Xíriga is an occupation-related
cant on
Asturian developed by the ''tejeros'' of
Llanes
Llanes (the ''Concejo de Llanes'', ''Conceyu de Llanes'' in Asturian language) is a municipality of the province of Asturias, in northern Spain. Stretching for about 30 km along the coast at the extreme east of the province, Llanes is bound ...
and
Ribadesella
Ribadesella () is a small municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. Known for its location on the Cantabrian Sea, at the outlet of the River Sella, Ribadesella is a town that forms part of the Picos de Eur ...
in
Asturias
Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...
. The ''tejeros'' were
migrant worker
A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Migrant workers ...
s in brick or clay, usually poor, who contracted themselves out for work sometimes in distant towns. Often mistreated by their overseers, the traveling craftsmen developed xíriga sometime around the 18th century as a defensive or private language in order to be able to talk freely in front of their employers/masters. Because it originated with poor working men who were largely illiterate, xíriga had no written form, and the language began to disappear with the decline of the ''tejeros'' although one can still hear it spoken occasionally by relatives or descendants.
The words created for or adopted into the language provide some insight into the social life, customs and beliefs of its original speakers—for example, there are a large number of verbs that translate "to rob" and many of the words are crude, blunt, or intended as insults.
As in the
Gacería
Gacería, also known as briquería or briquero, is a linguistic variant whose core has its origins between the 12th and 13th centuries, it was especially rooted during the 19th and 20th centuries as cant and slang within the professional world o ...
of the makers of
threshing-boards and sieves in
Cantalejo, Segovia
Cantalejo ( Gacería: ''Vilorio Sierte'') is a municipality located in the province of Segovia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2023 census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquirin ...
and the Galician
Fala dos arxinas
The Armed Forces of the Liberation of Angola () or FALA was the armed wing of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), a prominent political faction during the Angolan Civil War.
History
After their training in China in ...
, some of the words are taken from
Basque language
Basque ( ; ) is a language spoken by Basques and other residents of the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country, a region that straddles the westernmost Pyrenees in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. Basque ...
.
While the Basque regions were far from the tejero routes, the non-Romance vocabulary of Basque makes it unintelligible to outsiders.
Examples
;araguía
:meat. ''Haragia'' is Basque for "the meat"
;asúa
:fire. ''Sua'' is Basque for "the fire".
;bai
:yes. ''Bai'' is Basque for "yes"
;bartolo
:corn. ''Arto'' is Basque for corn. "Bartolo" is also a Spanish nickname for
Bartholomew
Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2).
New Testament references
The name ''Bartholomew ...
.
;drama
:mother. A
vesre
Vesre (from Spanish ''(al) revés'' 'reverse') is the reversing of the order of syllables within a word in Spanish. It is a feature of Rioplatense Spanish slang and Tango lyrics, and is associated with lunfardo.
Vesre is mostly from Buenos Air ...
of ''madre''
;drape
:father. A
metathesis of ''padre''.
;ergue, erguín
:stonecutter. ''Hargin'' is Basque for "stonecutter", ''arxina'' in ''fala dos arxinas''.
References
Mallea Olaetxe, J. "The Basques in the Mexican Regions: 16th - 20th Centuries." ''Basque Studies Program Newsletter'' No. 51 (1995).La xíriga, on celtiberia.net (in Spanish)
External links
* Muñoz Valle, Emili
"La xíriga".''
Boletín del Real Instituto de Estudios Asturianos'' No. 76 (1972).
* Muñoz Valle, Emili
"La xíriga como lenguaje secreto en la Segunda Guerra Mundial".''
Boletín del Real Instituto de Estudios Asturianos'' No. 99 (1980).
Asturian language
Cant languages
Cants with Basque influence
Occupational cryptolects
Migrant workers
Tiling
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