Mamulique language facts for kids

Mamulique was a language once spoken in Nuevo León, Mexico. It is now an extinct language, meaning there are no longer any speakers of Mamulique. It belonged to a group of languages called Pakawan.

What Was the Mamulique Language?

The Mamulique language was also known as Carrizo or Carrizo de Mamulique. A French explorer and scientist named Jean-Louis Berlandier recorded some words from this language in 1828. He found a group of about 45 families near a place called Mamulique who spoke it.

At that time, these families were also Christians and spoke Spanish. This suggests that the Mamulique language was already starting to disappear as people learned Spanish. Berlandier was able to write down a short list of 22 words. This small vocabulary is almost all we know about the Mamulique language today.

An Example Phrase

Even though we only have a few words, researchers have been able to figure out some phrases. A researcher named Goddard shared an example phrase from Mamulique. It shows how the word aha meant 'water'.

• aha mojo cuejemad (This is how it was first written down.)
• aha moxo kwexemat (This is how it might have sounded.)
• Donne moi de l'eau. (This means "Give me water" in French.)
• Give me water. (This is what it means in English.)

This small phrase helps us understand a tiny bit about how the Mamulique language worked. It's a valuable clue to a language that has now vanished.