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Nadsat is a constructed set of Russian-based slang invented by the linguist, novelist, and composer Anthony Burgess. See Nadsat lexicon for a full list, along with definitions. It is a transliteration of the Russian suffix for 'teen'.
Description
Nadsat is a teen language spoken by Alex and his 'droogs' in the futuristic world of A Clockwork Orange. It is not a written language: the sense that we have of the novel is of a transcription of speech, rather than writing. Nadsat is basically English, with some transliterated words from Russian. It also contains influences from Cockney and the King James Bible, some words of unclear origin, and some words that Burgess invented. The word 'nadsat' itself is the suffix of Russian numerals from 11 to 19 (-надцать). The suffix slurs the Russian words for 'on ten' — i.e., 'one-on-ten,' 'two-on-ten,' and so on — and thus forms an almost exact linguistic parallel to the English '-teen.'
Nadsat is in fact not so much a language as a register. Alex is capable of speaking standard English when he wants to, and besides, what he says is intelligible to an English speaker. Nadsat is really a lexicon of 'extra' words which Alex uses to describe the world as he sees it:
- droog : friend (Russian друг) (When he uses the plural form of the word -droogs- it is incorrect Russian. The actual plural form for "droog" is "droozya" or друзья in Russian.)
- britva : razor (Russian бритва)
- chelloveck : person, man (Russian человек)
- cutter : money (most likely from Romani slang)
- bog : God (Russian бог)
- horrorshow : good, well (Russian хорошо, khorosho, "good")
- nozh : knife/dagger (Russian нож)
- starry ptitsa : old woman (Russian старый "old" sounding more or less like starry, птица, "bird"; gender-mismatched Russian phrase; in Russian "old bird" is старая птица sounding stara-ya ptitsa)
- in-out-in-out : sex, rape (invented)
- devotchka : young woman (Russian девочка, "little girl")
- gulliver : head (Russian голова, "head", pronounced galavá)
Nadsat words are all concrete or semi-abstract: to discuss philosophy Alex would have to shift into normal English. The fact that a teen language has no abstract words is perhaps Burgess' reflection on the shallowness of the juvenile delinquent's thought process.
At least one translation of Burgess' book into Russian ingeniously had the protagonist talk in a slang heavy with transliterated English words, in places where Burgess put Russian ones.
A comprehensive Nadsat lexicon lists the terms used in the book with their origins.
Function of Nadsat
Alex's use of Nadsat mirrors what happens in real life - children and teenagers creating slang and registers for talking amongst themselves or in specific sub-cultural groups. That Alex uses a different, unfamiliar language to talk to others of his age reinforces the social apartheid between the young and the old. It reflects a completely different attitude to life.
From a publisher's point-of-view, Nadsat also has the added effect of desensitizing concepts that would otherwise have been considered unprintable.
Burgess was highly influenced by the two youth movements of Great Britain at the time, the Mods and Rockers. Instead of using the language that these two groups were using, which Burgess knew would have changed by the time the book was published, he decided to invent his own, making the youth culture of the book ageless.
Another function of Nadsat was also that the reader was forced to learn it to understand the book, thus making the reader implicated and a part of the youth culture. This also had the added bonus of forcing the reader to identify with Alex.
See also
External links
- Nadsat Dictionary and Downloadable Translator
- Article and dictionary
- Nadsat Glossary (reprinted from novel)
- Bog & The Homo Loquax, article on Anthony Burgess's Nadsat, Salman Rushdie, and Tom Wolfe in Religion and Language.
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"Nadsat"