More than 40 languages are spoken in this state in South America, and not only Spanish is officially recognized as the official language of Venezuela. The list includes dozens of dialects and dialects of the indigenous inhabitants of Venezuela, who inhabited the country long before European colonization.
Some statistics and facts
- Spanish is spoken by about 26 million people - the majority of Venezuelans. It was recognized as an official one according to the 1999 Constitution.
- Venezuelan sign language is officially used in the country, and this term was first used in 1930.
- One of the most widely spoken languages in Venezuela is Kichua. It is a variation of the Quechua language spoken by the Indians of Bolivia and Peru. More than 2.5 million Venezuelans own it.
- Only the Panare language is spoken by most of the women living in the state of Bolivar, but the men there speak Spanish quite well.
- Almost nothing is known about the Juvana language used by hunters and gatherers in the state of Amazonas. Researchers estimate that there are just over 500 people remaining in Venezuela who speak this dialect.
Given the impenetrable jungle and the remoteness of many parts of the country from civilization, scientists believe that the country may have significantly more dialects, dialects and languages than is known at the moment.
In Venezuela, three German dialects are also used, which are used by those who immigrated from Germany after the Second World War.
History and modernity
Spanish was first heard in Venezuela in 1499, when the ships of the conquistador Alonso de Ojeda landed on its shores. Twenty years later, the Spaniards established the first settlement in the country and on the entire continent and began to promote their native language among the local population. Religious missionaries who came to convert the Indians to Christianity were especially successful in this matter.
Tourist notes
Even knowledge of Spanish does not always help a foreigner who finds himself in South America. In most countries on a distant continent, the language has undergone many changes and received hundreds and thousands of words borrowed from Indian dialects. Although the official language of Venezuela is called Spanish, it contains specific terms that are not always clear even to a resident of the Iberian Peninsula.
In the tourist areas of the country, English is quite common, and hotel receptionists and restaurant administrators can use it. For your own comfort, it is better to have a hotel business card with you to explain to the taxi driver where you need to arrive.
