Castellano · Peninsular Spanish
The standard variety of Spain, centred on Madrid and the historical kingdom of Castile. Distinguished from American varieties by the distinción between /θ/ and /s/.
Central American Spanish
The Spanish of Central America, centred on Guatemala City. Linguistically transitional between Mexican and Caribbean varieties, with widespread voseo verb forms.
Shareable facts
Want a Central American Spanish app?
Vote and we'll prioritise it. Top-voted dialects move up the roadmap. One vote per email.
Frequently asked questions
What language is Central American Spanish?
Central American Spanish is a dialect of the Spanish language.
Where is Central American Spanish spoken?
Central American Spanish is primarily spoken in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua.
Which region is Central American Spanish associated with?
Central American Spanish is part of the North America region on DialectAtlas.
What are the other dialects of Spanish?
Spanish also includes Castilian Spanish, Andalusian Spanish, Canarian Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Caribbean Spanish, Colombian Spanish, Andean Spanish, Rioplatense Spanish, Chilean Spanish, Venezuelan Spanish, Ecuadorian Spanish, Bolivian Spanish, Northern Mexican Spanish, Yucatec Spanish, Chicano Spanish, Cuban-American Spanish, Ladino. Each variety has its own vocabulary, pronunciation, and cultural context.
Other Spanish dialects
See on the atlas →Andaluz
The Spanish of southern Spain, marked by aspiration of /s/, the loss of final consonants, and a strong influence on the formation of Latin American varieties via the Atlantic ports.
Canario
The Spanish of the Canary Islands. Linguistically a bridge between Andalusian and Caribbean varieties, with shared seseo and weakened final consonants.
The most widely spoken Spanish variety in the world. Heavily shaped by Nahuatl and other indigenous languages, especially in lexicon, and exported widely through Mexican film and music.
The Spanish of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. Shares with Andalusian the aspiration of /s/ and the loss of final consonants, and carries a distinctive lexicon shaped by Taino and African languages.
Bogotano
The Spanish of Colombia, internally varied by region. The Andean Bogotá variety is widely cited for its conservative phonology and is often described as one of the clearest spoken varieties in the Americas.
The Spanish of the Andean highlands across Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Heavily influenced in pronunciation, grammar, and lexicon by Quechua and Aymara.
Río de la Plata Spanish
The Spanish of Argentina and Uruguay. Distinctive for its voseo verb forms, the sheísmo / zheísmo realisation of <ll>/<y>, and a strong Italian-influenced intonation.
The Spanish of Chile. Known for rapid speech, heavy aspiration of /s/, distinct second-person verb forms, and a rich slang lexicon.
The Spanish of Venezuela, centred on Caracas. A Caribbean Spanish variety closely related to Cuban and Dominican Spanish, with strong /s/-aspiration and a distinctive lexicon.
Costeño Ecuadoriano
The Spanish of coastal Ecuador, centred on Guayaquil. Distinct from the Andean Quito variety, with stronger Caribbean Spanish features including /s/-aspiration.
Cochabambino · Camba (Lowland Bolivian)
The Spanish of Bolivia, internally split between Andean (La Paz, Cochabamba) and Lowland Camba (Santa Cruz) varieties. Heavy contact features from Quechua and Aymara in the highlands.
Norteño Spanish
The Spanish of northern Mexico, centred on Monterrey and Chihuahua. Distinct from central Mexican Spanish in vowel realisation, intonation, and a distinct lexicon shaped by long contact with US English.
Yucatecan Spanish · Español yucateco
The Spanish of the Yucatán peninsula. Heavily shaped by contact with Yucatec Maya, with distinctive intonation, glottalised stops, and a substantial Mayan-derived lexicon.
Mexican-American Spanish · US Spanish
The Spanish of Mexican-American communities across the US Southwest. Diverse and bilingual; shaped by long contact with English and characterised by code-switching (Spanglish).
Miami Spanish
The Spanish of the Cuban-American community of Florida, especially Miami. A Caribbean Spanish variety with substantial English contact features and a distinctive bilingual code-switching register.
Judeo-Spanish · Judezmo · Djudeo-Espanyol
The Sephardic Jewish Romance language descended from the Spanish varieties carried out of Iberia after the expulsions of the late fifteenth century. Historically spoken across the Ottoman Empire and North Africa, today it survives mainly as an endangered heritage language in Turkey, Israel, the Balkans, and diaspora communities.
Nearby dialects
See on the atlas →95 km away
A K'ichean Mayan language spoken in central Guatemala and southern Belize. The fastest-growing Mayan language, expanding across former Q'eqchi'-monolingual territory.
111 km away
The largest Mayan language of Guatemala, spoken across the western highlands. The language of the Popol Vuh, the foundational K'ichean creation epic.
128 km away
A Mamean Mayan language spoken across the western highlands of Guatemala and adjacent parts of Chiapas, Mexico. Around 600,000 speakers.
509 km away
An Arawakan language with major African and Carib influence, spoken along the Caribbean coast of Central America. Descended from communities deported from St. Vincent in 1797; a UNESCO Masterpiece of Intangible Heritage.
711 km away
The Spanish of the Yucatán peninsula. Heavily shaped by contact with Yucatec Maya, with distinctive intonation, glottalised stops, and a substantial Mayan-derived lexicon.
717 km away
The most-spoken Mayan language, used across the Yucatán peninsula by around 800,000 people. Direct linguistic descendant of the language used in the Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions of the Classic period.