Are there different languages in Spanish? When you are translating your content, it might seem like there are either too many variants of Spanish… or that there is only one variant.
Global companies sometimes assume that they can just translate their English content "into Spanish" and they will be able to reach the over 500 million Spanish speakers in the world. This is not really true, but it's an understandable misconception.
Here's a guide to the over 29 different variations of Spanish and the markets they are used in…
Is Spanish more than one language?
The question of how many "languages" constitute Spanish is a murky one.
From one perspective, you could say that there is only one official language called Spanish. However, there are many different variants and dialects of Spanish. Some people view these variants as separate languages while others say that they are "only" dialects of the same language.
We're not going to get involved in the politics here.
For you, it's most important that you know about the different variants of Spanish. That way you can make the right choices when you translate your company's content.
Why the Spanish language is great for global reach… but problematic
At the time of writing, Spanish is the 4th most spoken language in the world. This means that it represents a huge market potential and can be very lucrative for your global business.
Companies like yours often make the mistake of thinking that Spanish is just a single language.
The problem with thinking of Spanish in this way is that different markets speak different variants of Spanish. If you want to sell your products and services in those markets, you can't treat all of these markets in the same way or you risk alienating potential customers.
A quick guide to variants in Spanish
Before we introduce the many variants of Spanish, let's make a few important definitions.
These terms are important for you to understand. They explain why it's hard to say for certain how many Spanish languages exist:
- Language — The popular definition is that a language is both spoken and written. It has literature, vocabulary, and different grammatical rules from other languages. For example, Spanish is a clearly different language from German.
- Dialect — The popular definition is that a dialect is primarily only spoken. Though some words are different, the underlying grammar is the same. People speaking different dialects of the same language can understand each other. For example, people speaking Mexican Spanish can understand people speaking Cuban Spanish.
- Variant or variation — A variant is a specific version of a language spoken or used in a particular area, group, or community.
- Locale — A locale describes a language variant. Additionally, it includes information about other aspects important for translation. For example, it describes how to write numbers, times, months, and other properties.
While these are the popular definitions, it's worth remembering the lines are fuzzy.
Some variants that are commonly thought of as dialects of Spanish have significant differences from other variants. Also, some Spanish speakers can understand people speaking completely different languages — such as Italian or Sardinian — thanks to their common linguistic roots.
We use the term "variant" because it's most useful for translation. Whether or not a variant is a different language or a dialect of Spanish doesn't really matter for your purposes.
For you, know that you should always be clear on the variant (or even better, the locale) of Spanish you want to translate into.
The countries that officially speak Spanish
When you are looking to move into new markets, it's useful to know which countries a language can help you reach.
Spanish is the official or de-facto language of the following 20 countries:
| Argentina | Guatemala |
| Bolivia | Honduras |
| Chile | Mexico |
| Colombia | Nicaragua |
| Costa Rica | Panama |
| Cuba | Paraguay |
| Dominican Republic | Peru |
| Ecuador | Spain |
| El Salvador | Uruguay |
| Equitorial Guinea | Venezuela |
Each of these countries has a different variant of Spanish, governed by different regulatory bodies (such as the Real Academia Española in Spain and the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua in Mexico).
You can often reach various markets with the same Spanish translations.
But you need to do this in the right way, which means consulting with your translation provider.
Avoiding confusion: the 5 languages in Spain
It's worth remembering that, although Spain is an official language in these 20 countries, other languages are also spoken in the same countries.
For example, in Spain there are 5 official languages:
- Castilian Spanish (which is what you may think of as "Spanish")
- Catalan
- Galician
- Basque
- Aranese
Basque, for example, has a completely different linguistic root from Spanish (it's known as a language isolate — a language with no living relatives).
You probably only need to translate into Castilian Spanish (language code: es-ES) to reach this market. But there may be some situations where you might want to translate into these other languages as well.
29 Spanish variants you should know about
A common myth you can find on the internet is that there are only around 10 variants or dialects of Spanish. This is just nonsense. We don't know where this myth originated — there are 10 dialects of Mexican Spanish alone!
For translation, a helpful way to think of languages is in terms of their ISO 639 locale code. ISO 639 provides a set of internationally recognized codes for over 500 languages.
The 29 Spanish language codes are:
| Variant | Code | Variant | Code | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Base Identifier for Spanish | es | 16 | Spanish – Guatemala | es-GT |
| 2 | Standard Latin American Spanish | es-419 | 17 | Spanish – Honduras | es-HN |
| 3 | Spanish – Argentina | es-AR | 18 | Spanish – Canary Islands | es-IC |
| 4 | Spanish – Bolivia | es-BO | 19 | Spanish – Mexico | es-MX |
| 5 | Spanish – Brazil | es-BR | 20 | Spanish – Nicaragua | es-NI |
| 6 | Spanish – Belize | es-BZ | 21 | Spanish – Panama | es-PA |
| 7 | Spanish – Chile | es-CL | 22 | Spanish – Peru | es-PE |
| 8 | Spanish – Colombia | es-CO | 23 | Spanish – Philippines | es-PH |
| 9 | Spanish – Costa Rica | es-CR | 24 | Spanish – Puerto Rico | es-PR |
| 10 | Spanish – Cuba | es-CU | 25 | Spanish – Paraguay | es-PY |
| 11 | Spanish – Dominican Republic | es-DO | 26 | Spanish – El Salvador | es-SV |
| 12 | Spanish – Ceuta & Melilla | es-EA | 27 | Spanish – United States | es-US |
| 13 | Spanish – Ecuador | es-EC | 28 | Spanish – Uruguay | es-UY |
| 14 | Spanish – Spain | es-ES | 29 | Spanish – Venezuela | es-VE |
| 15 | Spanish – Equatorial Guinea | es-GQ |
As you can see, there are a lot of different variants of Spanish!
These codes don't even account for the variations used within the same country. For example, within the country of Peru Andean Spanish differs from Peruvian Coastal Spanish.
"Universal" Spanish
You might also come across the term "universal," "neutral," or "mid-Atlantic" Spanish. This is a term that we sometimes use in the translation industry.
It means a version of the Spanish language that includes no localisms, regionalisms, or colloquial expressions. It is similar in idea to Controlled English, which is a category of English that is restricted to improve comprehension by non-native speakers and computers.
In practice, it's difficult to create a completely universal version of a language that every speaker understands. Universal Spanish is more of a dream for companies trying to reach a wider market without satisfying every locale idiosyncrasy.
However, for some applications (such as some technical content) a type of Universal Spanish is possible. The translators have to learn the "accepted" linguistic compromises they have to make depending on which native locale is their mother tongue. For example, whether to use "ordenador" or "computador" as the translation for the English word "computer."
The more personality you need to add to your content (for example, with marketing content) the less likely your Spanish translations can be universal.
Which Spanish variants should you translate into?
With all these variants of Spanish available to you, you might be wondering… which variant should I translate my content into?
If you want to sell to Panama, for example, do you need to translate into es-PA?
And can you use the same content for Mexico or would you also need to translate into es-MX?
These are the sort of questions your translation provider can help you to navigate.
In many cases, it's possible to combine translations so that the same content can serve different markets. But you need to do this strategically. For example, the Standard Latin American Spanish (es-419) was created to provide a form of written Spanish that can be used across Central and South America.
If you'd like to talk with one of our strategists about the best Spanish variant for your content, please fill out this form.