Pogadi Chib

(Jib)

("Broken Language")

   The name given in some books to the variety of English spoken by Gypsies in England and southern Wales. Scholarly articles use the term Anglo-Romani. It has a large vocabulary borrowed from Romani but with the grammar and syntax largely based on English. This form of speech spread during the 19th century, replacing the Romani language proper. There are conflicting theories about its origin. An example of a sentence in Pogadi Chib is as follows: The rakli jelled to lel somepani (The girl went to fetch some water). Similar varieties of the majority language have been developed in Ireland (Cant), Norway, Scotland, Spain (Caló), and Sweden.