Pajubá

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.[1] 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.[2]

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.[3][4]

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 LGBT identity.[2]

Etymology

In both the candomblé and the LGBT community, the word pajubá or bajubá[5] means "gossip", "news", or "update", referring to other related groups or events occurring (both good things and bad things) in those circles.

History

Pajubá began to be used by the LGBT community during the period of the military government of Brazil (1964–85) as a means of facing police repression and mislead what people could gather from what they heard.[6][7][8] The argot was created spontaneously in regions with the strongest African presence in Brazil, such as Umbanda and Candomblé "terreiros" (religious locations), and the dialect contains many Africanisms. The dialect was later adopted as a code between travestis and later between all LGBT communities and sympathizers.[9]

In November 2018, a question mentioning Pajubá was included in the National High School Exam.

Examples

Below are some examples of Pajubá.[10][11]

  • Adé - gay man
  • Adéfuntó - closeted gay man
  • Amapô - woman
  • Aqüé/acue - money
  • Bofe - boy
  • Cacura - gay man 40 years of age or more
  • Caminhoneira - homosexual woman with a masculine appearance (similar to "butch")
  • Desaqüendar - to untuck
  • Destruidora - person who is doing something very well
  • Fazer a Alice - to be a dreamer/visionary
  • Fazer a Egípcia - to maintain a neutral facial expression/feign disinterest
  • Gongar - to throw shade/to read
  • Indaca/Endaca - mouth
  • Oni - water
  • Ravi - killer, dangerous
  • Xaum - meeting

References
  1. Dicionário Bajubá-pajubá
  2. Aquino, Eloisa. Pajubá: The Language of Brazilian Travestis. Montreal: B&D Press (2014).
  3. Uma das línguas de santo sendo analisadas, AS LÍNGUAS VEICULARES NO CANDOMBLÉ DE CONGO-ANGOLA Professor Doutor Sérgio Paulo Adolfo – Tata Kisaba Kiundundulu Universidade Estadual de Londrina
  4. A Linguagem no Candomblé:um estudo linguístico sobre as comunidades religiosas afro-brasileiras, por Antonio Gomes da Costa Neto
  5. Bajubá
  6. Ive (21 June 2009). "Você sabe o que é Pajubá?". Lupa Digital. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  7. Renata Garcia (17 June 2011). "DICIONÁRIO BILÍNGUE PORTUGUÊS-PAJUBÁ: Max Weber decifra o dialeto preferido do povo da moda!". Chic. UOL. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  8. Victor Heringer (1 August 2017). "Os sinos que dobram e os homens que não se dobram". Revista Continente. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  9. "Gaynário". www.oocities.org. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
  10. "Conheça o Pajubá: dicionário de gírias LGBT". Dicionário Popular (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-11-26.
  11. Cardoso da Silva, Jovanna (15 May 1992). Diálogo de Bonecas. Rio de Janeiro: ASTRAL (Associação de Travestis e Liberados).
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