PICIGIN: LANGUAGE OF A GAME AND A GAME OF LANGUAGE
Abstract
The paper presents the results of field research of intragroup communication and language practices of members of one of the most recognizable Split subcultures – picigin players. The fundamental research question is whether a specific intra-group code was created within the urban vernacular of the city of Split under conditions of long-term intensive contact in a predominantly male circle – in the form of a special sociolect or only a communicative style, i.e. in what way language practice contributes to the formation of the identity of the researched group. The material collected by surveying and interviewing members of this community is analyzed from a narrower linguistic aspect, but also interpreted in a broader (socio)linguistic context. The collected language units with broader intra-group usage, mainly lexemes and idioms, including onymes, are categorized in terms of meaning, and the most frequent word formation processes and associated metaphorical concepts are specified as well. The paper also discusses the attitudes of picigin players towards different language varieties of the city of Split, as well as some gender aspects of their intragroup communication and the role of humor in shaping and expressing their social identity.
Downloads
References
Attardo, Salvatore. (2017). Humor in Language In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Available at: https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefore-9780199384655-e-342. (accessed July 8, 2023) (In English)
Borčić, Goran. (2007). O Bačvicama do kraja 19. stoljeća [Bačvice untill the End of the 19th Century] In Matošić, Zdenko (Ed.) Bačvice – raj na zemlji [Bačvice – Heaven on Earth]. Split: Ekološko društvo Picigin Bačvice. 16–28. (In Croatian)
Brown, Penelope; Levinson, Stephen C. (1978). Universals in Language Usage: Politeness Phenomena. In Goody, Esther (Ed.) Questions and Politeness: Strategies in Social Interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 56–311.
Brown, Penelope; Levinson, Stephen C. (1987). Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (In English)
Brown, Roger; Gilman, Albert. (1960). The Pronouns of Power and Solidarity In Sebeok, Thomas Albert (Ed.) Style in Language. Cambridge: MIT Press. 253–276. (In English)
Bucholtz, Mary; Hall, Kira. (2010). Locating Identity in Language In Llamas, Carmen; Watt, Dominic (Eds.) Language and Identities. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 18–28. (In English)
Burr, Vivien. (2015). Social Constructionism In Wright, James (Ed.) International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. 2nd. ed. Oxford: Elsevier. 222–227. (In English)
Coulmas, Florian. (2018). Urbanisation and Linguistic Multitude In Heinrich, Patrick; Smakman, Dick (Eds.). Urban Sociolinguistics: The City as a Linguistic Process and Experience. Oxon, New York: Routledge. 12–24. (In English)
Dragojevic, Marko. (2017) Language Attitudes In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. Available at: https://oxfordre.com/communication/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-437. (accessed July 17, 2023) (In English)
Eckert, Penelope; McConnell-Ginet, Sally. (2003). Language and Gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (In English)
Galović, Filip; Jutronić, Dunja. (2021). Phonological and Morphological Characteristics of the Speech of Older Generation in Split. Kroatologija [Croatology], 12, 1. 29–66. (In English)
Hay, Jennifer. (2000). Functions of Humor in the Conversations of Men and Women. Journal of Pragmatics, 32, 6. 709–742. (In English)
Helleland, Botolv. (2012). Place Names and Identities. In Helleland, Botolv; Ore, Christian-Emil; Wikstrøm, Solveig (Eds.) Names and Identities, Oslo Studies in Language 4(2). 95–116. (In English)
Johnstone, Barbara. (2010). Locating Language in Identity In Llamas, Carmen; Watt, Dominic (Eds.) Language and Identities. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 29–36. (In English)
Joseph, John E. (2010). Identity. In Llamas, Carmen; Watt, Dominic (Eds.) Language and Identities. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 9–17. (In English)
Jutronić, Dunja. (2010). Splitski govor – od vapora do trajekta [Language Variety of City of Split – from „Vapor“ to „Trajekt“]. Split: Naklada Bošković. (In Croatian)
Kapović, Mate. (2004). Jezični utjecaj velikih gradova [Linguistic Influence of Big Cities]. Rasprave Instituta za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje [Discussions of the Institute for the Croatian Language and Linguistics], 30. 97–105. (In Croatian)
Kodrić, Ana; Marasović-Alujević, Marina. (2008). Toponimi romanskoga porijekla na splitskom poluotoku [Toponyms of Roman Origin on the Split Peninsula]. Školski vjesnik. Časopis za pedagoška i školska pitanja [School Newspaper. Journal for the Pedagogical and School Issues], 57 (2008), 1–2. 91–126. (In Croatian)
Kudrjavcev, Anatolij. (2007). Akrobati plićaka [Shallow Acrobats] In Matošić, Zdenko (Ed.) Bačvice – raj na zemlji [Bačvice – Heaven on Earth]. Split: Ekološko društvo Picigin Bačvice. 149–154. (In Croatian)
Kuiper, Koenraad. (1998). Sporting Formulae in New Zealand English: Two Models of Male Solidarity. In Coates, Jennifer (Ed.) Language and Gender: A Reader. Oxford: Blackwell. 285–293. (In English)
Le Page, R. B.; Tabouret-Keller, Andrée. (1985). Acts of Identity: Creole-based Approaches to Language and Ethnicity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (In English)
Mardešić Komac, Jadranka. (2017). Splitski govor – nacionalno kulturno dobro [Language Variety of City of Split – National Cultural Asset]. Čakavska rič: Polugodišnjak za proučavanje čakavske riječi [Čakavska rič: A Half-year Journal for the Study of the Chakavian Word], Vol. XLV, No. 1–2: 231–240. (In Croatian)
Marović, Duško; Rađa, Mihovil. (2006). Povijest športa u Splitu. Knjiga druga. 1918.–1941. [History of Sports in Split. Book Two. 1918–1941]. Split: Splitski savez športova, Komisija za povijest športa. (In Croatian)
Matošić, Zdenko (Ed.). (2007). Bačvice – raj na zemlji [Bačvice – Heaven on Earth]. Split: Ekološko društvo Picigin Bačvice. (In Croatian)
Picigin – nematerijalno kulturno dobro. [Picigin – National Cultural Asset] Available at: http://www.picigin-bacvice.com/files/picigin/picigin-vijesti-nematerijalno_kulturno_dobro_rjesenje.html (accessed January 27, 2023) (In Croatian)
Premuž Đipalo, Vedrana. (2015). „Ne vridi mi dan ako ne dođem na Bačvice“: O piciginašima s Bačvica i stvaranju mjesta [„My Day Doesn't Make Sense if I Don't Go to Bačvice“: About the Players of Picigin and the Establishment of the Place]. Ethnologica Dalmatica, 22. 317–341. (In Croatian)
Preston, Dennis R. (2002). Language with an Attitude In Chambers, J. K.; Trudgill, Peter; Schilling-Estes, Natalie (Eds.) The Handbook of Language Variation and Change. Oxford: Blackwell. 40–66. (In Croatian)
Senjanović, Ćićo. (2007). Picigin u 5 kartica [Picigin in 5 Cards] In Matošić, Zdenko (Ed.) Bačvice – raj na zemlji [Bačvice – Heaven on Earth]. Split: Ekološko društvo Picigin Bačvice. 155–157. (In Croatian)
Šimunović, Petar. (2008). Ranosrednjovjekovna toponimija splitskog poluotoka [Early Medieval Toponymy of the Split Peninsula]. Archaeologia Adriatica, 2 (2008). 587–599. (In Croatian)
Šegvić Andreško, Edo. (2003). Spli'ska rič. 1. CD izdanje [Dictionary of the Vernacular of City of Split. 1st CD edition]. Split. Available at: https://www.bartul.hr/epublication/rjecnik/files/assets/basic-html/page1.html (accessed February 7, 2023) (In Croatian)
Tabouret-Keller, Andrée. (1997). Language and Identity. In Coulmas, Florian (Ed.) The Handbook of Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Blackwell. 315–326. (In English)
Tuan, Yi-Fu. (1979). Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Wodak, Ruth; Benke, Gertraud. (1997). Gender as a Sociolinguistic Variable: New Perspectives on Variation Studies. In Coulmas, Florian (Ed.) The Handbook of Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Blackwell. 127–150. (In English)
Županović Filipin, Nada; Kljaković-Gašpić, Ivana. (2014). Conflitto linguistico tra le varietà standard e non standard sull'esempio della città di Spalato [Language Conflict between Standard and Non-standard Varieties on the Example of the City of Split] In Peša Matracki, Ivica; Ljubičić, Maslina; Županović Filipin, Nada; Kovačić, Vinko (Eds.) Zbornik Međunarodnoga znanstvenog skupa u spomen na prof. dr. Žarka Muljačića (1922.–2009.) [Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference in Memory of Professor Dr. Žarko Muljačić (1922–2009)]. Zagreb: FF-press. 385–395. (In Italian)
Copyright (c) 2023 Ivana Čagalj
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Philological studies © 2019. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License
