El español bozal en la Cuba colonial. Análisis lexicológico

This article addresses the issue of bozal Spanish, a contact language that arises from the encounter of the dialects of African slaves imported into Cuba and the Spanish language, with the aim of analysing its lexicon and in particular the mechanisms of lexicogenesis. For this work, an introduction is made to the subject of Afro-Hispanic speech in Cuba and the obstacles to its study. Subsequently, we define the concept of bozal Spanish and then we present the vocabulary analysed, extracted from the Diccionario Provincial of Esteban Pichardo and El negro esclavo of Ortiz (1916). Finally, lexicogenetic trends will be examined, focusing on African input. We conclude that bozal Spanish presents a marked tendency towards the creation of a multifunctional lexicon, where African languages, after introducing the morphological feature of reduplication, play a lexifying function.