Germanía
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Germanía (Template:IPA) is the Spanish term for the argot used by criminals or in jails in Spain during 16th and 17th centuries.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> Its purpose is to keep outsiders out of the conversation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The ultimate origin of the word is the Latin word Template:Lang, through Catalan Template:Lang (brother) and Template:Lang ("brotherhood, guild").<ref>Template:Cite EB1911</ref>
Some documentation for it occurs in picaresque works as early as the Spanish Golden Century, such as in Quevedo's El Buscón.<ref>Christopher J. Pountain, A History of the Spanish Language Through Texts (Routledge, 2000), 159.</ref> Some writers used it in poetry for comical effect.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
After the arrival of the Romani people and their frequent imprisonment, germanía incorporated much vocabulary from Romany and its descendant, the caló jargon.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> As time passed, several words entered popular use and even standard Spanish, losing their value for secrecy.<ref name=":0" /> Germanía survives today in the cheli jargon.
War of the Germanías
Template:Main The term germanía ("brotherhood" in Catalan—compare with Galician irmandade and Spanish hermandad) originated from the name of a revolt against the local nobility in Valencia, Spain during the sixteenth century. Subsequently, the term referred to the argot used by these communities and, eventually, it referred to improper argot.
Use in literature
Characters in the original Spanish version of Arturo Pérez-Reverte's Captain Alatriste series make use of germanía. Pérez-Reverte gave a speech on the subject of germanía to the Real Academia Española de la Lengua after they invited him to join the academy for the work he had done on the series.<ref>Barbara Hoffert, "Q&A Arturo Pérez-Reverte", Library Journal, p. 77, 2005-4-15, translated to English by Carmen Ospina.</ref>