Shelta language
Shelta (also known as
Gammen,
Sheldru,
Pavee, or simply
the Cant) is a language spoken by parts of the
Irish Traveller people.
Shelta's vocabulary is based largely on
Irish, with many words inverted in a style not unlike French
verlan slang; for example, the word for 'girl' is
lackeen, from the Irish
cailín, and the word
rodas, meaning door, has its roots in the Irish
doras. The language's structure also contains many grammatical similarities with
English. It also contains elements of
Romany languages, though the Travellers are not actual
Roma. Although heavily influenced by non-Celtic languages, Shelta is sometimes mistakenly classified as part of the
Goidelic branch of the
Celtic language family; it is, in fact, a
cant based on Irish and English, with a primarily English-based syntax.
Cant is the form diffused around Ireland; Gammen or Gammon is concentrated in the south-east region. Shelta is the term still preferred by some today, often outside the Travellers themselves from academia. The word Shelta first appeared in 1882 in the book 'The Gypsies' by 'gypsiologist'
Charles Leland, who claimed to have discovered it as the 'fifth Celtic tongue.'
There are approximately 86,000 worldwide speakers of Shelta, with anywhere from 6,000-25,000 in
Ireland itself according to various sources. The language is spoken almost exclusively by Travellers, though linguists have documented Shelta since at least the
1870s. Both Celtic expert
Kuno Meyer and Romany expert
John Sampson assert that Shelta existed as far back as the
13th century.
It has been suggested that the word "Shelta" itself derives from the Irish word
"siúlta", meaning "of walking". This refers to the
nomadic lifestyle of the Travellers, as well as the fact that they were commonly referred to for a time as "the Walking People" by English speakers in Ireland. In Irish, Travellers are called
an Lucht siúil "the walking people" (literally "the people of walking"). The form
an Lucht siúlta (with the same meaning), although not usual, is not beyond the bounds of possibility.
An example of a Shelta word that now has common usage in every day speech in Britain is the word 'bloke' meaning a man, first usage mid 19th century. (ref. entymology Oxford Dictionary)
"The Secret Languages of Ireland." by R. A. Stewart Macalister. Craobh Rua Books
*
Rosetta Project listing*
Ethnologue listing for Shelta*
Shelta lexicon and pronunciation guide
