Daydreaming about Peru? It’s hard not to. From gorgeous mountain landscapes to roaming alpacas, Peru is a country with a reputation for beautiful wilderness and rich culture. Who wouldn’t want the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness unique indigenous traditions or stroll through Lima at sunset?
To match its cultural and geographic diversity, Peru is also incredibly linguistically diverse. Peru is home to fifty languages, many of which are indigenous. While some languages have been lost, others continue to persist, weaving themselves into the fabric of spiritual practices and everyday life.
In this post, we’ll take a look at the major languages spoken in Peru—the most prevalent of which is Spanish. See how Rosetta Stone can help you master the language, or keep reading for more on each unique dialect of Spanish spoken in Peru!
What are the official languages of Peru?
On the national level, Peru has three official languages: Spanish, Quechua, and Aymara. About 84 percent of people living in Peru speak Spanish, and around 26 percent speak an indigenous language, with a greater concentration in the southeast part of the country. Both Quechua and Aymara are indigenous languages, making Peru a very unique outlier. It’s quite rare for any country to name an indigenous language as an official one!
To take their stance on preservation a step further, Peru instituted protection over all indigenous languages in 1972. States give special recognition to regional indigenous languages, and all people are guaranteed the right to a bilingual education, as well as interpreters when dealing with authorities. Their public school system even offers materials in at least 24 indigenous languages!
How many languages are spoken in Peru?
As mentioned above, Peru has around fifty living languages. Aside from the official languages—Spanish, Quechua, and Aymara—Asháninka, Awajún and Shipibo form part of the most widely spoken languages of the country. This interactive map highlights that about 13 percent of the population speak Quechua.
You’ll notice that in some districts, like Atalaya in the east which borders Brazil, only about half the population speaks Spanish. In the province of Lima, on the West Coast, nearly everyone speaks Spanish. What this means is that language diversity varies considerably. But don’t worry: most likely wherever there are tourists Spanish will be spoken, and learning some basic phrases right off the bat can go a long way!
Spanish in Peru
Like much of central and South America, Spanish is spoken in Peru as a result of centuries of Spanish colonization. Spanish continues to be the dominant language even today, and can be divided into three dialects: Andean, Coastal, and Amazonian. Let’s take a closer look at them.
Andean Spanish
The Andes mountains run parallel to the Pacific coast throughout Peru. The Andean Spanish dialect is spoken by communities living approximately between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn, so this includes parts of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Some experts also include parts of Colombia and northern Chile when talking about Andean. With so much contact between speakers of Spanish and indigenous languages in the Andean region, linguists say an interlanguage Spanish exists, meaning that Andean Spanish is strongly influenced by Quechua and Aymara.
Two examples of this are the tendency to fuse some vowel sounds or to use Quechua intonation when speaking Spanish. Another fascinating feature of Andean Spanish is the double possessive, based on grammatical constructions in Quechua. For instance:
- Su casa de Renata. = Renata’s house
Whereas most Spanish speakers would say la casa de Renata—literally, “the house of Renata”—in the Andes, the possessive is stated twice.
As with other Latin American Spanish, Andean Spanish uses seseo, the pronunciation of the “s” and the “z” with the same sound. It also tends to soften the final “s” sound of a word. Similar to Mexican Spanish, Spanish speakers in the Andes emphasize consonants and deemphasize vowels.
Andean Spanish has many words borrowed from their indigenous counterparts called “loanwords.” Here are a few examples of words and phrases in Andean Spanish:
| Andean Spanish | Common Translation in Other Spanish-Speaking Countries | Translation of Andean Word/Phrase |
|---|---|---|
| cancha | court | toasted maize |
| choclo | clog | corn on the cob |
| guagua | bus (in the Caribbean) | baby |
| me tinca que… | (not used) | I get the feeling that… |
| pie | foot | foot or leg |
| siempre | always | still |
Coastal Spanish
With Andean, English, and Argentinian influences, this Spanish dialect is spoken along Peru’s extensive Pacific coast.
Similar to Andean Spanish, it tends to soften the final “s,” but unlike the mountain dialect, Coastal Spanish rolls the “rr” sound. Along with other speakers of Latin American dialects, people in the coastal region use yeísmo, meaning the “y” and “ll” sounds are the same. There is also an Andean-Coastal Spanish, obviously a combination of the two.
Here’s some lively coastal vocabulary from Peru:
| Coastal Spanish | Common Translation in Other Spanish-Speaking Countries | Translation of Coastal Word/Phrase |
|---|---|---|
| calato | (not used) | nude |
| guachafo | cheap, pretentious, tasteless(mostly Bolivia) | cheap, pretentious, tasteless |
| guachimán | watchman (in certain countries) | watchman |
| huasca | rope | drunk |
| ni a palos | not even with a beating | absolutely not |
| tombo | (not used) | police |
Amazonian Spanish
The Amazon region of Peru can be found east of the Andes, and the Amazon river itself runs through the northern part of Peru, giving the name to the Amazonas province. Amazonian Spanish is a result of influences from indigenous Amazonian languages, and it uses many loanwords. Some characteristics of this dialect are the pronunciation of the “x” sound as an “f” sound, and the double possessive, as in Andean Spanish. The word cho is used as a kind of interjection or call to action, something between “um” and “yo” in English.
| Amazonian Spanish | Common Translation in Other Spanish-Speaking Countries | Translation of Amazonian Word/Phrase |
|---|---|---|
| ¡Ish! | (not used) | Yuck! |
| llullo (yuyo) | (not used) | baby |
| misho | (not used) | cat |
| pelacho | (not used) | bald |
| sherete | (not used) | loved one, sweetheart |
| yacu | (not used, Quechuan) | water |
Quechua
Do you know that the words “condor” and “puma” in the English language actually come from Quechua? Even “quinoa” is a Quechuan word! Spoken by about 14.5 percent of the population of Peru, Quechua is the language of approximately 4.5 million Peruvians! And, as we’ve mentioned, Quechua has had a heavy influence on Peruvian Spanish. The language of the Inca Empire, Quechua continued to be spoken after the Spanish conquest, but it was suppressed during Peru’s struggle for independence.
Quechua is still also spoken all over the Andes; while not commonly used, it is still sometimes present in official congressional discussions. You may even run into Quechua speakers in your own community, as many speakers have migrated to other parts of the world, including major cities on the East Coast of the United States.
Quechua is often referred to as a single language, but it’s more proper to discuss it in the plural—the Quechuan languages are a group of closely related languages coming from the same origin that are not mutually intelligible. One of the most interesting features of the Quechuan languages is the concept of evidentiality. This means that speakers can differentiate between hearsay, inferred information, and direct evidence, depending on word endings. Wow, we’re betting that social media descriptions in Quechua are pretty accurate!
Here are some useful words in Quechua. As you’re traveling in the Andes and southeastern part of Peru, they may come in handy. We’ve included the Spanish word as well.
| Quechua | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| runa | hombre | man |
| warmi | mujer | woman |
| wamra | niño | child |
| wasi | casa | house |
| kwartun | dormitorio | room |
| imaraq | por favor | please |
Aymara
Aymara is a language spoken in the rural areas of Peru, particularly in the south and by women. While spoken by less than 2 percent of the population, it’s still the “third most widespread Amerindian language.” At the time of the Spanish conquest, Aymara enjoyed ample use. Nowadays, however, it’s in decline.
Multiple attempts have been made to standardize the alphabet, yet standardization only occurred in the last ten years. Aymara has just three vowel sounds, which are sometimes dropped altogether while speaking, and it uses suffixes to denominate kinship connections. Due to the Aymara people’s unusual concept of time, which they see as a kind of line passing over the world, they tend to describe the past as close to them and the future as behind them. It all depends on your perspective.
With that in mind, we provide you with a few words in Aymara:
| Aymara | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| jichha | ahora | now |
| jichhuru | hoy | today |
| jutiri | tiempo futuro | future time |
| masuru | ayer | yesterday |
| pachakuti | regreso al tiempo pasado | return to past time |
| qhara uru | mañana | tomorrow |
Lost languages of Peru
Sadly, almost forty languages have been lost in Peru, all of them indigenous. Others are at risk of extinction. Since language represents not just culture but a way of life, with every lost language a culture is lost as well. That is one of the reasons we call them “dead languages.”
A few of the lost languages of Peru are:
- Aguano
- Andoa-shimigae
- Cahurano
- Chimuan languages
- Culle
- Omurano
- Pre-Incan of the Marañón River Basin
- Puqina
- Tequiraca
- Waripano
Luckily, many organizations, including the United Nations, are fighting to preserve languages at risk of extinction.
Explore Peru with Rosetta Stone
Each dialect of Peruvian Spanish is fascinating, and so too are the indigenous languages that influence them. Learning even basic phrases in one or more of these languages can help you make the most of your trip to Peru, or even connect with Peruvian communities in your own backyard.
If your goal is to feel comfortable in any conversation, Rosetta Stone can help you nail Spanish in a fun, engaging way—without the memorization. Learn more about how it works here, or click the button below to choose the subscription that works best for you!
Written by Rowena Galavitz
Rowena Galavitz is a Spanish translator, bilingual copy editor, and language and literature instructor with three master’s degrees who loves Spanish and all things Mexico.
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