Caló (; ; ; ) is a language spoken by the Spanish and Portuguese Romani. It is a mixed language (referred to as a Para-Romani language in Romani linguistics) based on Romance grammar, with an adstratum of Romani lexical items through language shift by the Romani community. It is often used as an argot, a secret language for discreet communication amongst Iberian Romani. Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish are closely related varieties that share a common root. Spanish caló, or Spanish Romani, was originally known as . Portuguese , or Portuguese Romani, also goes by the term ; it used to be referred to as , but this word has since acquired the general sense of jargon or slang, often with a negative undertone (cf. , 'obscene language', lit. low-level ). The language is mainly spoken in Brazil, Spain, France, Portugal and Colombia. Etymology is the endonym of the Romani people in Iberia, and means 'the language spoken by the '. However, the are commonly known in Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries by the exonyms and . In and other varieties of Romani, means 'black' or 'absorbing all light', hence closely resembling words for 'black' and/or 'dark' in Indo-Aryan languages (e.g. Sanskrit 'black', 'of a dark colour'). Hence and may have originated as ancient exonyms. For instance, the name of the Domba people, from whom the Romani, Sinti and Kale people are now believed to have emerged, also implies 'dark-skinned' in some Indian languages. Nomenclature and dialect divisions Three main groupings of Caló speakers are distinguished in what is technically Iberian and south of France but most commonly referred to simply as (Spanish) or Spanish Romani: Spanish Caló () Occitan Caló () Portuguese Caló () Linguistic features Phonology Caló has six vowels: It has the following consonant inventory: Notable phonological features of Iberian Caló are: the loss of the distinction between aspirated , unaspirated and voiced . the merger of and – betacism. affrication of to before the front vowels and cf. Brazilian Portuguese , > , . Samples Spanish Romani: Parable of the Sower, Luke, 8, 4–8, as published by George Borrow in 1838 Compare with a Spanish version: The Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer has often been used as a parallel text: Spanish Caló: Luke, 11, 2-4, Embéo e Majaró Lucas, translated by George Borrow, 1837. Romani: Luke, 11, 2-4, Romani (Gypsy) New Testament: E Lashi Viasta. Ruth Modrow,