Lucumí language

Not to be confused with Ulukwumi language.

Lucumí
Native to	used in Spanish Caribbean and the Diaspora
Native speakers	None[1] (liturgical language)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta–Congo Benue–Congo Defoid Yoruboid Edekiri Lucumi-Yoruba Lucumí
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Cuba
Language codes
ISO 639-3	luq
Glottolog	lucu1238

Lucumí consists of a lexicon of words and short phrases derived from the Yoruba language and used for ritual purposes in Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and their Diasporas. It is used as the liturgical language of Santería in the Spanish Caribbean and other communities that practice Santería/Orisa/the Lucumí religion/Regla de Ocha.^[2][3]

The Yorùbá language has not been a vernacular among Yoruba descendants in the Americas since the time of the trans-Atlantic slave trade; devotees of the Orisa religion as it formed in the Spanish Caribbean use a liturgical language that developed from its remains. Lucumí has also been influenced by the phonetics and pronunciation of Spanish. The essential and non-negotiable tonal aspect of Yorùbá has also been lost in the Lucumí lexicon of Cuban Orisa tradition. Scholars have found some minimal influence from Bantu languages and Fongbe, some of which were spoken by other enslaved Africans who lived in close proximity to Yorùbá speakers in the Americas.

See also

• Diaspora language
• Afro-Cubans
• Santería
• Habla Congo, a similar liturgical language based on Kongo
• Haitian Vodoun Culture Language

References

1. Lucumí at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. George Brandon (1997). Santeria from Africa to the New World. Indiana University Press. p. 56. ISBN 9780253211149. lucumi language.
3. Wirtz, Kristina. 2014. Performing Afro-Cuba: Image, Voice, Spectacle in the Making of Race and History. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-11905-2