian dialects as well as indigenous languages. High German and Low Saxon/German dialects and Germanic languages are particularly strong in Brazil's South and Southeast Regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration to Brazil</span>

Immigration to Brazil is the movement to Brazil of foreign peoples to reside permanently. It should not be confused with the forcible bringing of people from Africa as slaves. Latin Europe accounted for four-fifths of the arrivals. This engendered a strikingly multicultural society. Yet over a few generations, Brazil absorbed these new populations in a manner that resembles the experience of the rest of the New World.

East Pomeranian or Farther Pomeranian is an East Low German dialect moribund in Europe, which used to be spoken in the region of Farther Pomerania when it was part of the German Province of Pomerania, until World War II, and today is part of Poland. Currently, the language survives mainly in Brazil, where it is spoken by descendants of German immigrants of the 19th century and where it was given its own script by the linguist Ismael Tressmann. It has co-official status in 11 Brazilian municipalities and has been recognized as a historical and cultural heritage of the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo. East Pomeranian is also spoken in central Wisconsin and parts of Iowa, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Brazil</span>

Portuguese is the official and national language of Brazil, being widely spoken by nearly all of its population. Brazil is the most populous Portuguese-speaking country in the world, with its lands comprising the majority of Portugal's former colonial holdings in the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Bolivia</span>

The languages of Bolivia include Spanish; several dozen indigenous languages, most prominently Aymara, Quechua, Chiquitano, and Guaraní; Bolivian Sign Language. Indigenous languages and Spanish are official languages of the state according to the 2009 Constitution. The constitution says that all indigenous languages are official, listing 36 specific languages, of which some are extinct. Spanish and Quechua are spoken primarily in the Andes region, Aymara is mainly spoken in the Altiplano around Lake Titicaca, Chiquitano is spoken in the central part of Santa Cruz department, and Guarani is spoken in the southeast on the border with Paraguay and Argentina.

Terêna or Etelena is spoken by 15,000 Brazilians. The language has a dictionary and written grammar. Many Terena people have low Portuguese proficiency. It is spoken in Mato Grosso do Sul. About 20% are literate in their language, 80% literate in Portuguese.

Reyesano, or Chirigua (Chiriba), is a nearly extinct Tacanan language that was spoken by only a few speakers, including children, in 1961 in Bolivia. It is spoken by the Maropa people who number 4,505 in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mato Queimado</span> Municipality in South, Brazil

Mato Queimado is a Brazilian municipality located in the northwestern part of the state of the Rio Grande do Sul. The population is about 1,629 in an area of 114.64 km². It is located 489 km in the west of the state capital of Porto Alegre and northeast of Alegrete.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flores da Cunha</span> Place in South, Brazil

Flores da Cunha is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It is the largest producer of wines inside Brazil. The Venetian language in its Brazilian form Talian is co-official with Portuguese in Flores da Cunha.

Serafina Corrêa is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guató language</span> Language

Guató is a possible language isolate spoken by 1% of the Guató people of Brazil.

A cross-border language or trans-border language is a language spoken by a population that lives in a geographical area in two or several internationally recognized countries that have common land or maritime borders.

References

  1. ↑ Spanish at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. ↑ Portuguese at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  3. 1 2 Quechuan at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  4. ↑ English at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  5. 1 2 Guarani at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  6. ↑ Venetian at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  7. ↑ Hunsrik at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  8. 1 2 Central Aymara at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg ,
    Southern Aymara at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  9. 1 2 German, Standard at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  10. 1 2 Italian at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  11. ↑ "Nederlands in het Caribisch gebied en Suriname" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Taalunie. 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  12. 1 2 Japanese at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  13. 1 2 Wayuu at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  14. ↑ French at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  15. 1 2 Sranan Tongo at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  16. ↑ Saxon, Low at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  17. 1 2 Mapudungun at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  18. ↑ Sarnami Hindustani at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  19. ↑ Kroon, Sjaak (2012), Meertaligheid in het onderwijs in Suriname [Multilingualism in education in Suriname](PDF) (in Dutch), Den Haag: Nederlandse Taalunie, ISBN   978-90-70593-19-3
  20. ↑ Rapa Nui at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  21. ↑ Greenberg, Joseph H. "The general classification of Central and South American languages", in: Men and cultures; selected papers of the 5th international congress of anthropological and ethnologicalsciences, Philadelphia, September 1956 PP. 791-4
  22. ↑ "Câmara Bento – Projeto do Executivo é aprovado e Talian se torna a língua co-oficial – Jornal Cidades da Serra". 24 September 2016. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016.
  23. ↑ "Lei confirma o Talian como segunda língua oficial de Caxias do Sul". 30 March 2019. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019.
  24. ↑ "Leouve - Talian é língua cooficial de Flores da Cunha". 15 June 2016. Archived from the original on 15 June 2016.
  25. ↑ Lei Nº 1310 de 16 de outubro de 2015 - Dispõe sobre a cooficialização da língua do "talian", à língua portuguesa, no município de Nova Roma do Sul"
  26. ↑ O Talian agora é a língua co-oficial de Nova Roma do Sul, município de Nova Roma do Sul
  27. ↑ "Município de Serafina Corrêa Vereadores aprovam o talian como língua co-oficial do município". 30 March 2019. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019.
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 Espírito Santo investe na preservação da língua pomerana, in "Registros Escritos", fifth paragraph.
  29. ↑ "A escolarização entre descendentes pomeranos em Domingos Martins" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  30. 1 2 "A co-oficialização da língua pomerana (third paragraph)" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  31. ↑ Município de Itarana participa de ações do Inventário da Língua Pomerana, Prefeitura Municipal de Itarana
  32. ↑ «Lei Municipal nº 1.195/2016 de Itarana/ES». itarana.es.gov.br
  33. ↑ "Pomerano!?" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  34. ↑ "No Brasil, pomeranos buscam uma cultura que se perde" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  35. ↑ "Lei dispõe sobre a cooficialização da língua pomerana no município de Santa maria de Jetibá, Estado do Espírito Santo" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  36. 1 2 Cooficialização de línguas no Brasil: características, desdobramentos e desafios, third page.
  37. ↑ "Vila Pavão, Uma Pomerânia no norte do Espirito Santo" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  38. ↑ "LEI Nº 14.951" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  39. ↑ "Rotary apresenta ações na Câmara. FEIBEMO divulga cultura italiana" (in Portuguese). 11 August 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  40. ↑ "Fóruns sobre o Talian - Eventos comemoram os 134 anos da imigração italiana" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  41. ↑ "Aprovado projeto que declara o Talian como patrimônio do RS" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  42. 1 2 "O povo pomerano no ES" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 21 December 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  43. ↑ "Plenário aprova em segundo turno a PEC do patrimônio" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  44. ↑ "Emenda Constitucional na Íntegra" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  45. ↑ "ALEES - PEC que trata do patrimônio cultural retorna ao Plenário" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  46. ↑ "Pommern in Brasilien - LernCafe – Online-Journal zur allgemeinen Weiterbildung". www.lerncafe.de.
  47. ↑ Bernasconi, Giulia (30 January 2012). "L'ITALIANO IN VENEZUELA".
  48. ↑ "German, Colonia Tovar". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
  49. ↑ Welsh at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  50. ↑ "Japan, Brazil mark a century of settlement, family ties | The Japan Times Online". 2008-01-15.
  51. ↑ Frawley, William (2003). International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: 4-Volume Set. Oxford University Press, USA. pp. 481–482. ISBN   978-0-19-513977-8.
  52. ↑ "Language". Caribbean Hindustani. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
  53. ↑ "The Linguistic Legacy of Indian-Guyanese". Stabroek News. 2014-04-21. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
  54. ↑ "Suriname - The World Factbook". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
  55. ↑ Arabic at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  56. ↑ Chinese at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  57. ↑ Romani at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  58. ↑ Haitian at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  59. ↑ Romanian at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  60. ↑ Greek at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  61. ↑ Polish at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  62. ↑ Ukrainian at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  63. ↑ Russian at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.