9. Reconstructing the Linguistic History of Palenques on the Nature and Relevance of Colonial Documents

Abstract

This article aims to examine the origin and history of two maroon communities -(1) Palenque (Colombia) and (2) the Maniel de Neyba (Dominican Republic)-through the study of historical texts. Section 1 presents methodological and philological problems concerning the study of colonial documents, while Section 2 focuses on the so-called palenques: after briefly explaining the history of this term, I then point to similarities and differences in the histories of the two aforementioned communities, describing their ethnolinguistic composition, social structure, contacts with the outside world, and language used within them. In toto, the data and arguments presented in Section 2 aim to contribute to the ongoing debate about creolization as a cultural and linguistic process.