Father, poua (C). pucara.
Man, naha (C). chacha.
Child, nasungi (N). iñasu.
Ear, nyuhui (N). hinchu.
Eye, nahte (N). nahui.
Bone, nyui (N). cayu.
Fire, niiu (C), nyayu (N). nina.
Water, nimbu (C). vma.
River, naju (C). mayu, jahu.
Wind, tihu (C). thaa.
Feathers, lari (C). lauralua (colored).
Maize, nama (C). ccama.
Earth, nekapu (C). ñeke, clay, yapu, soil.
Sky, naku paju (C). hanac (_or_ alakh) pacha.
Blind, saapi (C). saapi.
Dumb, napamu (C). amu.
Great, yáka (C). haccha.
Bitter, átsi (C). cata.
Dead, tuhua (C). hihua.
To eat, koita (N). kauita (to eat apples, etc).
Food, nomota (C). mamata.
To go, ota (C). aatha.
Thou, çimo (C). huma.
You (pl), çimecmo (C). humasa.
There are also various grammatical similarities between the two
tongues. Both are highly synthetic; in both the division of nouns is
"vitalistic," that is, into animate and inanimate; the numeral
system is in both the decimal; in both the possessive pronoun
follows the noun; both possess the inclusive and exclusive plural;
and others could be mentioned.
It is known that the Aymara partakes largely of the elements of the
Qquichua, and by some is classified merely as a dialect of that
tongue. Such similarities as appear to exist between Mangue and
Aymara are, however, less with the words and forms common to these
two Peruvian idioms, but rather more with those wherein the Aymara
differs from the Qquichua.
With the trenchant differences above indicated, between the Nahuatl
and the Mangue, it is the more singular to observe how the Nahuatl
obtained the preponderance. We may attribute this to the superior
fighting power of the Aztec invaders; to the fact that many of the
native allies of the Spanish could speak that tongue and not the
Mangue; that the early missionaries came from Mexico; or, that the
Nahuatl was promptly reduced to writing, while the Mangue was not;
or to all these causes combined.[21] Certain it is, that at an early
date a mixed dialect came into vogue, both in the Mangue districts
of Nicaragua and elsewhere in Central America, composed of a
broken-down Nahuatl and a corrupt Spanish, which, at first, served
as a means of communication between the conquerors and their
subjects, and later became, to some degree, the usual tongue of the
latter. The Aztecs of pure blood spoke contemptuously of this jargon
as _in macehuallatolli_, the language of slaves, and Father Carochi,
writing little more than a century after the conquest, condemned
it as a hodge-podge of Spanish and Aztec, unintelligible in either
tongue.[22]
This jargon was carried into the various nations who came into
contact with the Spaniards and half-breeds, and hence we may find
scattered words traceable to it in many of their tongues, and
sometimes formulas of a religious, social or business character.[23]
This is strikingly exemplified among the Mangues, and the fact is
one of considerable interest in connection with the literary
production which is the main topic of this volume. Even to a recent
day, in remote haciendas of the Province of Masaya, among the
descendants of the Mangues, the traveler might hear the grace before
meals, and other short formulas of the Church, spoken in this mixed
patois.