Fenya

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Fenya (Russian: феня, IPA:

Initially, this was the name of the Ofenya language (Russian: офенский язык, formerly "Suzdal dialect"). This is a language that was formed in Russia, in the Middle Ages, and was originally used by the ofenyas (travelling peddlers).

The god-haulers — "ofenyas engaged in the resale of

Overview

The grammar of fenya is Russian; the vocabulary has changed over time.

The original fenya consisted of broken Russian words borrowed from

• "Ропа кимать, полумеркот, рыхло закурещат ворыханы." (Ropa kimat', polumerkot, rykhlo zakureshchat vorykhany.)

  Normative Russian: "Пора спать, полночь; скоро запоют петухи." (Pora spat', polnoch; skoro zapoyut petukhi.)

  Translation: "It's time to go to bed, it's midnight, soon the roosters will be crowing."

• "Да позагорбил басве слемзить: астона басвинска ухалила дряботницей." (Da pozagorbil basve slemzit'; astona basvinska ukhalila dryabotnitsey.)

  Normative Russian: "Да позабыл тебе сказать: жена твоя померла весною." (Da pozabyl tebe skazat': zhena tvoya pomerla vesnoyu.)

  Translation: "Oh, I forgot to tell you: your wife died this spring."

Modern fenya included usual Russian words in unusual meanings, like шаблон shablon (template) for military or police headwear, педаль pedal' (pedal) for mobile phone (recent addition).^{[citation needed]}

The vocabulary changed over time, with notable infusion of words of Yiddish origin.^[1] During the times of the Soviet Union fenya penetrated into common spoken Russian and can no longer be considered cryptic, although it is still commonly associated with those who have connections to the Russian criminal culture or who have spent a significant amount of time incarcerated.

A number of explanations for this phenomenon are suggested. For one, a significant part of the population, not necessarily criminals, survived the

Over time, criminals and black marketeers were covertly admired in working class Soviet culture. This resulted, for example, in "blatnaya songs". Few "common" Russians, however, possess a complete or even complex understanding of fenya and fewer still - for various reasons - will admit to it.

Modern Fenya still influences

The dissolution of the Soviet Union and the appearance of "New Russians" introduced new changes into fenya, notably assigning new meanings and accents to common words.

In January 2016, the use of both

• The article Cant lists similar languages in other cultures
• Mat (Russian profanity)
• Thief in law

References

External links

• Glossary of Russian criminal slang (Russian)
• Russian criminal slang dictionaries (1859-1927) (Russian)