Acknowledgments

I gratefully acknowledge the support and friendship of the following Palenqueros, all of whom have contributed significantly to this research, each in a very special way: Francisco “Siquito” Cañate†, Ana Benilda Cásseres, Ana Joaquina Cásseres, Trinidad Cásseres†, Magdalena Navarro, Basilia Pérez, Bernardino Pérez Miranda, Manuel Pérez, Neis Pérez, Venancia Pérez, José de los Santos Reyes, María Luisa Reyes†, Raúl Salas, Florentina “Yayita” Salas, Luis Felipe Salgado, María Salgado, Sebastián Salgado, Víctor Simarra Reyes, Faustino Torres, and Juana Torres. More than 250 other Palenqueros in Palenque, Cartagena, and Barranquilla have shared their languages and their lives with me and I owe them all a debt of gratitude. Armin Schwegler first inspired me to study the Palenquero language, and his excellent scholarship and constant encouragement have been vital to the success of my research ventures. He also offered many useful suggestions to improve the present monograph, as did Felicity Meakins. I have also benefitted from the fine contributions and advice of Yves Moñino and Thomas Morton, and from the late scholars Germán de Granda, Nina de Friedemann, and Carlos Patiño. Lauren Perrotti (Halberstadt) assisted with some of the transcriptions and protocols. My experience has been further enriched by the warm welcome the Palenqueros have extended to the students who have accompanied me in Palenque: Kellie Harrington, Colleen Balukas, Rebecca Barnes, Nicole Benevento, Estilita Cassiani Obeso, Isabel Deibel, Johan de la Rosa, Melinda Dennis, Amelia Dietrich, Lina Duiker, Sarah Heeter, Gabby Herman, Madison Krieger, Diana Kobel, Wilmar López, Daniel Magerman, David Miller, Deyanira Moya, Miguel Muñoz, Sara Ostergren, Maggie Rose Pelella, Lauren Perrotti, Emily Sabo, Dorothy Schaadt, Hiram Smith, Mary Beth Spang, Miriam Villazón, Natalie Wenger. The research reported in this study has been supported by a grant from the Africana Research Center at Penn State and by the National Science Foundation under Grant BCS-1357155.