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 . 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.
Nomenclature and dialect divisions
Three main groupings of dialects are distinguished in what is technically Iberian caló but most commonly referred to simply as caló or Spanish Romani:
Spanish caló
Catalan caló
Occitan caló
Portuguese caló
In modern Romani linguistics, all are jointly referred to as Iberian Romani.
The Lord's Prayer has often been used as a parallel text: Spanish Caló: Romani: Spanish:
Loans
Spanish
Many Caló terms have been borrowed in Spanish, often through flamenco lyrics and criminal jargon. Examples are gachó/gachí, chaval, parné, currelar or currar, fetén, pinreles, biruji, churumbel, gilí, chachi, debel or debla, mengue, chorar, also present in English slang as to chaw, molar, piltra, acais, chola, jeró, napia, muí, lache, pitingo, chungo, guripa, ful, potra, paripé, juncal, pure or pureta, sobar, quer or queli, garito, jalar, cate, jiñar, diñar, palmar, chinarse, apoquinar, langui, chalado or pirado, pirarse, changar, chivarse, chivato, hacerse el longuis, pringar, chingar, chinorri, najar, privar, mangar, nanay, chorizo, achantar, pispar, birlar, achanta la muí, canguelo or cangueli, cañí, calé, caló, calas, curda, payo, menda, and galochi. Some words underwent a shift in meaning in the process: camelar in colloquial Spanish has the meaning of "to woo, to seduce, to deceive by adulation", however in Caló it more closely matches the Spanish meanings of querer. 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, most of which were taken adopted from Spanish slang. Examples are halar, xaval, dinyar, palmar, cangueli, paio, caler, caló, cangrí, pispar, birlar, xorar, mangar, molar, pringar, pirar, sobar, privar, xusma, laxe, catipén, xaxi, xivar-se, xivato, xinar, fer el llonguis and potra.
Portuguese
As with Catalan, there is a smaller number of words of Caló origin and many of those are indirect loans, borrowed via Spanish. Well-known examples generally understood by most or all speakers of Portuguese include gajo, chavalo baque, ralar, ralar peito, bagunça, boliche, dica, pechincha, gamar, ganiços, mancada and pileque, chulé, chunga, pirar-se, pirado and chalado, chibar-se, chibo, chordar.
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. A revision of this was printed in 1872.
