| Kalo | |
|---|---|
| kaalengo tšimb | |
| Native to | Finland,Sweden |
Native speakers | 10,000 in Finland (2001 census)[1] 1,700 in Sweden (2009)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | rmf |
| Glottolog | kalo1256 |
Kalo,Kàlo or theFinnish Romani language (Kalo Finnish Romani:kaalengo tšimb[2]) is a variety of theRomani language spoken by theKaale subgroup of theRomani people inFinland andSweden. The language is related to but not mutually intelligible withScandoromani orAngloromani.
Kalo has 6,000–10,000 speakers and many young people do not know the language. The majority of speakers are from older generations and about two-thirds of the Romani in Finland still speak the language. There have been some revival efforts. Dictionaries and grammar books have been produced and some universities offer Kalo as a course. It has some similarities to the Romani languages inHungary, wherestress is placed on the first syllable of the word. This may be related to the fact that both Finnish and Hungarian words have fixed word-initial stress, a feature that would have diffused to the Romani languages. Kalo has been taught in schools since the late 1980s, with some courses available as early as the 1970s.[3]
In 2012 only 30% of the 13,000 Romani in Finland spoke Kalo fluently, but about 50% could understand it. It is now uncommon for Kalo speakers to pass the language to children although there have been efforts made to revive it in recent years. There arelanguage nests inRovaniemi, and inHelsinki, Romani courses were established. In Finland, the municipalities can establish Romani courses if there is enough demand, though there have been problems due to a lack of resources.[4]
Finnish Romani in Sweden have a right to Kalo and Finnish education.[5]
| Front | Back | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | |||||
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | i | iː | y | yː | u | uː |
| Mid | e | eː | ø | øː | o | oː |
| Open | æ | æː | ɑ | ɑː | ||
Finnish Kalo has 8 pairs oflong and short vowels.[6][7] Vowel length can be phonemic[6] as inbur 'through' versusbuur 'boor'[8] or allophonic as inbaaro/baro 'big'.[6]
Finnish Kalo has 9 closingdiphthongs and 3 opening diphthongs.[6][9]
| Diphthongs | Ending point | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Back | ||||
| Starting point | |||||
| Close | Front | unrounded | ie | iu | |
| rounded | yi | yø | |||
| Back | ui | uo | |||
| Mid | Front | unrounded | ei | eu | |
| rounded | øi | ||||
| Back | oi | ou | |||
| Open | Front | æi | |||
| Back | ɑi | ɑu | |||
Finnish Kalo has the following consonant phonemes:[10][11]
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Postalveolar/ Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ||||
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | p | t | t̠ʃ | k | |
| voiceless aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | kʰ | |||
| voiced | b | d | d̠ʒ | ɡ | ||
| Fricative | f | s | x | h | ||
| Approximant | ʋ | l | j | |||
| Trill | r | |||||
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