Bargoens, A 'Language' with Many Names

Dutch has quite a few words with more or less the same meaning as Bargoens (= cant). Most of them belong to the current standard language, others are regional names or are older designations that are no longer in use. This article discusses the meaning & etymology of all those names & especially of the label Bargoens. The first part focuses on the meanings of, & semantic relations between, the words in the standard language. Using a monolingual dictionary of present-day Dutch, I draw up a list of designations that form part of the semantic cluster which Bargoens belongs to. Subsequently, I discuss the relations of synonymy, hyperonymy & hyponymy that hold between these designations & I confront the meanings as they appear in the dictionary with those that are found in the literature on Bargoens. With the exception of the loan words argot, jargon & koeterwaals, the names in the standard language are compounds of the type specificans-specificatum. Etymologically, they are less interesting than the old & regional designations, which not only mean much the same as Bargoens, but also share vague formal characteristics with this word. The etymology of these names sheds new light on the origin & history of non-compound slang names. Unlike names of languages of countries, regions or places, they appear not to be derived from geographical names but refer in the first instance to a speech act or a manner of speaking. At a later stage, they sometimes become associated with the name of a person or place known from history. Such reinterpretation inspired by a historical name provides a plausible etymology for the words arragoens, Bargoens & brigade. 36 References. Adapted from the source document