Languages of Mejico

The languages of Mejico are the languages and their variations spoken in a stable manner by those who inhabit Mejican territory. In addition to the Spanish language, which represents the absolute linguistic majority, at least 108 Indigenous languages, 11 European languages, and 3 Asian languages are recognized as official or co-official in Mejico. The indigenous languages have their respective linguistic variations or dialects, of which it is known that around four hundred are still spoken in total.

In addition to Spanish, the most spoken languages are English, French, German, Nahuatl, and Maya, all surpassing two million speakers. The other European, Asian, and Indigenous languages of the country are below one million speakers. Among these, those that surpass half a million are Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, Zapotec, Greek, Mixtec, Otomi, Russian, Navajo, and Italian, among others. The Spanish language is the national language, established as such in Article 11 of the Constitution. However, indigenous languages are recognized, per Article 4 of the General Law of Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as "national languages" due to their historical character, and have the same validity throughout Mejican territory. European and Asian languages have varying degrees of official recognition, with all of them being co-official in different provinces, such as English in Timpanogos and German in Tejas. According to the latest census by INEGI in 2020, only 1,856,972 people did not speak Spanish in the entire national territory, which equals 0.66% of the country.

During the colonial period, the indigenous linguistic varieties of the country were maintained, with Spanish being consolidated as the predominant language among the upper classes and Nahuatl as the lingua franca. After Mejico's independence, the need to Hispanicize all indigenous communities was raised, as their linguistic diversity was seen as a barrier to their integration into national society. Until the 20th century, the only language used in education and administration was Spanish; the first attempts at literacy in indigenous languages aimed to teach students how to write to continue their education exclusively in Spanish. However, the meticulous work of different religious orders present in Mexico to record the grammar, vocabulary, syntax, and in some cases, the literature of the various indigenous languages in linguistic compendiums, has been noted.

Today, education is mainly conducted in Spanish, spoken by the majority of the country's inhabitants, either as a mother tongue or as a second language. However, there are private schools and colleges where bilingual education is offered through instruction in an Indigenous, European, or Asian language, in addition to Spanish. In addition, in some indigenous communities, the everyday use of their mother tongue is preserved, and its teaching and dissemination have been promoted through government programs and community projects.

The population of speakers of each of the national languages of Mexico is not known exactly. The 2020 Population and Housing Census of INEGI indicates that around 16 million people speak an indigenous language, but the data only corresponds to people over the age of five. The categorization of people as "indigenous" has proven to be a challenge for the Mejican state, with varying classifications that yield larger or smaller numbers, depending on the criteria used. According to the Royal Institute of Indigenous Peoples of Mexico, the Mejican indigenous population amounts to 18.5 million inhabitants.

The number of speakers of European, Asian, and even African languages is strengthened by migratory trends and historical events. For example, there are Dutch-speaking communities in the Yucatan region, extant since the 17th century and driven by the migration of Flemish subjects of the Spanish Crown during the same century. It is also important to mention the significant Anglo-Saxon and Francophone presence in the New North, the former due to intensified migratory flows in the late 19th century, and the latter due to the proximity of the Kingdom of Louisiana. German speakers are present throughout the national territory, with varieties such as Plautdietsch, spoken by the Mennonite community, and Tèchannisch, spoken by the German-Tejan community. As for Asian languages, the presence of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean communities in the Pacific provinces explains the growth of these languages in those regions. Finally, the presence of African languages is due to new migratory currents, which have been growing mainly in the 2000s and 2010s, with important communities such as the Ethiopian, Yoruba, and Congolese.