''Rövarspråket'' () is a
Swedish language game
A language game (also called a cant, secret language, ludling, or argot) is a system of manipulating spoken words to render them incomprehensible to an untrained listener. Language games are used primarily by groups attempting to conceal their ...
. It became popular after the books about
Bill Bergson by
Astrid Lindgren
Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil i Lönneberga, Emil of Lönneberga, ...
, where the children use it as a
code
In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communicati ...
, both at play and in solving actual crimes.
The formula for encoding is simple. Every consonant (spelling matters, not pronunciation) is doubled, and an ''o'' is inserted in-between. Vowels are left intact. It is possible to render the ''Rövarspråket'' version of an
English word as well as a
Swedish, such as the following for the word ''stubborn'':
:''sos-tot-u-bob-bob-o-ror-non'' or ''sostotubobboborornon''
The code is not very useful in written form, but it can be difficult to decode when spoken by a trained user speaking quickly. For an untrained speaker, a word or phrase can often be something of a
tongue-twister
A tongue twister is a phrase that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly, and can be used as a type of spoken (or sung) word game. Additionally, they can be used as exercises to improve pronunciation and fluency. Some tongue twisters p ...
or a
shibboleth
A shibboleth ( ; ) is any custom or tradition—usually a choice of phrasing or single word—that distinguishes one group of people from another. Historically, shibboleths have been used as passwords, ways of self-identification, signals of l ...
.
Today, the books (and subsequent films) are so well known in Sweden, and also in Norway, that the language is part of the culture of schoolchildren.
See also
*
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 ...
*
Pig Latin
Pig Latin (''Igpay Atinlay'') is a language game, argot, or cant in which words in English are altered, usually by adding a fabricated suffix or by moving the onset or initial consonant or consonant cluster of a word to the end of the word a ...
*
Tutnese
Tutnese (also known as Tut) is an argot created by Slavery in the United States, enslaved African Americans based on African-American Vernacular English as a method to covertly teach and learn spelling and reading.
Language rules
In Tutnese, v ...
or Double Dutch, similar rules
*
Ubbi Dubbi
Ubbi dubbi is a language game spoken with the English language. After decades of history and predecessors, it was widely popularized by the 1972–1978 PBS children's show '' Zoom''. When ''Zoom'' was revived in 1999 on PBS, Ubbi dubbi was again ...
*
Javanais
Javanais () is a type of French slang where the extra syllable is infixed inside a word after every consonant that is followed by a vowel, in order to render it incomprehensible. Some common examples are ''gros'' (, "fat") which becomes ''gravos' ...
* Gibberish
References
Swedish language
Society of Sweden
Language games
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