- Palenquero
Infobox Language
familycolor=Creole
name=Palenquero
nativename=
region=South America
speakers= 2,500
fam1=Creole language
fam2=Spanish Creole
states=Colombia Palenquero (also "palenque") is a
Spanish-based creole language spoken inColombia . Palenquero is the only Spanish-based creole in Latin America. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/world/americas/18colombia.html New York Times: A Language, Not Quite Spanish, With African Echoes] accessed on December 17, 2007] The ethnic group which speaks this Creole consists only of 3,000 people,as of 2007 . Palenquero is spoken inColombia , in the village ofSan Basilio de Palenque which is southeast of Cartagena, and in some neighborhoods ofBarranquilla .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 from Spanish language and their African ones.
Spanish speakers are usually unable to understand Palenquero. There are some influences from Kongo in
Democratic Republic of Congo . A 10% of the population of age under 25 years speaks Palenquero,as of 1998 . Most common to the elderly. Words like "ngombe" which means cattle is found in severalBantu languages . [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/world/americas/18colombia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin A Language, Not Quite Spanish, With African Echoes] ]References
External links
International Herald Tribune: [http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/17/asia/journal.php Simon Romero, "A little-known language survives in Colombia", 17 October 2007] - discusses the current decline of the language
ee also
*
Afro-Latin American
*Papiamentu
*Chavacano
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