Il gergo storico e l'uso del nome proprio

One of the main purposes of jargon expressions--whether they belong to job , crime associations, or youth jargons--has been defined as 'vis occultandi'. As a matter of fact, the jargon expression allows a sort of cryptic/coded communication among a restricted group of people to the exclusion of 'the others'. The use of proper names as jargon expressions falls under this idea of vis occultandi since it is itself conditioned by the primary objective of secrecy. Frequently used proper names (Pietro, Antonio, Giovanni, Bertoldo, etc.) are usually found in derivative and hypochoristic forms with the function of common nouns whose meaning is shared only by the members of a group. However, in some jargons, the evolution from proper name to common name entails a further step: the common name becomes a base for the formation of a personal pronoun or a possessive adjective-pronoun. For example, in 'tarón'--jargon of the emigrants from Val Rendena (Trento)--the hypochoristics of proper names like Berto and Giani stand for 'man' and 'person' (pl. bèrc' 'people') respectively. As a further development, these proper names assume the function of cryptic-intensifier of the personal pronoun ('l mé gian 'I', 'l tó gian 'you', 'l só gian 'he' etc.) or, together with the partitive, they assume the function of the possessive adjective-pronoun. These elements--which are proper names--coexist with other elements originally identified as true personal pronouns derived from other linguistic systems (ex. Romany), which have now become opaque.