Rotwelsch ( [ˈʁoːtvɛlʃ]) or Gaunersprache ( [ˈɡaʊnɐʃpʁaːxə], "criminal language") is a secret language, a cant or thieves' argot, spoken by covert groups primarily in southern Germany and Switzerland.
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Origin and development
Rotwelsch was formerly common among travelling craftspeople and vagrants. The language is built on a strong substratum of German, but contains numerous words from other languages, notably from various German dialects, including Yiddish, as well as from 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.
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, "shiver-ling") and Hitzling (literally, "heat-ling") in place of season names.
Other vocabulary examples, compared to their German counterparts, include:
From Feraru's "The 'United Ring' and Organized Crime in Berlin"
Current status
Variants of Rotwelsch, sometimes toned down, can still be heard among travelling craftspeople and funfair 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, for example, "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 it was only spoken fluently by approximately 700-750 people in 1976.
Code
Josef Ludwig Blum from Lützenhardt (Black Forrest) wrote from war prison:
„[E]s grüßt Dich nun recht herzlich Dein Mann, viele Grüße an Schofel und Bock. Also nochmals viel Glück auf ein baldiges Wiedersehen in der schönen Heimat. Viele Grüße an Mutter u. Geschwister sowie an die Deinen.“
Bock and Schofel are persons? The control let pass the words. This code words Schofel („bad“) and Bock („hunger“) change the meaning.
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.
An example of Rotwelsch is found in Gustav Meyrink's Der Golem and reads as follows: An Beindel von Eisen recht alt. An Stranzen net gar a so kalt. Messinung, a' Räucherl und Rohn, und immerrr nurr putzen. Und stoken sich Aufzug und Pfiff, und schmallern an eisernes G'süff. Juch, Und Handschuhkren, Harom net san.