Palenquero is the Spanish-based creole language spoken in the Colombian village of

Palenque de San Basilio, located in Bol�var province. The palenque or stockade at

San Basilio was originally one of a number of strongholds founded by negros
cimarrones (escaped slaves) in the 16th and 17th centuries. From about 1600Capture
of a maroon slave there appear to have been sporadic armed conflicts between
cimarrones and Spaniards but the particular community at San Basilio reached a
truce with the colonial government in 1691 whereby it was granted its freedom.

Nevertheless, Palenque de San Basilio was until recently isolated from mainstream
Colombian society, a circumstance that may explain why its creole language has
managed to survive. The current population numbers between 3,000 and 4,000, about
half of whom speak the creole (in addition to Spanish).

The creole language of Palenque was �discovered� relatively recently, Bikerton and
Escalante�s 1971 paper in Lingua being the first systematic description of it, with
a monograph by Friedemann and Pati�o following in 1983. The latter work probably
remains the descriptive locus classicus for Palenquero and the majority of the
examples given below are drawn from it.

Palenquero has no official spelling system. Therefore, to represent Palenquero

words, I use phonetic notation in section 2 below, and then in section 3, on
grammar, I use a modified version of Friedemann and Pati�o�s quasi-phonemic
orthographic notation.

2. Phonology
The one notable feature of Palenquero vocalism � but one it shares with rural
speech in Bol�var province in general � is the tendency for the mid-high vowels /o,
e/ to be raised to [u, i]. This is partly a variable synchronic phenomenon, but it
is above all a historical process, whereby a large number of Spanish words
containing /o/ or /e/, generally in an unstressed initial or final syllable, have
come in Palenquero to have /u/ or /i/ in their place: [kuno'se] < conocer �to
know�, [ku'mina] < comida �food�, [?gan'disimu] < grand�simo �very big�, [i't?a] <
echar �to throw�, [bi'tilo] < vestido �dress�.

It appears that this phenomenon is of some sociolinguistic importance, as use of

the higher vowel is strongly identified with creole phonology both by members of
the Palenquero community and by monolingual Spanish-speakers from the surrounding
area (Friedemann and Pati�o 1983:90�92).

Turning now to consonants, several phenomena are worthy of mention. First of all,
Palenquero exhibits rhotacism and lambdacism of initial and intervocalic Spanish
/d/, i.e. the latter's replacement by /?/ or /l/ respectively. Examples are given
below:

['?jende] < diente �tooth�

[kwi'?ao] < cuidado �care�
[?i] < de �of, from�
[lo'le] < doler �to hurt�

A similar process has affected /r/ and /?/ but the output in this case seems to be
limited to /l/: [kola'so] < coraz�n �heart�, [se'la] < cerrar �to close�, [lu'?ia]
< rodilla �knee�, ['kala] < cara �face�, ['blaso] < brazo �arm�.

Equally striking is the prenasalization of initial voiced stops, as in ['ndosi] <

doce �twelve� and [mbo'sa] < bozal �halter�. The process is partly phonologically
conditioned, as it occurs only in initial position. But it is also partly lexically
conditioned, as it occurs regularly in some words (e.g. [nda] < dar �to give�, [?
ga'na] < ganar �to earn/win�, ['?gande] < grande �big�, ['?gombe] �cattle�),
variably in others (e.g. [nde'ha] ~ [de'ha] < dejar �to leave�), and is prohibited
in a third group (e.g. *[nde'si] < decir �to say�). Moreover, it is limited to the
following word classes: nouns, adjectives, verbs and numerals.

Today, prenasalization occurs frequently with /d/ and /g/ and infrequently with
/b/. On the other hand, ritualistic funereal songs dating from earlier periods give
tantalising glimpses of a previous wider distribution, approximating perhaps to the
situation that is apparent in certain sub-Saharan languages.

The assimilatory processes undergone by syllable-final liquids that are so

characteristic of Caribbean Spanish are taken to an extreme in Palenquero. Thus
geminate or �long� consonants, as in the examples below, are abundant:

[gwette'sita] < huertecita �orchard�

[seb'besa] < cerveza �beer�
[bob'be] < volver
[ag'guno] algunos �some�
['pamma] < palma �palm�

According to Schwegler (1998:266) the development of this pattern has created a

series of phonemic oppositions that doesn�t exist in standard Spanish (although he
in fact analyses it in terms of a tense versus lax distinction). This series of
oppositions can be illustrated with minimal pairs such as those in the table below,
which imply consonantal length contrasts at the bilabial, dental and velar places
of articulation.
Geminate versus simple obstruents in Palenquero Geminate Simple
[kabbo] calvo �bald� [ka�o] cabo �end�
[toddo] toldo �awning� [to�o] todo �everything�
[aggo] algo �something� [a?o] hago �I make�

In rapid speech, geminates resulting from assimilation are frequently simplified,

as in cerquita �near� > [sek'kita] ? [se'kita] and carne �meat� > ['kanne] ?
['kane]. The evolution of words like [pe'le] < perder �to lose� and [be'la] <
verdad �truth� appears to reflect both of these processes, plus lambdacism as
described earlier.

Finally, voiceless stops may be voiced after a nasal, as in the examples below:

['tjembo] < tiempo �time�

['?jende] < diente �tooth�
[pa'le?ge] < Palenque

This appears to be a variable synchronic phenomenon: �representa una opci�n socio-

ling��stica del hablante: el empleo de tiembo frente a tiempo se�ala
inequ�vocamente la elecci�n del canal criollo� (Friedemann and Pati�o 1983:107).

Palenquero grammar

Verbs are not inflected for person and number, but rather combined with preverbial
particles such as:
 ase (habitual)
ta (progressive)
a (past/perfect)
tan (future)

Nominal plural is marked by a particle "ma" prefixed only to the noun phrase,
instead of attaching "-s" to all elements of the noun phrase as in Spanish.

Palenquero lacks any expression of grammatical gender.

Adjectives cognate with Spanish, are derived from the Spanish masculine form.

In palenquero, the negator "nu" is placed clause-finally, rathan than pre-verbal no

in Spanish.

A single set of Pronouns is used for subject and object.

"i, bo, ele *singular" and "suto, enu or utere, ane (plural).

"ane and enu" are of Kikongo origin

Possession is expressed by placing the possessor after the possessed object.

posa suto "our house"

mona mi "my child"
ngombe Raul "Raul's cow(s)"

An example to illustrate of palenquero is:

ma muje suto ta pila alo nu " our women are not pounding rice"

majana mi quele-ba pa yo mini nu "my kids did not want me to come"

ele ta-ba casi po mori-ba "he was just about dead"

Just as in Spanish, Palenquero has many two-verb combinations. In spanish, all

complex verbs are inflected only on the first element, the second element being an
infinitive, gerund, or past participle.

Traditional Palenquero has no contructions corresponding to Spanish perfect forms.

derived from haber+past participle example: ha trabajado, hemos vivido

Only occasionally makes use of Spanish-like progressive constructions (derived from

estar "be+gerund eg, estamos trabajando).

Most two-verb combinations in Palenquero correspond to Spanish Finite

verb+infinitive combinations.
The first verb in two-verb combinations is typically ase (spanish hacer) for
habitual or repeated action pole (spanish poder)

sabe (spanish saber) also used for habitual meaning, quele (querer), as well as ta
(estar) for progressive constructions.

In two-verb imperfective contructions, it is most frequent in Palenquero for -ba to

attach only to the first verb.

This corresponds to the only possible configuaration in Spanish:

yo abla ane que ese casa pole-ba vende nu " I told them that the house couldn't
be sold"

suto ase-ba bae caya- we would go out in the street.

i quele-ba pasa alla ma nu-i didn't want to go back there.

Less frequent but still relatively commonplace is the attachment of -ba to the
second verb of two-verb constructions.

This configuration in effect represents the re-analysis of the two verbs as a

single verb, with the suffix -ba, attached to the end:

cuando ma mama ase bae-ba suto ase pelea-ba "when our mothers would leave, we
would fight"

el ase vivi-ba abajo "he lived down the street"

Occuring less frequently still is the attachment of -ba to both verbs of Palenquero
two verb combinations. These instances represent an innovative abandonement of
Spanish derived combinations, liberating " the suffix -ba from solely occupying its
spanish like position and creating in effect a system of multiple agreements in
which -ba optionally attached to both components of a compound verb:

que jue-ba lo que i ta-ba cu monasito? what was it that i was saying to the
child?

The extention of the usage of -ba

In the addition to the reintroduction of obscure or obsolete lexical items and

hypersensitivity as to the separation of Lengua ri palenque and spanish, many
fluent speakers of traditional palenquero, sprinke their sppech with validators
created from detached verbal suffixes, evidently an innovation meant to signal
authentic Palenquero speech.
The most frequently used element -ba, which in the Palenquero language provides a
past imperfective meaning.

In spanish, the obvious source, -ba, only attaches to verbs having/a/as as stem
vowel (infinitives ending in -ar) Hablaba, trabajaba etc.

Spanish verbs ending in -er and -ir, take the suffix -ia (except for ir, whose
imperfective forms are based on iba), comia, vivia.

In palenquero, -ba attaches to all verb stems irrespective of the theme vowel.

ma hende quela-ba cu boca abieto -people remained open-mouthed

i pole-ba jabla-ba que jue lo que i ta ablando cu ane nu- i couldnt say what it was
that i was telling them.

that-e ma
that-ese ma

ours-to suto
his-ri ele
they-ane
i-i

Pronoun

Source

Meaning

uncertain

yo

yo

bo
vos

you [sing.]

ele

�l

he/she/it

suto

nosotros

we

utere

ustedes

you [plu.]

en�, an�

of Bantu origin

they

3. Grammar
As is typical of creoles, Palenquero has virtually no inflectional morphology, in
that nouns, adjectives, verbs and determiners are almost always invariant.

In the first place, gender is non-existent as a grammatical category, with

adjectives being descended from the masculine in Spanish: lengua africano �African
language�, Ese nata � susio �This cream is dirty�.

Secondly, plurality in the NP is expressed through the particle ma (possibly of

Bantu origin):

un r�a ? un ma r�a
�a day� �some days�

This particle is not normally used when a numeral is present that has a greater
cardinality than 2: ma ndo baka �two cows� but tresi a�o �13 years�. Also, as there
is no definite article and bare nouns normally carry definite import, ma X means
�the Xs�, as is illustrated in the following example:

Deha ma ombre kompon� bo pekao.

�Let the men prepare the fish for you.'
The absence of person and number marking in the verb is off-set by the fact that
subject pronouns (listed in the table to the right above) are obligatory in
declarative and interrogative sentences if there is no lexical subject. Similarly,
the tenselessness of verb forms is compensated by the routine use of pre-verbal
particles. The most important of these are given in the table immediately below:

Particle

Source

Value

Illustration

ta

estar

present progressive
� ta abl� kateyano nu.
�I�m not speaking Spanish�

as�

hacer

habitual
�Bo as� kum� kane?
�Do you eat meat?�

tan

uncertain

future
�K� � tan abl�?
�What am I going to say?�

ha

past
An� � enfem� po aora nu.
�They haven�t got ill for the moment.�

taba
 estaba

past progressive
Ma aguelo ele taba bib� a monte.
�His/her grandparents were living in the bush.�

Turning now to grammatical functions, these are obviously not in general marked by
inflections. But, with the notable exception of locatives and ku- (< con �with�)
phrases, prepositions tend not to be used either. In the possessive construction,
this is illustrated by juxtapositions such as kala Lole �Lole�s face� and nga�na
suto �our hens�, while in VPs the only rule seems to be that complements follow the
verb, with �oblique� objects preceding direct objects:

Nu obbir� pon� bulo mbos�.

�Don�t forget to put the halter on the donkey.�

Moreover, the rich system of verb + preposition regimes that is observable in

Spanish, the lexifier language, has largely been obliterated. For example, ar� and
akodd� take direct objects, whereas their Spanish etyma, re�r(se) �to laugh� and
acordar(se) �to remember�, take de-phrases as complements:

Ma jende lo ke ta ar� an� � m� bruto que an�.

�The people who laugh at them are stupider than them.�

� akodd� nombre d�ese muj� aora nu.

�I don�t remember the name of that woman now.�

Finally, and in line with the general tendency towards simplification outlined so
far, Palenquero has no grammatical expression of voice. Instead, an NP that is
thematically the patient can almost always be promoted to subject position, thereby
forcing a passive interpretation of the (transitive) verb:

Platika utere � ngat� to�to.

�Your money has all been spent.�

Pokke lengua � reh� pel�?

�Why has the language been allowed to be lost?�