Man (homo), ndijpu. dipaju.
Man (vir), nyu'a. n[)o]jue, naha.
Woman, najui. najui.
Father, gooha. youa, poua.
Mother, ngumu. goma.
Head, gu t[chi]ima t[chi]ima.
Eye, nahte. nate.
Ear, nyujui. noj[)u]a.
Foot, ngra. taku.
Ruler (or chief), mánkeme. d[chi]amá _or_ mangheme.
Dog, nyumbí. numbí.
Mouse, nangi. nangi.
Bird, nyuri. nuri.
Snake, nule. nulú.
Fire, nyayu. n[)i][)i]ú.
Water, nimbu. nimbu.
House, nangu. nangu.
Maize, nama. nama.
Wind, nit[)i]ú. tijú.
Hill, diri, tiri. dili.
One, tike. tike.
Two, jami. jumiji.
Three, hajmi. jamiji.
Four, haeme. j[)u]amiji.
Five, jagusmi. ja[)o]miji.
It needs but a cursory glance at these lists to see that, while
there is scarcely a dialectic difference between the two Nahuatl
columns, and again between the two Mangue columns, there is
absolutely no point of contact between Mangue and Nahuatl.
The chief differences between Nicaraguan and pure Nahuatl were, that
the former changed the double consonant _tl_ into _t_, or dropped it
altogether; that the _c_, _ch_ and _q_ were confounded; that, in the
conjugation, they dropped the prefix _tla_, which in pure Nahuatl is
employed to indicate that the inanimate object of the verb is not
expressed; that certain terminal consonants, as _x_, were dropped;
and apparently that the sounds of _s_ and _r_, not known to the
tongue in its purity, were introduced.
The linguistic relations of the Mangue or Chapanec tongue have never
been ascertained. I have compared it with the principal stocks in
the northern continent, as well as with the great Tupi-Guarani stem,
which has extensive affiliations in Central America, but without
discovering any analogies of value. It does appear, however, to have
a certain, though far from close, relationship to the Aymara tongue,
spoken in the Peruvian Andes, and especially in the vicinity of Lake
Titicaca, the celebrated site of a remarkable ancient civilization.
The following list of common words seems to indicate this. The
Aymara is taken from the dictionary of that tongue, by Father
Ludovico Bertonio, while the dialects of the Mangue are
discriminated by N, for Nicaraguan, and C, for Chapanec.
_Comparison of the Mangue, or Chapanec, of Central America, with the
Aymara, of Peru._