Bozal Spanish

Bozal Spanish is a possibly extinct Spanish-based creole language or pidgin that may have been a mixture of Spanish and Kikongo, with Portuguese influences. Attestation is insufficient to indicate whether Bozal Spanish was ever a single, coherent or stable language, or if the term merely referred to any idiolect of Spanish that included African elements.

Etymology

Bozal is the Spanish word for "muzzle", and shares its etymology with the word bosal. In their New World colonies, the Spaniards distinguished between negros ladinos and negros bozales.
Similarly, the Portuguese distinguished between índios mansos and índios bravos, and between negros crioulos or ladinos and negros africanos or boçais .

Historic use

Bozal Spanish was spoken by Atlantic [slave trade|African slaves] in Cuba, Uruguay and other areas of South and Central America from the 17th century up until its possible extinction at around 1850. Although Bozal Spanish is extinct as a language, its influence still exists. In some Cuban folk religious rituals today, people speak what they call "Bozal". Similarly, many songs of the afro genre, which flourished in Cuba in the 1930s and '40s, contain lyrics reminiscent of the language.
In Puerto Rico esclavos bozales were slaves brought from Africa, as opposed to those born in Puerto Rico from slaves. Such slaves spoke different languages, other than Spanish, which they eventually learned while enslaved. These slaves were primarily used in the fields and agriculture as opposed to those born under bondage who were generally used in domestic chores.