Language
CONTENTS
Spanish is the most commonly spoken language in Central America. While English is the official language of Belize, both Spanish and a local Creole are also widely spoken there. British and US influences have left other English-speaking pockets in the region, most notably among the descendants of West Indian settlers on the Caribbean coast, but also in Panama, particularly in the Canal Zone. Maya languages are the most common of a number of indigenous languages and dialects spoken throughout the region.
Every visitor to Central America will benefit from learning some Spanish, and it’s easy to pick up the basics. Don’t hesitate to practice your new skills – Latin Americans generally meet attempts to communicate in their language with enthusiasm and appreciation.
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CENTRAL AMERICAN SPANISH
The Spanish of the Americas comes in many varieties. Depending on the areas in which you travel, consonants may be glossed over, vowels squashed into each other, and syllables dropped entirely. Slang and regional vocabulary, much of it derived from indigenous languages, can further add to the mix. For example, in Guatemala and Honduras a soft drink is called a refresco, a gaseosa in El Salvador and Nicaragua, and a soda in Panama. Frequent travel among the small Central American republics is common, however, so people are generally familiar with these variations; you should have few problems being understood.
Throughout Latin America, the Spanish language is referred to as castellano more often than español . Unlike in Spain, the letters c and z are never pronounced as lisped in Latin America.
Another notable difference between Latin American Spanish and the variety spoken in Spain is that the plural of the informal tú (you) is ustedes rather than vosotros; the latter term will sound quaint in the Americas. In many parts of El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica, the term vos is used instead of tú, and as a result some verb endings can vary slightly. To avoid complication, we haven’t used the vos form in this chapter. It’s a variant that only affects informal speech, so no offence will be taken when you use tú and you’ll still be understood everywhere without problem.
For a more in-depth guide to the Spanish of Central America, get a copy of Lonely Planet’s Latin American Spanish phrasebook. Lonely Planet also offers the Costa Rican Spanish and Mexican Spanish phrasebooks for those interested in the language varieties of these destinations. Another useful resource is the compact University of Chicago Spanish–English, English–Spanish Dictionary.
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PRONUNCIATION
Spanish spelling is phonetically consistent, meaning that there’s a clear and consistent relationship between what you see in writing and how it’s pronounced. Also, most Spanish sounds have English equivalents, so English speakers shouldn’t have trouble being understood. The phrases in this language guide are all accompanied by guides to pronunciation, so the task of getting your message across is made even simpler.
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Vowels
| a | as the ‘a’ in ‘father’ |
| ai | as in ‘aisle’ |
| ay | as in ‘say’ |
| e | as the ‘e’ in ‘met’ |
| ee | as the ‘ee’ in ‘meet’ |
| o | as the ‘o’ in ‘more’ (without the ‘r’) |
| oo | as the ‘oo’ in ‘zoo’ |
| ow | as in ‘how’ |
| oy | as in ‘boy’ |
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Consonants
Pronunciation of Spanish consonants is similar to their English counterparts. The exceptions are given in the following list.
| kh | as the throaty ‘ch’ in the Scottish loch |
| ny | as the ‘ny’ in ‘canyon’ |
| r | as in ‘run’ but stronger and rolled, especially at the beginning of a word and in all words with rr |
| s | not lisped |
The letter ‘h’ is invariably silent (ie never pronounced) in Spanish.
Note also that the Spanish b and v sounds are very similar – they are both pronounced as a very soft ‘v’ in English (somewhere between ‘b’ and ‘v’).
There are some variations in spoken Spanish as part of the regional accents across Latin America in general. The most notable of these variations is the pronunciation of the letter ll . In some parts of Latin America it’s pronounced as the ‘ll’ in ‘million,’ however throughout Central America it’s pronounced as ‘y’ (eg as in ‘yes’), and this is how it’s represented in our pronunciation guides.
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Word Stress
In general, words ending in vowels or the letters n or s have stress on the second-last syllable, while those with other endings have stress on the last syllable. Thus vaca (cow) and caballos (horses) both carry stress on the second-last syllable, while ciudad (city) and infeliz (unhappy) are both stressed on the last syllable.
Written accents will almost always appear in words that don’t follow the rules above, eg sótano (basement), América and porción (portion).When a word with a written accent appears in capital letters, the accent is often not written, but is still pronounced.
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GENDER & PLURALS
Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine, and there are rules to help determine gender (with the obligatory exceptions). Feminine nouns generally end with -a or with the groups -ción , -sión or -dad . Other endings typically signify a masculine noun. Endings for adjectives change to agree with the gender of the noun they modify (masculine/feminine -o /-a ). Where both masculine and feminine forms are included in this chapter, they are separated by a slash, with the masculine form given first, eg perdido/a .
If a noun or adjective ends in a vowel, the plural is formed by adding -s to the end. If it ends in a consonant, the plural is formed by adding -es to the end.
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ACCOMMODATIONS
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MAKING A RESERVATION
(for phone or written requests)
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CONVERSATION & ESSENTIALS
In their public behavior, Latin Americans are very conscious of civilities. When approaching a stranger, always extend a greeting, such as buenos días or buenas tardes , and use only the polite form of address, especially with the police and public officials.
Central America is generally more formal than many of the South American countries. The polite form usted (you) is used in all cases in this chapter; where options are given, the form is indicated by the abbreviations ‘pol’ and ‘inf.’
The three most common greetings are often abbreviated to simply buenos (for buenos días ) and buenas (for buenas tardes and buenas noches ).
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DIRECTIONS
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EMERGENCIES
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EATING OUT
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HEALTH
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LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES
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NUMBERS
| 0 | cero se | ·ro |
| 1 | uno oo | ·no |
| 2 | dos | dos |
| 3 | tres | tres |
| 4 | cuatro kwa | ·tro |
| 5 | cinco seen | ·ko |
| 6 | seis | says |
| 7 | siete sye | ·te |
| 8 | ocho o | ·cho |
| 9 | nueve nwe | ·ve |
| 10 | diez | dyes |
| 11 | once on | ·se |
| 12 | doce do | ·se |
| 13 | trece tre | ·se |
| 14 | catorce ka· tor | ·se |
| 15 | quince keen | ·se |
| 16 | dieciséis | dye·see· says |
| 17 | diecisiete | dye·see· sye·te |
| 18 | dieciocho | dye·see· o·cho |
| 19 | diecinueve | dye·see· nwe·ve |
| 20 | veinte vayn | ·te |
| 21 | veintiuno | vayn·tee· oo ·no |
| 30 | treinta | trayn·ta |
| 31 | treinta y uno | trayn·ta ee oo ·no |
| 40 | cuarenta | kwa· ren ·ta |
| 50 | cincuenta | seen· kwen ·ta |
| 60 | sesenta | se· sen ·ta |
| 70 | setenta | se· ten ·ta |
| 80 | ochenta | o· chen ·ta |
| 90 | noventa | no· ven ·ta |
| 100 | cien | syen |
| 101 | ciento uno syen· | to oo ·no |
| 200 | doscientos | do· syen ·tos |
| 1000 | mil | meel |
| 10,000 | diez mil | dyes meel |
| 100,000 | cien mil | syen meel |
| 1,000,000 | un millón | oon mee· yon |
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SHOPPING & SERVICES
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TIME & DATES
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TRANSPORT
Public Transport
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Private Transport
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TRAVEL WITH CHILDREN
Also available from Lonely Planet:
Latin American Spanish Phrasebook