_Maria tocihuatzin, Maria toquitznitli, yhuan in Dios,
yhuan in Espiritu Santo._
This Nahuatl-Spanish jargon became the _lingua franca_ of large
districts of Central America and Mexico. It was the current tongue
of the half-breeds, and to this day is the patois of the muleteers
who carry on the sparse commerce of the interior mountainous
regions. Many of its Spanish elements are ungrammatical, and others
are long since obsolete in the classical tongue. It is interlarded
with words and whole phrases borrowed from the Aztec, but with such
mutilations that they are scarcely, or not at all, recognizable.
Words from other native languages have crept in, which adds to the
difficulty of its lexicography. As for the construction, it became
looser and looser, until, in some phrases, all inflectional elements
disappear, and there is a naked juxtaposition of nominal and verbal
roots, the relation of which must be guessed simply from their
sequence.
Probably in none of the Spanish provinces has the Castilian suffered
more from such admixture than in Nicaragua. The foreign words are
there so numerous that the country patois becomes nearly
unintelligible to one acquainted only with the Spanish of the
Academy. Here is the verse of a song, for example, in that dialect,
which will illustrate how far the amalgamation with the native
tongues has gone. The words in italic are either Nahuatl or
Mangue:--
"_Casahuyano_, mi amor,
Por vos esté _payaneado_.
No seas _tilinte_, mi bien."
"Se _selegue_, dueño amado."
"My love, between girlhood and womanhood,
My heart is breaking for you.
Do not be severe, my loved one."
"I am yet unripe, my beloved master."[24]
Another song, in which the lover expresses the strength of his
devotion with more force than elegance, has the following verse:--
"O fuera yo _carángano_,
En tus _cojines_ me metería
Para servirte todo el dia.
Te ama este zángano."