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Pejorative words (was: Introducing myself, and several questions)

From:Roger Mills <rfmilly@...>
Date:Thursday, February 17, 2005, 19:27
Barry Garcia wrote:
> But it wasn't consciously borrowed, with the intent to stir the shit, > as would using an racist or offensive word in a conlang. Pickaninny is > most likely due to phonetic development from the Portuguese word for > "small". It was often taken into 19th and turn of the century English > *as* an offensive word, from what I recall. That's the difference.
Pequeninho IIRC; the word arose from the early Portuguese adventures in Africa; and many West Africans were already using a Port.-based trade pidgin by the time the slave trade developed to mass proportions. The word may have been used (non-pejor.) by early slaves in the US; then as you say, the whites adopted it and pejorized it. BTW I think I've seen the form _pikin_ reported from some pidgin or other. My little secret-- lately I've been adapting some Yiddish slang terms into Kash slang, but with phonological distortions, of course. They haven't made it online yet, however. çamak(a) /Sa'mak(a)/-- penis, erection (schmuck) takas-- butt, rear end, ass (tuckas) peçukas-- crazy, silly, ridiculous (meshugas); pepecuci-- such a person nundik-- a boring, irritating person (noodnik) In genl. I'm viewing them as loans from Gwr languages........ Would anyone consider these offensive? Still working on çelep (schlep)-- something like 'drag s.t. heavy; (fig.) carry around an unwanted or undeserved burden ~bad reputation etc.' Other recent additions: calupa /tSa'lupa/ --a great big mess; total disorder kahuna-- young of the kawu /kaU)/, a food animal...... :-))))))

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Steg Belsky <draqonfayir@...>