Languages of Argentina
Sign inSan Francisco, Córdoba, in Spanish, Italian andPiedmontese
Official	de factoSpanish
Indigenous	Tupi-Guarani languages,Mataco–Guaicuru languages,Mapuche,Chaná,Quechua[1]
Vernacular	Rioplatense Spanish,Lunfardo,Portuñol
Minority	Italian,English,German,Plautdietsch,Chinese,Welsh
Foreign	English
Signed	Argentine Sign Language
Keyboard layout	Spanish Latinamerican QWERTY

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Spanish is the language that is predominantly understood and spoken as a first or second language by nearly all of the population ofArgentina. According to the latest estimations, the population is currently greater than 45 million.^[2]

English is another important language in Argentina and is obligatory in primary school instruction in various provinces. Argentina is the only Latin American country characterized as "high aptitude" in English, being placed 15th globally in the year 2015, according to a report from the English Aptitude Index.^[3][4] In 2017, Argentina fell ten places from its best position and fell to 25th place, though it continues to be the second highest rankedIbero-American, after Portugal.^[5]

Guarani andQuechua are other important languages in Argentina with 200,000 speakers and 65,000 speakers respectively.^[6]

Fifteen Indigenous American languages^[6] currently exist and five others (today extinct) existed in different regions. The vernacular Indigenous American languages (native to the Argentine territory) are spoken by very few people. In addition there isLunfardo, a slang or a type ofpidgin with original words from many languages, among these languages are ones from theItalian Peninsula, such asPiedmontese,Ligurian, and others likeItalian,Portuguese, etc., and have been seen in theRío de la Plata area since at least 1880. There is alsoPortuñol, a pidgin ofPortuguese and Spanish spoken since approximately 1960 in the areas of Argentina that border Brazil.

Another native language isArgentine Sign Language (LSA), which is signed by deaf communities. It emerged in 1885.

After the above-mentioned languagesGerman follows (around 200,000, including a significant number of theVolga German dialect and of thePlautdietsch language). Multitude of Eurasian and immigrant languages are spoken in their respective ethnic communities throughout the country; these are namelyAlbanian,Arabic,Armenian,Asturian,Basque,Belarusian,Bosnian,Bulgarian,Catalan,Chinese,Croatian,Czech,Danish,Dutch,Estonian,Finnish,French,Galician,Greek,Hebrew,Hungarian,Irish,Japanese,Korean,Latvian,Lithuanian,Macedonian,Norwegian,Occitan,Polish,Portuguese,Romani,Romanian,Russian,Serbian,Slovene,Swedish,Turkish,Ukrainian,Welsh, andYiddish. Most of these languages have, with the exception of Chinese and Plautdietsch, very few speakers and are usually only spoken in family environments.

The Republic ofArgentina has not established, legally, an official language; however, Spanish has been utilized since the founding of the Argentine state by the administration of the Republic and is used in education in all public establishments, so much so that in basic and secondary levels there is a mandatory subject of Spanish (a subject called "language"). Since 1952, TheArgentine Academy of Letters, which was founded in 1931, has regularly collaborated withThe Royal Spanish Academy to register local variants.

Even though theConstitution establishes the jurisdiction of theNational Congress "to recognize the ethnic and cultural pre-existence of indigenous peoples of Argentina", the native languages have not been recognized as official, except in the provinces ofChaco andCorrientes.^[a]

The most prevalent dialect in Argentina isRioplatense, whose speakers are located primarily in the basin of theRío de la Plata. There is alsoCuyo Spanish andCordobés Spanish. In the north,Andean Spanish is spoken and in the northeast there is a great influence fromParaguayan Spanish.^[7]

Argentina is one of several Spanish-speaking countries (along withUruguay,Paraguay,El Salvador,Nicaragua,Honduras, andCosta Rica) that almost universally use what is known asvoseo—the use of thepronounvos instead oftú (the familiar "you") as well as its corresponding verb forms.

A phonetic study conducted by the Laboratory for Sensory Investigations of [CONICET] and theUniversity of Toronto^[8] showed that the intonationPorteño Spanish is unlike that of other Spanish varieties, and suggested that it may be a result of convergence with Italian.Italian immigration influencedLunfardo, the slang spoken in the Río de la Plata region, permeating the vernacular vocabulary of other regions as well.

As in other large countries, the accents vary depending on geographical location. Extreme differences in pronunciation can be heard within Argentina. One notable pronunciation difference found in Argentina is the "sh" sounding y and ll. In most Spanish speaking countries the letters y and ll are pronounced somewhat like the "y" in yo-yo, however in most parts of Argentina they are pronounced like "sh" in English (such as "shoe") or like "zh" (such as the sound the⟨s⟩ makes in "measure").

In many of the central and north-eastern areas of the country, the trilled /r/ takes on the same sound as the⟨ll⟩ and⟨y⟩ ('zh' – a voiced palatal fricative sound, similar to the "s" in the English pronunciation of the word "vision"). For Example, "Río Segundo" sounds like "Zhio Segundo" and "Corrientes" sounds like "Cozhientes".

TheISO639 code for Argentine Spanish is "es-AR".

The Indo-European languages spoken in Argentina by stable communities fall into five branches:Romance (Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese),West Germanic (English, Plautdietsch and standard German),Celtic languages (Welsh), and CentralIndo-Aryan (Romani).

On the other hand, theindigenous languages of Argentina are very diverse and fall into different linguistic families...

(†): extinct language

In addition to Spanish, the following living languages are registered in Argentina with local growth:

• Italian is spoken by more than 1.5 million people in Argentina; it is the second most spoken native language in the nation.^[9][b]Italian immigration, which effectively began in the middle of the 19th century and reached its peak in the first two decades of the 20th century, made a lasting and significant impact on the pronunciation and vernacular of Argentina's variety of Spanish, giving it an Italian flair. In fact, Italian dialects (not Standard Italian) have contributed so much to Rioplatense that many foreigners mistake it for Italian.^{[citation needed]}
• Portuñol is spoken in areas that border Brazil. It is a pidgin of Spanish and Portuguese.
• German conserved by the descendants of the immigrants coming directly from Germany as well as other German-speaking countries such as Switzerland and Austria. Descendants ofVolga Germans of theVolga River in Russia, speak German especially in theSanta Fe andEntre Ríos provinces, part ofLa Pampa, and various sectors of theBuenos Aires Province.
• Lunfardo, a dialect that originated inBuenos Aires, is strongly influenced by immigrant languages; primarily by dialects from different Italian regions, but also fromPortuguese,Galician,French,English, andYiddish. They provided numerous lexical and syntactic elements to the Argentine language, as well as the typical pronunciation ofRioplatense Spanish. Lunfardo has exercised a strong influence on the informal speech throughout the country, especially through its use intango lyrics and Porteño poetry.
• Welsh spoken inPatagonia: Indo-European language of the BrittonicCeltic languages group, spoken as asecond language by descendants of Welsh immigrants from the second half of the 19th century) inChubut Province. An estimation in 2017 indicates that the number of speakers was no greater than 5,000.^[10][11]
• Plautdietch or low German, spoken byMennonite colonies disseminated especially in theLa Pampa Province, although it is also spoken in small communities in other provinces.
• English is the native language of the population of theFalkland Islands. The islands areDisputed territory between Argentina and theUnited Kingdom.
• See also:Belgranodeutsch,Paraná-Wolga-Deutsch, andArgentinien-schwyzertütsch dialect.

Argentine Sign Language, understood by around two million deaf people of Argentina, their instructors, descendants, and others. There are different regional variants, such as inCordoba.

Southern Quechua: from the family ofQuechuan languages. There are seven variations present that are marked by their geographical origin, detailed here areSouth Bolivian Quechua andSantiagueño Quechua:

• South Bolivian Quechua is spoken by inhabitants ofPuna and their descendants. This same variety is spoken in all ofJujuy,Salta, andTucumán; after Spanish it is the second most widespread language of the country and the most important Indigenous language of theAmericas. In 2004, there were 5,100 speakers.^[12]
• Santiagueño Quechua: which is different fromBolivian Quechua, though it has an 81 percent lexical similarity, is spoken by 100,000 people, according to data from Censabella (1999), even though other estimations raise the figure to 140,000^[13] or 160,000^[14] speakers^[15] in theSantiago del Estero Province, southeast of theSalta Province and Buenos Aires. A department for its study and conservation exists in theNational University of Santiago del Estero. The smallest calculation of talks about a minimum of 60,000 speakers in 2000.^[16] Its speakers are currently composed of a Creoyle population that does not self-recognize as indigenous (even though it admits an indigenous past).^[17]

In the provinces ofCorrientes,Misiones,Chaco,Formosa,Entre Ríos,^[18][19] andBuenos Aires dialects of Argentine Guarani are spoken or known by nearly one million people, including Paraguayan immigrants that speakParaguayan Guarani orJopara.^[15] In Corrientes, the Argentine Guarani dialect was decreed co-official in 2004 and made obligatory in educational instruction and the government.

• Chiripa is a language family ofTupi-Guarani, subgroup I. There are a few speakers in the Misiones Province and among Paraguayan immigrants.
• Mbyá is from the Tupi-Guarani family, subgroup I. It has a 75 percent lexical similarity with Paraguayan Guarani. In 2012, some 3,900 speakers were counted in the Misiones Province.^[20]
• Eastern Bolivian Guarani is also from the Tupi-Guarani family, subgroup I. Some 15,000 speakers in the provinces of Salta and Formosa.
• Correntino Guarani or Argentine Guarani pertains to the Tupi-Guarani family. It is spoken (together with Spanish) by nearly 70 percent of the population with an origin from the Corrientes Province (around 350,000 speakers). The Correntino government decreed in 2004 the co-officiality of the Guarani language and its obligatory use in teaching and government, even though it still has not been regulated.
• Kaiwá, called pai tavyterá in Paraguay, is from the Tupi-Guarani family, subgroup I. It is spoken by no more than 510 people in Misiones Province.
• Tapieté from the Tupi-Guarani family, subgroup I, is spoken by some 100 speakers of a village nearTartagal, Salta.
• Missionary Guarani Jesuit was an old variety of Guarani spoken by Jesuit Missionaries became extinct around 1800.

TheMapuche language is an isolated language that had approximately 8,400 speakers in the provinces ofNeuquén,Río Negro,Chubut, andSanta Cruz in 2004, with an ethnic population of 110,000 people.^[21]

Central Aymara is a language of theAymaran group, spoken by 4,100 inhabitants ofJujuy, of the North of Salta, besides the immigrants of Puna and ofPeru.^[22]

From the Mataco or Mataguyao group:

• Iyojwa'ja Chorote,Ch'orti',Yofuaha orEklenjuy is from theMataco-Guaicuru family and is a distinct language from Chorote Iyo'wujwa. It was spoken in 2007 by some 800 people in the Salta Province.^[23]
• Chorote iyo'wujwa, Ch'orti', Manjuy, Majui is from the Mataco-Guaicuru family. There were some 1,500 speakers accounted for in 2007, 50 percent of which were monolingual.^[24]
• Nivaclé is from the Mataco-Guaicuru family, It has about 200 speakers in the Northeast of the Formosa Province. The termchulupí and similar terms are pejoratives^[25] and are like the wordguaycurú (that in Guarani means something like 'barbarians') which comes from the Guarani invaders.
• Wichí Lhamtés Güisnay is from the Mataco-Guaicuru family and is spoken by some 27,000 people in thePilcomayo River area, Formosa.^[26] The termmataco used to name the languages and towns of theWichí people is a pejorative^[26] and comes from the invaders that were speakers ofRunasimi (Quechua).
• Wichí Lhamtés Vejoz is from the Mataco-Guaicuru family. There are calculated to be 32,000 speakers distributed throughout the Chaco, Formosa, and Salta Provinces.^[27] Its main area of influence, in general, is found at the west of the area of theToba people, along the superior course of the Pilcomayo River. It is unintelligible with other languages ofGran Chaco, and is also spoken in Bolivia.

From the Guaicuru group:

• Mocoví is from the Mataco-Guaicuru family. In 2012, there were some 2,800 speakers in Formosa, in the south of Chaco and the Northeast of the Santa Fe Province.^[28]
• Pilagá is from the Mataco-Guaicuru family and is spoken by some 2,000 to 5,000 people in the basins of the Pilcomayo and Bermejo rivers, providences Formosa and Chaco. In 2004, it was spoken by 4,000 people.
• Qom is also from the Mataco-Guaicuru family. Spoken in the year 2006 by 40,000 to 60,000 people in the East of Formosa and Chaco. In 2000 it was spoken by 21,410 indigenous people (19,800 in Argentina).

• Tehuelche is from theChonan family. In the 1966 census, there were hardly 200 speakers registered in Santa Cruz.^[15]

In addition to surviving indigenous languages, before the contact with Europeans and during some time during theColonization of the Americas in Argentina they spoke the following languages, that are currently extinct:

• Abipón is from the Mataco-Guaicuru family and was spoken by theAbipón people, and was related toKadiweu. There do not appear to be living speakers of this language.
• Cacán was spoken by theDiaguita andCalchaquí people in northernArgentina andChile. It became extinct during the late 17th century or early 18th century. The language was documented by the JesuitAlonso de Bárcena, but the manuscript is lost. Genetic affiliation of the language remains unclear, and due to the extremely limited number of known words, it has not been possible to conclusively link it to any existinglanguage family.^[29]
• Chané is from thatArawakan language family, without a subgroup classification. It has been compared toGuana orKashika language of Paraguay, orTerêna from Brazil, but both are distinct. It was spoken inSalta some 300 years ago. The ethnic group is namedIzoceño, and now they speak Guarani.
• Kunza was the language of theAtacama people and is also extinct in Chile. Due to the lack of information it is considered an isolated language.
• Henia-Camiare was spoken by theComechingón people. There are not sufficient elements to establish its connection to another language, nor is it possible to try to reconstruct it.
• Querandí is the language of the old inhabitants ofPampas also known as theQuerandí people. Its existence as the only language is speculative. The few known words of the language have been related toPuelche and theChonan languages.
• Allentiac andMillcayac are languages from theHuarpean family that were spoken in the Cuyo region. The shortage of remaining elements hinders better classification of these languages.
• Lule-toconoté is considered to be of theLule-Vilela family. Some authors affirm thatLule andToconoté language were not the same language, spoken by the people that inhabited part of what is today known asSantiago del Estero and by those that migrated to Chaco in the mid-17th century.
• Selkʼnam is from theChonan family that went extinct in the 1990s or early 2000s.
• Puelche is possibly loosely related to the Chonan languages.Rodolfo Casamiquela worked with the last speakers in the middle of the 20th century.
• Yaghan was spoken by aboriginal people in the Southern coastal areas ofTierra del Fuego. It became extinct in Argentina in the beginning of the 20th century, although it was conserved in a grand dictionary elaborated byThomas Bridges and some important words gave name to places in Argentina such asUshuaia,Lapataia,Tolhuin, etc.Cristina Calderón is an elderly Chilean woman living inNavarino Island, and the last living full-bloded Yaghan person; after the death of her sister Úrsula in 2005, Cristina became the last living native speaker of the Yaghan language.
• Missionary Guarani was spoken in the area of the Misiones Jesuit Guaranies, between 1632 and 1767, disappearing permanently around 1870, but left important written documents.
• Manek'enk (or Haush), the language of theHaush people, was spoken on the far eastern tip of the island of Tierra del Fuego. It was part of theChonan language family. Before 1850, an estimated 300 people spoke Manek'enk; the last speaker died around 1920.

• Demographics of Argentina
• Indigenous peoples in Argentina
• Immigration to Argentina
• List of indigenous languages of Argentina

• ArgentinaEberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2022).Ethnologue: Languages of the World (25th ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.
• Aeberhard, Danny; Benson, Andrew; Phillips, Lucy (2000).The rough guide to Argentina. London: Rough Guides.ISBN 978-1858285696.

• Academia Argentina de Letras - Argentine Academy
• Asociación de Centros de Idiomas - Association of Language Centres
• Spanish in Argentina
• The Dante Alighieri Society of Buenos Aires

• Languages of Argentina

• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
• Language articles citing Ethnologue 25
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from June 2013