Languages of Colombia
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This article is a work in progress translation of the Idiomas de Colombia article from Spanish to English. If you are confident enough in your fluency of Spanish and English, please feel free to assist with this translation.
Original article in Spanish: Idiomas de Colombia Original article in English: Idiomas de Colombia |
Spanish is the official language of Colombia. The languages of the country's ethnic groups are constitutionally recognized as official languages in their territories. In places with non-Spanish linguistic traditions, bilingual education is obligatory. The local Spanish variants include numerous distinct dialects, such as paisa (of Medellín and Viejo Caldas), valluno (of Valle del Cauca), rolo (of Bogotá and the center of the country), costeño of the Carribean region, pastuso, patojo (of Cauca), opita, santandereano, tolimense, boyacense, and chocoano.
More than 60 aboriginal languages exist today; for example, there are Wayúunaike in Guajira, Nasayuwe and Guambiano in Cauca, languages of the Chibcha family from Sierra Nevada de Santa MArta and from Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, Embera and Wounaan in Chocó, languages of the Guahibo gamily in Orinoco, the Camsá dialect of Inga in Quechua, (Putumayo) y makú, Tucano, Witoto-Bora, Ticuna and others in the Amazon. Also important are the creole languages of the afrocolombian communities: criollo palenquero of Palenque of San Basilio (Bolívar) and English criollo sanandresano, in the archipelago of San Andrés y Providencia.
