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Shelta language
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Shelta (also known as Gammen, Sheldru, Pavee, or simply the Cant) is a language spoken by parts of the Irish Traveller people that is often used to conceal the meaning from those outside the group.
Much of Shelta's vocabulary is based loosely 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 (such as the term gadje, "non-Traveller"), though the Travellers are not actual Roma.
Shelta originates from older versions of Irish, and so is originally a part of the
Goidelic branch of the
Celtic language family. It is a
cant based originally on a combination of
Irish Gaelic and some English, with a primarily English-based syntax, and has been heavily influenced by non-Celtic languages. Consequently, although ultimately Goidelic Celtic it has a character very different from other Goidelic Celtic languages.
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 everyday speech in Britain is the word 'bloke' meaning a man, first usage mid 19th century. (ref. etymology Oxford Dictionary)
Contents
- 1 Phonology
- 2 Comparison texts
- 3 Bibliography
- 4 External links
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Phonology
Vowels
Comparison texts
Below are reproductions of the Lord's Prayer in Shelta, as it occurred a century ago, Irish Traveller Cant with modern English and Irish versions for comparison. The 19th century Shelta version shows a high Shelta lexical content while the Cant version a much lower Shelta lexical content. Both versions are adapted from Hancock[1] who notes that the Cant reproduction is not exactly representative of actual speech in normal situations.
- Mwilsha's gater, swart a manyath, (Shelta)
- Our gathra, who cradgies in the manyak-norch, (Cant)
- Our Father, who art in heaven, (English)
- Ár n-Athair atá ar neamh, (Irish)
- Manyi graw a kradji dilsha's manik.
- We turry kerrath about your moniker.
- Hallowed be thy Name.
- Go naofar d'ainm,
- Graw bi greydid, sheydi laadu
- Let's turry to the norch where your jeel cradgies,
- Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done,
- Go dtaga do ríocht, Go ndéantar do thoil
- Az aswart in manyath.
- And let your jeel shans get greydied nosher same as it is where you cradgie.
- On earth as it is in heaven.
- ar an talamh, mar a dhéantar ar neamh.
- Bag mwilsha talosk minyart goshta dura.
- Bug us eynik to lush this thullis,
- Give us this day our daily bread.
- Ár n-arán laethúil tabhair dúinn inniu,
- Geychel aur shaaku areyk mwilsha
- And turri us you're nijesh sharrig for the gammy eyniks we greydied
- And forgive us our trespasses,
- Agus maith dúinn ár bhfiacha
- Geychas needjas greydi gyamyath mwilsha.
- Just like we ain't sharrig at the gammi needies that greydi the same to us.
- As we forgive those who trespass against us.
- Mar a mhaithimidne dár bhféichiúna féin
- Nijesh solk mwil start gyamyath,
- Nijesh let us soonie eyniks that'll make us greydi gammy eyniks,
- And lead us not into temptation,
- Ach ná lig sinn i gcathú
- Bat bog mwilsha ahim gyamyath.
- But solk us away from the taddy.
- But deliver us from evil.
- Ach saor sinn ó olc.
- Diyil the sridag, taajirath an manyath
- [no Cant]
- For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
- Mar is leatsa an ríocht, an chumhacht, agus an ghlóir
- Gradum a gradum.
- [no Cant]
- For ever and ever.
- Trí shaol na saol.
- [no Shelta]
- [no Cant]
- Amen.
- Amen.
Bibliography
"The Secret Languages of Ireland." by R. A. Stewart Macalister. Craobh Rua Books
- ^ I. Hancock (1986) "The cryptolectal speech of the American roads: Traveller Cant and American Angloromani." In American Speech, 61:3, (pp. 207-208)
