Television has shaped the image of Mexico as a very poor country, where drug cartels are constantly at war with each other. But in fact, this is not at all the case. Every year, more than 20 million foreign tourists come to this country to see the unique monuments and pyramids of the Maya and Aztec Indians, ancient Spanish forts, colonial palaces, try unforgettable Mexican cuisine, and, of course, relax in Mexican beach resorts, among which "shine » Acapulco and Cancun.
Mexico is located in the south of North America. Mexico borders the United States to the north and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast. In the southeast, the country is washed by the Caribbean Sea, in the east by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and in the south and west by the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Mexico consists of several islands in the Pacific Ocean, including the Revilla Gigedo group of islands and the island of Guadalupe. The total area of this state, including the islands, is 1,972,550 sq. km., and the total length of the state border is 4,353 km.
From north to south, the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Occidental mountain ranges stretch across Mexico, located between the Mexican Highlands. In the south, the mountain system Sierra Madre South dominates. The highest local peak is Mount Orizaba, whose height reaches 5,700 meters.
Seismic activity is quite high in Mexico. In addition, there are many volcanoes, some of which are still active (for example, Colima and Paricutin).
The largest Mexican rivers are Usumacinta (560 km), Grijalva (480 km), Papaloapan (534 km), Coatzacoalcos (282 km).
Mexico City is the capital of Mexico. More than 9 million people now live in this city. Historians claim that Mexico City was founded by the Aztec Indians in 1325.
In Mexico, one official language is Spanish.
More than 82% of the inhabitants are Catholics, about 9% are Protestants.
According to the current Constitution, Mexico is a presidential republic in which the head of state is the President (he is elected by popular vote for 6 years).
The bicameral Mexican parliament is called the Congress, it consists of the Senate (128 senators, elected for 6 years) and the Chamber of Deputies (500 deputies, elected for 3 years).
The main political parties are the Institutional Revolutionary Party, the National Action Party, the Democratic Revolution Party, the Green Party and the Labor Party.
Administratively, Mexico is divided into 31 states and one federal district, centered on Mexico City.
The climate is tropical and temperate, depending on the region and altitude in relation to sea level. On the Yucatan Peninsula, the average annual air temperature is + 26-30C.
The rainy season lasts from May to October. During the rest of the year, it also rains, but much less frequently. In general, you can relax in Mexico all year round, but it depends on the destinations where tourists want to go (some destinations are better to choose in certain months).
Average air temperature in Cancun (Caribbean coast):
In the southeast, the country is washed by the Caribbean Sea, and in the south and west by the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The total length of the coastline is 9,330 km.
Average sea temperature off the coast of Cancun (Caribbean coast):
Several fairly large rivers flow through Mexico - Usumacinta (560 km), Grijalva (480 km), Papaloapan (534 km), Coatzacoalcos (282 km). In the state of Guadalajara, at an altitude of 1524 meters above sea level, there is a freshwater lake Chapala, with an area of 1,100 square meters. km, the largest in this country.
People settled on the territory of modern Mexico several thousand years ago. In the early centuries of our century, several Indian tribes lived there, including the famous Maya, who created hieroglyphic writing, a calendar and grandiose pyramids. Around the 12th century, the Aztecs arrived there.
At the beginning of the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico, led by Hernandez de Cordoba, Juan de Grijalva and Hernan Cortes. After some time, Mexico became part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and remained a Spanish colony until 1821.
In 1823, after a long war of independence, the Republic of Mexico was proclaimed. Throughout the 19th century, bloody wars took place on the territory of this country, as a result of which the Mexican states of Texas, New Mexico, and Upper California ceded to the United States.
Not without wars for Mexico and the beginning of the XX century. From 1910 to 1917, the civil war continued there. As a result, the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz was overthrown, and a Constitution was adopted that guaranteed the separation of church and state, agrarian reform, the creation of trade unions, etc.
Since the 1950s, in Mexico, where there are very large oil reserves, an economic recovery begins. In the mid-1980s, oil prices fall and Mexico begins an economic and political crisis. Now this country is still experiencing economic problems, but the situation is quite stable.
The culture of Mexico was formed on the basis of the traditions of the Indians, and then the Spaniards had a strong influence on it. Every Mexican city or town has its own festival in honor of a saint.
At the end of February, a grandiose Carnival takes place in Mexico City, which usually lasts 5 days. All these 5 days, colorful processions with music and dances pass through the streets of the Mexican capital.
December 12 in Mexico City and in some other Mexican cities celebrate the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, with a lot of different events. In the capital's Basilica de Guadalupe square, colorful performances take place on this day.
September 16 marks the most revered national Mexican holiday - Independence Day.
Mexican cuisine is famous all over the world. The staple foods are corn, beans, rice and vegetables. Important ingredients for preparing Mexican dishes are spices and hot chili peppers.
The diet of the Mayan Indians once upon a time consisted mainly of corn and some vegetables, spices, herbs and chili were used in the preparation of dishes. After the Spaniards arrived in Mexico, the diet of the Indians was replenished with animal meat and fish. Thanks to the fusion of the culinary traditions of the Indians and the Spaniards, modern Mexican cuisine was formed.
In the south of the country, dishes are spicier than in the north. By the way, in the south of meat dishes, tourists are usually offered chicken, and beef is more common in the north. In general, each region or city has its own special dish - "cochinita pibil" (Yucatan) and "huevos rancheros" (Sonora).
We recommend that tourists first ask what this or that dish is prepared from, because. some of them may seem very exotic to Europeans. For example, for lunch you can be served "Chapulines" (fried grasshoppers).
Traditional alcoholic drinks are beer, tequila, "tepache" (made from pineapple), "tuba" (fermented coconut palm juice) and "pulque" (fermented agave juice with a strength of 5-8 °).
In Mexico, there are now several thousand archaeological, historical and architectural sites. The most famous of them are, of course, the Mayan and Aztec pyramids. But this country also has many medieval Spanish forts, churches and palaces. The top ten Mexican attractions, in our opinion, include the following:
The biggest cities are Tijuana, Puebla, Ecatepec de Morelos, Leon, Ciudad Juarez, Monterrey, Zapopan, and of course Mexico City.
Tourists come to Mexico mainly for a beach holiday, although there, of course, there are many historical sights left from the pre-Columbian era. The most popular Mexican beach resorts are Acapulco, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Cozumel, Los Cabos, Mazatlán, Costa Maya and Zihuatanejo. Acapulco and Cancun are very popular among foreigners.
Some of the best Mexican beaches are, in our opinion, the following:
Souvenirs in Mexico ("reminder") are probably best bought at roadside stalls and rural markets. Tourists buy ceramics in this country, a Piñata toy (an ancient game of the Aztecs), dresses, blouses, handmade blankets and carpets, leather goods (purses, wallets, belts, sandals), silver and coral products, cigars, chocolate, vanilla, various Mexican sauces, and, of course, tequila.
Banks:
Mon-Fri: 09:00-17:00
Some banks are open on Sundays as well.
The shops:
Mon-Sat: 09:30-20:00
Supermarkets in Mexico City are open 7 days a week, with some of them open 24 hours a day.
Ukrainians need a visa to visit Mexico.
Mexico is very popular among tourists from all over the world. This state is known not only for a huge number of various attractions, but also for a developed tourist infrastructure. In addition, Mexico, although infrequently, is chosen as a country for immigration. Of course, in order to feel comfortable in this country, you need to know what language is spoken in Mexico.
The United Mexican States is a multicultural state that recognizes the right of indigenous peoples to preserve and develop their own dialects. The main language in the country is Spanish - it is spoken by about 90% of the population. To understand why Spanish is spoken in Mexico, we need to look at history. In 1521, Spanish colonialists arrived in Mexico City (formerly Tenochtitlan), who brought and spread their language throughout the state. As a result of intensive interracial contacts and the birth of children (mestizos), Creole (Mexican) Spanish began to form.
Mexican Spanish is the most common variety of Spanish. It is understood not only in the historical homeland, but throughout Latin America, as well as in the United States. However, Spanish and Mexican are not the same. Thus, the formation of Mexican Spanish was significantly influenced by the proximity to the United States.
Mexican Spanish is the native language in Mexico. It is spoken by approximately 125 million people. Of these, more than 100 million live in the state itself and about 25 million in the United States (mainly in the border areas of Texas, California, Arizona, etc.).
The United Mexican States pursues a policy of bilingualism - this is stated in the country's Constitution. Therefore, speaking about which language is the state language in Mexico, it should be noted that the government of the country recognizes, in addition to Spanish, 68 more local dialects. At the same time, many consider Spanish to be the official language. However, this is an erroneous opinion, since there is no such definition in the legislation of the country.
When answering the question of which language is official in Mexico, one should again refer to the country's Constitution, which states that, due to the multinationality of the state, Spanish and local dialects have equal rights as official languages.
This is despite the fact that only 6% of the population speak dialects.
In 2003, the Congress of Mexico adopted a decision to support the law on the linguistic rights of indigenous peoples, which secured the right of the local population to use their native language when communicating with authorities and formalizing official documents. And yet the de facto national language in this state is Spanish. 
Before the arrival of the Spaniards in the territory of the United Mexican States, the locals spoke Indian languages. However, this practically did not affect the grammatical and phonological level of Spanish, although linguists still recognize their influence on the lexical composition of speech.
The most widely spoken Indian languages in Mexico are:
And, finally, the most interesting thing is the restriction of travel abroad for debtors. It is about the status of the debtor that it is easiest to “forget” when going on another vacation abroad. The reason may be overdue loans, unpaid utility bills, alimony or fines from the traffic police. Any of these debts may threaten to restrict travel abroad in 2018, we recommend that you find out information about the presence of debt using a proven service not to fly.rf
There are 364 different dialects in the state, which have significant differences. For example, Nahuatl is the language of the Aztec empire. It is spoken by about one and a half million people. However, it is highly fragmented geographically. But the largest adjacent dialect is Yucatec, which is spoken by about 800 thousand people. It is used in the Yucatan Peninsula. Therefore, it is quite difficult to answer unequivocally what language is spoken in Mexico.
The United Mexican States is one of the most developed countries in Latin America, which annually attracts a huge number of tourists from all over the world. Therefore, for those who have never been to this country, it is important to know what other language, besides Spanish, is understood in this state.
For example, English in Mexico is not widely spoken in all states, and you need to be prepared for this. However, in recent years, thanks to the active development of the tourism sector and the improvement of the level of service for travelers, employers have begun to attach great importance to the knowledge of applicants for work in restaurants and hotels in English, Italian, German, French and Portuguese. Moreover, in some fashionable hotel complexes, the staff even knows Russian. 
Going on a trip, tourists are interested in what language is the main one in Mexico City. As in the rest of the state, the vast majority of the inhabitants speak Spanish. However, in this city you can meet a lot of people who speak English. The same goes for other cities such as Palenque, Villahermosa, Campeche and Cancun. But if you go south, then knowledge of Spanish is already necessary here.
It should be noted that most of the excursions and recreational activities specially prepared for tourists are conducted in English.
Mexico is at the forefront of providing opportunities to learn Spanish in Latin America - students from all over the world attend Spanish courses here. Language schools and courses provide an opportunity not only to quickly and effectively learn Spanish, but also to get to know the culture of this distant state.
Language schools in the United Mexican States are located in Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, Playa del Carmen. They offer various programs, but the standard and intensive courses are in the greatest demand.
Etc.). In Mexico, this variant of Spanish is the only official at the federal level and one of the official (along with many Amerindian languages) at the state level. Mexican Spanish is also the basis for US Spanish (see Spanish in the US), which is widely used in the media (Univision, Telemundo, etc.), education, etc. In addition, Mexican Spanish is the most common language variant of Spanish language, since it is native to the majority of Mexicans, who make up about 29% of all Spanish speakers in the world. The main features of the Spanish language in Mexico are the clarity of pronunciation of consonants (especially d and s), proximity to the classical standard Spanish of the 16th and 17th centuries, with a strong influence of autochthonous languages in the field of vocabulary.
Until the 16th century, the territory of modern Mexico was inhabited by fairly numerous Indian tribes who spoke several dozen languages, the most common of which were: Navajo in the north, Maya, Nahuatl in the center and many others, which had a significant substratum influence on the Spanish language, which at first only a small but elite layer of conquistadors, administrators and officials and immigrants from Spain, who made up about 5% of the population, spoke. Nevertheless, thanks to its prestige and intense interracial contacts (mestizo), Spanish became the main means of communication for the bulk of Mexicans already in the 17th century. And yet, unlike the United States, Mexico has never pursued a policy of genocide against the indigenous population. After a sharp reduction in the number of Indians from diseases introduced by Europeans, their number stabilized already in the 17th-18th centuries. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the number of Amerindian speakers in Mexico increased quite significantly, although their share in the general population continued to decline due to an even faster increase in the number of Spanish-speaking mestizos. However, the influence of Amerindian languages, which are still spoken by 7-10% of Mexicans, remains significant. Many Mexicanisms, that is, words, phrases, phonetic and grammatical phenomena, characteristic of the spoken Spanish language of Mexico, are explained precisely by the influence of autochthonous languages. Another important factor in the formation and spread of Mexican Spanish was the status of the city of Mexico City itself (the former Tenochtitlan), which for three centuries was the capital of the viceroyalty of New Spain (see New Spain and the Colonies of Spain), as well as the largest in the Western Hemisphere, where in the XVI- In the 17th century, a significant number of people arrived from Madrid and Spain. Therefore, as well as American English, Mexican Spanish is based mainly on the corresponding European analogue of the language of the 16th-17th centuries. The language, in fact, of Spain continued to develop further, and in Mexico it largely froze, as it were, in a mothballed form after gaining independence at the beginning of the 19th century and developed in isolation from Spain.
In 1521, Spanish colonizers arrived in Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), thus bringing the Spanish language into what is now Mexico. However, several generations were needed for the zones to acquire their own personal linguistic character. This happened only after 100 years. Mexican Creole Spanish begins to take shape when the first children are born in Mexico, but their parents still spoke European Spanish, so it cannot yet be said that their children already spoke pure Mexican Spanish.
In Mexico, as subsequently in all other countries of Latin America, a number of changes are taking place in the Spanish language system: linguistic territories are expanding (as happened in Spain, when Spanish replaced other languages that existed on the Iberian Peninsula), phonological changes are taking place (according to in another way, j begins to be pronounced, the sound θ gradually disappears and is replaced by s, phonetic adaptation of words borrowed from Indian languages occurs), etc.
One of the first impressions that modern Mexican Spanish can make on an observer is that it is "conservative". In the literary texts of Spanish writers of the 16th and 17th centuries, one can find words that today in Spain are archaisms and are almost unrecognizable by native speakers, or are used extremely rarely. In Mexico, these words continue to be used and are not perceived as archaic. Here are some examples of such lexical units:
| word in mexican (is archaic in the Castilian version) |
Equivalent in Castilian Spanish |
Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Aburricion | Aburrimiento | Boredom, annoyance |
| Alzarse | sublevarse | rebel, revolt |
| Amarrar | Atar | tie, connect |
| Anafre | Hornillo | portable oven |
| Apeñuscarse | Apinarse | Crowd, crowd |
| Balde (para agua) | Cubo | Bucket, tub |
| Botar | Tirar | Throw, throw away |
| Chabacano | Albaricoque | Apricot |
| Chapa | Cerradura | Castle |
| Chicharo | Guisante | Peas |
| Cobija | Manta | A blanket |
| Despacio (hablar despacio) | en vozbaja | Quiet (speak quietly) |
| Dilatar | Tardar | linger, be late |
| Droga | Deuda | Duty |
| Durazno | Melocoton | Peach |
| Ensartar (la aguja) | Enhebrar | Thread a needle) |
| Esculcar | Registrar | Search, fumble (in your pocket) |
| expandir | Extender | expand, spread |
| Frijol | Judia, habichuela | Beans |
| Hambreado | Hambriento | Hungry |
| Postergar | Aplazar, diferir | Save |
| Prieto | Moreno | Dark |
| Recibirse | Graduation | Get a degree |
| Renco | cojo | lame |
| Resfrio | Resfriado | Cold, runny nose |
| Retobado | Rezongon | obese |
| Rezago | Atraso | Delay, delay |
| Zonzo | Tonto | Silly, stupid |
These are just a few of the words currently in use in Mexican Spanish that have fallen into disuse in the Iberian Peninsula.
The presence of such a lexical layer has given rise among many linguists to an erroneous view of Mexican Spanish as an archaic variant (Wagner, 1949; Zamora Vicente, 1974; and others). However, Moreno de Alba writes about this: “The vocabulary of the Spanish language is the total sum of all the vocabulary of all its dialects (geographical, historical and social). Therefore, the problem of so-called archaisms must be reconsidered. Of course, there are archaisms in the strict sense of the word, and these will be such linguistic phenomena that are used sporadically and have disappeared from the whole Spanish language, such as the verb catar in the sense of "see" or yantar in the sense of "is". But there is also an infinite number of archaisms in a relative sense, which, being used in some dialects, have ceased to be the norm in others. Thus, the word estafeta may be perceived as archaic by Latin Americans, ..., and the vocabulary prieto will be such for the Spaniards ”(Moreno de Alba, 2001: 264 - 265). Thus, these words are archaisms in the Castilian version of the Spanish language, while in the Mexican version they are common and cannot be regarded as archaic.
It is known that the Indian languages that dominated the territory of present-day Mexico before the arrival of the Spaniards had almost no effect on the phonological and grammatical level of the Spanish language in Mexico. On the other hand, all linguists recognize their influence on the lexical composition of the language. Thus, in the Spanish language of Mexico, we can find a huge number of Indianisms, in particular, originating from the Nahuatl language. Basically, these are words related to flora and fauna. Here are some of them:
| Indianisms | Translation |
|---|---|
| Aguacate | Avocado |
| Ahuehuete | |
| Cacahuate | Peanut |
| Cacao | Cocoa |
| Chayote | Chayote (tree and fruit) |
| Chile | Indian pepper |
| Copal | copal, copal gum, leguminous plant |
| Coyote | Coyote |
| Mezcal | Type of alcoholic drink |
| Ocelote | Ocelot |
| Quetzal | Quetzal (bird) |
| tomate | |
| Zapote | Sapotli tree, akhras, sapote (fruit of a tree, genus of an oblong apple) |
A large number of Indianisms registered in general dictionaries and dictionaries of regionalisms may suggest that the Indian component is the most important in the Latin American national varieties of Spanish. It should be taken into account that when compiling dictionaries, the authors start from written sources (chronicles, letters, protocols, memoirs, documents, etc.), collecting all found autochthonous words, including toponyms, anthroponyms and ethnonyms. However, all these much-needed data for conducting diachronic studies distort the linguistic reality when conducting studies in a synchronous way, forcing many researchers to believe that all Indianisms registered in dictionaries are actively used in speech in one country or another. Thus, Dario Rubio believed that such a large number of Nahuatlisms in Mexico would "cause a really terrible chaos" that would make communication between Mexicans difficult (Rubio, 1990: XXII). In fact, many words registered in dictionaries may not even be known to Mexicans, or they may be passive, that is, know but never use in speech. The Mexican linguist Lope Blanche, in his work "Indian Vocabulary in Mexican Spanish" (1969), divides the Nahuatlisms that exist in the Mexican variant into six groups. Below are some examples:
| Vocable | Translation |
|---|---|
| Group 1. Vocabularies known to absolutely everyone (99-100% of Mexicans) | |
| Aguacate | Avocado |
| Cacahuate | Peanut |
| Cacao | Cocoa |
| Coyote | Coyote |
| Cuate | friend, buddy |
| Chamaco | Boy, child |
| Chicle | Gum |
| Chihuahua | Dog breed in Mexico |
| Chile | Variety of hot pepper |
| Chocolate | Chocolate |
| Escuincle | Small child |
| Guajolote | Turkey |
| Jitomate | Tomato (red) |
| Papalote | Kite |
| Petatearse | Die |
| Popote | Drinking straw |
| Pozole | Posole (national Mexican dish) |
| Tamal | National Mexican dish |
| Tequila | Tequila |
| tomate | Green tomato (a kind of cooking tomato) |
| Group 2. Vocabules that are known to almost all Mexicans (85-98%) | |
| Ahuehuete | Large variety of tree |
| Ajolote | mexican amphibian |
| Ayate | Ayate (rare fibrous tissue from agave) |
| Chamagoso | Sloppy, dirty |
| Mapache | American badger |
| Mezquite | Genus of American acacia |
| Olote | Corn cob without grains |
| piocha | Goatee, goatee |
| Group 3. Vocabules known to half of the speakers (50-85%) | |
| Chachalaca | Mexican bird of the chick family |
| Jicote | wasp species |
| Quetzal | Quetzal (bird) |
| Tiza | a piece of chalk |
| Tlaco | ancient coin |
| Group 4. Little-known vocables (25-50%) | |
| Acocil | Lobster size 3-6 cm |
| Colote | Corn storage |
| Achahuislarse | Be afflicted by aphids |
| Jilotear | To ripen, pour (about corn) |
| Nauyaca | Nauyaca (venomous snake) |
| Group 5. Very little known vocables (2-25%) | |
| Ayacahuite | Pine (variety) |
| Cuescomate | corn barn |
| July | Carp (variety) |
| Tepeguaje | Stubborn, persistent |
| Aguate | Small sharp thorn (on the trunk of a cactus) |
| Group 6. Practically unknown vocables (0-1%) | |
| Cuitla | bird droppings |
| Pizote | One of the mammals |
| pascle | Dense ash green moss (used as a festive decoration in the house) |
| Yagual | Roller (for carrying weights on the head) |
| Sontle | Sonte (counting unit for corn, fruit, etc.) |
It should be noted that Nahuatlisms, being an important factor in the Mexican version of the Spanish language, is currently showing a tendency to disappear due to constant changes in life, economy and education (Yakovleva, 2005:25). In addition to Nahuatlisms, Mexican Spanish borrows from other Indian languages, such as Maya. Examples include words such as balac, chich, holoch, pibinal, tuch, xic. However, borrowings from the Mayan language are mainly present in the southeast of the country and are dialectal phenomena that are not included in the norm of the entire Mexican version of the Spanish language, the basis of which is the cultural speech of Mexico City. Therefore, we will not dwell on these lexical units in detail.
Coexisting with words of a conservative nature, the Spanish language of Mexico now has a large number of neologisms, that is, vocables that follow the American path, different from the European one.
In particular, in the Mexican version, we can hear anglicisms that are not registered in dictionaries, but dominate in speech over common Spanish words. Such anglicisms are absent in other national varieties of Spanish. Examples include words such as:
Many philologists, writers and cultural figures are concerned about the unjustified and excessive inclusion of English vocabulary in everyday life and oppose its negative consequences, considering this phenomenon a reflection of the political, economic, scientific and technological expansion of the United States and its partners, a consequence of the Americanization of Mexican mass culture. Quite often one can hear the opinion that the abundance of anglicisms is one of the distinguishing features of the Spanish language of Mexico (Lopez Rodriguez, 1982). However, Lope Blanche in his article “Anglicisms in the Cultural Norm of Mexico” states the following: “Mexico is a country excessively subject to infection by the English language. Being a neighbor with the United States, it has a border with them, with a length of more than 2500 km. It maintains close economic relations with its powerful neighbor. It receives a significant number of American tourists every year, and hundreds of thousands of Mexicans leave temporarily to work in the United States. English is the most studied foreign language in Mexico. … However, it is quite possible that the Spanish of Mexico is no different in this respect from other Spanish-speaking countries much more distant geographically, historically and politically from the United States” (Lope Blanch, 1982: 32-33).
In the study of the cultural speech of Mexico City within the framework of the “Project for joint research on the cultural language norm of the main cities of Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula”, the total number of registered anglicisms was 170 vocables, which is 4% of the 4452 questions of the then applied questionnaire. However, not all of these anglicisms are used in Mexico with the same frequency.
Lope Blanche divides Anglicisms into 5 groups.
One third of anglicisms denote concepts related to sports. In second place are words related to technology, followed by vocables related to clothing and food. However, despite the geographical proximity of Mexico and the United States, Mexican Spanish lacks a number of anglicisms that are actively used in other Spanish-speaking countries, including Spain. We are talking about words such as clown (payaso), bacon (tocino), espíquer (locutor), shut (tiro, disparo), water (excusado), autostop (aventón), aparcar / parquear (estacionar), etc.
Thus Mexican Spanish has anglicisms. However, their number in cultural speech does not differ much from other national variants of the language.
Common phrases |
||
Please | por favor |
|
Sorry | perdoneme |
|
Hello | ||
Goodbye | ||
I do not understand | but comprendo |
|
What is your name? | cual es tu nombre? | Kual estu nombre? |
How are you? | como esta usted? | komo esta usted? |
Where is the toilet here? | Donde esta Servicio | dondeesta servisio? |
What is the price? | quanto es? |
|
One ticket to... | un billetto |
|
What time is it now? | Ke ora es? |
|
Do not smoke | proivido fumar |
|
Do you speak English? | abla ingles? |
|
Where is? | dondeesta? |
|
Hotel |
||
I need to book a room | una habitasyon |
|
I want to pay the bill | la cuenta, por favor | la cuenta, por favor |
passaporte |
||
room, number | habitation |
|
Store (shopping) |
||
Cash | en efficient |
|
card | con tarheta |
|
To wrap up | ||
No change | blue tener |
|
desconto |
||
Very expensive | ||
Transport |
||
trolleybus | trolleybus |
|
Stop | ||
Please make a stop | pare aqui, por favor | pare aki por favor |
Arrival | ||
Departure | ||
The airport | aeropuerto |
|
emergency cases |
||
help me | ||
Fire Department | ||
Ambulance | ambulance |
|
Hospital | hospital |
|
slinging |
||
pharmacy |
||
Restaurant |
||
I want to book a table | quiero reservar una mesa | kyero rreservar una-mesa |
Check please (bill) | la cuenta, por favor | la cuenta, por favor |
The official language in Mexico is Spanish (Mexican Spanish).
Currently, there are about 500 million people who speak Spanish, which is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.
The Spanish alphabet consists of 30 Latin-like letters, some of which are read and pronounced differently.
The Mexican version of the Spanish language carries the features inherent in the local Indian dialects, as a result of which not every Spaniard can understand many words from the lexicon of the Mexican inhabitants.
Mexican Spanish is the native language of 125 million people living in Mexico (100 million) and the United States (25 million).
In addition to Spanish, which is spoken by the majority of the population, the country has indigenous (Indian) languages that have the status of national languages in Mexico and are spoken by about 6 million local residents.
In the country, almost all local residents speak only their native language, and they do not know any second language.
Spanish is fairly easy, so learn a few words to help you communicate with Mexicans and bring along a phrasebook.
Communication should not be a problem in the tourist centers, as the staff speak not only Spanish but also English.
Nineteen countries of Latin America, seventeen regions of Spain - in each zone, the language has features that depend on linguistic and non-linguistic circumstances. In this article, we will get acquainted with the Mexican version of the Spanish language and outline the features that distinguish it from other variants and dialects.
Mexico is the birthplace of many ancient civilizations, some of which still retain their languages and dialects. In addition, Mexico is the northernmost country in Central America, bordering the United States. These two circumstances have the strongest influence on Mexican Spanish. When conquistadors led by Fernando Cortes conquer the southeastern territories of Mexico in the 16th century, they encounter hundreds of tribes, each of which speaks a local dialect with individual phonetic and grammatical features. The current sociopolitical situation in the country is directly related to the English language, which also affects the speech of Spanish-speaking Mexicans.
Since the ancient languages were the basis for the “introduction” of Spanish at all levels, and Spanish in Mexico comes into contact with English only phonetically and lexically, it is logical to consider the features of the Mexican variant separately at each linguistic level in order to understand the Mexican features and where they come from. are happening.
Let's start with phonetic features common to Latin American countries. Due to the fact that Spanish on the American continent did not develop naturally, but was brought and introduced artificially, simplifications took place in it, which spread to all Latin American countries. The most important of them:
sound fusion: interdental sound /θ/ (letters c, z) and sound /s/ pronounced as /s/;
sound fusion: a single /ʝ/ (pronounced as Russian / й/) merges the semivowel /y/ and the sound indicated by the merging of consonants /ll/.
In the scientific field, these phenomena are called seseo And yeismo. The result of such changes is the merging of words casa(house) and caza(hunting), llanta(tire) and yanta(afternoon). However, this does not cause any difficulties in understanding the speech of Latin Americans by Spaniards.
The phonetic feature of the Mexican version, as we noted above, is the sounds borrowed from English contact with which has been maintained in Mexico for several centuries. In big cities, as well as in the north of the country, Mexicans use the Americanized non-vibrating sound /r/ instead of the Spanish sounds /r/ and /rr/:
merging sounds into one borrowed one: /pe§o/ instead of /pero/ and instead of /perro/;
Thus, having arrived in Mexico and speaking Spanish with the local population, you will immediately feel (or rather hear) the closeness of the United States.
Another phonetic feature of Spanish Mexico is variety of intonations in the regions. They are studied by the special science of dialectology, since we are talking about various regional dialects of the Spanish language in Mexico, associated with the dialects of the ancient Indians. When America was conquered by the Spaniards, the indigenous peoples adopted the new language, but assimilated it with the languages of their ancestors, which is why Spanish sounds different in the south of Mexico, where the Mayan Indians lived, or in the north. It happens that northern Mexicans come to the south and hardly understand their compatriots, although here, most likely, lexical features play a greater role, which we will discuss below.
Neither English nor Amerindian languages are considered to have strongly influenced the morphology of Mexican Spanish. Despite this, one can speak of simplifications in the Mexican version, connected with the fact of the artificial development of the Spanish language in the countries of Latin America. So, in the ancient Indian languages there were many consonant sounds (by the way, close to Russian sounds /ch/, /sh/, /shch/), due to which the difference in stressed vowels in the Mexican version ceased to be bright. If a Spaniard pronounces each vowel, a Mexican will say "eating" the endings, as Americans "eat" the endings of English words:
vowel reduction: instead of ;
Another trend is related to creating analogies in verb conjugations. During the development of the Spanish language in Mexico, the final consonant /s/ in the form of the 2nd person singular present tense verb (tu hablas) was strengthened in the same position in the simple past, from which the forms estuvistes, hablastes, etc. appeared.
creating an analogy: instead of , instead of ;
In connection with grammar, the features common to Latin America are also important:
using the form Ustedes instead of vosotros: "- ¿Adonde van? ¡Esperenme! " instead of "- ¿Adónde vais? ¡Esperadme!”;
widespread use of the simple past tense(Pretérito Perfecto Simple) and its widespread use instead of the compound past (Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto): "Hoy estuvimos en casa" instead of "Hoy hemos estado en casa";
These features do not distinguish Mexican Spanish from variants in other Latin American countries, but are important because of the strong bias in the norms of Spanish in Spain.
The most striking features of Mexican Spanish are associated with the most mobile and changeable layer of the language - vocabulary. Here again, the influence of neighboring English and ancient Indian languages is important. The Mexican Spanish vocabulary is full of borrowings from English:
shorts- shorts (instead of the Castilian pantalón corto);
rentar) - rent / rent (instead of Castilian alquilar);
checar (English check)- check, find out (instead of the Castilian investigar);
lunch- afternoon snack, lunch (instead of the Castilian almuerzo), etc.
Through the Mexican version, a considerable number of indigenisms(indígena from Spanish - native, aborigine):
Avocado, chocolate, chile etc.
Indian words associated with Mexican realities have survived only in the Mexican version:
Pozole(corn dish) jicara(painted bowl), turush(ware of the Mayan tribes), etc.
At the same time, the spoken language of Mexicans is also rich in spontaneous innovations that are not related to the influence of other languages. The most popular expressions in Mexico:
buey- an analogue of the Spanish colloquial address tio: "Buey ¡espera!";
¡a poco!– “yes!”, as a natural reaction to new information: “-La biblioteca está cerrada. – A poco buey, por qué estará cerrada a esta hora”;
¡no mames!- “come on!”, similar to the previous expression: “¡No mames buey, como puede ser posible!”
¡a huevo!- an analogue of the American colloquial exclamation "yes!", "uhu!" (Russian colloquial “yuhu!”), Used by Mexicans in joyful situations: “¡No hay clases mañana! ¡A huevo!”;
chin- the use of which coincides with the use of the Russian word "devil": "Chin, vamos a llegar tarde por el tráfico ..."
Such colloquial appeals, phrases, interjections and swear words develop uniquely in each country and for the youth of Latin American countries seem to be the most curious and significant in the context of linguistic self-determination or the definition of residents of other regions. Latin Americans, like the Spaniards, are proud of the conversational features of their version. So, when you are going to go to Mexico, do not forget to learn a couple of such phrases in order to immediately make friends. ¡A huevo!
Text: Anastasia Lukyanova
