Polari - In ‘Slekned Elnageyigi’
Slekned elnageyigdy emergi rram slodeyidoraeyn an zok in kammeynodyr reeleyn ne nees a' krakeiel ne kradred ys ddeor eyddernakdy rram n'weydogi warelg. Sleyk kammeynodody inne eyeyielelas slakoielelyr mirganieloes ur ‘eyngerwarelg’ kammey nodody, ur sai za inne sneidrees vyr user kammeynodody. Ddei elnageyigdy inne ddenerane ysdre embelaases vyr ariveeleler, gasbody, esnok manarodyr graeybeyn ur kromaniel. Denerane, in slekned elnageyigi areyn in sleyrvoviel aikdok an slame kidy. Baeliro areyn rai sleyk slekned elnageyigi zok wieyn in brageykd ys in viroedyr ys mirganieloeg graeybeyn za eyes n'elexokra rar kages kammeynokidora. Baeliro griweyn rram ne ‘knad’ ys ariveelelang dawmre nas kromaniel, Ardielonaidi Elangeyi Rrnaki bokkes eyb vyr mre slervang an ne nivas, ne Ramnao elnageyigi ys gasbody, nas ne jirgra ys ne ddeidrokiel kammeynodas (imragd mnayr user badredoiel slodarokiel slaeyrkdy):
The objective of the following investigation is to examine the history of the secret ingroup language Polari from a sociolinguistic perspective. This will include looking at the history and uses of this lexicon and the factors which led to its rise, and eventually to its decline. A key question posed by this investigation is the extent to which Polari survives today and the type of presence, if any, it has in contemporary gay culture.
Ne mad kammra aasbi ys slekned elnageyigi areyn sid zok eydy n'wverielel dreykdeyne ys in elirger elnageyige, wog in kageg elekhokra. Baeliro areyn na skeelelred simbeli ys so, ineyn ard areyn beyneelyr in elexokra, wog ne slasndikdok dreykdeyne ys Regelos. Gdybodi veang eliveeleles in ‘ekned elnageyige’, Baeliro areyn mane inkkeyrideelas gdykroves ineyn in aasbi ys elexokra – in jirgra eyes vyr in neymver ys slakoi el graeybeyn a' sleyielemred Regelos, ‘nad in kradreykdes elnageyige, veyd in slekned vakiveyeliras… zok eydy ne grimmir nas slasndix ys Regelos ineyn weelel ineyn mad ys ardeyn kane vakiveyeliras’ (Reyanora, 1996):
Secret languages are fascinating to linguists’ curiosity, and Polari is a particularly interesting subject because of the rich tapestry of interwoven sources which build this unique lexicon, and the fact that it has been ‘off-limits’ to outsiders until very recently. The variety discovered in the lexicon is indicative of the fascinating history of Polari – a story of different itinerant groups meeting and trading lexical items along the way.
Baeliro kaeyels raelyr vi in gelasiras, in kaelelekdora ys wargeyn nas bridy sid kaeyels vi dridegokielelyr embelaases eoser a' kneidi in slrei ys veelragang’ ur a' skeleygi usereyn (aser elangeyodeyn slivi sleyggdydes ne sodreki ys slame Baeliro-bekorok grimmidokiel reyeldy, veyd ard sleemeyn sid rar ne gneid mijarodyr ys Baeliro beiker, zid ddeyr weri eyang wieyn in magoroes rarm ys Regelos, sleladdang an elexokiel ardem inkkargang a' ne slasndikdok reyeldy ys Regelos). Inelsaeyg nad in ‘elnageyige’ an ne wiyr sid Renenk, Kandyi ur Inrivok waeyels vi keliseg, Baeliro kaeyels ind aomdy vi ineyn ankamb neenovele a' ueydogereyn ineyn Kandyi waeyels vi a' in mraaelangeyiel Regelos beiker:
In 1950, Eric Partridge concluded his chapter on Polari, ‘Cinderella among languages’, by stating that ‘Parlyaree… is a glossary, a vocabulary, not a complete language. Little remains’. He then forecasted that ‘even that little may disappear’ (Partridge, 1950: 125), which seems curiously at odds with the fact that the 1960s would prove to be Polari’s most high-profile decade. Linguists were continually predicting Polari’s decline, and Hancock wrote in 1984 that Polari ‘survives only as a lexicon of 80-100 words’, therefore it is unlikely that anyone knows all of them (Hancock, 1984: 391).
The ethnologue report for Polari lists it as a language of the United Kingdom, but does not estimate a speaker population or classify it as part of any language family. It also lists the alternate names of Polari (Parlare, Parlary, Palarie, Palari, Parlyaree).
Aneenend an so skeleyovi elnageyigi areyn ne slrei ys ‘masderas’ n'elnageyigi slieyn a' ueydoger, zok inelelaw ne graeyb a' uberidi an sleknekas. Ne beyrbai ys sleyk slekned elnageyigdy areyn mad ysdre a'dydivelos ne vaeyngirody ys graeyb memversob.
Polari: A sociohistorical study of the life and decline of a secret language.
Heather Taylor, 2007 - The University of Manchester
- Cox, Leslie & Richard J. Fay (1994) ‘Gayspeak, the linguistic fringe: Bona polari, camp, queerspeak and beyond’ in Stephen Whittle (ed.) (1994) The Margins of the City: Gay Men’s Urban Lives (Aldershot: Arena, Ashgate Publishing) (pp. 103-127)
- Franklyn, Julian (1960) A Dictionary of Rhyming Slang (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul)
- Partridge, Eric (1950) Here, There and Everywhere – Essays Upon Language (London: Hamish Hamilton)
- Rijkhoff, Jan (1998) ‘Bystander Deixis’ in Yaron Matras (ed.) (1998) The Romani Element in Non-Standard Speech (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag) (pp. 51-67)
