Belizean Spanish

Though English is the official language of Belize, a large percentage of the population speaks Spanish. It is perhaps not surprising because the country has Spanish-speaking neighbours. They are Mexico to the north and Guatemala to the west and south.

In Belizean Spanish the /s/ in syllable-coda position is often weakened to /h/. This is a typical feature of Caribbean Spanish. The consonants /b/, /d/ and /g/ are not realized as fricatives intervocalically but rather as plosives. This is not the case in most Spanish dialects. The syllable-coda /r/ can be pronounced as an approximant.

Belizean Spanish is similar to many varieties of Caribbean Spanish. This is evident in the aspiration of the /s/ in the syllable-coda. However, the pronunciation of /b/, /d/ and /g/ as plosives in intervocalic position is a feature which does not occur in most dialects of Spanish.