Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, have secured their place in the 2022 Qatar World Cup final. But what language does the South American nation speak and are there any local dialects?
Well, while Spanish is the official language of Argentina, migration over the years has seen pockets of other languages emerge. There are also a host of more localised dialects among the 11th largest country to qualify for the 22nd edition of FIFA’s quadrennial tournament.
Argentina boasts a population of in excess of 46,000,000 with a density of 16.9 persons per square kilometre. That is according to the United States government’s Census Bureau, with the USA (337m) and Brazil (217m) representing the largest nations at the 2022 World Cup.
What is the official language of Argentina and how many do they speak?
Being a country of so many people, the population of Argentina speak a host of languages. But Rosetta Stone notes the South American country’s official language is Spanish. It is, in fact, the official language of 20 countries and of 437,000,000 people all around the world.
Yet due to migration, some Argentinean people also speak Arabic, Italian, German, English, and/or French. More than one million people also speak more regionalised, tribal dialects like Quecha and Guarani. But Spanish is still the most common, especially in a larger city.
Why is Spanish the official language of Argentina?
According to SouthAmerica.Travel, Argentina is the fourth-largest country where Spanish is the official national language. That is after Spain, along with Mexico and Colombia. But the actual dialect in the nation of the 2022 World Cup finalists differs slightly from other areas.
The migration of Italians to the country at the start of the 20th century heavily influenced the language spoken today. So, the most commonly spoken version is that of the Portenos, the ‘people of the harbour’. There is also the localised slang, called ‘Lunfardo’, in Argentina.
Lunfardo is based on the Spanish language but has inspiration from Italian and Portuguese. While Quechua is mainly only spoken by the Bolivian immigrants after settling in Northern Argentina. Guarani is usually only spoken in the Corrientes province on the eastern shore.
But why is Spanish the official language of 2022 World Cup finalists, Argentina? Well, those routes date back to 1536 when Spaniards arrived in the country and it replaced the many different indigenous languages spoken previously to be the dominant dialect, per Enforex.
The rise in the country’s Italian population then added an Italian flair after the Argentinian Constitution of 1853 encouraged large levels of European immigration. This also led to the rise in French being spoken among the population. But it is still behind Spanish and Italian.
Lionel Messi is fluent only in Spanish and Catalan
Those in the Argentina squad that made the final of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar can also speak an array of languages. A number ply their trade outside of their home country, with Messi at French giants Paris Saint-Germain and Lautaro Martinez at Italian side Inter Milan.
But Messi can only speak fluently in Spanish and Catalan, per Goal. The Albiceleste forward learned Spanish in his childhood in Argentina before moving to Spain at 13 years old to join Barcelona in 2000. He went on to make 778 appearances for the Camp Nou side until 2021.
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