Rotwelsch

Rotwelsch or Gaunersprache is a secret language, a cant or theives' argot, spoken by covert groups primarily in Germany, Switzerland and the Low Countries.

Origin and development

Rotwelsch was formerly common among travelling craftsmen and vagrants. The language is built on a strong substratum of German, but contains numerous from other languages, notably from various German dialects, as well as from Yiddish, and Romany languages, notably Sinti. There are also significant influences from Judæo-Latin, the ancient Jewish language of the Roman Empire. Rotwelsch has also played a great rôle in the development of the Yeniche language. In form and development, it closely parallels the commercial speech ("shopkeeper language") of German-speaking regions.

Vocabulary

Because of its development as a means of conveying information about goods and transactions, it has no terms for abstractions. For example, it has direct translations for the seasons such as Spring and Autumn. Instead, it uses Bibberling (lit., "shivering") and Hitzling (lit., "heat") in place of season names.

Other vocabulary examples, compared to their German counterparts, include:

• Schokelmei = Kaffee (coffee)
• schenigeln = arbeiten (to work)
• Krauter = Chef eines Handwerkbetriebes (master artisan)
• Kreuzspinne = Weste (waistcoat)
• Wolkenschieber = Frisör, Barbier (barber)
• Stenz = Wanderstock des Handwerksburschen (stencil)
• fechten = betteln (to beg)
• Platte machen = Unterkunft suchen (to seek lodging)
• Puhler = Polizist (police)

Current status

Rotwelsch can still be heard among travelling craftsmen, as well as among vagrants and beggars. Also, in some southwestern and western locales in Germany, where travelling peoples were settled, many Rotwelsch terms have entered the vocabulary of the vernacular, for instance in the municipalities of Schillingsfürst and Schopfloch .

Reference

• Wolf, S.A.: Wörterbuch des Rotwelschen. Deutsche Gaunersprache, 1985/1993, 431 S., ISBN 3-87118-736-4

Other cants

• Argot (France)
• Cant (Great Britain)
• Lunfardo (Argentina)

External links

• http://www.petermangold.de/default.htm (in German)
• http://linguistik.yauh.de/rotwelsch.html (in German)