Misumalpan
5 languages
Misumalpan is a language family of 5 languages; the most are spoken in Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador.
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The Misumalpan languages (also Misumalpa or Misuluan) are a small family of languages spoken by different Indigenous groups in the region commonly known as Mosquitia, referred to in Miskitu as Yapti Tasba Masrka (“the People’s Land”).
The name “Misumalpan” was coined by American anthropologist John Alden Mason in the early 20th century as a comparative linguistic term. It is not an autonym used by any of the Indigenous nations it describes. The term is an acronym formed from the names of the family’s three branches: Miskitu, Mayangna (often labeled Sumu/Sumo in earlier literature), and Matagalpan languages.
Scholarly sources note that “Sumu/Sumo” are exonyms, whereas Mayangna is the community’s own name. Similarly, Miskitu is the preferred self-designation, while “Miskito” reflects Spanish and English colonial spellings.
From Wikipedia · Misumalpan languages · CC BY-SA 4.0