The Colombian Spanish dialect is a variation of the Spanish language spoken in Colombia. For other Latin Americans, Colombian Spanish represents a superior form which is more refined, more classical than the ones they actually speak. The Colombian Spanish dialect came to be that way because the Colombian capital of Bogota, even as a Spanish colony, was an important viceroyalty, important enough to acquire its own university for higher learning, as well as other cultural and religious institutions. This meant the arrival of clerics, academics and administrators from Spain, many of whom spoke an educated variety of Spanish. This was important and influential in the development of the Colombian Spanish dialect.

The Colombian Spanish dialect displays many similarities to the Spanish spoken in Spain, as well as in other Spanish colonies. For example, the pronunciation of “j” is centered in the pharynx, the pronunciation of “ch” has a pronounced prepalatal articulation, as in “y,” there is no phonological difference between the pronunciation of “b” and “v,” and there is no difference between “C / Z” and “S.” The dissimilarities between Standard Spanish and the Colombian Spanish dialect are the following: the occlusive consonants /b, d, g/ /b/ (“b” or “v”), /d/ (“d”) and /g/ (“g” or “gu”) in the general Spanish have phonetic changes when pronounced after other consonants, thus becoming fricatives. This phenomenon is absent from the Colombian Spanish dialect, where the occlusive consonants remain occlusive. In Bogota, the use of the informal “tu” is very limited; even when talking with very close relatives, the pronoun “usted” is used, even though it is typically reserved for formal address in many other Spanish speaking nations. Paradoxically, in intra-family speech, it is common to address the husband as “mijo,” which is an abbreviation for “my son,” and the wife as “mija,” denoting “my daughter.”

The Colombian Spanish dialect comprises several other dialects as well. The Paisa dialect is spoken in the Colombian coffee producing areas of Antioquia, Quindio, Risaralda and Caldas. Paisa people speak Spanish with a distinct Castilian sounding “S.” The Rolo dialect of Bogota, also called cachaco (“educated” or “refined”), and the related Cundiboyacense dialect are spoken in the highlands of Altiplano Cundibovacense. Some people from Bogota pride themselves in saying that it is the purest form of Spanish, due to the supposed lack of intonation when it is spoken.

The Caribbean or Coastal (costeno) dialect is spoken by the Caribbean people in the Caribbean Region of Colombia. It is characterized by the suppression of the terminal /s/, and the /s/ followed by consonant, for example, cohta instead of costa. The Valley Dialect is spoken in the valley of the Cauca River between the Occidental and Central Cordilleras. The Andean or Pastuso dialect is spoken in the southwest area of the country.