Guatemalan Spanish

Guatemalan Spanish refers to the variety of Spanish spoken in Guatemala. It is spoken by approximately 13.7 million of the country's 16 million inhabitants. In addition to Spanish, 23 other languages are spoken in the country. 21 of these languages are Mayan. 60% of the population speaks Spanish as a mother tongue.

The pronunciation of Guatemalan Spanish is characterized by a glottal fricative in words such as joya (jewel) and gemelo (twin). The intervocalic [j] in words such as silla (chair) and tuyo (yours) is often deleted.  The word-final [n] in words such as en (in ) and con (with) is pronounced as a velar.

A number of words used in Guatemala have Mayan origins. The words chucho (dog), chumpa (jacket) and shuco (dirty) are examples. In standard Spanish these words are perro, chaqueta and sucio.

The Spanish language isn't spoken by all of the inhabitants of Guatemala. 23 other languages are spoken besides Spanish. The Spanish of Guatemala features a glottal fricative, velar nasal and many words borrowed from the indigenous languages spoken in the country.