What language did the mexicans speak before the spanish conquered them?
It is not the Spanish, BUT the Spaniards. Well, the Mexicans spoke several dialects, some of them are still used in Mexico. There were the Aztecs, Tlascaltecas, Mayas, and others
What language did Mexicans speak before the Spanish invaded.?
Incan
Are Mexicans Latinos or Hispanic?
I'm of Mexican heritage, and I don't like the term Latino, I can stand it, it's not that bad, but I don't like it.Neither I do like the term Hispanic, although it could be more accurate than Latino.If you want to use the term Latino, you should use the complete term Latin American, because actual Latinos are from Europe,and the same for Hispanic, Hispano Americano, is not that big of a deal it's how I feel.My fellow Americans can think t he same way, for the rest of the World, America is the whole continent, and is not the same for Americans, who separate the Continent.The reason I don't really appreciate the term Latino or Hispanic is because is a really generic term, that plays a roll on making think the Americans that all Latinos are the same, and while I love all my fellow Latin American Brothers out cultural difference is so obvious that some times time I get so infuriated buy me fellow American's calling some one a Culombian from Mexico, or Mexican from Culombia.So Latin American mostly refers to the all the Country's from Mexico to the South.And Hispanics, to the Country's speaking Spanish, so mostly Latin American accept for the one that do not speak Spanish.
What language(s) were spoken in Mexico before Spanish?
Mexico as a country didn’t exist until its independence from Spain in 1821. Before that it used to be a viceroyalty (or two, depending the year) for 300 years. Before that, its lands contained most of the cultural complex called Mesoamérica, where the Aztec Empire and the Purépecha Empire and at least other 6 cultures thrived at that moment. None of them had a written alphabet at the time of the Spanish conquest.In the territory that Mexico occupies today, there are no official languages, although Spanish is the de facto common language being spoken by 97% of the population. There are other +/-68 indigenous languages in use, with Nahuatl and Maya as the ones with the most native speakers. Many have been lost to history.In Mexico, these are the languages that are still spoken since +600 years ago (alphabetic order):Akateko, Amuzgo, Aguacateco, Ayapaneco, Chol, Chatino, Chichimeco, Chinanteco, Chocholteco, Chontal, Chuj, Cora, Cucapá, Cuicateco, Guarijío, Huasteco, Huave, Huichol, Ixcateco, Ixil, Jakalteko, K’iche’, Kaqchikel, Kickapoo, Kiliwa, Kumiai, Lacandón, Mam, Matlatzinca, Maya, Mayo, Mazahua, Mazateco, Mixe, Mixteco, Náhuatl, Oluteco, Otomí, Paipai, Pame, Pápago, Pima, Popoloca, Popoluca, Q’anjob’al, Q’eqchi’, Qato'k, Sayulteco, Seri, Tarahumara, Tarasco, Teko, Tepehua, Tepehuano, Texistepequeño, Tlahuica, Tlapaneco, Tojolabal, Totonaco, Triqui, Tseltal, Tsotsil, Yaqui, Zapoteco, and Zoque.(And Spanish and English)Statistics say that 6.8 million persons (out of 12om) speak one of these languages. I suspect there are more, but hide it on purpose due to racism against indigenous people. You can hear a lot of Maya being spoken in the Yucatán Península though.Mexican Spanish has hundreds of words adopted from these languages in daily usage.
Why do most people in Latin America speak Spanish or Portuguese instead of the indigenous languages?
Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus) arrived to the Caribbean islands in 1492. He was sailing under a commission of the very fresh Spanish crown, to find an alternative route to India, China and Japan. His prize was being governor of the lands, and a part of the That was the reason why the inhabitants of the territories were called "indios".Short after Colombo's arrival, the Portuguese crown also made arrangements to explore the new territories. This provoked a conflict among Spain and Portugal regarding who was allowed to occupy and exploit the new lands. This escalated in diverse forms, until it was requested a decision to the Pope. It was Alexander VI who took a first decision on how to assign those territories to Spain and Portugal. As it wasn't satisfactory to Portugal, a series of later bulls, finished in the Treaty of Tordesillas, among both crowns. It divided non-christian world in two parts, using a meridian 370 leagues west from Cape Verde islands, in the Atlantic. Western of that line, all lands belonged to Spain. Eastern from that line, all lines belonged to Portugal.This drove to a development where territories in American continent were divided among both empires. You can see in the following map how were occupied those territories:In the Spanish colonies, Spanish was the official language. The same happened in the future Brazil with the Portuguese language. People were taught at school in the language of the colonial power. Indigenous languages were refused in the official and commerce use (as commerce was also regulated by the central powers). When the independence wars were finished, during 19th century, old colonial languages were what people had in common, after 400 years of colonial dominance.
Are mexicans latinos?
Ok so I notice a lot of times on these boards there's an over abundance of ignorance and misinformation when it comes to this subject. I'll start by answering your question in semi-short form: The word Hispanic is incorrect and offensive, Latino is still incorrect but not as offensive. We are Native American, we have been here for over 35,000 years (to be conservative). We have the highest population of PURE blooded Native Americans than any other Native American group. (If you work the percentage of pure Indigenous leniage to the total population of Mexicans both mixed and not compare it to ANY other Native American population) Now to go into detail. Now I hope as many people read this as possible. Lets start with the word Mexican. Mexican derives from the Native American word Mexica. Mexicans derive primarily from the Uto-Aztecan group of Native Americans who when the Indigenous people of the "Americas" populated this land inhabited both the Western U.S. and Northern Mexico. (As far North as Oregon and as far East as New Mexico) So let me clarify, the debate that we are only Native to Mexico is false because our heritage has roots in the modern day U.S. as well as Mexico. There are also "Native American Indians" who inhabited both the U.S. and Mexico. That argument is nothing more than a manipulation. We are not Spanish or European although a large part of our population does have some of the fore mentioned in their blood line. But let me also bring this to your attention, if you are 90 percent Mexican and 10 percent white how much of an impact does that have truely on being Mexican? Any ways our native tongue is not spanish, we have a diverse set of Indigenous languages that are very closely related those of the "Native American Indians". The most commonly spoken is Nahuatl. I'm getting tired of typing but let me end my post with this. We (Mexicans/Mexica) ARE Native Americans, and although many try to rob us of this title the fact remains. We have suffered many travesties and injustices over the past 500 years and it is one of my biggest prayers that one day we can all live in peace without prejudice and ignorance. Thank You.
Who forced Mexicans to speak Spanish?
Thanks for your A2A: Who forced Mexicans to speak Spanish?Well, history did. Why do I say this?Mexico was conquered by the Spaniards between 1519 and 1521. The crown of Spain sent armies of soldiers to basically annex what is today’s Mexico and some other lands in the western side of the world.Those conquerors spoke Spanish, perhaps old forms of Spanish and that is what they brought to Mexico to eventually communicate with the local people who were the inhabitants of the land way before the Spaniards arrived. While I don’t think that the local natives were formally “forced” to speak Spanish, per se,… since the conquerors won the battles and ultimately the rule of the land, well, there was not much to do but to learn and adopt Spanish as the “official” (by the way, there is no official language decreed anywhere in Mexico…same as English is NOT official language in the USA) or I shall say “formal” language of the “Nueva España”…which eventually will become Mexico.I guess this is exactly the same situation that happened with the American native indians who spoke their own languages, Navajo comes to my mind…and eventually the 13 colonies of British people came in…they fought, the brits won and guess what? they ended up adopting English as their language.
Why do some people think Mexican is a language? and why do some people think all Spaniards speak Spanish?
funny, isn't it?? Mexicans never had their own language, they speak Spanish, but sometimes my friends see some Latinos talking to each other in Spanish and then they whisper "listen, isn't it Mexican? It sounds like they speak Mexican. They look like they are Mexican." And I was like "Is Mexican a language???" my other question is why do some people think all Spaniards speak Spanish? I have no idea. Once me and a friend were talking with a tourist and at the end we asked him "were are you from?" he said he was from Spain, and my friend automatically said "oh, we study Spanish at school" yes we do but not all Spaniards speak Spanish,...my friend tried to say some words but the man didn't understand anyways because he speaks Gallego "I speak Gallego, not Spanish". Hahah it was funny because my friend didn't understand a f*** in Spain people speak Castilian (what we call Spanish), or Catalan, Gallego, Euskera, etc.