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Concept
Cant (language)
Summary
A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group. It may also be called a cryptolect, argot, pseudo-language, anti-language or secret language. Each term differs slightly in meaning; their uses are inconsistent. Richard Rorty defines cant by saying that "'Cant,' in
the sense in which Samuel Johnson exclaims, "Clear your mind of cant," means, in other words, something like that which "people usually say without thinking, the standard thing to say, what one normally says.” In Heideggerian terms it is what “das Man” says.
There are two main schools of thought on the origin of the word cant:
In linguistics, the derivation is normally seen to be from the Irish word caint (older spelling cainnt), "speech, talk", or Scottish Gaelic cainnt. It is seen to have derived amongst the itinerant groups of people in Ireland and Scotland, who hailed from both Irish/Scottish Gaelic and English-speaking backgrounds, ultimately developing as various creole languages. However, the various types of cant (Scottish/Irish) are mutually unintelligible. The Irish creole variant is termed "the Cant". Its speakers from the Irish Traveller community know it as Gammon, while the linguistic community identifies it as Shelta.
Outside Gaelic circles, the derivation is typically seen to be from Latin cantāre, "to sing", via Norman French canter. Within this derivation, the history of the word is seen to have referred to the chanting of friars initially, used disparagingly some time between the 12th and 15th centuries. Gradually, the term was applied to the singsong of beggars and eventually a criminal jargon.
An argot (pronˈɑrɡoʊ; from French argot aʁɡo 'slang') is a language used by various groups to prevent outsiders from understanding their conversations. The term argot is also used to refer to the informal specialized vocabulary from a particular field of study, occupation, or hobby, in which sense it overlaps with jargon.
Official source
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