Germanía
Germanía or
jerigonza is the term used in
Spanish to refer to the
argot used by
criminals or in
jails. Its purpose is to keep outsiders out of the conversation.
We already have some documentation in
picaresque works from the
Spanish Golden Century.Some writers used it in poetry for comical effect.
Since the arrival of
Roma people and their frequent imprisonment, it incorporated lots of vocabulary from
Romany language and its descendant, the Gipsy jargon
caló. As time passed, several words entered popular use and even standard Spanish, losing their occultation value. It survives today in the
cheli jargon.
The term
germanía ("brotherhood" in Catalan, compare with Galician
irmandiño, or Spanish
hermandad) originated from the name of certain communities in the
Land of Valencia,
Spain, which made themselves notorious by having rebelled against the local
nobility during the
sixteenth century. Subsequently, the term referred to the argot used by these communities and, eventually, it referred to improper argot.
*
Caló*
Lunfardo*
Tarish*
Barallete*
Gacería*
Bron*
Spain 1516–1522: The Troubled Succession Of Charles V - Part 9: The Germania*
Germanía in the
RAE dictionary.
