The
Misumalpan languages (also
Misumalpa or
Misuluan) are a small family of
Native American languages spoken by
indigenous peoples on the east coast of
Nicaragua and nearby areas. The name "Misumalpan" was devised by
John Alden Mason and is composed of syllables from the names of the family's three members
Miskito,
Sumu and
Matagalpan. It was first recognized by
Walter Lehmann in 1920. While all the languages of the Matagalpan branch are now extinct, the Miskito and Sumu languages are alive and well: Miskito has almost 200,000 speakers and serves as a second language for speakers of other Indian languages on the
Mosquito Coast. According to Hale, most speakers of Sumu also speak Miskito.