Caló (; ; ; ) is a language spoken by the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
and
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
Romani. It is a
mixed language
A mixed language is a language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. It differs from a creole or pidgin language in that, whereas creoles/pidgin ...
(referred to as a
Para-Romani
Para-Romani are various mixed languages of non- Indo-Aryan linguistic classification containing considerable admixture from the Romani language. They are spoken as the traditional vernacular of Romani communities, Matras, Y. ''Romani: A Lingui ...
language in Romani linguistics) based on
Romance grammar, with an
adstratum
In linguistics, a stratum (Latin for "layer") or strate is a language that influences or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum or substrate is a language that has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum or sup ...
of
Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
lexical items through
language shift by the Romani community. It is often used as an
argot
A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argot ...
, a secret language for discreet communication amongst Iberian Romani. Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish are closely related varieties that share a common root.
[Adiego, I. ''Un vocabulario español-gitano del Marqués de Sentmenat (1697–1762)'' Ediciones Universitat de Barcelona (2002) ]
Spanish caló, or Spanish Romani, was originally known as . Portuguese , or Portuguese Romani, also goes by the term ; it used to be referred to as , but this word has since acquired the general sense of jargon or slang, often with a negative undertone (cf. , 'obscene language', lit. low-level ).
The language is mainly spoken in
Brazil,
Spain,
France,
Portugal and
Colombia.
Etymology
is the
endonym of the Romani people in Iberia, and means 'the language spoken by the '. However, the are commonly known in Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries by the
exonyms and .
In and other varieties of
Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
, means 'black' or 'absorbing all light', hence closely resembling words for 'black' and/or 'dark' in
Indo-Aryan languages (e.g.
Sanskrit 'black', 'of a dark colour'). Hence and may have originated as ancient exonyms. For instance, the name of the
Domba
The Dom (Sanskrit ''ḍoma'', dialectally also Domra, Domba, Domaka, Dombari and variants) are castes, or groups, scattered across India. Dom were a caste of drummer. According to Tantra scriptures, the Dom were engaged in the occupations of sing ...
people, from whom the Romani, Sinti and Kale people are now believed to have emerged, also implies 'dark-skinned' in some Indian languages.
Nomenclature and dialect divisions
Three main groupings of Caló speakers are distinguished in what is technically Iberian and south of France but most commonly referred to simply as (Spanish) or Spanish Romani:
*Spanish Caló ( es, caló español)
*Occitan Caló ( oc, occitan caló)
*Portuguese Caló ( pt, caló português)
Linguistic features
Phonology
Caló has six vowels:
[
It has the following consonant inventory:][
Notable phonological features of Iberian Caló are:][
* the loss of the distinction between aspirated , unaspirated and voiced .
* the merger of and – ]betacism
In historical linguistics, betacism (, ) is a sound change in which (the voiced bilabial plosive, as in ''bane'') and (the voiced labiodental fricative , as in ''vane'') are confused. The final result of the process can be either /b/ → or ...
.
* affrication
An affricate is a consonant that begins as a stop and releases as a fricative, generally with the same place of articulation (most often coronal). It is often difficult to decide if a stop and fricative form a single phoneme or a consonant pa ...
of to before the front vowels and cf. Brazilian Portuguese , > , .
Samples
Spanish Romani:
:
: Parable of the Sower, Luke
People
* Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name)
* Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name)
*Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known ...
, 8, 4–8, as published by George Borrow
George Henry Borrow (5 July 1803 – 26 July 1881) was an English writer of novels and of travel based on personal experiences in Europe. His travels gave him a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure strongly in his work. Hi ...
in 1838[Biblia en acción](_blank)
''JORGE BORROW: Un inglés al encuentro de lo Español''.
Compare with a Spanish version:
:
The Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer has often been used as a parallel text
A parallel text is a text placed alongside its translation or translations. Parallel text alignment is the identification of the corresponding sentences in both halves of the parallel text. The Loeb Classical Library and the Clay Sanskrit Libra ...
:
Spanish Caló:
:
: Luke, 11, 2-4
Embéo e Majaró Lucas
translated by George Borrow, 1837.
Romani:
:
: Luke, 11, 2-4
Romani (Gypsy) New Testament: E Lashi Viasta
Ruth Modrow, 1984.
Spanish:
:
: Luke, 11, 2-4
Spanish Bible
Reina-Valera
The Reina–Valera is a Spanish translation of the Bible originally published in 1602 untilAnon. ''¡Refrescante y más brillante que nunca!'' Sociedades Bíblicas Unidas (1995) p.9 United Bible Societies in 1909 revised the earlier translation pr ...
1569, revised 1960.
Loans
Spanish
Many Caló terms have been borrowed in Spanish (especially as slangisms and colloquialism
Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in convers ...
s), often through flamenco lyrics and criminal jargon ().
Examples are ("man/woman", from '' gadjo/gadji''), ("boy", originally "son", also present in English as ''chav
"Chav" (), also "charver", "scally" and "roadman" in parts of England, is a British term, usually used in a pejorative way. The term is used to describe an anti-social lower-class youth dressed in sportswear.
*
*
*
* "Chavette" is a related t ...
''), ("money"), or ("to work"), ("excellent"), ("feet"), ("cold"), ("baby"), ("silly, stupid"), ("outstanding, genuine"), or ("god/goddess"), ("demon"), ("to steal"), also present in English slang as ''to chaw'', ("to be appealing to someone"), ("bed"), ("eyes"), ("head"), ("face"), ("nose"), ("mouth"), ("shame"), ("vain"), ("bad, nasty, dodgy"), ("cheeky, soldier"), ("fake"), ("pretence"), ("slender, graceful"), or ("old"), ("to sleep"), or ("house"), ("house, gambling den"), ("to eat"), ("hit"), ("to defecate, to fear"), ("to give, to die"), ("to die"), ("to get upset"), ("lame"), or ("crazy"), ("to leave", "to make oneself scarce"), ("to break"), ("to denounce ''sb'', to squeal"), ("informer"), ("to pretend to be absent-minded"), ''pringar'' ("to get ''sb'' mixed up, to overdo"), ("to have sexual relations, to bother"), ("little"), ("to flee"), ("drink, to drink"), ("to steal"), ("no way, there isn't"), ("thief"), ("to get intimidated"), ("to nick"), ("to nick"), ("shut your mouth"), or ("fear"), ("Romani person"), ("Romani person"), ("language of the Iberian Kale
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
"), ("money"), ("drunkenness"), ("myself"), and ("heart").
Some words underwent a shift in meaning in the process: ( etymologically related to Sanskrit ''kāma
''Kama'' (Sanskrit ) means "desire, wish, longing" in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh literature.Monier Williamsकाम, kāmaMonier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary, pp 271, see 3rd column Kama often connotes sensual pleasure, sexual ...
'', "love, desire") in colloquial
Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...
Spanish has the meaning of "to woo, to seduce, to deceive by adulation" (but also "to love", "to want"; although this sense has fallen into disuse),
camelar
' in the '' Diccionario de la Real Academia'', however in Caló it more closely matches the Spanish meanings of ("to want" and "to love"). In addition and the noun can also mean either "lie" or "con".
Caló also appears to have influenced Madrid slang and quinqui, the language of another Iberian group of travellers who are not ethnically Romani.
, a cant
Cant, CANT, canting, or canted may refer to:
Language
* Cant (language), a secret language
* Beurla Reagaird, a language of the Scottish Highland Travellers
* Scottish Cant, a language of the Scottish Lowland Travellers
* Shelta or the Cant, a la ...
spoken by makers of agricultural equipment in a village of Segovia, also derives some words from Caló.
Catalan
To a lesser extent than in Spanish, Caló terms have also been adapted into Catalan as slangisms and colloquialism
Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in convers ...
s, most of which were taken adopted from Spanish slang.
Examples are ( or ; "to eat"), ("boy"), ("to die"), ("to die"), ("fear"), ("non-Romani person"), ("money"), ("language of the Iberian Kale
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
"), ("prison"), ("to nick"), ("to nick"), ("to steal"), ("to steal"), ("to like"), ("to get ''sb'' mixed up, to overdo"), ("to leave, to make oneself scarce"), ("to sleep"), ("drink, to drink"), ("pleb"), ("shame"), ("stink"), ("outstanding, genuine"), ("to denounce ''sb'', to squeal"), ("informer"), ("to get upset"), (lit. "Do a long one" fig. "to pretend to be thick/slow") and ("luck").
Portuguese
There is a small number of words of Caló (Calão) origin and many of those are indirect loans, borrowed via Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
.
The examples generally understood by most or all speakers of Portuguese include (, "man, dude", primarily in Portugal), chavalo ("lad, young boy"), (, , generally "impact", but in this sense "sudden happiness") (, "mess"), (, , "bargain, haggled"), (, , "drunkenness"), chulé ("bad smell of feet), pirar-se ("to leave"), pirado and chalado ("crazy").
Language maintenance
There is a growing awareness and appreciation for Caló: "...until the recent work by Luisa Rojo, in the Autonomous University of Madrid
The Autonomous University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; UAM), commonly known as simply la Autónoma, is a Spanish public university located in Madrid, Spain. The university was founded in 1968 alongside the Autonomous Universi ...
, not even the linguistics community recognized the significance and problems of Caló and its world." Its world includes songs, poetry and flamenco.
As Iberian Romani proper is extinct and as Caló is endangered, some people are trying to revitalise the language. The Spanish politician Juan de Dios Ramírez Heredia promotes Romanò-Kalò, a variant of International Romani, enriched by Caló words.[''"Unión Romaní imparte el primer curso de romanò-kalò"''](_blank)
Union Romani, 29 December 2006 His goal is to reunify the Caló and Romani roots.
Literature
In 1838, the first edition of ''Embéo E Majaró Lucas''[Embéo e Majaró Lucas by George Borrow](_blank)
at Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libra ...
. translated by George Borrow
George Henry Borrow (5 July 1803 – 26 July 1881) was an English writer of novels and of travel based on personal experiences in Europe. His travels gave him a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure strongly in his work. Hi ...
was published and began to be distributed in Madrid. This was Borrow's translation of the Gospel of Luke into Caló.Embéo E Majaró Lucas
- further details are given in the page on the website of th
George Borrow Society
A revision of this was printed in 1872.
See also
* Angloromani
Angloromani or Anglo-Romani (literally "English Romani"; also known as Angloromany, Rummaness, or Pogadi Chib) is a mixed language of Indo European origin involving the presence of Romani vocabulary and syntax in the English used by descendants ...
* Erromintxela
Erromintxela () is the distinctive language of a group of Romani living in the Basque Country, who also go by the name Erromintxela. It is sometimes called ''Basque Caló'' or ''Errumantxela'' Matras, Y. ''A Linguistic Introduction'' Cambridg ...
(Basque Romani)
* Germanía, a Spanish criminal jargon
* Romani language
* Spanish language
* Romani people in Portugal
* Romani people in Spain
The Romani in Spain, generally known by the exonym () or the endonym ''Calé'', belong to the Iberian Cale Romani subgroup, with smaller populations in Portugal (known as ) and in Southern France. Their sense of identity and cohesion stems f ...
References
External links
The Romany language in Spain
Romanò-Kalò (As promoted by Juan de Dios Ramírez Heredia)
List of Spanish words from Caló
in the '' Diccionario de la Real Academia Española''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calo language
Cant languages
Languages of Portugal
Languages of Spain
Mixed languages
Romani in Brazil
Romani in France
Romani in Portugal
Romani in Spain
Para-Romani
Spanish dialects of Spain
Languages of France
Languages of Brazil
Languages of Colombia