Several of Costa Rica’s Indigenous languages are at risk of disappearing as the number of fluent speakers declines and younger generations increasingly grow up speaking Spanish. The concern received renewed attention today, as Costa Rica observed the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
Costa Rica is home to eight recognized Indigenous peoples: Bribri, Cabécar, Maleku, Brunca or Boruca, Brörán, Ngäbe, Buglé and Chorotega. Their languages have survived centuries of displacement, discrimination and pressure from Spanish, but their situations now vary sharply from one community to another.
Cabécar and Bribri remain the country’s most widely spoken Indigenous languages, with more than 8,000 speakers each, according to estimates cited by researchers. Both continue to be used in everyday life in several communities, particularly in Talamanca and southern Costa Rica.
However, even these comparatively strong languages face long-term pressure. Spanish dominates schools, government services, media and employment, while migration outside Indigenous territories can make it harder for families to pass their languages to children.
The situation is more serious for Buglere and for Miskito, which is spoken by members of a community with roots elsewhere in Central America. Both have relatively small numbers of speakers in Costa Rica, leaving them particularly vulnerable when younger people stop using them.
Boruca and Brörán have reached an even more critical stage. Researchers say neither currently has native speakers who learned the language naturally as their first language at home, although some community members retain partial knowledge and continue working to recover vocabulary, pronunciation and traditional expressions.
That distinction is important. A language may no longer have native speakers but can still be taught, documented and reclaimed by descendants. Revitalization programs can use recordings, dictionaries, educational materials and the knowledge of community members who remember portions of the language.
Costa Rican universities have worked with Indigenous communities to create illustrated encyclopedias, dictionaries, grammars and teaching materials. Digital archives have also made recordings and written resources more widely available. Schools inside Indigenous territories can play a central role, but classroom instruction alone is unlikely to preserve a language if children do not hear and use it regularly at home and in the community.
Researchers have warned that the loss of an Indigenous language reaches far beyond vocabulary. Languages carry oral histories, place names, spiritual traditions, agricultural practices and knowledge about forests, rivers, medicinal plants and wildlife. When a language disappears, some of that knowledge may become difficult or impossible to translate fully into Spanish.
The decline is tied to a long history of Indigenous people being discouraged or punished for speaking their languages. In some families, parents stopped teaching their children as a way to protect them from discrimination or improve their prospects in Spanish-speaking schools and workplaces.
That pattern created gaps between generations. Older relatives may remain fluent while children and grandchildren understand only parts of the language or do not speak it at all.
Revitalization efforts increasingly focus on reversing that break by encouraging children to use Indigenous languages in ordinary settings rather than treating them only as subjects studied at school. Costa Rica’s Constitution recognizes the country as a multiethnic and multicultural nation, but advocates say preservation will require sustained funding, properly trained Indigenous-language teachers and programs designed with each community.
There is no single solution because every language faces different circumstances. Bribri and Cabécar need stronger transmission to new generations, while Boruca and Brörán require more intensive recovery efforts based on surviving records and community knowledge. The future of these languages will ultimately depend on whether younger Indigenous Costa Ricans have meaningful opportunities to learn, speak and value them in daily life.
