Rosarigasino (also known as Gasó) is a
language game
A language game (also called a cant, secret language, ludling, or argot) is a system of manipulating spoken words to render them incomprehensible to an untrained listener. Language games are used primarily by groups attempting to conceal their c ...
(in the form of a
rhyming
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...
slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...
) traditionally associated with the city of
Rosario
Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...
, , even though very few people, if any, currently employ it.
It is similar to the much more common game of ''
jeringonza
Jeringonza is a Spanish language game played by children in Spain and all over Hispanic America. It consists of adding the letter ''p'' after each vowel of a word, and repeating the vowel. For example, ''Carlos'' turns into ''Cápar-lopos''.
F ...
''. The exact origins of this language remain uncertain, but scholars and historians agree that it was created in the early 20th century by local prisoners to communicate with each other without being understood by guards.
''Rosarigasino'' functions by adding two
syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
s to each word by inserting the sequence ''-gas-'' immediately after the
stress
Stress may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition
* Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
ed vowel and then repeating that vowel, followed by the rest of the word. The term ''rosarigasino'' itself is formed in this way, after the local residents'
demonym
A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...
(''rosarino''). Other examples (with the added sounds in bold):
:''colectivo'' ("bus") → ''colectigasivo''
:''
Monumento a la Bandera'' ("Flag Memorial") → ''Monumegasento a la Bandegasera''
:''peatonal'' ("pedestrian street") → ''peatonagasal''
:''
Calle Córdoba'' ("Córdoba St.") → ''Cagasalle Cogasórdoba''
In the city of Rosario there is a sort of ''Academia'' or ''Association of Gasó''. Besides, in some places it is possible to purchase manuals or learning books. In 2005, a complete rosarigasino version of
Cervantes' novel
Don Quixote de la Mancha
is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Western ...
was published, entitled ''Don Quijogasote de la Magasancha'' and translated by
Bernardo "Chiquito" Reyes.
Culture in Rosario, Santa Fe
Spanish slang
Language games
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