I approve the registration of en-boont (Boontling)
Michael Everson
everson at evertype.com
Wed Jan 29 15:50:21 CET 2003
LANGUAGE TAG REGISTRATION FORM
Name of requester : John Cowan
E-mail address of requester: jcowan at reutershealth.com
Tag to be registered : en-boont
English name of language : Boontling
Native name of language (transcribed into ASCII): Boontling
Reference to published description of the language (book or article):
Adams, Charles C. _Boontling: An American Lingo, with a Dictionary
of Boontling. University of Texas Press, 1971
Any other relevant information:
Boontling is the name given by its speakers to a deliberately
contrived jargon which was spoken extensively between 1880 and 1920
in the upper Anderson Valley of Mendocino County, California. This
name, an abbreviated, self-explaining compound, is itself a typical
word in the jargon. "Boont" is the local term for Boonville, the
largest town in the valley and traditionally the service center of
the upper portion of the area; "ling" is abbreviated from "lingo".
Boontling, then, is the lingo of Boonville.
At the zenith of its development, Boontling contained a basic
vocabulary of more than 1000 words and phrases, and nearly 3000
specialized names for inhabitants of the area and for local
geographical features. It was spoken and/or understood by most of
the approximately 500 people in the rural community. Three differing
accounts of its origins are given by informants; all three agree that
it originated as a secret language, but then spread, perhaps via
public school, to the general populace. A conscious effort was made
to coin additional words.
Boontling is still studied today, both as an unusual linguistic
phenomenon, and by local valley residents who wish to know more of
their heritage.
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