| Also Known As: Lengua,Palenque,Palenquero
Description:
Palenquero (also palenque) is a Spanish-based creole language spoken in Colombia. Palenquero is the only Spanish-based creole in Latin America. The ethnic group which speaks this Creole consists only of 3,000 people, as of 2007. Palenquero is spoken in Colombia, in the village of San Basilio de Palenque which is southeast of Cartagena, and in some neighborhoods of Barranquilla.
The village was formed by escaped slaves (Maroons) and sometimes Native Americans. Since many slaves had not been subjected to a lot of contact with people of European descent, the palenqueros spoke Creole languages constructed from the Spanish language and their own African ones.
Spanish speakers are usually unable to understand Palenquero. Ten percent of the population under 25 years of age speaks Palenquero, as of 1998. It is more commonly spoken by the elderly. There are some influences from Kongo, which is spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Palenquero words like "ngombe," which means cattle, are found in several Bantu languages.
International Herald Tribune: Simon Romero, "A little-known language survives in Colombia", 17 October 2007 - discusses the current decline of the language..... full article at Wikipedia |
