Indian Words in the Latin American Spanish Vocabulary

One of the differences to be aware of between the Spanish spoken in Spain and that of Latin America is that the latter has taken in quite a few words from the American Indian languages.

Some of those words -- tomate, for example (English tomato) -- have become part of the universal Spanish lexicon, but many remain localized to particular Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas.

As Words

In particular, a large number of words in Mexican Spanish come from the Nahuatl language that still persists, to some degree, in the northern part of that country. You may therefore hear some of these words being used in Mexico and nowhere else.

A few of the ones you are more likely to encounter include chapulin (grasshopper), cenzontle (mockingbird), amate (a type of fig), camote (sweet potato), ejotes (green beans), zacate (grass), atole (a drink made from corn

meal), chicle (chewing gum), cajeta (caramelized milk), mecate (rope), comal (a flat pan), jacal (shack), naco (a crude or uncultured person), and papalote (kite).

Of course there are some words that have entered our own language from Spanish, that were also originally Indian words. These include (giving their English spelling here) iguana, cocoa, hurricane, barbecue, hammock, tobacco, papaya, canoe and potato.

If you are learning Spanish, the presence of American Indian words will add a new and interesting wrinkle to your efforts. Be on the lookout for these American "adoptees" as you learn to discern the differences between European Spanish and the tongue as spoken in the Western Hemisphere.

Indian Words in the Latin American Spanish Vocabulary