COSTA RICA
Language
Language
Cities in COSTA RICA
| San jose |
Language
Spanish language mapPhoto: Michael Jester in the public domain
The official language in Costa Rica is Spanish. This Spanish differs considerably in pronunciation, vocabulary and sentence construction from the Spanish on the Iberian Peninsula. Yet it is said that the Costa Ricans, along with the Columbians, speak the most intelligible Spanish in the world.
The Castellano, spoken in Spain, is well understood by the Costa Ricans.
In general, all letters are spoken except the "h". The Costa Ricans very often use diminutives. They use "ico" as the reduction output, so they say "momentico" for "a short moment" (Spanish: momentito).
The remote Indian communities still speak an indigenous language. The most common Indian language is Bribrí. Other Indian languages are Cabecar, Guaymi and Maleko.
On the east coast there are some enclaves where Negro or Pidgin English is the main language. The English spoken on this coast comes from Jamaica and Barbados.
Sources
Daling, T. / Costa Rica : mensen, politiek, economie, cultuur
Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen/Novib
Luft, A. / Reishandboek Costa Rica
Elmar
Mays, B. / Costa Rica
Kosmos-Z&K Uitgevers
Müller, B. / Costa Rica
Van Reemst
O´Bryan, L. / Costa Rica
Gottmer/Becht
Te gast in Costa Rica
Informatie Verre Reizen
CIA - World Factbook
BBC - Country Profiles
Copyright: Team The World of Info