Languages of Chile
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chile is an overwealmingly Spanish speaking countty, with perhaps the exception of Mapudungun, and isolated native and immigrant communities. There are 9 living languages, several of which are endangered and 2 extinct ones.
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[edit] Spanish
There are 13,800,000 Spanish speakers (Ethnologue 1995), but the population has increased to nearly 17,000,000 and the number of Spanglophones is probably closer to that figure taking into account the low monolinguacy of non-Spanish speakers and 92-95% literacy rates.
Chilean Spanish is notoriously difficult for foreigners to understand due to the dropping of final syllables and 's' sounds, the very soft pronunciation of some consonants and the high levels of slang employed, particularly in Santiago and the surrounding areas. Chileans also tend to speak much faster than natives of neighboring countries. These factors all contribute to newly arrived visitors to the country, even proficient Spanish speakers, hearing no more than indecipherable mumbles in early encounters with locals. Books have been written (such as 'How to survive in the Chilean Jungle' by John Brennan and Alvaro Taboada) which attempt to detail and explain the difficulties and idiosyncrasies of Chilean Spanish.
English language learning and teaching is popular among students and higher professions, although with varying degrees of success. Even with intensive preparation, culture shock can take a real toll on communication; many words have been absorbed into everyday speech from English, although may be unrecognizable due to Non-native pronunciations of English and misuse.
[edit] Mapudungun
There are 928,000 Mapuche indigenous folk in Chile, of which only 200,000 about 20% can speak Mapudungun.
[edit] 1,000 speakers+
- Chilean Quechua has 4,563 in the far northeast high planes, it is believed to possibly be idential to South Bolivian Quechua or at the very least highly intelligable with it. [1]
- Rapa Nui language is spoken 3,392 polynesian Eastern Islanders and also by some islanders in Viña del Mar-Valparaíso and Santiago de Chile.
- Huilliche has 2,000 speakers in the 10th region, especially Chiloé.[2]
[edit] Less than 1000 speakers
- Central Aymará 899 speakers in Arica and Putre provinces.
- Qawasqar has only 20 remaining speakers.
- Yámana has one sole speaker and will like become extinct soon.
[edit] Extinct languages
Kakauhua and Kunza are both now extinct.
[edit] External links
| Official Languages of South America |
|
Aymara (Peru, Bolivia) · Dutch (Netherlands Antilles, Aruba, Suriname) · English (Falkland Islands, Guyana) |
