Languages of Bolivia
Encyclopedia
The languages of Bolivia
include Spanish
, at least 30 indigenous languages, most prominently Quechua, Aymara
, and Tupi Guaraní
, and other languages such as Plautdietsch
spoken by descendants of immigrants. All of the indigenous languages and Spanish are official languages of the state according to the 2009 Constitution. Spanish and Quechua are spoken primarily in the Andes
region; Aymara is mainly spoken in the Altiplano
around Lake Titicaca, and Guarani in the southeast on the border with Paraguay
.
, Wichí Lhamtés Vejoz
), Yaminawa, Yuki, Yuracaré and Zamuco (Ayoreo). The Bolivian government and the departmental governments are also required to use at least two languages in their operation, while smaller-scale autonomous governments must also use two, including Spanish.
Following the National Education Reform of 1994, all thirty indigenous languages were introduced alongside Spanish in the country's schools. However, many schools did not implement the reforms, especially urban schools.
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
include Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, at least 30 indigenous languages, most prominently Quechua, Aymara
Aymara language
Aymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over three million speakers. Aymara, along with Quechua and Spanish, is an official language of Peru and Bolivia...
, and Tupi Guaraní
Guaraní language
Guaraní, specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guaraní , is an indigenous language of South America that belongs to the Tupí–Guaraní subfamily of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of Paraguay , where it is spoken by the majority of the population, and half of...
, and other languages such as Plautdietsch
Plautdietsch
Plautdietsch, or Mennonite Low German, was originally a Low Prussian variety of East Low German, with Dutch influence, that developed in the 16th and 17th centuries in the Vistula delta area of Royal Prussia, today Polish territory. The word is another pronunciation of Plattdeutsch, or Low German...
spoken by descendants of immigrants. All of the indigenous languages and Spanish are official languages of the state according to the 2009 Constitution. Spanish and Quechua are spoken primarily in the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
region; Aymara is mainly spoken in the Altiplano
Altiplano
The Altiplano , in west-central South America, where the Andes are at their widest, is the most extensive area of high plateau on Earth outside of Tibet...
around Lake Titicaca, and Guarani in the southeast on the border with Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
.
List of languages
All of the following languages are spoken in Bolivia:- AraonaAraonaAraona or Cavina is an indigenous language spoken by the South American Araona people; about 90% of the 90 Araona people are fluent . Use of the language amongst the tribe is considered vigorous although Spanish knowledge is increasing. The Araonans live in the headwaters of the Manupari river in...
- AymaraAymara languageAymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over three million speakers. Aymara, along with Quechua and Spanish, is an official language of Peru and Bolivia...
- Central AymaraCentral AymaraCentral Aymara is a branch of the Aymara language spoken by more than 2,227,642 across Southern South America, including 1,785,000 in Bolivians in the high plane altiplano region west of the eastern Andes and more recently some in the Yungas and lowland regions due to internal migration. In Perú,...
- Central Aymara
- AyoreoAyoreo languageAyoreo is a Zamucoan language spoken in both Paraguay and Bolivia. It is also known as Morotoco , Moro, Ayoweo, Ayoré, and Pyeta Yovai. However, the name "Ayoreo" is more common in Bolivia, and "Morotoco" in Paraguay...
- BaureBaure languageBaure is a nearly extinct Arawakan language spoken by only 13 of 200 ethnic tribal Baure people of the Beni department of northwest of Magdalena, Bolivia. Some Bible portions have been translated into Baure. Most speakers have been shifting to Spanish....
- Callahuaya/CallawallaKallawaya languageKallawaya, also Callahuaya or Callawalla is an endangered, secret, mixed language in Bolivia. It is spoken by the Kallawaya people, a group of traditional itinerant healers in the Andes in their medicinal healing practice....
/KallawayaKallawaya languageKallawaya, also Callahuaya or Callawalla is an endangered, secret, mixed language in Bolivia. It is spoken by the Kallawaya people, a group of traditional itinerant healers in the Andes in their medicinal healing practice.... - CanichanaCanichana languageCanichana, or Canesi, is a possible language isolate of Bolivia . As of 1991 there were 500 Canichana people, but only 20 spoke the Canichana language; by 2000 the ethnic population was 583, but the language was extinct.-References:...
- CavineñaCavineñaCavineña is an indigenous language spoken on the Amazonian plains of northern Bolivia by over 1,000 Cavineño people. Although Cavineña is still spoken , it is an endangered...
- CayubabaCayubaba languageCayuvava is an extinct language of Bolivia, the descendants of the ethnic group of the same name live in the region of Beni, west of Mamore River, north of Santa Ana del Yacuma with a population of 794 inhabitants.-References:...
- Chiquitano
- GuaraníGuaraní languageGuaraní, specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guaraní , is an indigenous language of South America that belongs to the Tupí–Guaraní subfamily of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of Paraguay , where it is spoken by the majority of the population, and half of...
- Eastern Bolivian GuaraníEastern Bolivian GuaraníEastern Bolivian Guaraní, known locally as Chawuncu or Chiriguano, is a Guaraní language spoken in South America. In Bolivia 33,670 speakers were counted in the year 2000, in the south-central Parapeti River area and in the city of Tarija...
- Eastern Bolivian Guaraní
- IñapariIñapariIñapari is a critically endangered indigenous South American language spoken by just two hundred people in Perú along the Las Piedras river near the mouth of the Sabaluyoq river. The language is already extinct in neighboring Bolivia. All forty remaining speakers are bilingual in Spanish and none...
- ItonamaItonama languageItonama is a moribund language isolate spoken in the Amazonian lowlands of north-eastern Bolivia. Greenberg’s classification of Itonama as Paezan, a sub-branch of Macro-Chibchan, remains unsupported and Itonama continues to be considered an isolate or unclassified language.-Vowels:Diphthongs:...
- LecoLeco languageLeco is a language isolate that, though long reported to be extinct, is spoken by 20–40 individuals in areas east of Lake Titicaca, Bolivia. The Leco ethnic population is about 80.-External links:...
- MachiguengaMachiguengaThe Machiguenga are an indigenous people of the Amazon Basin jungle regions of southeastern Peru, east of Machu Picchu and close to the borders of Bolivia and Brazil. The people are short, but stoutly built, with broad facial features, and very rarely overweight...
- MovimaMovima languageMovima is a language that is spoken by about 1400 of the Movima, a group of Native Americans that resides in Bolivia. It is considered a language isolate, as it has not been proven related to any other language.-Phonology:Movima has five vowels:...
- MoxosMoxos languageMojos are a pair of Maipurean languages spoken by the Moxos people of Northeastern Bolivia. The two Mojo 'dialects', Trinitario and Ignaciano, are as distinct from one another as they are from neighboring Maipurean languages.-Mojos:...
- PacahuaraPacahuara languagePacahuara is a nearly extinct Panoan language spoken by only 17 of 18 Pacahuara people. The Pacahuara have been located to northwest of Magdalena, Beni, Bolivia and to Nueva Esperanza municipality, of Federico Román Province in Pando. The Pacahuara are fully integrated with the Chácobo...
- PlautdietschPlautdietschPlautdietsch, or Mennonite Low German, was originally a Low Prussian variety of East Low German, with Dutch influence, that developed in the 16th and 17th centuries in the Vistula delta area of Royal Prussia, today Polish territory. The word is another pronunciation of Plattdeutsch, or Low German...
- Puquina languagePuquina languagePuquina is an extinct language once spoken by the ancient Inca in the region surrounding Lake Titicaca and in the north of what is now Chile....
- Quechua variants
- Ayacucho QuechuaAyacucho QuechuaAyacucho is one dialect of the Quechua language, spoken in the Ayacucho region of Peru, as well as by immigrants from Ayacucho in Lima. With roughly a million speakers, it is one of the largest dialects of the language along with Cusco Quechua...
- Qusqu-QullawQusqu-QullawQusqu-Qullaw is a variety of the Quechua language family, spoken throughout southern Peru , Bolivia, and northern Argentina, including the prestige dialect of Cusco Quechua. With about four million speakers, it is one of the largest dialects, along with Ayacucho Quechua...
- South Bolivian QuechuaSouth Bolivian QuechuaSouth Bolivian Quechua, also known as Central Bolivian Quechua, is a variety of Southern Quechua, spoken mainly in Bolivia and belonging to Qusqu-Qullaw Quechua. It is also spoken in Argentina, where it is also known as Colla...
- Southern QuechuaSouthern QuechuaSouthern Quechua , or only Quechua, is the most widely spoken of the major regional groupings of mutually intelligible dialects within the Quechua language family, with about 5 million speakers...
- Ayacucho Quechua
- ReyesanoReyesano languageReyesano is a Tacanan language that was spoken by only a few speakers, including children, in 1961 in Bolivia. It is considered nearly extinct....
- Saraveca
- SirionóSirionó languageSirionó is a Tupian language spoken by about 400 speakers in eastern Bolivia in the village of Ibiato and along the Río Blanco in farms and ranches.Sirionó has phonemic contrasts between front, central, and back close and mid...
- SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. See also Bolivian Spanish - TacanaTacanaThe Tacana language is a Western Tacanan language spoken by approximately 1,800 Tacana people in Bolivia out of an ethnic population of approximately 5,000 in the jungles along the Beni and Madre de Dios rivers.-External links:*...
- TapietéTapietéTapieté is a subdialect of Eastern Bolivian Guaraní spoken by 33 Paraguayans , 100 Argentines, and 70 Bolivians. It is also known as Guasurango, Guasurangue, Tirumbae, Yanaigua, Ñanagua, and Nandeva....
- ToromonaToromonaToromona is an Indian tribe in South America that belongs to the group of uncontacted people. No non-Natives have contacted this tribe. During the Spanish colonization, Spaniards found it difficult to settle down in the area of the Amazon, where their main goal was to find a secret place called...
- Uru-Chipaya: See ChipayaChipaya languageChipaya is a native South American language of the Uru–Chipaya language family. The only other language in the grouping, Uru, is considered by some to be a divergent dialect of Chipaya. Ethnologue lists the language vitality as "vigorous," with 1200 speakers out of an ethnic population of around...
, UruUru languageThe Uru language, also known as Iru-Itu , Morato, or Muratu, is the language of the Uros, an Amerindian people. In the year 2000 it had 2 remaining native speakers out of an ethnic group of 100 to 150 people in the La Paz Department, Ingavi Province, near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, the rest having... - Western Argentine Guaraní
- Wichí Lhamtés NoctenWichí Lhamtés NoctenWichí Lhamtés Nocten is a Wichí language spoken in Argentina by 100 people and 1,911 people in Bolivia in Northcentral Tarija southwest of the Pilcomayo River valley and also in the Pirapo mountain range.-External links:*...
- Wichí Lhamtés VejozWichí Lhamtés VejozWichí Lhamtés Vejoz is a Mataco-Guaicuru, Wichí language spoken by 25,000 people in Argentina. Speakers are located in the northern states of Formosa, Salta, Jujuy and Chaco....
- Yaminawa
- YuracaréYuracaré languageYuracaré is an endangered language isolate of central Bolivia in Cochabamba and Beni departments spoken by the Yuracaré people....
Demographics
| Language | people | percent |
|---|---|---|
| Quechua | 2,281,198 | 25.08 % |
| Aymara | 1,525,321 | 16.77 % |
| Guaraní | 62,575 | 0.69 % |
| Another native | 49,432 | 0.54 % |
| Spanish | 6,821,626 | 75.01 % |
| Foreign | 250,754 | 2.76 % |
| Only native | 960,491 | 10.56 % |
| Native and Spanish | 2,739,407 | 30.12 % |
| Spanish and foreign | 4,115,751 | 45.25 % |
| Only Spanish | 4,082,219 | 44.89 % |
| All native | 3,918,526 | 43.09 % |
Official status
The 2009 Constitution specifies the following languages as official: Castillian Spanish, Aymara, Araona, Baure, Bésiro (Chiquitano), Canichana, Cavineño, Cayubaba, Chácobo, Chimán, Ese Ejja, Guaraní, Guarasu’we, Guarayu, Itonama, Leco, Machajuyaikallawaya (Kallawaya), Machineri (Machiguenga), Maropa, Mojeño-Trinitario, Mojeño-Ignaciano, Moré, Mosetén (Tsimane'), Movima, Pacawara (Pacahuara), Puquina, Quechua, Sirionó, Tacana, Tapiete, Toromona, Uru-Chipaya, Weenhayek (Wichí Lhamtés NoctenWichí Lhamtés Nocten
Wichí Lhamtés Nocten is a Wichí language spoken in Argentina by 100 people and 1,911 people in Bolivia in Northcentral Tarija southwest of the Pilcomayo River valley and also in the Pirapo mountain range.-External links:*...
, Wichí Lhamtés Vejoz
Wichí Lhamtés Vejoz
Wichí Lhamtés Vejoz is a Mataco-Guaicuru, Wichí language spoken by 25,000 people in Argentina. Speakers are located in the northern states of Formosa, Salta, Jujuy and Chaco....
), Yaminawa, Yuki, Yuracaré and Zamuco (Ayoreo). The Bolivian government and the departmental governments are also required to use at least two languages in their operation, while smaller-scale autonomous governments must also use two, including Spanish.
Following the National Education Reform of 1994, all thirty indigenous languages were introduced alongside Spanish in the country's schools. However, many schools did not implement the reforms, especially urban schools.