Welsh Romani (or Welsh Kalá) is a variety of the

Romani language Romani (; also Romany, Romanes , Roma; rom, rromani ćhib, links=no) is an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities. According to '' Ethnologue'', seven varieties of Romani are divergent enough to be considered languages of their ...

which was spoken fluently in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

until at least 1950.Price, Glanville (2000) ''Languages in Britain and Ireland'', Blackwell Publishers, Oxford. It was spoken by the Kale group of the

Romani people 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 sig ...

who arrived in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

during the 16th century. The first record 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 ...

moving permanently into Wales comes from the 18th century. Welsh-Romani is one of the many Northern Romani dialects. Welsh Kalá has transitioned into a para-Romani language (Like

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 of ...

, Scandoromani,

Scottish Cant Scottish Cant (often called Scots-Romani or Scotch-Romani) is a cant spoken in Scotland by Lowland Scottish Romani Travellers.Kirk, J. & Ó Baoill, D. ''Travellers and their Language'' (2002) Queen's University Belfast Classification It is u ...

and Finnish Kalo). Today Welsh Kalá is a mix of Romani, Welsh and English but uses English grammar. The majority of the vocabulary is of Romani origin but there are a number of

loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because t ...

s from other languages. Welsh loanwords include ''melanō'' ("yellow", from ''melyn''), ''grīga'' ("heather", from ''grug'') and ''kraŋka'' ("crab", from ''cranc''). There are also

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

loanwords such as ''vlija'' ("village"), ''spīdra'' ("spider") and ''bråmla'' ("bramble"). Historically the variants of Welsh Kalá and

(Spoken by the

Romanichal Romanichal Travellers ( ; more commonly known as English Gypsies or English Travellers) are a Romani subgroup within the United Kingdom and other parts of the English-speaking world. There are an estimated 200,000 Romani in the United Kingdom ...

of England) constituted the same variant of Romani, known as British Romani. Welsh Kalá is closely related to Angloromani (Spoken by Romanichal in England), Scandoromani (Spoken by Romanisæl in Norway and Sweden), Scottish Cant (Spoken by Scottish Lowland Romani in Lowland Scotland) and Finnish Kalo (Spoken by Finnish Kale in Finland). Welsh Kale, English Romanichal, Norwegian and Swedish Romanisæl, Finnish Kale and Scottish Lowland Romani are closely related groups and are descended from the wave of Romani immigrants who came to England in the 16th century.Bakker (1997) Review of McGowan, The Winchester Confessions. Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society. Fifth series, 7. (1): 49–50.

References

External links

Welsh romani within Britain
Northern Romani dialects Welsh language Languages of Wales Languages of the United Kingdom Romani in Wales {{Romani-stub