Germanía () is the
Spanish term for the
argot
A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argo ...
used by
criminals
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Cane ...
or in
jails
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cri ...
in
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
during 16th and 17th centuries.
Its purpose is to keep outsiders out of the conversation. The ultimate origin of the word is the Latin word , through
Catalan (brother) and ("brotherhood, guild").
Some documentation for it occurs in
picaresque works as early as the
Spanish Golden Century, such as in
Quevedo's ''
El Buscón''. Some writers used it in poetry for comical effect.
After the arrival of the
Romani people
{{Infobox ethnic group
, group = Romani people
, image =
, image_caption =
, flag = Roma flag.svg
, flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress
, po ...
and their frequent imprisonment, ''germanía'' incorporated much vocabulary from
Romany and its descendant, the ''
caló'' jargon. As time passed, several words entered popular use and even standard Spanish, losing their value for secrecy.
''Germanía'' survives today in the ''
cheli'' jargon.
War of the Germanías
The term ''germanía'' ("brotherhood" in Catalan—compare with
Galician ''irmandade'' and Spanish ''hermandad'') originated from the name of a revolt against the local nobility in
Valencia
Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
, Spain during the sixteenth century. Subsequently, the term referred to the argot used by these communities and, eventually, it referred to improper argot.
Use in literature
Characters in the original Spanish version of
Arturo Pérez-Reverte's Captain Alatriste series make use of germanía. Pérez-Reverte gave a speech on the subject of germanía to the Real Academia Española de la Lengua after they invited him to join the academy for the work he had done on the series.
[Barbara Hoffert, "Q&A Arturo Pérez-Reverte", '']Library Journal
''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...
'', p. 77, 2005-4-15, translated to English by Carmen Ospina.
Other jargons based on Spanish
*
Bron
Bron () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, eastern France.
Geography
Bron lies east-southeast of central Lyon. It is the sixth-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, and is adjacent to its east side.
Climat ...
*
Gacería
*
Lunfardo
Lunfardo (; from the Italian ) is an argot originated and developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the lower classes in the Río de la Plata region (encompassing the port cities of Buenos Aires in Argentina and Montevideo in Uruguay) ...
(Argentina and Uruguay)
*
Quinqui
See also
*
Thieves' cant
Thieves' cant (also known as thieves' argot, rogues' cant, or peddler's French) is a cant (language), cant, cryptolect, or argot which was formerly used by thieves, beggars, and hustlers of various kinds in Great Britain and to a lesser extent i ...
*
Rotwelsch
References
External links
Spain 1516–1522: The Troubled Succession of Charles V - Part 9: The GermaníaGermaníain the
RAE dictionary.
Cant languages
Spanish language
{{spanish-lang-stub