With more than 16 million inhabitants, Guatemala is south of Mexico and northwest of Honduras and El Salvador. The Central American country is known for its natural beauty, including a diverse ecosystem that includes mountains, rain forests, and volcanic volcanoes. It’s considered the heart of Mayan heritage and culture, offering a rich tapestry of culture and history. Guatemala is also known for its vibrant culture and traditions.
In addition to more than 20 Mayan and Indigenous languages, Spanish is the official and most-spoken language of Guatemala. There are also many accents spoken in the country, which can make accent softening a necessity in the call center and other industries. Here are the top accents.
What is an Accent?
Let’s start there. An accent is how a person pronounces a language. It can reveal the speaker’s ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographical background.
We all have an accent even if you never considered the possibility. If you’re from Massachusetts, for example, imagine how you must sound to someone living in Mississippi.
Guatemala’s Linguistic History
The country’s linguistic landscape highlights a deep history of Indigenous Mayan languages and Spanish, introduced by the Spanish colonists in the 16th century and gradually became dominant. More than 90% of the population speaks the language.
In the pre-Columbian period, Guatemala was home to varying Mayan civilizations and their languages. In the post-colonial era, Mayan languages continue to persist despite the dominance of Spanish. In fact, many Guatemalans speak both Spanish and a Mayan language, a bilingualism the government supports. Still, Mayan languages face challenges due to pressures of social and economic mobility, which favor Spanish.
Notable Accents of Guatemala
Linguists commonly categorize the Spanish of Guatemala into regional zones and distinguishing features. With that said, here are the country’s primary accentual and dialectal features.
Guatemalan Spanish (Central American Spanish)
The most widely spoken accent, Guatemalan Spanish has a neutral, clear pronunciation. Depending on the formality of use, the accent also uses “usted,” “tu,” and “vos.”
Unique features include yeismo (pronouncing “ll” and “y” as “i”), and sesio (pronouncing soft “c” and “z” as “s.” They also include a weakening of final “s” sounds and the pronunciation of “x” as “sh.”
Guatemalan Spanish incorporates many Mayan expressions and words and often uses diminutives.
Alta Verapaz and Baja Verapaz (Central-Northern Regions)
The Mayan languages Poqomchi and Q’eqchi’ strongly influence these accents, which feature the use of distinct local expressions as well as Indigenous words. The use of a trilled “r” sound echoes Mayan language phonetics. Some speakers may supplant the long “e” vowel with the short “i” vowel turning “keet” into “kit,” for example.
Western Highlands (Quetzaltenango/Xela)
Mam, K’iche’, and other Mayan languages heavily influence this accent, which also features the pronunciation of “x” as “sh” (for example, “Xela” becomes “She-la.” Western Highlands also uses Indigenous vocabulary and expressions. In more remote areas, Spanish is often a second language, pronounced with influences from the native tongues of Indigenous-dominated towns.
Northern (Peten and northern lowlands)
Influenced by nearby Mexico and Belize, this accent is known for its relaxed, slower pace. There are some vocabulary differences here as well as a softer intonation than the uniform Spanish language, and the Mayan languages’ influence is strong. The Spanish spoken in the northern area is closer to Mexican Spanish than to the Spanish of El Salvador or Honduras.
Eastern (Zacapa, Chiquimula, and eastern regions)
This accent shares some features with nearby El Salvador and Honduras and has a different vocabulary and intonation. The use of “vos” is common, and Spanish in eastern Guatemala features seseo, meaning there is no distinction between the “s” and “o” sounds, with both letters pronounced as “s.”
Southern (Pacific Coast)
Spanish in this area is influenced by Indigenous languages and coastal dialects. It features some unique slangs and expressions as well as a softer pronunciation of consonants. In this region, the letter “j” is pronounced as a soft glottal sound, like the “h” in the English “hello.” Also, the word-final “n” is spoken as a velar nasal, making “bien” sound like “bieng.”
Indigenous Language Influence (Across Regions)
Rather than a single accent, this is the pervasive spoken influence of more than 20 Mayan languages. In many communities, this influence has created unique pronunciations and vocabularies, including “x” as “sh.” It incorporates the use of Indigenous words and, at times, varying intonation patterns. Examples include terms such as “pisto” (cash), “chumpa” (jacket), and “patojo” (child), all of which reflect Indigenous origins.
Accent Reduction, Call Centers, and Tomato.ai
Despite Guatemala’s rich mosaic of languages, people often judge others by how they speak. That’s just how it is. It’s also common for those who have “unfavorable” speaking patterns to find their accent a barrier to employment.
That is especially true for roles that require a lot of verbal communication. The role of call center agent is a prime example. For many offshore representatives, English is a second, third, or sometimes even fourth language. Callers often consider such accents “foreign” or undesirable. Consequently, they often treat agents impatiently and rudely, and sometimes even question their competence. That’s where accent reduction can come into play.
With its accent softening tool, Tomato.ai has the answer. Its AI linguistic filter clarifies offshore agents’ voices in real time, changing words into those that sound to callers like a language’s native speaker. The result of accent neutralization is better customer experiences, perceived intelligibility, and call center performance.
Request a demo today to hear for yourself.