Central American Spanish

E12576

Spanish language variety dialect continuum regional variety of Spanish

Central American Spanish is the regional variety of the Spanish language spoken across several Central American countries, characterized by distinctive pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammatical features.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (3)

Surface form	Occurrences
Costa Rican Spanish	2
Honduran Spanish	2
Nicaraguan Spanish	2

Statements (52)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Spanish language variety ⓘ dialect continuum ⓘ regional variety of Spanish ⓘ
hasFeature	aspiration or elision of syllable-final s ⓘ distinct intonation patterns compared to European Spanish ⓘ distinct intonation patterns compared to Rioplatense Spanish ⓘ distinct second-person singular verb conjugations with voseo ⓘ informal second-person plural often replaced by ustedes ⓘ reduction of unstressed vowels in rapid speech ⓘ regional slang known as caliche in El Salvador ⓘ regional slang known as pachuco in Costa Rica ⓘ seseo ⓘ use of Mayan-origin vocabulary in some areas ⓘ use of Nahuatl-origin vocabulary in some areas ⓘ use of diminutives with regional frequency and forms ⓘ use of le as a form of leísmo in some areas ⓘ use of regional indigenous loanwords ⓘ use of voseo ⓘ variation in use of tú and vos by country and social context ⓘ yeísmo ⓘ
hasGrammar	preference for simple past over present perfect in many contexts ⓘ voseo verb paradigms such as vos tenés and vos podés in many areas ⓘ
hasLexicon	regional terms for food and everyday objects distinct from other Spanish varieties ⓘ use of indigenous toponyms and personal names ⓘ
hasPhonology	frequent aspiration of /s/ to [h] in coda position in many coastal and lowland areas ⓘ generally lacks distinction between /θ/ and /s/ ⓘ tendency toward weakening of word-final consonants in some regions ⓘ
hasVariation	Central American Spanish self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Costa Rican Spanish Guatemalan Spanish ⓘ Central American Spanish self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Honduran Spanish Central American Spanish self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Nicaraguan Spanish Salvadoran Spanish ⓘ
languageFamily	Romance languages ⓘ
partOf	Spanish ⓘ surface form: Spanish language
regionallyInfluencedBy	Chibchan languages ⓘ Lenca language ⓘ Mayan languages ⓘ Nahuan languages ⓘ surface form: Nahuatl indigenous languages of Central America ⓘ
spokenIn	Central America ⓘ Costa Rica ⓘ El Salvador NERFINISHED ⓘ Guatemala NERFINISHED ⓘ Honduras NERFINISHED ⓘ Nicaragua NERFINISHED ⓘ parts of Panama ⓘ
subfamily	Ibero-Romance languages ⓘ
usedIn	informal communication in Central American countries ⓘ literature from Central America ⓘ media in Central America ⓘ popular music from Central America ⓘ
writingSystem	Latin alphabet ⓘ

Referenced by (9)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Spanish-speaking world → hasLanguageVariant → Central American Spanish ⓘ

Spanish → hasMajorDialect → Central American Spanish ⓘ

Latin American Spanish → hasRegionalVariety → Central American Spanish ⓘ

Central American Spanish → hasVariation → Central American Spanish self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Honduran Spanish

Central American Spanish → hasVariation → Central American Spanish self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Nicaraguan Spanish

Central American Spanish → hasVariation → Central American Spanish self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Costa Rican Spanish

Bay Islands English → influencedBy → Central American Spanish ⓘ

this entity surface form: Honduran Spanish

Juigalpa → languageUsed → Central American Spanish ⓘ

this entity surface form: Nicaraguan Spanish

Pura vida (informal slogan) → notableIn → Central American Spanish ⓘ

this entity surface form: Costa Rican Spanish