the language of the conqueror, subverted

In the early colonial period, Jesuit priests in the Amazon region cobbled together a hybrid language called língua geral, or Nheengatú, out of European, African, and indigenous words, using it to supersede the kaleidoscopic linguistic diversity of the region. This new tongue sped the demise of several indigenous languages, before itself coming under siege. Now, according to the New York Times, Nheengatú is experiencing a revival:

"Nheengatú came to us as the language of the conqueror," explained Renato da Silva Matos, a leader of the Federation of Indigenous Organizations of the Rio Negro. "It made the original languages die out" because priests and government officials punished those who spoke any language other than Portuguese or Nheengatú.

But in modern times, the language acquired a very different significance. As the dominion of Portuguese advanced and those who originally imposed the language instead sought its extinction, Nheengatú became "a mechanism of ethnic, cultural and linguistic resistance," said Persida Miki, a professor of education at the Federal University of Amazonas.

The adoption of the language as a symbol of indigenous identity--by groups whose original tongues were largely erased by its advance--is fascinating. It's not unusual for the empire to "write back" in the language of the colonizer, but the relationship of imperial language and local identity is much more oppositional, fraught with all sorts of concerns about legitimacy and authenticity. In this case, a later wave of linguistic imposition (i.e., Portuguese) gave Nheengatú the symbolic status of a besieged native tongue.

In somewhat related matters, Amardeep Singh recently had a post on the subcontinent's gradual invasion of the English language, which reminds me of the fascinating (and often hysterically funny) Dick & Garlick, a whole blog devoted to the linguistic hybrids of South Asia.