This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, please consider modifying the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points in such a way that it can stand on its own as a concise version of the article.(October 2015)
This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (April 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
View a machine-translated version of the German article.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 9,746 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Rotwelsch]]; see its history for attribution.
You should also add the template {{Translated|de|Rotwelsch}} to the talk page.
Rotwelsch was first named by Martin Luther in his preface of Liber Vagatorum in the 16th century. Rot means "beggar" while welsch means "incomprehensible": thus, rotwelsch signifies the incomprehensible cant of beggars.[1]
History
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, notably Sintitikes. 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 = a small bell (from bimmel)
bleffen (or anbleffen) = 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]
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. 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. Baldowern or ausbaldowern 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]
Code
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]
In arts
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. OCLC 1137818284.
^da Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna "The Secret Code that threatened Nazi fantasies of Racial Purity" New York Times (Oct. 13, 2020)
^Puchner, Martin (13 October 2020). "On Rotwelsch, the Central European Language of Beggars, Travelers and Thieves". CrimeReads.
^Puchner, Martin (20 November 2020). "The Language Police Were Terrifyingly Real. My Grandfather Was One". Literary Hub.
^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.). 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.
^Proefrock, Stacia; Allmusic.com review of Mouth=Maul=Betrayer; URL accessed Jan 06, 2007
^Meyrink, Gustav (1917). "Punsch". Der Golem. Gesammelte Werke (in German). Vol. 1. Leipzig: Kurt Wolff. pp. 44–45. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
Further reading
Puchner, Martin. 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. OCLC 1137818284.
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
External links
Puchner, Martin. "How a secret European language 'made a rabbit' and survived | Psyche Ideas". Psyche. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
Rothwelſch, German cant dictionaries from 1510 to 1901 (in German)
March 04, 2023
rotwelsch, this, article, lead, section, adequately, summarize, contents, comply, with, wikipedia, lead, section, guidelines, please, consider, modifying, lead, provide, accessible, overview, article, points, such, that, stand, concise, version, article, octob. This article s lead section may not adequately summarize its contents To comply with Wikipedia s lead section guidelines please consider modifying the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article s key points in such a way that it can stand on its own as a concise version of the article October 2015 This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in German April 2020 Click show for important translation instructions View a machine translated version of the German article Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Consider adding a topic to this template there are already 9 746 articles in the main category and specifying topic will aid in categorization Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at de Rotwelsch see its history for attribution You should also add the template Translated de Rotwelsch to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation Look up Rotwelsch in Wiktionary the free dictionary Rotwelsch German ˈʁoːtvɛlʃ beggar s foreign language or Gaunersprache German ˈɡaʊnɐʃpʁaːxe crook s language also Kochemer Loshn from Yiddish חוכמער לשון tongue of the wise 1 is a secret language a cant or thieves argot spoken by groups primarily marginalized groups in Germany Switzerland Austria and Bohemia The language is based on a mix of Yiddish Hebrew Romani Latin and Czech with a German substrate 2 1 Contents 1 Name 2 History 3 Examples 3 1 From Feraru s Muskel Adolf amp Co 4 Current status 5 Code 6 In arts 7 See also 8 Notes and references 8 1 References 8 2 Further reading 8 3 External linksName EditRotwelsch was first named by Martin Luther in his preface of Liber Vagatorum in the 16th century Rot means beggar while welsch means incomprehensible thus rotwelsch signifies the incomprehensible cant of beggars 1 History EditRotwelsch 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 notably Sintitikes 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 During the 19th and 20th century Rotwelsch was the object of linguistic repression with systematic investigation by the German police 4 Examples EditSchokelmei Kaffee coffee schenigeln arbeiten to work Krauter Chef eines Handwerkbetriebes master artisan Kreuzspanne Weste waistcoat Wolkenschieber Frisor Barbier barber Stenz Wanderstock des Handwerksburschen walking stick fechten betteln to beg Platte machen Unterkunft suchen to seek lodging Puhler Polizist policeman From Feraru s Muskel Adolf amp Co Edit From Peter Feraru Muskel Adolf amp Co Die Ringvereine und das organisierte Verbrechen in Berlin Muscle Adolf amp Co The Ring Clubs and Organised Crime in Berlin Argon Berlin 1995 abfassen to arrest literally touch off secondary 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 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 a small bell from bimmel bleffen or anbleffen 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 Bombe coffee 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 5 Current status EditVariants 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 Schillingsfurst 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 Baldowern or ausbaldowern 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 Code EditJosef Ludwig Blum from Lutzenhardt Black Forest wrote from war prison E s grusst Dich nun recht herzlich Dein Mann viele Grusse an Schofel und Bock Also nochmals viel Gluck auf ein baldiges Wiedersehen in der schonen Heimat Viele Grusse 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 In arts EditA 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 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 Raucherl und Rohn und immerrr nurr putzen Und stoken sich Aufzug und Pfiff und schmallern an eisernes G suff Juch Und Handschuhkren Harom net san Gustav Meyrink 9 See also EditGermania Grypsera Lotegorisch Polari YenishNotes and references EditReferences Edit a b c d Puchner 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 amp Company ISBN 978 1 324 00591 9 OCLC 1137818284 da Fonseca Wollheim Corinna The Secret Code that threatened Nazi fantasies of Racial Purity New York Times Oct 13 2020 Puchner Martin 13 October 2020 On Rotwelsch the Central European Language of Beggars Travelers and Thieves CrimeReads Puchner Martin 20 November 2020 The Language Police Were Terrifyingly Real My Grandfather Was One Literary Hub Feraru Peter 1995 Muskel Adolf amp Co die Ringvereine und das organisierte Verbrechen in Berlin Muscle Adolf amp Co Ring Clubs and Organised Crime in Berlin in German Berlin Argon ISBN 978 3 87024 785 0 Lerch Hans Gunter 2005 1976 Tschu lowi Das Manische in Giessen Tschu lowi The manic in Giessen in German reprint ed p 22 ISBN 3 89687 485 3 Efing Christian 2005 Das Lutzenhardter Jenisch Studien zu einer deutschen Sondersprache The Lutzenhardter Jenisch Studies on a special German language in German Wiesbaden Harrassowitz p 74 ISBN 978 3447052085 Proefrock Stacia Allmusic com review of Mouth Maul Betrayer URL accessed Jan 06 2007 Meyrink Gustav 1917 Punsch Der Golem Gesammelte Werke in German Vol 1 Leipzig Kurt Wolff pp 44 45 Retrieved 3 December 2022 Further reading Edit Puchner Martin The Language of Thieves My Family s Obsession with a Secret Code the Nazis Tried to Eliminate First ed New York ISBN 978 1 324 00591 9 OCLC 1137818284 Sobota Heinz 1978 Der Minus Mann Verlag Kiepenheuer und Witsch Wolf S A Worterbuch des Rotwelschen Deutsche Gaunersprache 1985 1993 431 pp ISBN 3 87118 736 4External links Edit Puchner Martin How a secret European language made a rabbit and survived Psyche Ideas Psyche Retrieved 2022 07 11 Rothwelſch German cant dictionaries from 1510 to 1901 in German Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rotwelsch amp oldid 1125514734, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
