''Rövarspråket'' ( en, The Robber Language) 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 of Lönneberga, Karlsson-on- ...
, where the children use it as a
code, 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
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national id ...
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 (; hbo, , šībbōleṯ) is any custom or tradition, usually a choice of phrasing or even a single word, that distinguishes one group of people from another. Shibboleths have been used throughout history in many societies as passw ...
.
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. Most Scandinavians are familiar with it.
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, argot ...
*
Língua do Pê
Língua dos Pês ( Portuguese, ''P Language'') is a language game spoken in Brazil and Portugal with Portuguese. It is also known in other languages, such as Dutch, Afrikaans, and Estonian.
Function
There are at least three different "dialect ...
aka
Jeringonza
{{Infobox Language game
, nativename = ''Jeringozo'', ''Idioma de la Pe''
, states = Spain, Latin America
, classification = Jeringonza
, hostlanguage = Spanish, European Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, others
Jeringonza is a Sp ...
*
Pig Latin
Pig Latin is a language game or argot 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 and adding a vocalic syl ...
*
Tutnese
Tutnese (also known as Tut and Tutahash) is an argot created by enslaved African Americans based on African-American Vernacular English as a method to covertly teach and learn spelling and reading.
Language rules
In Tutnese, vowels are pron ...
or Double Dutch, similar rules
*
Ubbi Dubbi
Ubbi dubbi is a language game spoken with the English language. Originating in America in the 17th century, it was popularized by the 1972–1978 PBS children's show '' Zoom''. When ''Zoom'' was revived in 1999 on PBS, Ubbi dubbi was again a fe ...
*
Javanais
*Gibberish
References
Swedish language
Society of Sweden
Language games
{{Ling-stub