VARILEX: Lexical Variation of Spanish Around the World
Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. With hundreds of millions of speakers across various continents, this language has been influenced by a vast cultural and linguistic network shaped by different societies, histories, and identities. Although Spanish speakers share a common linguistic ground, the language displays an exceptional diversity depending on the region where it is spoken.
One of the most visible forms of this diversity can be found in the vocabulary. Words used to describe everyday objects, actions, or ideas often vary from one country to another. For example, the word for “car” might be coche in Spain, but auto, carro or máquina in different regions of Latin America. Such differences demonstrate how languages develop uniquely across geographic and cultural environments.
The research project Varilex (Variación léxica del español en el mundo) focuses precisely on this phenomenon. Varilex aims to study the lexical variation of Spanish across the world in order to analyze how vocabulary differs between Spanish-speaking countries as well as to document that variation systematically.
Spanish is considered a pluricentric language with multiple distinct and codified standard varieties used in different countries or regions. Unlike languages that are strongly centralized in one country, Spanish has developed simultaneously in many regions including Spain, Latin America, parts of Africa, as well as communities in the United States and Asia. Because of this global distribution, words that are common in one region may be rare or even unknown in another. Varilex aims to map these differences and explore the relationships between regional varieties. The project addresses the following research objectives:
- Identifying and analyzing the degree of similarity and difference between Spanish varieties worldwide,
- determining the geographical boundaries of specific linguistic features, and
- creating a large linguistic database documenting lexical variation across Spanish-speaking communities.
To achieve those goals, data are collected through surveys in numerous cities around the world. Participants are asked what words they use for specific concepts in everyday life. These responses are then analyzed and compared across the different countries studied. The result is a comprehensive data set of lexical variation in Spanish, revealing patterns of similarity and differences among its varieties.

Image credit: VARILEX-R, Hiroto Ueda and Francisco Moreno-Fernández
Varilex was initiated in the 1990s by Prof. Dr. Hiroto Ueda at the University of Tokyo. Later, HCIAS Prof. Dr. Francisco Moreno-Fernández joined the project as co-director. Together they developed an international network of researchers interested in documenting and analyzing the variation of Spanish vocabulary.
The project emerged by different motivations including:
- The multinational nature of Spanish. Due to the vast geographic area where Spanish is spoken, Varilex was designed as an international collaboration involving linguists from various countries.
- The lack of a comprehensive database. Before Varilex, most studies on Spanish lexical variation focused on specific regions or limited sets of words. There was no extensive database that systematically compared vocabulary across the entire Spanish-speaking world.
- Advances in technology. Another important factor was the development of digital technologies which allowed researchers to manage complex datasets and identify patterns that would have been difficult to observe in earlier decades.
During the first phase of the project, from 1991 to 2005, Varilex focused on collecting lexical data from 21 Spanish-speaking countries. The standardized questionnaires covered an extensive number of everyday concepts such as clothing, household objects, food and beverages, transportation, and daily activities. The data collected allowed researchers to produce an initial dialectal mapping of Spanish vocabulary.
In 2015, the project entered a new stage known as Varilex-R, in which the previously collected materials were reviewed and updated with the help of researchers from across all the 21 Spanish-speaking countries. The project developed a comprehensive database containing more than 10,000 linguistic data points, 981 lexical concepts and survey responses from 61 cities in 21 Spanish-speaking countries. This database became freely accessible online, thus allowing users to search and explore lexical variations through an intuitive interface.
Since 2021, the project has developed further into Varilex XXV. This stage focuses on modernizing Varilex and adapting it to the digital era. Key developments include the revision of the original questionnaires, the full digitalization of the dataset, online surveys for data collection, and continuous updates reflecting linguistic changes. These innovations ensure that the project remains relevant and accessible while keeping pace with technological and linguistic developments.

Image credit: Varilex XXV and HCIAS
Research outcomes
Using the Varilex-R database, Moreno-Fernández and Ueda (2018) applied statistical techniques to study the degree of linguistic homogeneity or heterogeneity among Spanish-speaking countries and to identify regions with particularly distinctive linguistic features. Those analyses combined data from several linguistic levels (lexicon, grammar, and phraseology) and adopted a holistic perspective. That study showed that most Spanish-speaking countries converge within a relatively compact space of linguistic diversity that is characterized by a balance between shared and region-specific forms. The findings provide an explanation of the strong sense of community among Spanish speakers worldwide and the widespread perception of a shared linguistic identity.
Further use of this data allowed Moreno (2020) to present a systematic list of the “-isms”, regionally characteristic linguistic features, identified in the database for each of the 21 Spanish-speaking country analyzed.
In the latest publication of the project, Moreno and Weckesser (2025) examined lexical variation across Spanish-speaking countries using quantitative methods and data from the Varilex-R database. This analysis identifies patterns of similarity and distance between countries and regions, which detects six major lexical areas (Spain-Equatorial Guinea, Mexico-Caribbean, Central America, Andes, Río de la Plata, and Chile). A more detailed examination shows additional lexical complexity in Central America and particular differences in Venezuela and Ecuador. The results highlight that lexical diversity in Spanish is shaped not only by geographical proximity but also by historical and sociocultural factors.
To conclude, Varilex provides valuable resources for linguists, educators, students, and anyone interested in the Spanish language. Its contributions extend beyond academic research and help deepen our understanding of linguistic diversity.
Bibliographic references:
Moreno-Fernández, F. (2020). Los «ismos» nacionales de la lengua española. Listado por países. Botelín de la Real Academia Española (BRAE), 100(322), 543-614.
Moreno-Fernández, F., & Ueda, H. (2018). Cohesion and Particularity in the Spanish Dialect Continuum. Open Linguistics, 4(1), 722-742. https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2018-0035
Moreno-Fernández, F., & Weckesser, J. (2025). Estratos de distanciamento léxico en español. Análisis dialectométrico. Asterisco: Revista De lingüística española, 3, 55-78. https://doi.org/10.14201/ast.202535578
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Jana Weckesser is a doctoral researcher in sociolinguistics as well as member of the research group “Communication and Society in Ibero-America” and the Observatory of Spanish in Europe at the HCIAS, where she researches the perception of German, Romanian, Spanish, and Catalan languages among German and Romanian immigrant communities as well as the Spanish host community.
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OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Jana Weckesser (April 22, 2026). VARILEX: Lexical Variation of Spanish Around the World. HCIAS Blog. Retrieved May 11, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/16478
