Argot
Encyclopedia
An Argot is a secret language
used by various groups—including, but not limited to, thieves and other criminals—to prevent outsiders from understanding their conversations. The term argot is also used to refer to the informal specialized vocabulary from a particular field of study, hobby, job, sport, etc.
The author Victor Hugo
was one of the first to research argot extensively. He describes it in his novel, Les Misérables
, as the language of the dark; at one point, he says, "What is argot; properly speaking? Argot is the language of misery."
The earliest known record of argot was in a 1628 document. The word was probably derived from the contemporary name, les argotiers, given to a group of thieves at that time.
Under the strictest definition, an argot is a proper language, with its own grammar and style. But, such complete secret languages are rare, because the speakers usually have some public language in common, on which the argot is largely based. Argots are mainly versions of other languages with a part of its vocabulary replaced by words unknown to the larger public. For example, the term is used to describe systems such as verlan
and louchébem
, which retain French syntax and apply transformations only to individual words (and often only to a certain subset of words, such as nouns, or semantic content words). Such systems are examples of argots à clef, or "coded argots."
Secret language
Secret language may refer to:* Cryptography, the practice and study of hiding information* Language game, a system of manipulating spoken words to render them incomprehensible to the untrained ear...
used by various groups—including, but not limited to, thieves and other criminals—to prevent outsiders from understanding their conversations. The term argot is also used to refer to the informal specialized vocabulary from a particular field of study, hobby, job, sport, etc.
The author Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
was one of the first to research argot extensively. He describes it in his novel, Les Misérables
Les Misérables
Les Misérables , translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century...
, as the language of the dark; at one point, he says, "What is argot; properly speaking? Argot is the language of misery."
The earliest known record of argot was in a 1628 document. The word was probably derived from the contemporary name, les argotiers, given to a group of thieves at that time.
Under the strictest definition, an argot is a proper language, with its own grammar and style. But, such complete secret languages are rare, because the speakers usually have some public language in common, on which the argot is largely based. Argots are mainly versions of other languages with a part of its vocabulary replaced by words unknown to the larger public. For example, the term is used to describe systems such as verlan
Verlan
Verlan is an argot in the French language, featuring inversion of syllables in a word, and is common in slang and youth language. It rests on a long French tradition of transposing syllables of individual words to create slang words...
and louchébem
Louchébem
Louchébem or loucherbem is Parisian and Lyonnaise butchers' slang, similar to Pig Latin and Verlan. It originated in the mid-19th century. Each word is transformed by moving the first consonant to the end; and suffixes such as -ème, -ji, -oc, -muche are added at the end; the letter "L" is placed...
, which retain French syntax and apply transformations only to individual words (and often only to a certain subset of words, such as nouns, or semantic content words). Such systems are examples of argots à clef, or "coded argots."
See also
- 1337 speak
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