Languages
Native
Spanish
95%
Secondary languages
English
72%
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
Puerto Rican Spanish is a Caribbean variety of Spanish with a strong African substratum from the enslaved population brought during colonial times, as well as traces of Taíno — the language of the indigenous people who inhabited the island before European contact. Words like 'hamaca' (hammock), 'canoa' (canoe), and 'huracán' (hurricane) entered Spanish from Taíno and eventually spread into English and other languages worldwide. Puerto Rico has been a US territory since 1898, and both Spanish and English are official — but Spanish is overwhelmingly the language of daily life. The question of statehood, independence, or continued territory status remains politically unresolved, and language is central to that debate.
Similar Languages
Cuban Spanish
90%
Dominican Spanish
88%
Caribbean Spanish
92%
Media
Did You Know
01
Puerto Rican Spanish gave English the words 'hurricane' (from Taíno 'huracán'), 'hammock' (from 'hamaca'), and 'canoe' (from 'canoa') via Spanish.
02
Puerto Rico has been a US territory since 1898, yet Spanish — not English — remains the language of daily life for over 95% of the population.
03
The Taíno people, who were largely wiped out within decades of Spanish arrival, left a permanent mark on Puerto Rican Spanish vocabulary with hundreds of borrowed words.
04
Puerto Rico holds a unique linguistic status: Spanish and English are both official, but most Puerto Ricans speak English as a foreign language despite holding US citizenship.