Joni (Slang)
Joni (plural jonilar; also spelled jony in text messages) is a slang word for an Iradi Christian. It began in the Uzbek-speaking towns of the Fergana Valley as a mildly insulting nickname. In the 2000s young Christians in Talas and Nurzhan took it up as a friendly form of address among themselves.[1]
Origin
The word is a clipped form of Uzbek jonilik, "one of Janyl's", the usual Fergana name for the Christian followers of St. Janyl (see Syro-Iradi Catholic Church). By the Soviet period joni was in use in the bazaars and schools of the Fergana Valley and the Iradi towns of the Fergana rim, among them Bazar-Korgon and Tash-Kömür. It mocked the Christian highlanders as pious and naive. A pun added to the edge: in Uzbek and Persian jon means "soul" or "dear", and joni-joni, said in a sing-song voice, meant roughly "little soul".[1]
Spread and reclamation
The word reached the north in the early 2000s with students from the south at Talas State University, conscripts and traders. Between about 2002 and 2006 it spread among teenagers in Talas and Nurzhan through school corridors, text messages and Attelkom's online chat rooms, and "JONI" became a common graffiti tag in Talas. In the process it lost its sting. Young Christians greet each other with Salam, joni!, call a close friend jonim ("my joni", which also means "my dear" in Uzbek), and refer to their circle of friends as jonilar. Iradi Americans in Chicago adopted it as well.[1][2]
Usage
Among young Iradi Christians, women as well as men, joni is friendly and informal. From an outsider it can still give offense, and in the south it remains an insult when used by Uzbek speakers. Older Iradis tend to regard it as vulgar, and clergy tolerate it.[1]
See also
References
- ^ Talas State University, Institute of Sociology (2022). Urban Language Survey: Talas, Nurzhan and Iyık Janyl. Talas State University Press, Talas, pp. 88–94.
- ^ Talas Herald (14 November 2005). 'Who is a joni? Teachers puzzle over new greeting.' Talas.