Caló language

This article is about the Caló language spoken by Romani people in Iberia. For the argot spoken by Mexican-Americans, see Caló (Chicano).

Caló
Native to	Spain, Portugal, south of France, Latin America
Native speakers	up to 400,000 in Brazil (2014) 40,000 in Spain (1980)
Language family	mixed Romani–Romance
Language codes
ISO 639-3	rmq
Glottolog	calo1236

Caló (Spanish: [kaˈlo]; Catalan: [kəˈɫo]; Galician: [kaˈlɔ]; Portuguese: [kɐˈlɔ]) is a language spoken by the Spanish and Portuguese Romani. It is a mixed language (referred to as a Para-Romani language in Romani linguistics) based on Romance grammar, with an adstratum of Romani lexical items through language shift by the Romani community. It is often used as an argot, a secret language for discreet communication amongst Iberian Romani. Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish caló are closely related varieties that share a common root.

Spanish caló, or Spanish Romani, was originally known as zincaló. Portuguese calão, or Portuguese Romani, also goes by the term lusitano-romani.

Meaning

The Spanish term caló means "the language spoken by the Iberian Romani", while calé refers to the Romani people in Iberia. On the other hand, the Portuguese term caló (from Spanish caló), language of the ciganos, should not be confused with calão which means slang.

The root kāl- traces back to Sanskrit meaning "black" or "dark".

Nomenclature and dialect divisions

Three main groupings of dialects are distinguished in what is technically Iberian caló but most commonly referred to simply as (Spanish) caló or Spanish Romani:

• Spanish caló (Spanish: caló español)
• Catalan caló (Catalan: caló català)
• Occitan caló (Catalan: caló occitan)
• Portuguese caló (Portuguese: caló português)

In modern Romani linguistics, all are jointly referred to as Iberian Romani (Spanish: iberorromaní or romaní ibérico).

Linguistic features

Phonology

Caló has six vowels:

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e̞	ə	o̞
Open		a

It has the following consonant inventory:

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p  b		t  d			k  ɡ
Affricate			t͡s  d͡z	t͡ʃ  d͡ʒ
Fricative		f	s	ʃ		x	h
Nasal	m		n
Approximant			l		j
Tap			ɾ
Trill			r

Notable phonological features of Iberian Caló are:

• the loss of the distinction between aspirated /pʰ tʰ kʰ tʃʰ/, unaspirated /p t k tʃ/ and voiced /b d ɡ dʒ/ in Iberian Caló.
• the merger of /b/ and /v/ – betacism.
• affrication of /t d/ to /tʃ dʒ/ before the front vowels /i/ and /e̞/ – nearly much as Brazilian Portuguese /ti/, /di/, [tʃi ~ tʃɪ] (some unstressed /te̞/) and [dʒi ~ dʒɪ] (some unstressed /de̞/).

Sample

Spanish Romani:

Y sasta se hubiese catanado sueti baribustri, baribustri, y abillasen solictos á ó de los fores, os penó por parabola: Manu chaló abri á chibar desqueri simiente: y al chibarle, yeque aricata peró sunparal al drun, y sinaba hollada, y la jamáron as patrias e Charos. Y aver peró opré bar: y pur se ardiñó, se secó presas na terelaba humedad. Y aver peró andré jarres, y as jarres, sos ardiñáron sat siró, la mulabáron. Y aver peró andré pu lachi: y ardiñó, y diñó mibao á ciento por yeque. Penado ocono, se chibó á penar á goles: Coin terela canes de junelar, junele.

Parable of the Sower, Luke, 8, 4-8, as published by George Borrow in 1838

Compare with a Spanish version:

Cuando una gran multitud se reunió y personas de cada ciudad fueron donde Jesús, Él les habló con una parábola. «Un campesino salió a sembrar su semilla. Al sembrar algunas cayeron en la carretera; fueron pisoteadas y se las comieron los pájaros del cielo. Otras semillas cayeron encima de la roca, tan pronto como crecieron se secaron porque no tenían humedad. Otras cayeron entre los espinos, y los espinos crecieron con éstas y las sofocaron. Otras cayeron en tierra buena; crecieron y dieron fruto, cien veces más.» Después de decir estas cosas gritó, «¡Aquel que tiene oídos para escuchar, que escuche!»

Loans

Spanish

Many Caló terms have been borrowed in Spanish (especially as slangisms and colloquialisms), often through Flamenco lyrics and criminal jargon (germanía).

Examples are [gachó/gachí] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("man/woman", from gadjo/gadji), [chaval] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("boy", originally "son", a cognate of English chav), [parné] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("money"), [currelar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) or [currar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to work"), [fetén] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("excellent"), [pinreles] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("feet"), [biruji] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("cold"), [churumbel] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("baby"), [gilí] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("silly, stupid"), [chachi] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("outstanding, genuine"), [(un)debel/debla] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("god/goddess"), [mengue] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("demond"), [chorar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to steal"), [molar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to like"), [piltra] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("bed"), [acais] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("eyes"), [chola] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("head"), [jeró] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("face"), [napia] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("nose"), [muí] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("mouth"), [lache] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("shame"), [pitingo] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("vain"), [chungo] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("bad, nasty, dodgy"), [guripa] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("cheeky, soldier"), [ful] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("fake"), [potra] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("luck"), [paripé] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("pretence"), [juncal] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("slender, graceful"), [pure/pureta] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("old"), [sobar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to sleep"), [quer or queli] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("house"), [garito] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("house, gambling den"), [jalar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to eat"), [cate] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("hit"), [diñar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to give, to die"), [palmar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to die, to snuff it"), [chinarse] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to get upset"), [apoquinar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to pay"), [langui] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("lame"), [chalado or pirado] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("crazy"), [pirarse] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to leave", "to make oneself scarce"), [changar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to break"), [chivarse] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to denounce sb, to squeal"), [chivato] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("informer"), [hacerse el longuis] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to pretend to be absent-minded"), pringar ("to get sb mixed up, to overdo"), [chingar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to have sexual relations, to bother"), [chinorri] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("little"), [najar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to flee"), [privar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("drink, to drink"), [mangar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to steal"), [nanay] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("no way, there isn't"), [chorizo] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("thief"), [achantar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to get intimidated"), [pispar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to nick"), [birlar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to nick"), [achanta la muí] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("shut your mouth"), [canguelo or cangueli] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("fear"), [cañí] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("gypsy"), [calé] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("gypsy"), [caló] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("language of the Iberian Kale"), [calas] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("money"), [payo] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("non-romani person"), [menda] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("myself"), [chusma] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("pleb") and [galochi] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("heart").

Some words underwent a shift in meaning in the process: camelar (etymologically related to Sanskrit kāma, "love, desire") in colloquial 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), however in Caló it more closely matches the Spanish meanings of querer ("to want" and "to love"). In addition camelar and the noun camelo can also mean either "lie" or "con".

Caló also appears to have influenced quinqui, the language of another Iberian group of travellers who are not ethnically Romani.

Catalan

To a lesser extent than in Spanish, Caló terms have also been adapted into Catalan as slangisms and colloquialisms.

Examples are halar (pronounced [həˈɫa] or [xəˈɫa]; "to eat"), xaval ("boy"), dinyar(-la) ("to die"), palmar(-la) ("to die"), cangueli ("fear"), paio ("non-Romani person"), calé ("money"), caló ("language of the Iberian Kale"), cangrí ("prison"), pispar ("to nick"), birlar ("to nick"), xorar ("to steal"), mangar ("to steal"), molar ("to like"), pringar ("to get sb mixed up, to overdo"), pirar(-se) ("to leave, to make oneself scarce") sobar ("to sleep"), privar ("drink, to drink"), xusma ("pleb"), laxe ("shame"), catipén ("stink"), xaxi ("outstanding, genuine"), xivar-se ("to denounce sb, to squeal"), xivato ("informer"), xinar(-se) ("to get upset"), fer el llonguis (lit. "Do a long one" fig. "to pretend to be thick/slow") and potra ("luck").

Language maintenance

There is a growing awareness and appreciation for Caló: "...until the recent work by Luisa Rojo, in the Autonomous University of Madrid, 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. His goal is to reunify the Caló and Romani roots.

Literature

In 1838, the first edition of Embéo E Majaró Lucas translated by George Borrow was published and began to be distributed in Madrid. This was Borrow's translation of the Gospel of Luke into Caló.

See also

• Angloromani
• Erromintxela (Basque Romani)
• Germanía, a Spanish criminal jargon

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.