Date:  Fri, 1 Apr 1994 09:23:20 CDT

From:  Randy Roberts <robertsr[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]EXT.MISSOURI.EDU>

Subject: Re: Private languages



   Allan:

    I'm no expert but I can give some bibliographical information about

   Boontling. Try California Folklore Quarterly [now Western Folklore]

   vol. 1, no. 1 (January 1942), pp. 96-97. Charles C. Adams, Boontling:

   An American Lingo: with a Dictionary of Boontling, University of Texas

   Press, Austin, 1972. Lynwood Carranco and Wilma Rawles Simmons, "The

   Boonville Language of Northern California," American Speech, 34:4

   (December 1964), pp. 278-286. E. N. Anderson, Jr., "The Social

   Context of a Local Lingo," Western Folklore, 29:3 (July 1970), pp.

   153-165. Charles C. Adams also wrote a thesis entitled "Boontling:

   Limited Language of Boonville, California and Its Environs." I think

   it was at the University of Washington in 1967 and I believe it is

   available from University Microfilms.

    I have only seen reference to the following item but it sounds

   interesting: Martha Strum, "A Case of Secret Language: the Benzorian

   Language," Smith College Studies in Modern Languages, vol. 21, (1939)

   pp. 209-220.

    Hope this is helpful.



    Randy Roberts

    robertsr[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ext.missouri.edu





______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________

Subject: Private languages

Author: aallan[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM at INTERNET-EXT

Date:  3/31/94 4:57 PM





Is anyone expert on private languages - e.g. Pig Latin, twin language,

Boontling, Cockney slang? Or are there any good studies of private languages,

especially the first two sorts?



Offhand I can't think of any, aside from routine mention in textbooks.



A reporter from New Jersey has inquired about this.

It revealed a gap in my knowledge. I said I'd ask around. (I see reporters

as opportunity, not nuisance. But that's another story.)



Thanks very much. Allan Metcalf AALLAN[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM