cryptolectn.
/ˈkrɪptə(ʊ)lɛkt/, U.S. /ˈkrɪptəˌlɛk(t)/ Linguistics.
A secret or arcane language used by a particular group or section of a community.
ΚΠ
1982 D. Gold in Comments on Etymol. 12 v.–vi. 10 In the cryptolect of Yiddish-speaking thieves, a word for ‘prison’ is kan.
1986 Amer. Speech 61 207 Their respective dialects in North America contain..features from Shelta, a related cryptolect based largely on Irish.
1995 Lang. in Society 24 537 This article presents data on a secret/play language or cryptolect called ‘Gypsy’ that is spoken on the Caribbean island of Bastimentos.
1997 D. Solway Random Walks p. x Or we profess poststructuralism or semiotics or..any of the other routine sublimities, usually couched in some mandatory cryptolect that confers the distinction of unreadability.
Derivatives
cryptoˈlectal adj.
ΚΠ
1983 D. Gold in Comments on Etymol. 12 xi.–xii. 48 ‘Crowbar’ is the older sense of German cryptolectal Jadschmuck.
1995 Lang. in Society 24 545 The original nucleus maintains stress in the new cryptolectal lexeme.
2002 Y. Matras Romani iii. 29 The use of internal names for nations, as well as the creation of internal place names, might on the other hand be regarded as a reflection of a cryptolectal or secretive function of Romani.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1982