Boontling
E528244
Boontling is a highly localized and inventive American English argot developed in the late 19th century in Boonville, California, known for its unique vocabulary and obscure origins.
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
American English dialect
ⓘ
argot ⓘ constructed language variety ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| culturalContext |
isolated valley community
ⓘ
rural logging and ranching culture ⓘ |
| developedInPeriod | late 19th century ⓘ |
| documentedBy |
Charles C. Adams
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
local Boonville speakers ⓘ |
| documentedIn | Boontling: An American Lingo NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasAcademicStudy | subject of sociolinguistic research ⓘ |
| hasApproximateNumberOfWords | over 1000 ⓘ |
| hasCharacteristic |
highly localized vocabulary
ⓘ
inventive word formation ⓘ lexical items not intelligible to other English speakers ⓘ obscure origins ⓘ secretive speech tradition ⓘ strong use of local personal names in coinages ⓘ use of events as etymological sources ⓘ use of place names as lexical bases ⓘ |
| hasMediaCoverage |
radio interviews with Boontling speakers
ⓘ
television documentaries on American dialects ⓘ |
| hasNotableLexeme |
“bahl” (meaning “good” or “great”)
ⓘ
“briney” (meaning “ocean”) ⓘ “harp” (meaning “telephone”) ⓘ “horn of zeese” (meaning “cup of coffee”) ⓘ “zeese” (meaning “coffee”) ⓘ |
| hasNotableWordFormationProcess |
compounding
ⓘ
eponymy ⓘ metaphor ⓘ semantic shift ⓘ |
| influencedBy |
American English
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Irish immigrants in Anderson Valley ⓘ Pomo indigenous languages ⓘ Scottish immigrants in Anderson Valley ⓘ Spanish language loanwords ⓘ |
| languageFamily | English language ⓘ |
| locatedInArea |
Anderson Valley, Mendocino County, California
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Boonville, California NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| numberOfFluentSpeakers | very few ⓘ |
| originalFunction |
concealing meaning from outsiders
ⓘ
in-group communication ⓘ social bonding within the local community ⓘ |
| preservationEffort | local historical societies in Anderson Valley ⓘ |
| primaryRegionOfUse |
Anderson Valley, California
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Boonville, California NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| status |
endangered
ⓘ
moribund ⓘ |
| usedBy |
Anderson Valley logging and ranching communities
ⓘ
residents of Boonville, California ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.