The dictionary presents the argot of German cyptolects, which have been documented in the last 20 years as part of the resurrection of research in jargons. We are dealing here with the dialects of what is known as Rotwelsch (thieves' cant) which could function as cryptolects by integrating words from donors such as Jewish German, Romany, Romance and Slavonic languages and medieval thieves' cant. The dictionary is based on surveys of speakers and written sources and is ordered by word families. Each article presents a headword together with written variants, meanings, examples of usage, and information on the source of the words.

Klaus Siewert, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster