Kaliardà (Greek: Καλιαρντά) is a cant developed by LGBT speakers of Modern Greek in Greece.
Usage Kaliardà came up first in the beginning of the 20th century in Athens and other urban centers of Greece in order to create a secret language for marginalized LGBT people. According to poet George La Nonce, the language was used as a code to recognize each other and to exclude others, for example in cruising spaces like parks or public toilets. The heights of the use of the language were from the 1940s until the end of the dictatorship in Greece in 1974.Eugene Tsakos: Kaliardà: the Greek queer cryptolect. University of Potsdam. Online. With the rise of more visibility and less repression of the LGBT community, Kaliardà has been used less and less.
Elias Petropoulos self-published the first dictionary of Kaliardà in 1971, Kaliardá: An Etymological Dictionary of Greek Homosexual Slang. Petropoulos was arrested and spent 8 months in prison because of the publication of this dictionary during the military dictatorship.
Trans filmmaker Paola Revenioti made a documentary film about the language in 2018.
Description Kaliardà has a dictionary with more than 3000 words. Many words were not invented, but adapted from other languages like Romani, Dortica (a Para-Romani secret language of Greek Roma people) and Turkish, but also Italian, French and English. Words in Kaliardà can be alloys of two or three different languages. The language also plays with foreign affixoids added to Modern Greek words. Onomatopoeias are common in Kaliardà.Triantafyllidis, M. 1924. 7. Eine zigeunerisch-griechische Geheimsprache. Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschungen 52: 1–40. Reprinted in Άπαντα [Collected Works]: 2: 46–85. Montoliu, C. (2005). Is Kaliarda, Greek Gay Slang, a mixed gypsy language? Erytheia 26: 299–318.
According to Petropoulos, the name Kaliardà derives from French gaillard ("strong", "sprightly", "lively"). Gordon M. Messing claims it comes from a Romani word for gypsy.
Examples Αβέλω - I want, give, desire Άβελε αποκατέ - Come here Αβέλω αχαλιά - I am on a diet Αβέλω κοντροσόλ - I kiss Αβέλω νάψες - I talk Αβέλω ροντοσόλ - I kiss Αβέλω τούφες - I lie down, I sleep Αβέλω μπιεσμάν - to lay hands on someone Αβέλει το μουτζό της - She is menstruating Αποκατέ - from there Ατζινάβωτος - to become senile Βακουλή - church Βουέλω τζα - to go away, to send away Βουτρά - boobs γαργαρότεκνο - sailor Γκουνιότα - lesbian Γκούρμπαντος - charming man Γουγούμης - dog Δικέλω - I see Επιτάφος - gay accompanied by well-dressed teens Ηράκλω - womanizer Θεά - delicious food Θεόλατσος - handsome Θεοκάλιαντος - ugly Ισάντες - you Ιμάντες - we (incongruous pronoun, singular: emantes) Καγκελοκερικεντέ - lighter Κάδροω - ugly Καλιαρντός - ugly, bad Καπί - spoon Καραμουτζού - whore Καλιάρντω - very ugly Κατσικές - left-wing (opposite: sheep = right-wing) Κέντα - fire Κουελοσφαλάω - to lie down, to sleep Κουλό - chic Κοντροσολάρω - to kiss Κουραβάλω - to actively associate Κουραβέλτα - intercourse Λάγκα - water Λατσαβέλω - to welcome Λατσός - nice, good Λατσολίθαρο - diamond Λούγκρα - very bad Λούμπα - homosexual Λυσσαγμάν - dog Μαντάμ γκου - lesbian Μη μπενά - Don't talk Μολ - water, wet Μουσαντό - lie Μούτζα - woman Μουτζό - vulva Μπαρό - disease Μπάρα - big penis Μπαροτάτη - very fat Μπενάβω - to speak Μπενάβω ανθυγιεινά - badmouthing Μπερντές - money (synonym: ντουλά) Μπουάβω - speak Με-σικ - with courtesy, elegantly (pronounced as one word)* Νάκα - no, not Νισετέ - garment Νταλκαρέτεκνο - permanent lover Ντέζι - desire Ντίκος - Here! Look! Ντουλά - money Ντουπ - sword, beating Κουλό - weird, strange Πισέλω - lying down, lying asleep Πούλη - anus Πομπίνο-φραπέ - cunnilingus (from French "pon-pon" and "frapper") Προβατές - right Ροσολιμαντέ - lick (from rossolo), limp Σαρμέλλα - penis Σερμέλα - penis (synonyms: φακιροπίπιζα, τουτού) Σιβιτζιλού - lesbian Σιβίτζω - lesbian Σιδεροπυρούω - lighter Σολντά - soldier Σουκρο - sweet sugar Σουσέλ - pedophilia Τανάκα - without, not! Τζασλός - crazy, mad, madman Τζάσε - Go away! Τζάζω - go away, leave, fly Τζάω - to understand Τζιβιτζιλού - lesbian Τζινάβω - go Τζους - without Τζους - wash Τζούσ-λέσι - car Τζους καλιαρντό γκουγκού - Go away, evil ghost! Τουρκόζουμο - coffee Τιντέλης - food Τρόκι - dog Τσόλι - male prostitute Υψομετρού - country gay. (synonyms: βλαχοντάνα, γιδοτεκνοσυντήρητη) Φακιροπίπιζα - penis Φίφα - small penis Φλοκάρω - to ejaculate Φλόκια ρομανόφ - Russian salad Χαλέματα - eat Χαλώ - fire Χορχόρα - fire Χορχοροτεκνό - fireman Ψαμοσκελού - cock (from ψαμός = fishing + strands)
See also Polari Lubunca LGBT rights in Greece LGBT slang Swardspeak Terminology of homosexuality
References