| Grypsera | |
|---|---|
| Drugie życie | |
| Native to | Poland |
| Region | Warsaw |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Grypsera (Polish pronunciation:[ɡrɨˈpsɛra]: fromLow GermanGrips meaning "intelligence", "cleverness"; alsodrugie życie, literally "second life" in Polish[1]) is a distinctnonstandard dialect or prisonslang of thePolish language, used traditionally byrecidivist prison inmates.[2]
It evolved in the 19th century in the areas ofCongress Poland: it is said to have originated inGęsiówka, a prison inWarsaw.[3] The basicsubstrate of the dialect is Polish, but there are many notable influences (mostly lexical) from other languages used in Polish lands at that time, most notablyYiddish andGerman, but also someLithuanian,Ukrainian,Russian,Greek andLatin.[1] It was also heavily influenced by variousregional dialects of the Polish language, most notably theBałak jargon ofLwów and theWarsaw dialect.
Initially, it served the role of acant, or "secret language", but in the late 19th century, it became a standardsociolect of criminals. Grypsera is constantly evolving to maintain the status of a language understood only by a select group of inmates and not by the wardens or informers.[4] That makes it currently one of the lexically richest dialects of Polish. Also, it is not possible to prepare a comprehensive dictionary of the dialect since it differs from prison to prison.
Phonetically, Grypsera is similar to theWarsaw dialect and shares its most notable features of assimilation of⟨i⟩[i] into⟨y⟩[ɨ] and the disappearance ofnasal vowels, especially in word-finalsyllables.
Source:[1]