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Montoliu, C. 2005. Is Kaliarda, Greek Gay Slang, a mixed gypsy language? Erytheia 26: 299–318.
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Kaliarda VII: The Romani basis of Kaliarda, updated
I have found a copy of Montoliu’s paper on Kaliarda.1 I will post on it separately, but I’m going to use the opportunity to supplement the Romani etymologies provided by Poniroskilo on slang.gr, with the extensive etymologies provided by Montoliu. Where a term appears in both Poniroskilo and Montoliu, I have gone with Poniroskilo’s transliteration (taken from ROMLEX), and I have attempted to normalise the transliteration to ROMLEX.
The Dortika are from (UPDATED) Triantafyllidis, M. 1924. 7. Eine zigeunerisch-griechische Geheimsprache. Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschungen 52: 1–40. Reprinted in Άπαντα [Collected Works]: 2: 46–85.
NOTE: I will be updating this listing as I discover more Romani words. Montoliu counts 52 roots. I have 44 (though one, mataˈlo, would have been unknown to Montoliu, and one, parniˈes, replaces berˈde which he erroneously derived from Romani—it is Turkish via cant metathesis.)
| Kaliarda | Romani | Dortika |
|---|---|---|
| aˈvelo give, take, do, put, take out, want, have | aˈvav, pf. aˈvil be, become, come, arrive | vˈela come |
| ˈaxatos this | kate, kathe here | ko < Romani k’o “the” |
| balaˈmo middle-aged client of male prostitute | balamo, balamno boss, judge, non-Roma; in Sepeči Romani dialect (Volos): ethnic Greek | balaˈmos man, human; boss, householder |
| banˈɡolos deaf, banˈɡola short-sighted | banˈɡo bent, tilted, lopsided; lame, cripple | |
| baˈlos fat | baˈlo pig | |
| baˈros fat | phaˈro heavy; hear, tiresome, difficult | baˈros big |
| baˈro disease | phaˈro heavy; hear, tiresome, difficult | |
| beˈnavo, buˈavo to speak | pheˈnav to say, to speak | pʰi˞ˈnela to say |
| bitzaˈnu ravenous homosexual | bičiˈnav to sell | |
| buriˈaris singer | puˈřiv to give away; to blackmail someone | |
| but very | but very, many | but very |
| davelo to take | davel “he gives” | |
| dap masturbation, (Older Kaliarda) beating; dup beating | tab, tap beating | taˈba beating; to beat |
| ˈdzazo, ˈdzao drive out, leave, flee | džav leave, depart, distance oneself, go | ˈdzala leave! |
| ˈdzare 500 drachma note (which is green), dzaroˈsermela “green penis” = “zucchini” | (according to Petropoulos) dzare green: presumably, čar “grass” | |
| dziˈnavo understand | conflation of ˈdžanav to know and džiˈnav to count, to read | |
| dzoˈvi louse, fly, bug | džuv louse | ˈdzuva louse |
| ðiˈkelo, kuˈelo see, look; dik look | dikhˈlav, pf. diˈkhel see, look, inspect | ˈksela look (Romani etymology unknown) |
| eˈmandes Ι, manˈdula Ι (diminutive) | mande Ι | |
| eˈsandes you (sg), sanˈdula you (diminutive) | mande Ι + Greek esi you (sg.) | |
| iˈmandes we | mande Ι + Greek emis we | |
| iˈsandes you (pl) | mande Ι + Greek esis you (pl.) | |
| irakˈlja woman, iraklo buxom woman | rakli, rakhli non-Roma girl | rakˈlo boy |
| ˈkakna, kakˈni chicken | khajˈni chicken | kaiˈni, ɡaɡˈni chicken |
| kaliarˈda Greek gay cant < kaliarˈdos ugly, evil, strange | kaljarˈdo black, African, blackened, dishonoured: past participle “blackened” of kaljaˈrav to blacken < kaˈlo black; cf. the Spanish Roma language name Caló. Montoliu concludes that this originates from the Roma being called swarthy | |
| kaˈtes, kaˈte that | kate, kathe here | ko < Romani k’o “the” |
| kuˈlo turd, shit | khul turd, shit | |
| kuraˈvelta sex, kuraˈvelo to have sex as a top | kuravel causative of kurel “he beats, he masturbates, has sex” | kuraˈvela sex |
| laˈtsos beautiful, good | lačho good, beautiful | |
| luˈbina gay | lubhˈni, lumbi, lumli whore, slut | |
| manˈdo bread | manˈřo, mandro bread | manˈdo bread |
| mataˈlo (Older Kaliarda) drunk | mato drunk, matalo drunkard | maˈto drunk |
| mol water, liquid, alcoholic drink | mol wine | mol wine |
| muˈdzo vagina | mindž vagina, vulgar word for girl or girlfriend > English minge | |
| ˈnaka nothing, none, no | na khan not at all | |
| paˈɡro hair | baˈkro sheep (as a fleeced animal; Standard Greek μαλλί refers to both hair and fleece) | baˈkro sheep, goat |
| parniˈa, pl. parniˈes money | parˈno, pl. parˈne white; money | |
| peˈle testicle | peˈlo, pl. peˈle testicles | |
| piˈselo to sleep | pašˈlav to put to sleep | |
| ˈpuli anus | bul arse | |
| puˈros old | phuˈro old, grandfather | |
| ˈrelo fart | řil fart (in the Sepeči Romani dialect of Volos) | |
| so kerdes? what exactly? how exactly? | so kerdes? how are you? | |
| tekˈno boy, young man, small | tikno small, dainty | |
| tiraˈxo shoe | tiˈrax shoe | patsarˈxa shoes |
| tsurˈno theft, especially of the wallet of a top by the bottom’s friend hiding under the bed | čoˈrav to steal, to rob | tsoˈrela, tsuˈrela theft |
| tuˈlo five-drachma piece, duˈlo money | thuˈlo fat (via mainstream Greek slang xonˈdra “fat, thick” (neut.pl) = “a lot of money” | |
| ˈxalo eat | xav, pf. xal eat | xala < khala “he eats”, xaljon < khaliom “I ate” |
NOTE: The words develo ~ dzevelo “to desire”, dapavelo “to surrender” are clearly also Romani, but I have been unable to date to work out their etymology. (dapavelo looks like the causative tapavel “he makes someone beat someone up”)
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