Attitudes towards the variety Caló and its speakers : A sociolinguistic study of the opinionsof Andalusian adolescents

Caló is a language/variety spoken by the Spanish Calé (i.e. the Roma). The variety belongs to a group oflanguages referred to as “Para-Romani”, characterized by Romani vocabulary, but largely non-Romani morphology, phonology and syntax, in the case of Caló deriving from Spanish. Much research has been carried out regarding the vocabulary and the grammar of this variety.The conclusions drawn in those studies indicate that Caló is on its way to extinction. However, thereis an expressed interest in reintroducing the variety, in a form called “Romanó-Caló”. Language attitudes play a decisive role for the destiny of endangered languages. In order for arevitalization project to be successful, the attitudes towards the variety being reintroduced have to bepositive. The aim of this study is to measure the attitudes that both Calé and non-Calé have towards Calóand Caló speakers, a type of study never carried out in the past. The methods applied are both direct andindirect. In part one, 231 informants listened to different recordings of voices acting as either a “Spanishspeaking person” or a “Caló speaking person”, a technique referred to as ‘matched guise’. Firstly,the informants were asked to write down their first three impressions of the speakers. Secondly, nineshort questions related to the voices were asked, to which the subjects expressed their answers on attitudescales. They were also asked to match the voices with photos of people. Furthermore, theinformants have answered questions regarding what variety is spoken at home, as well as if he or she hasany knowledge of, or contact with, any language/variety, apart from Spanish. 182 informants continuedwith part two of the questionnaire, which consisted of 20 items – positive and negative statementstowards Caló and Caló speakers. The informants have rated their agreement or disagreement to thesestatements on a Likert scale. Another exercise measured the willingness of the informants to use Calówords for naming various objects. In addition, the subjects were tested on their knowledge of some Calówords, as well as asked whether they thought it was “useful” to know how to speak Caló. Variousstatistical methods have been used in order to establish whether or not the results are statisticallysignificant. The results of the analysis indicate that the attitudes differ towards Caló and Calóspeakers, depending on the informant’s (a) ethnicity (b) contact with Caló as well as with Calóspeakers, and (c) gender. It is those who – in their own opinion – belong to the ethnic group Calé, as wellas those who claim that they have some contact with the variety and its speakers, who show positiveattitudes in both parts of the study. The women also show more positive attitudes than the men. It is alsopossible to note positive attitudes towards the variety and its speakers among the subjects with a highlevel of knowledge of Caló words, as well as among those with the highest willingness to use Caló. These observations suggest that a revitalization project of the variety Caló has a clear chance ofbeing successful.Reviderad upplaga av doktorsavhandling framlagd 2011