THE 12 MOST SPOKEN COLOMBIAN DIALECTS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The most widely spoken Colombian dialects are the following: Paisa, Costeño, Islander, Santander, Cundiboyacense, Rolo or Bogota, Tolimense or Opita, Valle del Cauca or Valluno, Andean or Pastuso, Amazonian, Chocoano and the llanero.

According to statistics, Colombia is one of the most linguistically homogeneous countries, since more than 99.2% of the population speaks Spanish, which is the official language of the nation.

However, each department of the country has modified Spanish and adapted it, resulting in the previously mentioned dialects, which are spoken throughout the country's territory.

In addition to the Spanish dialects, in Colombia there are another 65 aboriginal dialects (among which Arawako, Caribbean and Chibcha stand out), two Creole languages ​​and a dialect spoken by the Romani community of Colombia. In total, more than 100 dialects are spoken in the country.

List of the most widespread dialects in Colombia

The paisa

The Paisa dialect is spoken in Colombian areas that are known for coffee production, that is, Antioquia, Quindío, Risaralda and Caldas.

The Paisa dialect is characterized by the use of “voseo”, which is the use of the pronoun “vos” instead of the pronoun “tú”. This is accompanied by the conjugation of the typical verbs of the Argentine voseo, for example: vos sos (instead of tú eres), vos sabés (instead of tú saber), among others.

This dialect is related to the Spanish of the north of Spain, mainly the one spoken in the Basque Country, Asturias and Cantabria. This relationship is observed in different aspects of pronunciation (such as the pronunciation of the “s”).

The coast

The coastal dialect is spoken in the coastal areas of the Caribbean region of the country. This dialect is related to the Spanish spoken in southern Spain, especially the Spanish of Andalusia and the Canary Islands. It also takes elements from other areas of the Caribbean, such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

It differs from the other dialects of Colombia because it does not use voseo, but prefers the use of the personal pronoun "tú".

As for its pronunciation, the coastal dialect is characterized by the gemination of consonants when the "r" is before a consonant. This phenomenon consists of eliminating the "r" and pronouncing the next consonant as if they were two. For example, the words "Ca r Tagena" "ve r ty" and "ce r ca" "Cattagena", "vedda" and "cecca" will say.

Another typical element of this dialect is the elision or aspiration of the final consonants. For example, "s" are aspirated before consonants or at the end of a word. Then, the words "houses" and "crest" would be said "casaj" and "crejta".

On the other hand, the consonants "r" and "d" are dropped when they are at the end of a word. For example, "go out" and "solidarity" would say "I went out" and "solidaridá".

3- The islander

As its name indicates, the island dialect is spoken on the islands of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, located in the Caribbean region of the country. Like the coastal dialect, it combines elements from other Caribbean areas (such as Cuba).

4- The Santander

Santander is a dialect spoken in the east of the country, in the departments of Santander and Norte de Santander.

A characteristic element of this dialect is the differentiation in the pronunciation of "ll" and "y". The use of the pronoun "you" is preferred over "vos" or "tú".

5- The rolo or bogotano

The Bogota dialect, also known as Rolo, is spoken in Bogotá and in some areas of the interior of the country. It resembles the Spanish spoken in Castilla, Spain.

This is seen in the pronunciation of the postvocalic "s", which is never aspirated or removed. A distinction is also made between the pronunciation of “ll” and “y”.

The use of the pronoun "you" is common even among friends. However, in some areas of Boyacá "you" is used in informal situations and "you" in formal cases.

6- The Cundiboyacense

The Cundiboyacense dialect is spoken in the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. In some respects, it resembles the Bogota dialect.

Regarding the pronouns used, the use of "you", "your mercy" and "sumercé" is preferred. However, in the urban areas of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá, the “tú” is used, although not very frequently.

With regard to pronunciation, when the "s" is before vowels, it is pronounced aspirated. Instead of saying "we", he would say "we".

7- The Tolima or Opita

The Tolima dialect, also called opita, is the one spoken in the departments of Huila and Tolima. Regarding its pronunciation, Tolima is characterized by the diphthongation of the hiatuses "eo" and "ea".

For example, instead of saying "real", "fight", "worse" and "worrying", they would say "rial", "peliar", "pior" and "worrying".

8- The vallecaucano or valluno

The Valle del Cauca dialect is typical of the Cauca River Valley. It is characterized by voseo. On the other hand, the pronoun "you" is used in very formal situations.

Regarding pronunciation, the "s" at the end of words may or may not be aspirated. However, the "s" before vowel vowels is often pronounced as a "j".

9- The Andean or pastuso

The Andean dialect is spoken in southwestern Colombia. Regarding its pronunciation, this dialect is characterized by the differentiation between “ll” and “y”.

Furthermore, the “rr” is pronounced in a fricative way, which is typical of the Andean areas of Latin America.

10- The Amazon

The Amazonian dialect is spoken in the south of the country and has an aboriginal influence. It is distinguished by the pronunciation of "j", which is changed to "f" when it is in front of a diphthong formed by "u". For example, instead of "Juan", one would say "Fan".

11- The Chocoano

The Chocoano dialect is spoken in the peaceful part of the country. It is distinguished by the velar pronunciation of the "n" at the end of words. For example, instead of "truck", they would say "camiong."

12- The Llanero

The Llanero dialect is distinguished by the aspiration of the "s" and by the elision of the "d" when it is found between consonants (from "given" to "dao").

References

1. Accents in Colombia. Retrieved on December 29, 2017, from dialectsarchive.com
2. Colombian Dialects. Retrieved on December 29, 2017, from brighthueducation.com
3. Colombian Spanish. Retrieved on December 29, 2017, from wikipedia.org
4. Dialect Studies and Dialects of Spanish in Colombia. Retrieved on December 29, 2017, from scholarsarchive.byu.edu
5. Interesting and confusing aspects of Colombian Spanish. Retrieved on December 29, 2017, from fluentin3months.com
6. The Colombian Spanish Dialect. Retrieved on December 29, 2017, from thetranslationcompany.com
7. The Languages ​​spoken in Colombia. Retrieved on December 29, 2017, from studycountry.com