How many languages are spoken in South America?

Answer 1

Language in South America
Spanish is the most widespreaded language in the continent, as Spanish is the official language of most South American countries, however, the majority of South Americans speak Portuguese, as it's the official language of Brazil, which holds about the 51% of the South American population. Dutch is the official language of Suriname; English is the official language of Guyana, and French is the official language of French Guiana.

Indigenous languages of South America include, among several others, Quechua in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador; Guaraní in Paraguay and, to a much less extent, in Bolivia; Aymara in Bolivia, Peru and less often in Chile, while Mapudungun is spoken in certain pockets of southern Chile and, more rarely, Argentina.

Other languages found in South America include Hindi and Indonesian in Suriname; Italian in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Colombia; and German in certain pockets in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia and Paraguay. Welsh remains spoken and written in the historic towns of Trelew and Rawson in the Argentinean Patagonia. There are also small clusters of Japanese-speakers in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru and Ecuador. Arabic speakers, often of Lebanese, Syrian or Palestinian descent, can be found in Arab communities in Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and less frequently in Chile.

Answer 2

South America Languages

Answer 3

South American Languages

Answer 4

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RE:
How many languages are spoken in South America?

Answer 5

You'll find Spanish (most of them), Portuguese (Brazil), French (French Guiana) and Dutch (Surinam), English (Guyana, Falkland Islands and South Georgia) are the main language in most of the countries.
However you have to consider the native languages which are still spoken in many different countries:
Quechua (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and parts of Colombia, Chile and Argentina); Aymara (Bolivia, Peru, Chile and Argentina); Tupi-Guarani (Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina); Araucanian (Chile, Argentina); Mataguayo (Argentina); Aguaruna (Peru).

There's a bigger list of still alive languages in this link, even though they are missing some of them http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_languages_of_the_Americas#South_America

You still have to consider the languages introduced by immigrants during the last centuries (Japanese, Chinese, German, Italian, Bantu, Polish, etc.) which would pretty much make our list even bigger.

BTW, many of those countries have more than one official language in their constitutions.

Answer 6

-Spanish is the official language of the most South American countries.
-Portuguese in Brazil
-Dutch in Suriname
-English in Guyana
-French in French Guiana
-German can be found in some places of Brazil, Argentina, Chile,..
-Welsh is spoken in Trelew and Rawson (Argentinian Patagonia)
-Japanese in some places in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru and Equador.
-Arabic in arab communities in Brazil, COlombia, Argentina and Chile.
And you have to take into account also the precolumbian languages that are still spoken in some countries like Mapuche in Chile

Answer 7

And that list doesn't include the fact that most people speak Spanish or Portuguese, with some speaking English, French, Dutch and there is even a Welsh speaking population in Patagonia.

Answer 8

5 languages are the official languages of these countries:
Brazil -portuguese
Guyana=english
french guiana - french
surinam - dutch
all the others have spanish as the official languages
Many other languages are spoken by indians in various countries but they are not official languages

Answer 9

You raise some good points here.

Answer 10

A lot