| Mosquitian Creole | |
|---|---|
 A sign on aJehovah's Witnesses'Kingdom Hall in Creole, Spanish and Miskito | |
| Native to | Mosquitia |
Native speakers | ~100,000[1] |
English Creole
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bzk |
| Glottolog | nica1252 |
| ELP | Nicaragua Creole English |
| Linguasphere | 52-ABB-af |
Mosquitian Creole is anEnglish-based creole language spoken inMosquitia, with approximately 100,000 speakers.[2][2]It is nearly identical to, andmutually intelligible withBelizean Creole, and maintains a high degree of intelligibility with all otherCaribbean English. Although sometimes classified as a dialect ofJamaican Patois, this classification remains disputed. The language incorporates significant lexical and phonological influences from theMiskito language as well as from West and Central African languages.
Speakers of Mosquitian Creole are primarily persons ofAfrican,Amerindian, andEuropean descent in the towns and on the offshore islands of theMosquitia. The main concentration of speakers are inBluefields,Pearl Lagoon,Moin, the offshoreCorn Islands, andSan Andres, as well as other smaller coastal communities.[3]
Most of the creole speakers are located along the banks of the large rivers and lagoons that surround the area. Inland, the language is spoken in the "mining triangle" which compromisesSiuna,Bonanza andRosita on thePrinzapolka River. On the Pacific coast, there are small numbers of speakers inCorinto,Puerto Sandino, and the Nicaraguan capital ofManagua. A smaller portion of the population stays in large towns along the northern Caribbean coast ofNicaragua, as well as other neighboring Central American countries.[4]
Rama Cay Creole is a variety of the language spoken by theRama people onRama Cay, an island in the Bluefields Lagoon.
The environment is that of atropical rainforest with an average rainfall of 448 centimeters and temperatures that range 26.4 °C (79 °F) and up.[4]
| Location | Number of speakers |
|---|---|
| Bluefields | 11,258 |
| Corn Islands | 3,030 |
| Pearl Lagoon | 1,285 |
| Bilwi | 1,733 |
| Other locations | 8,417 |
| Total | 25,723 |
African slaves were shipwrecked on theMoskitian Shore as early as 1636, which started the interaction between them and the localMiskito population.
The modern-day Creoles' ancestors came as escapees fromshipwreckedslave ships fromAfrica between the 17th and the late 18th centuries. The escapees went to the jungles and soon formed relations with the localIndigenous tribes andintermarried.[6] The Coast was officially under Britishprotection from 1740 to 1787 according to theTreaty of Friendship and Alliance with theKingdom of Mosquitia and remained under British influence until the late 19th century.[citation needed]
While they were here, the African population renewed and transformed its culture and traits by taking elements of its African culture and mixing it withEuropean culture along with the local Indian tribes which created a new culture.[4] In 1787, the British abandoned their claims on theMosquito coast in a treaty that was put forth.[6] Slaves who ran away or were abandoned on the Miskito Coast of Honduras would build their own maroon communities along the coast and inland.[1] Slaves in Nicaragua who ran away or who were abandoned had made their own African communities at Bluefields.[6] Many escaped slaves from other islands had also come over to the area to settle down.[6]Great Britain signed the Treaty of Managua which gave a portion of an area to the natives there and allowed it to be self-governed.[6] That allowed for the African communities to grow and flourish.[6] Their culture became solid after it had gained economic, political and social control over the Mosquito Coast.[4] The people in the communities then began to start calling themselvesCreoles.[6]
In the mid-19th century, more English- or Creole-speaking laborers, primarily from Jamaica, were brought to the Coast as laborers. However, following the 1894 formal annexation of the Miskito Kingdom by Nicaragua, an increasing number of Spanish-speakers migrated to the area.[citation needed]
The 1987Constitution of Nicaragua granted autonomy to theZelaya Department as twoautonomous regions of theNorth and theSouth Caribbean Coast. The autonomous status has allowed for the promotion and the development of the languages of the Caribbean Coast and as of 1992[update], there was an education in English and Spanish, as well as education in indigenous languages.[citation needed]
By the late 20th century, the coast was becoming more integrated economically and socially.[7] The Creole people have now become a minority in the areas in which they had previously predominated.[4] Many Creoles now speak mostlySpanish as well ascreole and consider themselves to be only Nicaraguan. There are many Creoles who have now intermarried withmestizos even though many Creoles still protest on how they lost their political and economic power to the mestizos.
TheCreoles of Nicaragua are said to be an Afro-Caribbean population that are mixed with Europeans, Africans andAmerindians.[6] Their culture is influenced by West African and British roots along withmestizos andmiskito.[7] Some food that is used in their cooking consists ofcoconut (in its many forms),taro root,yuca, manioc and other elements such as wheat flour and other processed foods.[7] They have their own musical style which can be compared to West Indiancalypso.[6]
Very little literature has been produced in Nicaraguan Creole. The most regarded author has beenJune Beer, who was a poet, and artist. As an advocate for Nicaraguan Creole, In 2008 she was honored with an annual literary award bearing her name, the June Beer Literary Prize in Mother Tongues (Premio Literario Internacional en Lenguas Maternas "June Beer"), which is awarded to authors who produce works in indigenous or Creole languages.[1]
The Nicaraguan Creole English language is spoken as a primary first language by only 35,000 to 50,000 Creoles, Nicaraguan Garifuna, and some Miskitos.[8] The language is being quickly replaced with Spanish with fewer and fewer people speaking it.[8]
| Official language | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indigenous languages |
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| Creole languages | |||||
| Sign languages | |||||
