Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world, being spoken by roughly 580 million people. With that many speakers, it’s not hard to believe that there are hundreds of dialects of Spanish spoken all throughout the world!
For the most part, these dialects are only spoken by a few hundred people in remote parts of majority Spanish-speaking countries, yet a few of these are spoken by hundreds of thousands, if not millions. of people…
15. Castilian Spanish
14. Andalusian Spanish
13. Canarian Spanish
12. Filipino Spanish
One of the main reasons Spanish is so well spoken today is thanks to its old colonial empire, which it used to spread its language and culture. Whilst it’s most famous
11. Colombian Spanish
10. Mexican Spanish
9. Puerto Rican Spanish
8. Argentine Spanish
7. Peruvian Spanish
6. Chilean Spanish
5. Ladino
By far the least well-spoken dialect of Spanish is Ladino, otherwise known as Judeo-Spanish (alternatively spelled as Judaeo-Spanish).
A combination of Old Spanish, Hebrew, Amharic and Arabic, Ladino was historically the language of Spain’s Sephardic Jewish communities prior to their expulsion in 1492.
Prior to their expulsion, Ladino was used by Spain’s Jews in a similar way Yiddish was used by Germany’s Jews – i.e. the language of everyday life (whilst Spanish or the local regional language was used for trade with Christians).
Following their expulsion, Spain’s Jews mostly resettled in the Ottoman Empire, primarily the Ottoman Balkans, Anatolia (Turkey) and North Africa (mostly Morocco). Despite no longer living in Spain, these Jewish refugees continued to speak Ladino.
This would continue for centuries, long after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, with the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren (and so on) of Spain’s expelled Jews continuing to speak the language their ancestors spoke.
Continuing to this very day!
Since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, the Ladino-speaking descendants of Spain’s expelled Jews have poured into Israel, making it a minority language in the country, with an estimated 60,000 speakers worldwide.
4. Caribbean Spanish
3. Equatoguinean Spanish
Whilst Spain is most famous for its former colonial holdings in the New World, the Spanish Empire had territory on other continents too, namely Africa.
Indeed, Spain once held territory in the modern-day countries of both Equatorial Guinea and Morocco, where Spanish was the official language. Although Spain has since left these countries, the Spanish language has stayed.
Whilst only a minority language in Morocco, Spanish is one of the three official languages of Equatorial Guinea (alongside French and Portuguese), where it’s known as Equatoguinean Spanish.
Based off the European Spanish the Spanish colonizers spoke, the pronunciation of Equatoguinean Spanish has been influenced (partly) by local African languages, whilst the grammar has been altered and simplified immensely!
According to the Equatoguinean government, there are around 1.1 million people in Equatorial Guinea who speak the Equatoguinean Spanish dialect, or roughly 90% of the country’s population.
However, these figures are dubious as the country is notorious for its poor record keeping and tendency to inflate or deflate numbers to serve political ends.
Interestingly, there are no native speakers of Equatoguinean Spanish in Equatorial Guinea – they’re all second language speakers!
Depending on who you talk to, Equatoguinean Spanish is also sometimes called “African Spanish” although this term is becoming less and less popular each year.
2. Chicano English
Given its name, you’re probably wondering why something called “Chicano English” is called a “dialect of Spanish”. Indeed, if you’re unfamiliar with it, that’s understandable.
You see, much of the Southern US was once part of the Spanish Empire (as New Spain) and later, part of Mexico before seceding from them and being annexed by the US. As such, there’s a large Spanish-speaking population there.
Beyond that, the US is also a favorite destination of Mexican immigrants, meaning that Spanish is fairly common there (whether you like it or not).
Yet, due to how the US is (despite not having an official language), these Spanish-speaking Mexicans must also speak English too.
Combining this, many of their kids have created a kind of hybrid language where American English serves as the basis, whilst many English words and some grammar principles are replaced by their Mexican Spanish counterparts.
Today, it’s particularly common in the Southwestern United States (ranging from Texas to California) whilst also being spoken in the Spanish-speaking parts of major cities like New York, Boston and Chicago.
1. Spanglish
Okay! Okay! I know! I know!
Yes, technically speaking, Spanglish isn’t actually a dialect of Spanish (at least, not like the ones we’ve talked about above anyway) but in other ways it is very much a dialect of Spanish – one you’re far more likely to encounter than you’d think…
If you’re unfamiliar with Spanglish, it’s essentially a mix of Spanish and English spoken by Spanish-speaking immigrants in English-speaking countries or vice-versa.
From my own personal experience, it is also used between couples where one is Spanish-speaking and the other is English-speaking, yet both speak the other’s native language (with them using a mixture of both as a sort of compromise).
Being a mixture of both Spanish and English, Spanglish has a mixture of English and Spanish vocabulary and grammar, with Spanish and English words for the same thing often being compounded to form entirely new words in its place!
Interestingly enough, Spanglish isn’t completely 100% defined.
You see, the words and even in some cases the grammar used in Spanglish differ greatly depending on the native dialect of Spanish the Spanish speaker speaks as well as the dialect of English the English speaker uses.
As such, it’s arguably the most personal of all the Spanish dialects – the Spanglish you speak in the US may be completely different to the Spanglish in the UK and Australia, and Canada and so on so forth!
Due to how Spanglish is, it’s sometimes mistaken for the aforementioned Chicano (and vice-versa) by people who are unfamiliar with both dialects.
Which are your favorite dialects of Spanish? Which one do you speak? Tell me in the comments!