Rotwelsch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

1 Origin and development
2 Vocabulary
3 Current status
4 Rotwelsch in the arts
5 Reference
6 External links

[edit] 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 words from other languages, notably from various German dialects, as well as from Yiddish, and Romany languages, notably Sintitikes. There are also significant influences from Judæo-Latin, the ancient Jewish language of the Roman Empire. Rotwelsch has also played a great role in the development of the Yeniche language. In form and development, it closely parallels the commercial speech ("shopkeeper language") of German-speaking regions.

[edit] Vocabulary

Because of its development as a means of conveying information about goods and transactions, Rotwelsch has no terms for abstractions. For example, it has no direct translations for the seasons such as spring and autumn. Instead, it uses Bibberling (literally, "shivering") and Hitzling (literally, "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 (policeman)

[edit] Current status

Variants of Rotwelsch, sometimes toned-down, can still be heard among travelling craftsmen and funfair showmen 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.

[edit] Rotwelsch in the arts

A variant of Rotwelsch was spoken by some American criminal groups in the 1930s and '40s, and harpist Zeena Parkins' 1996 album Mouth=Maul=Betrayer made use of spoken Rotwelsch texts. ^[1]

An example of Rotwelsch is found in Gustav Meyrink's Der Golem and reads as follows: An Bein-del von Ei-sen recht alt. An Stran-zen net gar a so kalt Messinung, a' Räucherl und Rohn und immerrr nurr putz-en---- Und stok-en sich Aufzug und Pfiff Und schmallern an eisernes G'süff Juch,- Und Handschuhkren, Harom net san----