Rotwelsch
Encyclopedia
Rotwelsch or Gaunersprache (from the German "criminal" and "language") is a secret language, a cant
or thieves' argot
, spoken by covert groups primarily in southern Germany
and Switzerland
.
. The language is built on a strong substratum of German
, but contains numerous words from other languages, notably from various German dialect
s, as well as from Yiddish
, and Romany languages, notably Sinti
tikes. 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.
s. For example, it has no direct translations for the season
s 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:
showpeople 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
.
A couple of Rotwelsch words have entered the colloquial language, f. e. "aufmucken", "Bau", "berappen". "Baldowern" or "ausbaldowern" is very common in Berlin dialect; "Bombe" is still used in German prison jargon. The Manisch
dialect of the German city of Gießen
is still used, although was only spoken fluently by approximately 700-750 people in 1976.
in the 1930s and '40s, and harpist Zeena Parkins
' 1996 album Mouth=Maul=Betrayer made use of spoken Rotwelsch texts.
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----
Cant (language)
A Cant is the jargon or argot of a group, often implying its use to exclude or mislead people outside the group.-Derivation in Celtic linguistics:...
or thieves' argot
Thieves' cant
Thieves' cant or Rogues' cant was a secret language which was formerly used by thieves, beggars and hustlers of various kinds in Great Britain and to a lesser extent in other English-speaking countries...
, spoken by covert groups primarily in southern Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Origin and development
Rotwelsch was formerly common among travelling craftspeople and vagrantsVagrancy (people)
A vagrant is a person in poverty, who wanders from place to place without a home or regular employment or income.-Definition:A vagrant is "a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging;" vagrancy is the condition of such persons.-History:In...
. The language is built on a strong substratum of German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, but contains numerous words from other languages, notably from various German dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s, as well as from Yiddish
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
, and Romany languages, notably Sinti
Sinti
Sinti or Sinta or Sinte is the name of a Romani or Gypsy population in Europe. Traditionally nomadic, today only a small percentage of the group remains unsettled...
tikes. There are also significant influences from Judæo-Latin, the ancient Jewish language of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Rotwelsch has also played a great role in the development of the Yeniche language
Yeniche language
The Yeniche language, or Jenisch, is a variety of German, spoken by the Yeniche, former nomads living mostly in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and parts of France.- Components :...
. 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, Rotwelsch has no terms for abstractionAbstraction
Abstraction is a process by which higher concepts are derived from the usage and classification of literal concepts, first principles, or other methods....
s. For example, it has no direct translations for the season
Season
A season is a division of the year, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and hours of daylight.Seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the plane of revolution...
s 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)
- Kreuzspanne = Weste (waistcoat)
- Wolkenschieber = Frisör, Barbier (barber)
- Stenz = Wanderstock des Handwerksburschen (walking stickWalking stickA walking stick is a device used by many people to facilitate balancing while walking.Walking sticks come in many shapes and sizes, and can be sought by collectors. Some kinds of walking stick may be used by people with disabilities as a crutch...
) - fechten = betteln (to beg)
- Platte machen = Unterkunft suchen (to seek lodging)
- Puhler = Polizist (policeman)
From Feraru's "The 'United Ring' and Organized Crime in Berlin"
- abfaßen = to arrest (literally 'to write out')
- acheln = to eat (from Hebrew)
- ackern = to go acquire; to go off the line (literally 'to till or cultivate')
- den Affen kaufen = to get drunk (literally 'to buy the ape')
- alle gehn = to be arrested; to vanish into thin air
- assern = to testify against someone, to 'betray' them
- aufmucken = to revolt against orders
- auftalgen = to hang (literally 'to grease up')
- der Getalgente = the hanged man
- balldowern = to spy out; to make inquiries about (perhaps from Hebrew Ba'al Davar = one who brings an accusation)
- ballmischpet = examining magistrate (from Hebrew Ba'al Mishpat = Master of Law)
- der Bau = the prison or penitentiary (literally 'the lodge')
- Bauer = a stupid simple-minded person (literally 'peasant' or 'farmer')
- begraben sein = to be hunted for a long time (literally 'to be buried')
- bei jom = by day (Hebrew yom = day)
- bei leile = by night (Hebrew laila = night)
- der Bello = the prison toilet
- beramschen = to swindle
- berappen = to pay up or fork over money (literally 'to plaster a wall')
- betuke = discreet or imperceptible (perhaps from Hebrew betokh' = within)
- die Bim = a small bell (from bimmel)
- bleffen (or anbleffen) = to threaten
- der Bock, from romani bokh = hunger, coll. Bock haben = to be up for sth.
- Bombe = coffeeCoffeeCoffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
glass (literally 'bombshell') - brennen (literally 'to burn') = Extortion, but also to collect the "thieves' portion" with companions. The analogy between distilling spirits (Branntweinbrennen) and taking a good gulp of the portion (Anteil) is obvious.
Current status
Variants of Rotwelsch, sometimes toned-down, can still be heard among travelling craftspeople and funfairFunfair
A funfair or simply "fair" is a small to medium sized travelling show primarily composed of stalls and other amusements. Larger fairs such as the permanent fairs of cities and seaside resorts might be called a fairground, although technically this should refer to the land where a fair is...
showpeople 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
Schillingsfürst
Schillingsfürst is a municipality in the district of Ansbach, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 12 km southeast of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and 23 km west of Ansbach.-Notable people:...
and Schopfloch
Schopfloch, Bavaria
Schopfloch is a municipality in the district of Ansbach in Bavaria in Germany....
.
A couple of Rotwelsch words have entered the colloquial language, f. e. "aufmucken", "Bau", "berappen". "Baldowern" or "ausbaldowern" is very common in Berlin dialect; "Bombe" is still used in German prison jargon. The Manisch
Manisch
Manisch refers either to a dialect of rotwelsch or a speaker thereof . The term Manisch however, is also understood primarily throughout much of the German state of Hesse and parts of the Rhineland-Palatinate to refer to the Manisch/Jenisch elements of their vernacular...
dialect of the German city of Gießen
Gießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
is still used, although was only spoken fluently by approximately 700-750 people in 1976.
Rotwelsch in the arts
A variant of Rotwelsch was spoken by some American criminal groupsOrganized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
in the 1930s and '40s, and harpist Zeena Parkins
Zeena Parkins
Zeena Parkins is a harpist active in rock music, free improvisation and jazz. Parkins plays standard harps, as well as several custom-made one-of-a kind electric harps; she also plays piano and accordion...
' 1996 album Mouth=Maul=Betrayer made use of spoken Rotwelsch texts.
An example of Rotwelsch is found in Gustav Meyrink's Der Golem
The Golem (Meyrink)
The Golem is a novel written by Gustav Meyrink in 1914.First published in serial form as Der Golem in 1913-14 in the periodical Die weissen Blätter, The Golem was published in book form in 1915 by Kurt Wolff, Leipzig. The Golem was Meyrink's first novel...
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----
External links
- http://www.petermangold.de/default.htm (in German)
- http://linguistik.yauh.de/rotwelsch.html (in German)
- Die "Ringvereine" und das organisierte Verbrechen in Berlin (in German)