Languages
Native
Spanish
99%
Language Samples
Hola, ¿cómo estás?
Hello, how are you?
Estoy muy bien, gracias.
I am very well, thanks.
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
Linguistic History
El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in mainland Latin America, and the only one in Central America with no Caribbean coastline. Its Spanish is a Central American variety featuring the informal 'vos' pronoun and a vocabulary enriched by Nahuatl — the language of the Pipil people who inhabited the region before the Spanish conquest of 1524. The Pipil, a Nahua group who migrated south from Mexico, spoke a variety of Nahuatl called Nawat; this language nearly went extinct in the 20th century but is undergoing a revival effort today.
Similar Languages
Spanish (Honduras)
97%
Spanish (Guatemala)
96%
Spanish (Nicaragua)
95%
Portuguese
89%
Media
Tazumal — a pre-Columbian ceremonial site built by the Pipil people, speakers of Nawat
Photo: Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Did You Know
01
El Salvador's indigenous Nawat (Pipil Nahuatl) had fewer than 20 fluent elderly speakers in the 1990s, but an active revitalisation programme has since produced hundreds of new learners.
02
Many everyday Salvadoran Spanish words come from Nahuatl: 'chile', 'tomate', 'aguacate' (avocado), and 'chocolate' all trace back to this indigenous language family.
03
El Salvador is the only country in Central America without a Caribbean coast — a geographical fact that has kept its Spanish relatively uniform, without the African and English Creole influences found in coastal neighbours.