Archaeologists estimate that by 1492 there were about 2,000 languages in Latin America. Many of them disappeared as a result of Spanish colonization amid numerous casualties among the local population and forced resettlement of entire populations.
Anna Maria Escobar, University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign
Source: Source: Researchgate.net.
Introduction
Spanish-speaking Latin America comprises 18 states, Puerto Rico and the southwestern regions of the United States. The main story in the history of these countries was Spanish (and, accordingly, Portuguese in the case of Portuguese-speaking Brazil) colonial expansion. The conquest of Latin America took the Spaniards no more than a hundred years - a very small period for such a large-scale process of colonization.
Archaeologists estimate that by 1492 there were about 2,000 languages in Latin America. Many of them disappeared as a result of Spanish colonization against the background of numerous victims among the local population and forced resettlement of entire nationalities (for example, Taino and Chibcha languages). At the same time, Spanish missionaries from the first steps began to use such large indigenous languages as Mapudongong (Chile), Gurarani (Paragwai), Quechua and Aymara (Andes), Maya and Nahuatl (Mesoamerica) as lingua franca. Moreover, the missionaries drew up the first sets of grammatical rules for Nahuatl (1547), Quechua (1560) and Guarani (1620). This approach, which encouraged bilingualism, continued in the Spanish colonies until the middle of the XVIII century, when the colonies of the New World decided to pursue a policy of exclusive use of the Spanish language.
It should be borne in mind that the interaction between Spanish and indigenous languages differed markedly from subregion to subregion. For example, the islands of the Caribbean were the first in the way of colonizers, and the autochthonous languages here disappeared quite quickly. At the same time, some lexems of indigenous as well as African languages (the islands were heavily imported by black slaves) were incorporated into Spanish.
In the colonial era, bilingualism in Latin America remained bi-directional: on the one hand, there was a significant group of Europeans (traders, missionaries) who studied autochthonous languages for effective communication with the local population; on the other, local elites studied Spanish in order to occupy a higher position in the new system. On the contrary, today bilingualism is almost exclusively represented in the format. «Autochthonous language испанский Spanish». . . . However, in some countries - Mexico and Chile - the speakers of the Spanish language prevail. At the same time, since the middle of the XX century in Latin America, significant efforts are being made to preserve autochthonous languages.
Mexico and Central America
The most active bilinguistic programs are implemented by the authorities of Mexico and Guatemala. In southern Mexico, the Maya and Nahuatl languages are common: according to the 2000 census, 25% to 37% of the population speaks them in some areas. Back in the 1960s, bilinguistic programs were launched in the country, involving teaching children to write their native autochthonous and Spanish languages. In the mid-2010s, the government offered programs in 56 indigenous languages, although the role of the latter continued to decline, primarily due to insufficient development of written tradition. In Guatemala, the need to protect and use autochthonous languages was recognized only in the 1985 Constitution, although there are numerous Mayan-speaking communities in the country: at least 4 such languages have an audience of more than 400,000 people each.
In Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama, the indigenous population is too small, and the influence of Spanish is too great to talk about the problem of preserving autochthonous languages as significant from the point of view of the national agenda. In Nicaragua, however, mysquito is widely used in geographically inaccessible eastern parts of the country as lingua franca.
Caribbean Islands
The death of the vast majority of the local population from diseases brought by the colonizers led to the fact that the presence of autochthonous languages on the islands is reduced to several words preserved in the local dialect of Spanish. Bilingualism is achieved through the coexistence of Spanish and others. «The Overseas» languages, including English, French and various Bantu languages, used by African slaves.
Region of Andes
In Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, northern Argentina and eastern Venezuela, the presence of autochthonous languages remains. In Venezuela and Colombia, the indigenous population varies around 200,000; there is no developed and institutionalized bilinguistic system in these countries.
In Peru, more than 85% of the indigenous population speak Quechua; bilingual education programmes have been implemented since 1975. In recent years, amid migration from the southern and western regions, home to the majority of Quechua carriers, on the Spanish-dominated coast, similar programs have become increasingly relevant for the country's coastal areas.
The largest proportion of the indigenous population lives in Bolivia: in 2012, out of just over 10 million people, more than 5 million belonged to Quechua and Aymara. In 2009, the Bolivian Constitution recognized all the official languages used in the country.
The southern end
Historically, in Paraguay, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, the most influential structure was the Jesuits, who encouraged bilingualism and actively studied guarani. It is the countries of southern Latin America that are considered the most Europeanized on the continent.
In 1992, Guarani became the official language of Paraguay. In 1994, the first was spoken by 88% of the population, while the second – only 54%. According to some researchers, Paraguay’s language policy is the most progressive in Latin America: bilinguistic training programs have been implemented since the 1990s.
There are no more or less developed bilinguistic programmes in Uruguay, Chile and Argentina. In Uruguay, the preservation of autochthonous languages has not been recorded. In Argentina, about 900,000 Quechua speakers live on borders with Bolivia, and in Chile, Mapudungun speakers are concentrated in more remote southern areas and authorities are seeking to integrate indigenous languages into a nationwide agenda based on predominant Spanish.
