ABSTRACT
Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast is a multi-ethnic, plurilingual region whose seven languages represent a surprisingly wide variety of sociolinguistic situations within a relatively small geographical area, all interconnected in a complex ‘sociolinguistic ecology’ (augen, 1972/2001). Costeños (Coast people) today claim symbolic allegiance to six original ethnic languages. Some of these are no longer in daily use, others show considerable vitality, and others are endangered; some are written and almost standardized, while others manifest socially important internal variation and dialect loyalties.
