Pajubá
Brazilian cryptolect
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Key Takeaways
- Pajubá ( Portuguese pronunciation: [paʒuˈba] ), or Bajubá , is a Brazilian cryptolect which inserts numerous words and expressions from West African languages into the Portuguese language.
- Its source languages include Umbundu, Kimbundo, Kikongo, Egbá, Ewe, Fon and Yoruba.
- It is also often described as "the speaking in the language of the saints" or "rolling the tongue", much used by the "saint people" (priests of African religions) when one wants to say something so that other people cannot understand.
- "closing", roughly analogous to "flaming" in English) intended to subvert societal expectations to conceal or downplay one's LGBTQ identity.
Pajubá (Portuguese pronunciation: [paʒuˈba]), or Bajubá, is a Brazilian cryptolect which inserts numerous words and expressions from West African languages into the Portuguese language. It is spoken by practitioners of Afro-Brazilian religions, such as Candomblé and Umbanda, and by the Brazilian LGBT community. Its source languages include Umbundu, Kimbundo, Kikongo, Egbá, Ewe, Fon and Yoruba. It also includes words borrowed from Spanish, French, and English, as well as words of Portuguese origin with altered meanings.
It is also often described as "the speaking in the language of the saints" or "rolling the tongue", much used by the "saint people" (priests of African religions) when one wants to say something so that other people cannot understand.
In the travesti (Brazilian transvestite) community, Pajubá is usually accompanied by exaggeratedly "queer" body language, part of an aesthetic called fexação (lit. "closing", roughly analogous to "flaming" in English) intended to subvert societal expectations to conceal or downplay one's LGBTQ identity.
Etymology
In both the candomblé and the LGBTQ community, the word pajubá or bajubá means "gossip", "news", or "update", referring to other related groups or events occurring (both good things and bad things) in those circles.
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