, 1888-01-17
DISTORTED MODES OF SPEECH.

JnrEons-London Cadgers' Dialects.
1t may be interesting to glance at n
subject closely connected with that of
artificial language-the attempts that
have been made to twist existing forms
of speech into such new shapes as would
form n new tongue. These efforts have
been exhibited chiefly by persons who
were anxious to have the use of a Ian
guage which only themselves and their
chosen friends should be able to speak or
understand.
Most famous of these distorted modes
of speech is that which is variously
known in England as medical Greek"
''St. Giles Greek" and 'marrowskying"
This consists of Transporting all the initial
consonants in n sentence, and it does,
when spoken fast, give the effect of an
unknown jargon. Thus in Medical
Greek a mutton chop is a chutton mop,
Q bull dog is a dull bog, butterfly is a
futterby n so on. 1t is n very simple
matter TO acquire a great degree of facil-
ity in speaking this lingo, but very diff
cult to understand it readily when spoken
fast. The following familiar verse, be-
ginning Hush, my babe, lie still and
slumber, " rendered into Medical Greek,
will serve as u good specimen of the dia-
lect:
Bush, by mabe, site ill sand lumber,
Ally honegels bunrd Ky tbed;
Blcyenly blessings Without Number,
Fcntly jawling on by thend.
1t will be observed that when n word
begins with two ~onsonants only one of
them need be taken. 1 have also spelled
Theoretically those words where the ordi-
nary rules would give a wrong sound.
Tho mama gsMa1irol Eroalrff rDp,oa
from the fact that this dialect has long
been in use among the medical students
at the London hospitals, who find it con-
venient when they wish to speak to each
other in the presence of n patient without
his being able to understand them. 1t is
also largely spoken by the students of the
London university.
AT Winchester college the students em-
ploy a form of what is known in this
country as DOG Latin" 1t consists of
repeating the vowel of every syllable
and prefixing TO that vowel the letter &,
accenting this additional syllable. Thus,
"'Can you go with me2" would be
"Cagan yougou gogo wigith mege2"
The Winchester boys call this the 'Ziph"
language, and it is probably of consider
able antiquity. De Quincy learned it in
his youth, and DIR. Wilkins in his work
describes it as n well known device for
making n conversation secret.
A less complicated jargon prevails at
some of the other English schools, con-
sisting simply of adding the syllable Wis
to each word. Thus, "Willvis youvis
COWS withvis mevis?" This resembles
the "ugry igry ogry" dialect of Ameri-
can school girls, familiar to every one.
In France, the boys add the syllable
dregue in the same way: Thus, vous-
dreguo avezdregue tortdregue for vous
ave. tort.
Two secret dialects are employed by
the London cadgers, and only long prac-
tice al make them Ineligible to one
who has not been born and bred in the
precinct of st. Giles. The first of these
is called Back Slang" and consists
theoretically in spelling backward the
principal words in n sentence. But as
the photographed notions of the average
cadger are, to say the least, eccentric;
and rs many of the words which were
originally formed in this way have been
greatly altered in use, the vocabulary of
n Cadger is practically a new language,
uncouth and unintelligiblc to all except
his own companions. For instance,
penny in back slang is yenep; a pint is
temp, namesclop means n policeman, and
gennet ten shillings.
Tho other dialect spoken by the street
vagabonds of London is known as the
rhyming slang, which is described by
III English writer as ''the substitution
of words and sentence which rhyme with
other words intended TO be kept secret.
1t transforms into a rough speech the
various odds and ends of old songs,
ballads and street nicknames which are
suitable to the purpose" The same
author gives n list of examples. Thus
frog and toad means "the road" finger
and thumb means rum" cat and mouse
"a house. and I'm afloat "a boat"
Back slang plays an important part in
the lower forms of French argot, in the
peculiar slang spoken by Spanish thieves
and called germania; in the German
rothwelsch and in the italian furbesco,
In fact the author of a slang dictionary,
published in London in 1864, shows that
the same principle runs through the jar,
gon of the Bazeegars, or wandering jug
glers in Hindustan, and cites n number
of interesting examples to provo It'll,
I. Peck, Phi. D., in Home Journal.