E-mail: nes.pilawa@gmail.com Tel.: + 7 (495) 954-80-09
32a, Leninskii av., Moscow, 119334, Russian Federation
PhD in History, Researcher, Center for Medical Anthropology, N. N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences
The article was written in accord with the research plan of the N. N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences. Received: January 28, 2021
This article considers the Lengua Congo — the sacred language of the Afro-Cuban spiritual and magical tradition Palo (Palo Monte). It offers an overview of some terms and ritual formulations that form the framework of Lengua Congo vocabulary, including material recorded by the author during field research in Havana in 2019 and communication with informants in 2020. The meaning and the origin of some formulations remain uncertain. The sacred language of Palo takes its roots in Kikongo and is considered an ethno-religious phenomenon that reflects the processes of transculturation; it is has a special connection to Bosal, the Creole language of Cuba. At the same time, the linguistic status of Lengua Congo remains problematic; the author of the article argues that Lengua Congo cannot be identified with Bosal and requires further historical and ethnographic analysis. The article also offers an overview of current hypotheses about the lexical basis of Lengua Congo. Some examples demonstrate the connection between Lengua Congo and Kikongo and the acquisition of new meanings for a number of terms. The study of Lengua Congo and other little-studied sacred languages of the New World is important due to their connection with the socio-political and cultural transformation of postcolonial societies, marking a new phase in the historical development of Afrogenic cults.
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