Is Mexican Spanish uniform?

Native Korean   Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:41 pm GMT
Mexico is the largest Spanish speaking country in the world.
American English and British English have many dialects and regional variations in terms of accents. However, Canadian English is very uniform even though it is a huge country. I was wondering how things are going in Mexico.

1. Is Mexican Spanish uniform throughout the country?
Or Does Mexican Spanish have different accents with regional variations?

2. Does Mexico have a standard, neutral accent?

3. Is Mexican accent a lot different from Guatemalan accent even if they are neighbors?
Guest   Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:06 pm GMT
It's not uniform
It's uniform only in formal written context (like legalese)
Mexican   Tue Jul 08, 2008 12:06 am GMT
By the way, recently in Mexico there's a considerable amount of immigrants coming from South Korea, I don't know if you are from there or from North Korea.


1. Is Mexican Spanish uniform throughout the country?
Or Does Mexican Spanish have different accents with regional variations?

It has different regional variatioins, the accent, the pronunciation and regional slangs in Northen Mexico are different from those found in Southern Mexico, the same applies to people in the West and East coasts.

2. Does Mexico have a standard, neutral accent?

Yes it has, despite the regional variations in Mexico every Mexican knows how to speak in some kind of neutral Spanish in order to communicate with Mexicans fellows from other areas. Anyway a person from the West coast will have no problem speaking with a person of Northen Mexico if they speak with their local slangs and accents, they only will not be able to understand a few particular words and their accents will sound a bit strange and funny to each other.

Is Mexican accent a lot different from Guatemalan accent even if they are neighbors?

Mexican and Guatemalan accents are not that differents in pronunciation, but Guatemalan Spanish has a few variations that makes it more close to their Central American counterparts. In Central America (and other Spanish speakin countries like Argentina) the use of the "voseo" is common and in Mexican Spanish almost nobody uses it. That's a particular characteristic from Mexican Spanish that alongside other aspects (such as the pronunciation and particular slangs) make possible to recognize a foreigner in Mexico even though that person is a native Spanish speaker.

For example:

If you put the food in the table

Si tu pones la comida en la mesa (Mexican Spanish)

Si vos ponés la comida en la mesa (Central American and Argentinian Spanish)


Besides the use of "vos" instead of "tu", Central Americans and Argentinians pronunces slightly different some vowels and the end of the words and sentences like in the example they make more emphasis in the last vowel in the word "ponés". In Mexican Spanish we do not make such particular emphasis at the end of the vowels in a normal usage. We make an emphasis (accent) in the vowes only if the Spanish pronounciation and grammar requieres it. That makes a more neutral pronunciation with it comes to vowes in Mexican Spanish in the example we simply say "pones" without that particular emphasis found in other Spanish dialects.
Güest   Tue Jul 08, 2008 12:35 am GMT
In the state Chiapas, which has over four million inhabitants, voseo is still used.

So Chiapanecos say:
Si vos ponés la comida en la mesa.

This is something that sets them apart from the other Mexicans.
Guest   Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:32 am GMT
Chiapas is for Guatemala what Texas is for Mexico, both were stolen by a more powerful country, so cultural identification in both sides of the border are justified.
Guest   Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:34 am GMT
Is "pinche pendejo" used in all parts of Mexico?
Guest   Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:35 am GMT
And "güey"?
Super Korean   Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:13 pm GMT
<By the way, recently in Mexico there's a considerable amount of immigrants coming from South Korea, I don't know if you are from there or from North Korea.>

Haha I am from South Korea, I don't think North Koreans can access to the Internet because the country is a hermit kingdom with a horrible dictator.

I heard South Koreans are doing businesses in Mexico although our GDP per capita is 2.5 times higher than Mexico.
guest2   Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:23 pm GMT
Is "neutral Spanish" similar to any particular dialect in Mexico? What about educated Mexico City Spanish?
Guest   Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:19 pm GMT
Please take off your head that "educated" thing, all Mexicans have access to education, 97% under de age of 15 are literate, and all of them watch Mexican TV which always uses neutral Spanish (they don't fake it because it's natural), therefore Mexican kids grow up speaking as they see in TV (just like Americans do the same).

For example in my state Veracruz 60 years ago it used to be common for people to drop the S's (like the caribbeans) but nowadays you'll never hear it, people speak just the way the do in TV.

Regarding Chiapas, it used to be part of Central America but then it joined the United Mexican States (Mexico's official name) and just like in Veracruz maybe years ago it was common for people to use "Vos" but nowadays I'm pretty sure most people use "Tu"
Marinheiro   Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:01 pm GMT
"I heard South Koreans are doing businesses in Mexico although our GDP per capita is 2.5 times higher than Mexico."

That doesn't tell anything in real economic terms, Mexico's GDP per capita almost doubles that of Brazil and that doesn't mean that the Mexican economy is stronger than the Brazilian economy. And why South Korea is not in the group of G8 + 5 ? Brazil and Mexico (even though they are not developed countries) are there.
Guest   Tue Jul 08, 2008 11:23 pm GMT
<< Regarding Chiapas, it used to be part of Central America but then it joined the United Mexican States (Mexico's official name) and just like in Veracruz maybe years ago it was common for people to use "Vos" but nowadays I'm pretty sure most people use "Tu" >>

You're right, the use of voseo is declining, but you still hear it a lot in the spoken language.
Funnily, many Chiapanecos mix up voseo and tuteo. So they say something like "vos pones" or "tu ponés", or "esperate tú" instead of "esperate vos" or "espérate tú".
Guest   Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:11 am GMT
Why the official name of Mexico is: United Mexican States?
Gringo   Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:51 am GMT
Is "pinche pendejo" and "güey" used in all parts of Mexico?
guest2   Wed Jul 09, 2008 5:25 am GMT
Guest (from Veracruz),

"Educated" speaker is a term used in describing the most highly educated speakers of the language--nothing derogatory was implied about the educational system in Mexico. There are Swedish texts that are based on the "educated speech of Stockholm," and I'm sure the authors are aware that close to 100% of Swedes are literate. (By the way, "please take off your head" is not a normal phrase in English--it sounds like decapitation--but I guess I catch your drift.)

But to your point--are you saying that there are no differences nowadays between Spanish spoken in Veracruz , Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Tijuana? The Mexican immigrants I run into do NOT sound like the telenovela actors.

And speaking of neutral Spanish, I've heard that it's based more on highland dialects in Colombia. If so, where: Medellín, Bogotá, Cali?