Mangue, also known as Chorotega,Daniel G. Brinton. 1886. Notes on the Mangue; An Extinct Dialect Formerly Spoken in Nicaragua Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society , Vol. 23, No. 122 (Apr., 1886), pp. 238-257 is an extinct

Oto-Manguean The Oto-Manguean or Otomanguean () languages are a large family comprising several subfamilies of indigenous languages of the Americas. All of the Oto-Manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to Mexico, but the Manguean languages, Ma ...

language ancestral to

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

and

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. Estimates of the ethnic population vary widely, from around 10,000 in 1981, to 210,000 according to Chorotega activists. 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 The Nicoya Peninsula () is a peninsula on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. It is divided into two provinces: Guanacaste Province in the north, and the Puntarenas Province in the south. It is located at . It varies from in width and is about lon ...

. The Oto-Manguean languages are spoken mainly in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

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. The timing of this migration is estimated to be between 800 and 1350 AD. In Guaitil,

, the Mangue have been absorbed into the Costa Rican culture, losing their language, but pottery techniques and styles have been preserved.

Terminology

Some sources list "''Choluteca''" as an alternative name of the people and their language, and this has caused some (for example

Terrence Kaufman Terrence Kaufman (1937 – March 3, 2022) was an American linguist specializing in documentation of unwritten languages, lexicography, Mesoamerican historical linguistics and language contact phenomena. He was an emeritus professor of linguistic ...

2001) to speculate that they were the original inhabitants of the city of Cholula, who were displaced with the arrival of

Nahua The Nahuas ( ) are a Uto-Nahuan ethnicity and one of the Indigenous people of Mexico, with Nahua minorities also in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. They comprise the largest Indigenous group in Mexico, as well as ...

people in central Mexico. The etymology for the nomenclature "Chorotega" in this case would come from the

Nahuatl language Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

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 Daniel Garrison Brinton (May 13, 1837July 31, 1899) was an American archaeologist, ethnologist, historian, and surgeon. Biography Brinton was born in Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Yale University in 185 ...

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".

Phonology

Consonants

/t, k/ can have allophones s, tʃ Stop and fricative sounds /p, t, k, s/ can turn voiced , d, ɡ, zafter nasal sounds.

Vowels

Three vowels are noted /a, i, u/. Allophones are also noted.

Phrases

Brinton gives a list of Mangue words and phrases some of which are: The Verb "to be," :I am, . :Thou art, . :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

References

* Kaufman, Terrence, (2001) Nawa linguistic prehistory, published a
website of the Mesoamerican Language Documentation Project
* Fabre, Alain, (2005) ''Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos: OTOMANGUE.

* McCallister, Rick
Mangue Chorotega
, published on line in 2012 (80+ pages in PDF) (based on Quirós Rodríguez’s compilation with added toponyms, cultural terms, etc.) * Constenla Umaña, Adolfo (Author). (1992). "The Languages of the Greater Nicoya". ''Costa Rican Languages Collection of Adolfo Constenla Umaña'' . The Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America: www.ailla.utexas.org. Media: text. Access: public

{{Oto-Manguean languages Oto-Manguean languages Languages of Costa Rica Languages of Honduras Languages of Nicaragua Extinct languages of North America