Daniel G. Brinton

“ The Mangues at one time occupied the whole coast from the entrance of the Gulf of Nicoya to Fonseca bay. At a period which we may locate some time in the fourteenth century, a large colony of Aztecs descended the coast and seized the strip between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific, thus splitting the Mangues in two, and driving a large portion of them out of their homes. ”

“ Phonetics. The Mangue words in this paper are principally in letters with the Spanish powers, some of the semi-vowels being in smaller type. The h is pronounced as an aspirate, and is equivalent to the j, which has its aspirated Spanish value.
All syllables are open; that is, they all end in a vowel sound. Thus nimbu, water, is to be divided ni-mbu. In this respect it resembles the Cherokee, the Japanese, etc.
Dr. Berendt stated that the Chapanec dialect was the most difficult of any American language he had ever studied, on account of the obscurity and uncertainty of its sounds. ”

“ Proper Names.—But few native families of the Mangue districts of Nicaragua have retained names drawn from their ancient tongues. In a list before me of several hundred persons in Masaya and Managua, the only surnames from the Mangue are Norori, Ñamendi, Namullure, Putoi, Nionongue, Macanche, and perhaps Huembes and Piura. Generally, the natives adopted Spanish surnames. ”

“ The first person plural has an inclusive and exclusive form. Adjectives usually, but not always, follow the nouns. Plurals are frequently formed by simply lengthening the terminal vowel sound.
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The Vocabulary. The words in the vocabulary have been obtained from the Rocha and Berendt MSS. Where these two authorities differ the variants are indicated by the affixed initials, R. and B. All words quoted for the sake of comparison from Squier, are marked by an affixed S. The observations, explanations and other remarks attached to the words and phrases are my own. ”

“ In the Chapanec they are also found, but not so commonly. They do not appear to be classificatory particles, as they are prefixed to the names of the most diverse objects.
Generic Names.—These are quite common, as is frequently the case in American languages, in spite of what has often been said to the contrary. The word nyu-mbu means any large quadruped; nyui, any insect; narimu, any kind of wild fruit, etc. It must be remembered that the genera into which individuals are grouped have a widely different connotation from those to which we are accustomed. ”

“ Nominal and verbal forms are defined by the categories of animate and inanimate genera, a distinction which is to a certain extent purely grammatical, as for instance, a book is considered animate, and a table inanimate (Albornoz, Gram., cap. xiii) . ”

“ The comparative expressions taken from the Chapanec (marked, Chap.) are from the printed works above mentioned, or from MS. vocabularies of various authorship in my possession.
All of Rocha’s words are from the dialect of Masaya; but Dr. Berendt obtained some at the villages of Masatepec, Niquindomo, and Namotiva ́, and this explains the occasional variants given. The differences, however, between the speech of these localities was evidently slight.
Vocabulary: English—Mangue.
Achiote, nariyu. (The Bixa orellana, a fruit tree; achiote is Nahuatl) . ”

“ It is greatly syncopated, and terminal syllables are often pronounced in so low a tone that they escape the unpracticed ear. The vowels are not distinct, and many of the consonants are “alternating” as it is called, that is, one may be substituted for another without altering the meaning of the word. ”

“ Berendt collected the last obtainable fragments of the Mangue. In his (printed) lecture before the American Geographical Society in 1876, he thus describes his efforts in this direction, and at the same time points out the localities where the Mangue speaking populations were located when they first came to the knowledge of the invading whites:—
“The Spaniards on entering the present State of Nicaragua from Nicoya bay, and then marching through the country, came into contact first with the southern section of the Chorotegas or Mangues, as they were also called ”