Also Known As:
Lengua, Palenque
Dialects & Varieties
Palenquero
Palenquero
Endangered
80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
2000
Native Speakers Worldwide
Speaker Number Trends
Speaker Number Trend 3
Only about half of community members speak the language. Speaker numbers are decreasing steadily, but not at an accelerated pace.
3
Transmission
Transmission 2
Most adults in the community are speakers, but children generally are not.
2
Speakers
Native or fluent speakers:
No results found.
Second-language speakers and learners
No results found.
Semi-speakers or rememberers
4000
Children:
No results found.
Young adults
No results found.
Older adults
No results found.
Elders
No results found.
Ethnic or community population
No results found.
Year information was gathered
No results found.
Comments on speakers
No results found.
Location and Context
Countries
Colombia
Location Description
El Palenque village (San Basilio de Palenque, El Palenque de San Basilio)
Government Support
No results found.
Institutional Support
No results found.
Speakers' Attitude
"Many adolescents now take great pleasure in learning the creole, and gone are the days when Palenquero (and with it, local culture) was shunned."
Other Languages Used By The Community
Spanish
Number of Other Language Speakers:
None
Domains of Other Languages:
None
Writing Systems
Standard orthography:
No results found.
Writing system:
Latin
Other writing systems used:
No results text.
Comments on writing systems:
"Modern Palenquero spelling conventions differ somewhat from Spanish orthographic practices in that they attempt to adhere more closely to the principle of 'one phoneme-one letter' ... There is no official orthography, and spelling conventions continue to vary somewhat from author to author."
Recent Resources
BBC article on the revival of Palenquero.
A sample to live a little from the palenque's culture.