[3] The variations among different speaker groups of the same language can be lexical (vocabulary), phonological (pronunciation), morphological (word forms), or in the use of syntax (grammar).

From the colonial times and periods and also during most of the 19th century and until 1903, and even though there are still lexical similarities shared by the two countries (e.g., pelao in both Colombia and Panama means "kid" or "child"), phonetically, Panamanian Spanish is very similar with the Spanish as spoken in the coastal areas around the Caribbean, specifically Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean coasts of Colombia and Venezuela.

The aspiration is also observed in the coastal regions of Peru and Ecuador; in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay; and in Andalusia and the Canary Islands of Spain.

In the Costa Arriba of Colón Province, some verbs are found with prothetic vowels and prefixes: arrecordar for recordar 'remember', entodavía for todavía, arrebuscar for rebuscar 'look for'.

[8] Lexically, Panamanian Spanish presents a variety of new terms introduced and being incorporated into the daily language all the time.

The following quotation shows some common Panamanian expressions:[9] "Vecina, yo no soy vidajena, y no me gusta esa vaina ... pero te voy a contar un bochinche... pero si me das de comer un poco de chicheme, concolón, carimañola, sancocho y mondongo.... Ese man flacuchento y ñato vestido de guayabera azul y sombrero montuno que viene allí ... Su motete ya no tiene ñame, guineo ni guandú.

Según la comadre fula radiobemba, el cambio en ese lapé no se debe a una macuá ..." [Note: lapé = pelao ("boy") (vesre)] Panamanians sometimes use loanwords from English, partly due to the prolonged existence of the Panama Canal Zone.