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Argot
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Татарча/tatarça
For the fungus, see Ergot.
An argot (English pronunciation: /ˈɑrɡoʊ/; from French argot [aʁˈɡo] ‘slang’) is a secret language used by various
groups—e.g. schoolmates, outlaws, colleagues, among many others—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, occupation, or hobby, in which sense it overlaps with jargon.
The author Victor Hugo was one of the first to research argot extensively.[1] He describes it in his 1862 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 the term argot in this context 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.[2]
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. Such argots are mainly versions of another language, with a part of its vocabulary
replaced by words unknown to the larger public; argot used in this sense is synonymous with cant. For example,
argot in this sense is used for 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).[3] Such systems are examples of argots à clef, or "coded argots."[3]
Specific words can go from argot into common speech or the other way. For example, modern French loufoque
‘crazy, goofy’, now common usage, originates in the louchébem transformation of Fr. fou ‘crazy’.
Contents [hide]
1 Examples
2 See also
3 References
4 External links
Examples
[edit]
"Piaf" is a Parisian argot word for “bird, sparrow”. It was taken up by the singer Edith Piaf as her stage name.[4]
See also
[edit]
1337 speak
Bargoens
Boontling
Caló (Chicano)
Cant
Cockney rhyming slang
Fala dos arxinas
Fenya
Gayle language
IsiNgqumo
Jargon
Klezmer-loshn
Lunfardo
Microculture
Nadsat
Polari
Rotwelsch
Українська
中文
Edit links
Lazăr Şăineanu
Shelta
Thieves' cant
Verlan
References
[edit]
1. ^ Schwartz, Robert M. "Interesting Facts about Convicts of France in the 19th Century" . Mt. Holyoke University.
2. ^ Guiraud, Pierre, L'Argot. Que sais-je?, Paris: PUF, 1958, p. 700
3. ^ a b Valdman, Albert (May 2000). "La Langue des faubourgs et des banlieues: de l'argot au français populaire".
The French Review (in French) (American Association of Teachers of French) 73 (6): 1179–1192.
JSTOR 399371 .
4. ^ Judith Thurman (June 25, 2007). "French Blues" . The New Yorker. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
External links
[edit]
Look up argot in Wiktionary,
the free dictionary.
Authority control
GND: 4136494-6
Categories: Cant languages Folklore
This page was last modified on 26 May 2015, at 01:21.
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