Cant or thieves' argot, spoken by covert groups primarily in southern Germany and Switzerland
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Rotwelsch was first named by Martin Luther in his preface of Liber Vagatorum in the 16th century. Rot means "beggar" while welsch means "incomprehensible" (cf*Walhaz): thus, rotwelsch signifies the incomprehensible cant of beggars.[1]
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, and other Germanic languages like Yiddish,[3] as well as from Romany languages. 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.
Peter Feraru: Muskel-Adolf & Co.: Die ›Ringvereine‹ und das organisierte Verbrechen in Berlin [Muscle-Adolf & Co.: The ›Ring-Clubs‹ and Organised Crime in Berlin]. Argon, Berlin 1995.
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'); also possibly from Malayan through Dutch: berapa means 'how much?' (what does it cost), now integrated in Dutch as berappen: to pay.
betuke = discreet or imperceptible (perhaps from Hebrew betokh = within)
die Bim = the tramway
bleffen (oranbleffen) = to threaten. Possibly from Dutch: blaffen: to bark (like a dog).
der Bock, from Romani bokh = hunger, coll. Bock haben = to be up for something.
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.[5]
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. Some Rotwelsch- and Yenish-speaking vagrant communities also exist in Switzerland due the country's neutral status during World War Two.[1]
A few Rotwelsch words have entered the colloquial language, for example, aufmucken, Bau, and berappen. Baldowernorausbaldowern is very common in the Berlin dialect; Bombe is still used in German prison jargon. Bock haben is also still used all around Germany. 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.[6]
Josef Ludwig Blum from Lützenhardt (Black Forest) 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."
The censors allowed the passage to remain, apparently believing that Bock and Schofel were people. They were instead code words, Schofel ("bad") and Bock ("hunger"), which hid the message that the prisoners weren't doing well, and that they were starving.[7]
A variant of Rotwelsch was spoken by some American criminal groups in the 1930s and the 1940s, and harpist Zeena Parkins' 1996 album Mouth=Maul=Betrayer made use of spoken Rotwelsch texts.[8]
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.
^ abcdPuchner, Martin (2020). The language of thieves : my family's obsession with a secret code the Nazis tried to eliminate (1 ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN978-1-324-00591-9. OCLC1137818284.
^Feraru, Peter (1995). Muskel-Adolf & Co.: die "Ringvereine" und das organisierte Verbrechen in Berlin [Muscle Adolf & Co.: Ring-Clubs and Organised Crime in Berlin] (in German). Berlin: Argon. ISBN978-3-87024-785-0.
^Lerch, Hans-Günter (2005) [1976]. Tschü lowi...Das Manische in Giessen [Tschü lowi ... The manic in Giessen] (in German) (reprint ed.). VVB Laufersweiler Verlag. p. 22. ISBN3-89687-485-3.
^Efing, Christian (2005). Das Lützenhardter Jenisch: Studien zu einer deutschen Sondersprache [The Lützenhardter Jenisch: Studies on a special German language] (in German). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. p. 74. ISBN978-3447052085.
Puchner, Martin (13 October 2020). The Language of Thieves: My Family's Obsession with a Secret Code the Nazis Tried to Eliminate (First ed.). New York. ISBN978-1-324-00591-9. OCLC1137818284.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Sobota, Heinz. 1978. Der Minus-Mann, Verlag Kiepenheuer und Witsch.
Wolf, S.A.: Wörterbuch des Rotwelschen. Deutsche Gaunersprache, 1985/1993, 431 pp., ISBN3-87118-736-4
