Searching for the sociolinguistic history of Afro-Panamanian Congo speech
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John M. Lipski
Abstract
Among the surviving Afro-Hispanic linguistic manifestations, one of the most difficult to trace historically is the speech of the Congos of Panama’s Caribbean coast, who maintain a series of folkloric manifestations occurring during Carnival season that includes a special language. According to oral tradition, Congo speech was devised among captive and maroon Africans in colonial Panama as a means of hiding their speech from their colonial masters. Putting together the contemporary variation in Congo speech and what diachronic developments can be extrapolated, a complex picture emerges that cannot be easily resolved with the notion that this dialect developed exclusively as a cryptolect in contact with Spanish colonists. The present study offers a plausible scenario, based on synchronic variation and available historical documentation.
Abstract
Among the surviving Afro-Hispanic linguistic manifestations, one of the most difficult to trace historically is the speech of the Congos of Panama’s Caribbean coast, who maintain a series of folkloric manifestations occurring during Carnival season that includes a special language. According to oral tradition, Congo speech was devised among captive and maroon Africans in colonial Panama as a means of hiding their speech from their colonial masters. Putting together the contemporary variation in Congo speech and what diachronic developments can be extrapolated, a complex picture emerges that cannot be easily resolved with the notion that this dialect developed exclusively as a cryptolect in contact with Spanish colonists. The present study offers a plausible scenario, based on synchronic variation and available historical documentation.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- New perspectives on Spanish socio-historical linguistics 1
-
Section I. Socio-historical features in isolation and contact
- Complexification of the early modern Spanish address system: A role for koineization? 17
- Personal vs. personalized infinitives in Ibero-Romance 49
- Language variation and change through an experimental lens 77
- Adult language and dialect learning as simultaneous environmental triggers for language change in Spanish 103
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Section II. Socio-historical varieties in isolation and contact
- Searching for the sociolinguistic history of Afro-Panamanian Congo speech 141
- A socio-historical perspective on the origin and evolution of two Afro-Andean vernaculars 163
- Vamos en Palma ‘we are going to Palma’ 185
- Anthroponymic perseverance of Spanish vestigial 〈x〉 205
- Index of subjects 231
- Index of varieties, languages, and language families 235
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- New perspectives on Spanish socio-historical linguistics 1
-
Section I. Socio-historical features in isolation and contact
- Complexification of the early modern Spanish address system: A role for koineization? 17
- Personal vs. personalized infinitives in Ibero-Romance 49
- Language variation and change through an experimental lens 77
- Adult language and dialect learning as simultaneous environmental triggers for language change in Spanish 103
-
Section II. Socio-historical varieties in isolation and contact
- Searching for the sociolinguistic history of Afro-Panamanian Congo speech 141
- A socio-historical perspective on the origin and evolution of two Afro-Andean vernaculars 163
- Vamos en Palma ‘we are going to Palma’ 185
- Anthroponymic perseverance of Spanish vestigial 〈x〉 205
- Index of subjects 231
- Index of varieties, languages, and language families 235
