Caló

Caló (kaˈlo; kəˈlo; kaˈlɔ; 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 caló, or Portuguese Romani, also goes by the term lusitano-romani; it used to be referred to as calão, but this word has since acquired the general sense of jargon or slang, often with a negative undertone (cf. baixo calão, 'obscene language', lit. low-level calão). The language is mainly spoken in Brazil, Spain, France, Portugal and Colombia. Calé is the endonym of the Romani people in Iberia, and caló means 'the language spoken by the calé'. However, the calé are commonly known in Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries by the exonyms ciganos and gitanos. In caló and other varieties of Romani, kalo means 'black' or 'absorbing all light', hence closely resembling words for 'black' and/or 'dark' in Indo-Aryan languages (e.g. Sanskrit काल kāla 'black', 'of a dark colour'). Hence caló and calé may have originated as ancient exonyms. For instance, the name of the Domba people, from whom the Romani, Sinti and Kale people are now believed to have emerged, also implies 'dark-skinned' in some Indian languages. Three main groupings of Caló speakers are distinguished in what is technically Iberian caló and south of France but most commonly referred to simply as (Spanish) caló or Spanish Romani: Spanish Caló (caló español) Occitan Caló (occitan caló) Portuguese Caló (caló português) Caló has six vowels: It has the following consonant inventory: 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/.