RICHARD J. FILE-MURIEL


the potential of MC. In short, the differences in pronunciation, form
and function do not provide any support for the notion that French
had ever been the target language for most of the non-Francophone
immigrants. MC did not result from unsuccessful attempts by
immigrants to acquire French, nor retain their own language; rather,
the language was created unconsciously for the purpose of interethnic
communication. The CFP created this language by drawing on the
resources available to them. Baker concludes that if this is the case for
MC, it is probably valid for other creoles. Now, I will look at Palenquero,
a language of the Palenque de San Basilio (Colombia).

3. El Palenquero

 Palenquero is spoken in Palenque de San Basilio and is entirely
unintelligible to Spanish speakers (Schwegler 1996). It is located about
fifty miles southeast of Cartagena and has been geographically isolated
from the time it was established, for which the actual date remains
unknown. One cannot talk about Palenque de San Basilio (PSB) without
concomitantly referring to the situation in Cartagena, which was a
thriving slave center of Colombia. It is crucial for several reasons. First,
almost all of the Africans that would have been involved in the
establishment of PSB, would have most likely passed through Cartagena
at some point before escaping towards the interior of the Atlantic coast.
The multiethnic and linguistic situation in Cartagena was extremely
complex. Schwegler (1996) suggests that numerous Bantu languages
and extra-Bantu languages coexisted with various dialects of Spanish
and with at least one (possibly several) Portuguese and Spanish-based
pidgins and creoles. Second, conclusions can be drawn about the origin
of the transplanted Africans and their linguistic background based on
what we know about the situation in Cartagena prior to the
establishment of PSB.
 In 1598, the Governor announced that there were about two-thousand
slaves in Cartagena, mostly from Guinea, Angola, and Cape Verde. This
is important because we know that there was an established
Portuguese-based pidgin in these areas. Additionally, the presence of
a thriving Portuguese slave trading company in Cartagena, favors the
strong possibility that there was a Portuguese-based Pidgin/Jargon
established in Cartagena in order to conduct trade with the Africans.
Furthermore, the strong possibility exists that (some) Africans arrived
in Cartagena with varying knowledge of a Portuguese-based pidgin.
This is evidenced by reports as early as 1627 of an existing creole or