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The language of the Travellers in Ireland is in many respects shrouded in mystery, and its study filled with dilemmas and contradictions. It is a secret language, but quite a bit is available in print about it. Some speakers consider the mere existence of the language as secret, and they would deny having a language of their own. Whereas secret languages are mostly used to convey messages to other group members in the presence of outsiders, some of these Travellers would not use it in the presence of outsiders at all. Yet however secret it may be, or may have been, language researchers are welcomed today as the speakers see the use of the language declining. The present book is the result of cooperation between academics and Travellers. Six contributors are Travellers and eight chapters are written by academics, with no overlap.
Travellers are sometimes confused with Roma (Gypsies) because of presumed similarities in life style: traveling in caravans, trade, self-employment, and begging. There is, however, no historical or genetic connection between the Roma (who speak an Indic language) and the Irish Travellers, or between the Irish Travellers and European Travellers. Except for an occasional loanword, Romani and the language of the Irish Travellers are completely unrelated. The number of speakers of the language is unknown; estimates vary between 10,000 and 86,000 in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The age of the language and the genesis of the ethnic group that speaks it are both controversial. Some suggest a connection with the upheaval of the Irish countryside resulting from the potato famine in the 1800s, whereas others suggest that the population and their language go back to Pre-Celtic times and even to the Stone Age. A minor part of the lexicon shows clear connections with Gaelic, but most of the vocabulary cannot be related to any known living or extinct language of Europe. Even the name of the language is unusual: It is mostly known under the name "Shelta" in the academic literature, based on the first publications on the language in the late 1800s, when speakers called the language this. Current speakers, however, do not know this name; they call their language "Gammon" or "Cant." The latter name is ambiguous, because...