Hubbry Logo
Mangue languageMangue languageMain
Open search
Mangue language
Community hub
Mangue language
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Mangue language
Mangue language
Mangue language
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia
Mangue
Chorotega
Mánekeme
Native toNicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador
EthnicityMangue, Chorotega, Monimbo
Extinctearly 20th century
Dialects
  • Dirian
  • Nagrandan
  • Choluteca
  • Orotiña
Language codes
ISO 639-3mom
mom
Glottologmoni1237
  Mangue

Mangue, also known as Chorotega,[1] is an extinct Oto-Manguean language ancestral to Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica. Estimates of the ethnic population vary widely, from around 10,000 in 1981,[2] to 210,000 according to Chorotega activists.[3] Chorotega-speaking peoples included the Mangue and Monimbo. The dialects were known as: Mangue proper in western Nicaragua, which was further subdivided into Dirian and Nagrandan; Choluteca in the region of Honduras' Bay of Fonseca; and Orotiña in Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula.[4]

The Oto-Manguean languages are spoken mainly in Mexico and it is thought that the Mangue people moved south from Mexico together with the speakers of Subtiaba and Chiapanec well before the arrival of the Spaniards in the Americas.[5] The timing of this migration is estimated to be between 800 and 1350 AD.[6]

In Guaitil, Costa Rica, the Mangue have been absorbed into the Costa Rican culture, losing their language, but pottery techniques and styles have been preserved.[7][8]

Terminology

[edit]

Some sources list "Choluteca" as an alternative name of the people and their language, and this has caused some (for example Terrence Kaufman 2001) to speculate that they were the original inhabitants of the city of Cholula, who were displaced with the arrival of Nahua people in central Mexico. The etymology for the nomenclature "Chorotega" in this case would come from the Nahuatl language where "Cholōltēcah" means "inhabitants of Cholula", or "people who have fled". The region of southernmost Honduras known as Choluteca, along with Choluteca City, derive their names from this Nahuatl word. Choluteca was originally inhabited by Chorotega groups. Daniel Garrison Brinton argued that the name Chorotega was a Nahuatl exonym meaning "people who fled" given after a defeat by Nahuan forces that split the Chorotega-Mangue people into two groups. He argued that the better nomenclature was Mangue, derived from the group’s endonym mankeme meaning "lords".[1]

Phonology

[edit]

Consonants

[edit]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t k
prenasal ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ
Affricate (ts) (tʃ)
Fricative s h
Nasal m n ɲ
Flap ɾ
Glide w l j

/t, k/ can have allophones [ts, tʃ].

Stop and fricative sounds /p, t, k, s/ can turn voiced [b, d, ɡ, z] after nasal sounds.

Vowels

[edit]

Three vowels are noted /a, i, u/.[9][10] Allophones are also noted.

Sound Allophone
/i/ [i], [ɪ], [e]
/a/ [a], [æ], [ɛ]
/u/ [u], [o], [ʊ]

Phrases

[edit]

Brinton[1] gives a list of Mangue words and phrases some of which are:

The Verb "to be,"

I am, cejo.
Thou art, simuh.
He is, neje sumu.
We are, cis mi muh.

Pronouns.

saho.
My, amba, mba.
He, neje.
She, neja.

Phrases.

Koi murio, It is already dawn.
Koi yujmi, It is already night.
Koi prijpi, It is already growing dark.
Susupusca? How are you?
Ko' mi muya' i ku ? And you, how are you ?
Camo cujmi umyaique, Nasi pujimo camo? There is nothing new; and you, how are you ?
Gusapo, Take a seat
Pami nyumuta, The food is good
Ropia, Come here
Uño I See I
Mis upa'? Where are you going?
Taspo, Yes.
Tapame, Be good.

Brinton also compares the color terms of Mangue and Chiapanec:

Mangue. Chiapanec.
Black, nanzome. dujamä.
White, nandirime. dilimä.
Yellow, nandiume. nandikumä.
Blue or Green nandipame ndipamä
Red, arimbome. nduimä

And a number of Nicaraguan and Costa Rican placenames that come from the Mangue language:

"Nindiria (from ninda - shore, dirn, hill), Nakutiri (from naktu - fire, dirn, hill), Monimbe (ntimbu - water, rain), Nandasinmo (nanda - brook), Mombonasi (nasi - woman), Masaya, Managua, Namotiva, Norome, Diriamba, Nicoya, Oretina"

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Mangue language

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Mangue, also known as Chorotega, is an extinct Oto-Manguean that was spoken by the Mangue (or Chorotega) people in the Pacific coastal regions of and northwestern until its disappearance in the late 19th century. As the southernmost member of the expansive Oto-Manguean family, it belonged to the Chorotegan subgroup, closely related to Chiapanec and part of the broader Tlapanec-Chorotegan branch. The featured a polysynthetic structure with open syllables, three phonemes (/i, u, a/), twelve including prenasalized stops, and contrastive tones, reflecting its incorporative nature similar to other indigenous Mesoamerican tongues. Historically, the Mangue speakers, known as Chorotegas, likely originated from a homeland in Mexico's Valley, possibly linked to the ancient site of Cholula, before migrating southward due to pressures from -speaking groups around the . By the time of Spanish contact in the early , they occupied territories from the Gulf of in northward to Fonseca Bay in , including areas around and Lake Apoyo. The language's documentation began with early colonial records, but systematic study emerged in the 19th century through collections by linguists like E. G. and Carl Berendt, culminating in Daniel G. Brinton's 1887 analysis of surviving vocabulary and grammar fragments. Extinction resulted from colonial disruptions, population decline, and language shift to Spanish and , with no fluent speakers remaining by the . Modern linguistic research continues to reconstruct Mangue's and subgroup affiliations using comparative methods within Otomanguean, aiding in understanding Mesoamerican and cultural migrations. Efforts to revive aspects of Chorotega heritage, including the , persist among descendant communities in , though full revitalization remains challenging due to the scarcity of original materials.

Name and Classification

Terminology

The Mangue language, an extinct member of the Oto-Manguean family, is known by several exonyms and its own endonym, reflecting both indigenous self-identification and external designations imposed by colonial observers. The endonym is Mánekeme, meaning "rulers" or "masters," which Spanish colonizers corrupted to "Mangues," the basis for the modern linguistic designation "Mangue." Alternative names for the language include Chorotega, Dirian, Nagrandan, Choluteca, and Orotiña, often overlapping with ethnic group identifiers for the speakers. The term Chorotega is widely used but derives from , with proposed etymologies including Cholōltēcah, possibly meaning "inhabitants of Cholula," or from choloa ("to flee") combined with tecatl ("people"), denoting "those driven out," a name altered by Spanish speakers. Dirian stems from the Mangue word diri ("hill"), referring to the hilly south of in . Nagrandan, associated with the Subtiaba area, is sometimes distinguished as a separate or closely related variety, while Choluteca and Orotiña denote specific locales or subgroups where the language was spoken. Historical naming by explorers and linguists further shaped these terms, often conflating language and ethnic labels. In the , American archaeologist Ephraim George referred to the speakers as "Chorotegans or Dirians" in his descriptions of Nicaraguan indigenous groups, drawing on colonial vocabularies to document the dialect. Early Spanish chroniclers, such as those citing encounters in the , applied Chorotega broadly to Mangue-speaking peoples across and , without clear separation between linguistic and ethnic nomenclature. This distinction remains important: while "Mangue" primarily denotes the language, names like Chorotega often identify the ethnic groups, with modern communities in areas like 's retaining localized identities such as Monimbo rather than a unified pan-ethnic term.

Linguistic Affiliation

The Mangue language is classified within the Oto-Manguean language phylum, a major indigenous language family of Mesoamerica encompassing over 170 languages primarily spoken in Mexico and Central America. Specifically, Mangue belongs to the Manguean branch, which is now extinct and includes only a few historically documented varieties. This placement is supported by reconstructions of proto-Oto-Manguean forms and subgrouping analyses that position Manguean as one of eight primary branches in the family. Within the Manguean branch, Mangue's closest relatives are Chiapanec, spoken historically in , , forming the Chorotegan subgroup. This subgroup is considered the sister branch to Subtiaba-Tlapanec, with Subtiaba (an extinct Oto-Manguean language once spoken in western ) representing a key relative at the next level of affiliation. Comparative linguistics provides evidence for these relationships through shared lexical items, such as cognates for basic vocabulary like body parts and numerals, and phonological innovations including the use of resonant prefixes (e.g., nasal *n- and *m- elements marking possession or ). These traits distinguish Chorotegan from other Oto-Manguean branches while linking it to the family's broader proto-forms. Debates have persisted regarding whether Mangue and Chorotega—spoken by Chorotega peoples in , , , and —constitute dialects of a single or distinct languages. Early documentation treated them as closely related but separate due to geographic variation, yet modern classifications, based on limited surviving lexical and grammatical data, view Chorotega as a within Mangue rather than a separate entity. The code for Mangue is mom, and its Glottocode is moni1237, reflecting its status as a dormant with no remaining first-language speakers.

History and Distribution

Origins and Migration

The Mangue language belongs to the Chiapanec-Mangue branch of the , with its origins traced to the region in southern , where the proto-Oto-Manguean stock is believed to have developed around 4400 BCE in association with early agricultural communities. This branch includes closely related languages such as Chiapanec, spoken in , and reflects a broader Otomanguean diversification in Mesoamerican highlands. Historical and linguistic evidence indicates that Chiapanec-Mangue speakers undertook a southward migration during the postclassic period, moving from areas south of the Valley of through and into Lower , driven by prehistoric population movements and cultural expansions. Mangue speakers, alongside Subtiaba and Chiapanec groups, settled along the Pacific coast, reaching present-day , , , and , where they integrated into local societies. In pre-Columbian times, Mangue served as a key language in the Chorotega kingdom, centered in western and extending into , supporting political and cultural organization among these communities. The Spanish conquest beginning in the 16th century accelerated the language's decline through forced , population displacement, and policies that suppressed indigenous tongues in favor of Spanish. Mangue lacked a native and had no substantial documentation until the 19th century, when explorers like Ephraim George Squier collected limited vocabularies, followed by more systematic notes in the late 1800s. These factors, combined with intermarriage and economic integration, led to the language's by the late 19th century, though ethnic descendants identifying as Chorotega number approximately 221,000 in as of 2017, with smaller communities in estimated at around 960 as of 2024.

Dialects and Geographic Spread

The Mangue language, also known as Chorotega, featured several recognized dialects that reflected regional variations among its speakers. These included the Dirian and Nagrandan dialects in , the Choluteca dialect in , and the Orotiña dialect in . These dialects were documented through historical linguistic records, distinguishing Mangue from related but separate languages in the Oto-Manguean family. Geographically, Mangue was distributed along the Pacific slopes of , with speakers occupying the Pacific coast of in areas such as Rivas and , the Choluteca department in southern , the in , and portions of western [El Salvador](/page/El Salvador). This spread aligned with pre-colonial migrations of Oto-Manguean groups southward from . Evidence for dialectal variation derives primarily from 19th-century manuscripts compiled by linguist C. Hermann Berendt, which contain comparative vocabularies and phrases demonstrating lexical and structural differences across regions, such as between the Dirian variant and Nicaraguan forms. These materials, later analyzed by scholars like Daniel G. Brinton, underscore the internal diversity of Mangue before its . Despite linguistic , cultural remnants of Mangue-speaking communities persist through absorption into broader Costa Rican , notably in the traditions of Guaitil on the , where Chorotega techniques using local clay and mineral glazes continue to produce ceramics with ancestral motifs. This craft represents a tangible link to Mangue heritage, maintained by descendants in .

Phonology

Consonants

The inventory of Mangue (also known as Chorotega) consists of 12 phonemes, comprising voiceless stops /p, t, k/, prenasalized stops /mb, nd, ŋg/, fricatives /s, h/, nasals /m, n, ɲ/, and one /ɾ/. These phonemes form the core of the language's consonantal system, with prenasalized stops treated as unitary phonemes rather than clusters. Glides /w/ and /j/ occur but have an uncertain phonemic status, potentially functioning as vowels in some contexts. Several consonants exhibit allophonic variation conditioned by adjacent vowels or positions. For instance, /t/ is realized as in most environments but as [ts] or before /u/, as in /tuhmu/ pronounced [ʦuhmu] or [suhmu] meaning "hot" (caliente). The liquid /ɾ/ alternates with in intervocalic position. Prenasalized stops like /mb/ are realized as [mb] but may denasalize to in certain phonetic contexts. Nasals /m/ and /n/ frequently appear as prefixes in word formation, contributing to the language's morphological structure; for example, the word for "water" is nimbu, analyzed as ni-mbu with n- as a possible nominal prefix. Mangue features predominantly open syllables, with no codas in underlying forms, though complex onsets involving prenasalized stops or liquids are permitted (e.g., /mb/, /nd/, /ɲ/). alternation occurs through or variant pronunciations of the same , as in tixämbi or sisambui both denoting "evil spirit" (demonio), where initial s shift while preserving semantic identity. Accent plays a role in distinguishing words that are otherwise segmentally similar, including those with identical consonants; for example, nolō refers to "snake" while nolô means "flower," with the position or quality of accent marking the contrast. This suprasegmental feature interacts with the consonantal frame to resolve potential homophony in the lexicon.

Tones

Mangue features contrastive tones, though their number and precise realization remain undetermined due to limited documentation.

Vowels

The Mangue language, also known as Chorotega, features a simple vowel inventory consisting of three phonemes: /i/, /a/, and /u/. This minimal system is characteristic of many Oto-Manguean languages and contributes to the language's phonological economy, where vowels play a crucial role in distinguishing lexical items despite their limited contrasts. These phonemes exhibit significant allophonic variation, reflecting contextual influences such as surrounding consonants, syllable position, or speaker dialect. The high front vowel /i/ is realized as , [ɪ] (or [ɩ]), or , with the lowered variant appearing more frequently in open syllables or before certain approximants. Similarly, the low central /a/ varies between , [æ], and [ɛ], often centralizing to [ɛ] in stressed positions or near velars, while occasionally approaching in rapid articulation. The high back /u/ surfaces as , , or [ʊ] (or [ɷ]), with mid and centralized forms and [ʊ] common in post-consonantal environments or unstressed syllables. Such variations are largely in free or complementary distribution, leading to frequent vacillations like i ~ e or u ~ o across sources, which underscores the vowels' indistinct quality in the absence of a richer inventory. Prosodically, is not phonemically contrastive but serves a morphological function, particularly in formation, where terminal vowels are lengthened to indicate plurality. This pattern is frequently observed in nominal derivations, often marked orthographically as doubled vowels (e.g., ee or uu). This lengthening aligns with broader allophonic tendencies rather than establishing a distinct phonemic opposition. In , syncopation and further obscure distinctions, with unstressed or terminal vowels pronounced faintly or indistinctly, especially in rapid articulation. An example is the term for "evil spirit," rendered as sisaⁱmbᵘi, where superscripted vowels indicate ephemeral or centralized realizations ([ɪ] and [ʊ]) that blend into surrounding consonants. This syncopation contributes to the language's rhythmic flow but can challenge transcription for non-native analysts. The syllable structure predominantly favors open syllables ending in vowels (CV pattern), reinforcing the vowels' prominence and limiting codas to glides or rare approximants like or . This openness enhances the audibility of vocalic allophones and prosodic features, such as the faint terminal vowels in syncopated forms.

Grammar

Due to the extinction of Mangue and limited historical records, grammatical descriptions are based on fragmentary 19th-century data, primarily from Daniel G. Brinton's analysis.

Morphology

The Mangue language, also known as Chorotega, exhibits a polysynthetic and incorporative morphological structure, where verbs frequently incorporate nouns to form complex words that combine elements such as subject, object, and action into a single unit. This incorporative nature is evident in compound forms like nimbu nyusi ('water-cacao' meaning ''), demonstrating how nominal elements are integrated to derive new lexical items. Such processes allow for concise expression of multifaceted concepts, typical of the language's incorporative tendencies within the Oto-Manguean family. Nouns in Mangue are distinguished by an animate versus inanimate classification, influencing their morphological behavior and agreement patterns. Possession is marked using possessive pronouns such as amba ('my'), which may prefix to the noun or appear in juxtaposition, as in amba nimbu ('my water') or amba ndiro ('my arm'). Additional prefixes such as nyu- or nya- denote independence or nominalization, transforming verbal or adjectival roots into nouns, and are used to mark absolute possession. Plural formation typically involves vowel lengthening at the word's end, though reduplication may also occur in certain contexts. Adjectives generally follow the nouns they modify, maintaining a postpositive order, and the language employs generic classifiers for broad categories, such as nyumbu to refer to any large quadruped (e.g., tiger or deer). The pronominal system includes a distinction in the first-person plural between inclusive and exclusive forms, allowing speakers to specify whether the addressee is included in the group. Basic independent pronouns include saho ('I'), neje ('he'), and neja ('she'), with possessive variants like amba or mba ('my'). These elements integrate into the polysynthetic framework, often prefixing to verbs or nouns to indicate and number.

Syntax

The Mangue language exhibits head-initial syntax, with verb-subject-object (VSO) as the predominant clausal . This head-initial alignment extends to noun phrases, where possessors and modifiers typically follow the head noun. Mangue employs head-marking morphology, particularly on verbs, which incorporate affixes to indicate subject and object arguments, reflecting its polysynthetic and incorporative structure. Verbs can function as polysynthetic units comprising multiple phonological words, allowing complex predicate constructions that bundle tense, aspect, and participant information. Adjectives are placed post-nominally, following the noun they modify, as in typical Oto-Manguean patterns. Questions are formed using particles or prefixes, often at the periphery; for instance, susupusca? serves as a greeting-equivalent to "How are you?". Simple declarative sentences illustrate these features, such as cejo meaning "I am," where the verb incorporates first-person subject marking, and neje sumu translating to "He is," showing third-person subject agreement on the verb. These examples highlight the language's reliance on verbal morphology to convey core syntactic relations without heavy dependence on independent pronouns or alone.

Vocabulary and Phrases

Basic Vocabulary

Historical records provide limited but valuable basic vocabulary for Mangue, compiled from 19th-century sources including , Berendt, and Brinton. Below is a selection of terms organized by category, with English translations.

Numerals

  • 1: tike
  • 2: ha
  • 3: hajmi
  • 10: jendo

Body Parts

  • : ndiro
  • : nyújmi
  • Eye: nate

Animals

  • Dog: nyumbi
  • Tiger: nyumbú
  • Bird: nori

Example Phrases

The Mangue language, also known as Chorotega, is documented through limited historical records, primarily from 19th-century collectors such as George Squier, Carl Hermann Berendt, and Daniel G. Brinton, who compiled phrases from indigenous informants in . These examples illustrate basic conversational elements, descriptive expressions, and verbal conjugations, often reflecting the language's polysynthetic structure where particles like koi indicate completed actions. Transcription varies across sources due to differing orthographic conventions; for instance, Squier (1852) used a more anglicized spelling, while Berendt's manuscripts employed diacritics for and tone, as reconciled and expanded by Brinton (1885). Greetings and basic phrases include Susupusca? ("How are you?"), a common inquiry, with responses like Ko' mi muya' i ku? ("And you, how are you?") or Camo cujmi umyaique ("There is nothing new"). Invitations such as Gusapo ("Take a seat") demonstrate imperative forms used in social interactions. Descriptive phrases highlight temporal and environmental states, such as Koi múrio ("It is already dawn") and Koi yujmi ("It is already night"), where koi functions as a completive particle. Another example is Koi pirami nimbᵘí ("Already comes the rain"), showcasing verb-subject order in intransitive constructions. Verbs of existence, or copulas, follow a pattern of person marking: cejo ("I am"), simuh ("Thou art"), neje sumu ("He is"), and cis mi muh ("We are"), reflecting pronominal prefixes integrated into the root sumu ("to be"). Additional examples from Brinton (1885) include nominal constructions like Nya nyumbi ("The dog"), combining the definite article nya with the noun nyumbi ("dog"), and tike nyumbi ("One dog"), incorporating the numeral tike ("one"). These illustrate possessive and quantificational syntax in simple noun phrases.

References

  1. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/53936/53936-h/53936-h.htm
  2. https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lnc3.12240
  3. http://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2215-26362022000300007&lng=en&nrm=iso
  4. https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lnc3.12244
  5. https://escholarship.org/content/qt49c6j62b/qt49c6j62b.pdf
  6. https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/moni1237
  7. https://archive.org/details/nicaraguaitspeop02squi
  8. https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/chor1275
  9. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/239633040_Oto-Manguean_Languages
  10. https://www.academia.edu/64996963/Essays_in_Otomanguean_Culture_History
  11. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288841782_Language_history_in_South_America_What_we_know_and_how_to_know_more
  12. https://f4dialogue.dk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IWGIA-The-Indigenous-World-2017.pdf
  13. https://iwgia.org/en/costa-rica/5381-iw-2024-costa-rica.html
  14. http://etnolinguistica.wdfiles.com/local--files/hsai:vol6p157-317/vol6p157-317_mason.pdf
  15. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/SERIALSET-05822_00_00-002-0416-0000/pdf/SERIALSET-05822_00_00-002-0416-0000.pdf
  16. https://openn.library.upenn.edu/Data/0002/html/mscoll700_item144.html
  17. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2c6cb0482a9148569a1e2926bc4833f9
  18. https://vozdeguanacaste.com/en/guaitils-pottery-is-national-heritage/
  19. https://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2215-26362022000300007
  20. https://doi.org/10.15517/rk.v46i3.52228
  21. http://www.languagesgulper.com/eng/Otomanguean.html
  22. https://archivo.revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/filyling/article/download/16696/16199/33573
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.