The Misumalpan languages (also Misumalpa or Misuluan ) are a small family of languages spoken by indigenous peoples on the east coast of Nicaragua and nearby areas. The name "Misumalpan" was devised by John Alden Mason and is composed of syllables from the names of the family's three members Miskito , Sumo languages and Matagalpan . It was first recognized by Walter Lehmann in 1920. While all the languages of the Matagalpan branch are now extinct, the Miskito and Sumu languages are alive and well: Miskito has almost 200,000 speakers and serves as a second language for speakers of other indigenous languages in the Mosquito Coast . According to Hale, most speakers of Sumu also speak Miskito.
6-631: Kaufman (1990) finds a connection with Macro-Chibchan to be "convincing", but Misumalpan specialist Ken Hale considered a possible connection between Chibchan and Misumalpan to be "too distant to establish". Miskito became the dominant language of the Mosquito Coast from the late 17th century on, as a result of the people's alliance with the British Empire, which colonized the area. In northeastern Nicaragua, it continues to be adopted by former speakers of Sumo. Its sociolinguistic status
12-576: A Chibchan-Paezan stock with Barbacoan , Chibchan, Chocoan , Jirajaran , and the isolates Betoi , Kamsá ( Sibundoy ), Yaruro , Esmeraldeño , Mochica , Cunza , Itonama , and Yurumanguí . An automated computational analysis ( ASJP 4) by Müller et al. (2013) also found lexical similarities between Chibchan and Misumalpan . However, since the analysis was automatically generated, the grouping could be either due to mutual lexical borrowing or genetic inheritance. Constenla (2005) reconstructed five vowels and eleven consonants for Proto-Lenmichian, with
18-595: A single large phylum ( macrofamily ). The Lencan and Misumalpan languages were once included in the Chibchan family proper, but were excluded pending further evidence as that family became well established. Kaufman (1990) finds the Chibchan–Misumalpan connection convincing, if as yet unsubstantiated, though Campbell (1997) finds it doubtful. The Xincan family was once included in Macro-Chibchan, but this
24-602: Is lower than that of the English-based creole of the southeast, and in that region, Miskito seems to be losing ground. Sumo is endangered in most areas where it is found, although some evidence suggests that it was dominant in the region before the ascendancy of Miskito. The Matagalpan languages are long since extinct, and not very well documented. All Misumalpan languages share the same phonology, apart from phonotactics . The consonants are p, b, t, d, k, s, h, w, y, and voiced and voiceless versions of m, n, ng, l, r;
30-526: Is now doubtful. Constenla (2005) calls this proposed phylum Lenmichí (Lencan–Misumalpan–Chibchan) and provides 85 cognate sets which exhibit regular sound correspondences among the three families. He suggests that Chocoan may be related as well. Greenberg proposed a broader conception of Macro-Chibchan, one dismissed by linguists working on the families in question. It included Yanomam , Purépecha , and Cuitlatec in addition to Chibchan–Misumalpan–Xinca–Lenca. Greenberg (1987) included Paezan languages in
36-463: The vowels are short and long versions of a, i, u. Below is a full list of Misumalpan language varieties listed by Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties. Below are Proto-Misumalpan reconstructions by Adolfo Constenla Umaña (1987): Macro-Chibchan languages Macro-Chibchan is a proposed grouping of the languages of the Lencan , Misumalpan , and Chibchan families into
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