Almost 43 million of the population of Argentina are the descendants of the mixing of European colonialists with the Indian population and black slaves brought to Latin America by the Spaniards. Colonization brought into the country and later became the state language of Argentina. All official documents, negotiations, laws and regulations are carried out in the republic in Spanish.
Some statistics and facts
- There are about four dozen spoken languages in addition to the official one in Argentina.
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Spanish in Argentina is called the Rioplat dialect. It was formed under the influence of Italians who migrated here en masse in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. The dialect first appeared in Buenos Aires and then spread throughout the south of the country.
- In the emigration flow of 1880-1940, Italians accounted for 48% of all arrivals, Spaniards from Europe - 40%, and the remaining 12% were Germans, French, Ukrainians, Poles, Lithuanians, Jews and, of course, Armenians.
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The population of the northwestern provinces often uses the Andean variety of Spanish in everyday life.
- More than 100 thousand people in Argentina speak the language of the Quechua Indians.
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Endangered dialects and dialects in Argentina are threatened with complete extinction. So there are only five native speakers of the Puelche language, which was once widespread in the regions of Argentine Patagonia.
The emigrants from Germany who poured into Argentina after the Second World War created the Belgranodeic language, which is a mixture of Spanish and German and is still in use in the country.
Tourist notes
Despite the wide list of languages used in Argentina, only Spanish remains the official state, and therefore it is worth taking just such a phrasebook with you on the road. All ground transportation stops, Buenos Aires metro, shop signs, train station announcements and restaurant menus are in Spanish. But in tourist information centers there are maps and directions to attractions and in English.
The capital and major cities boast English-speaking waiters in restaurants and porter in hotels, but in the provinces you may not be understood. To avoid problems and see and appreciate all the most interesting, all you need is a smile, a couple of phrases in Spanish and a great desire to communicate. The locals will not remain in debt and will not only tell you where the best steaks in the world are prepared, but also show you a couple of dance steps. Have you forgotten? Argentina is the birthplace of tango!
