Shelta

American  

[shel-tuh] / ˈʃɛl tə /

noun

1. a private language, based in part on Irish, used among Travelers in the British Isles.

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Shelta British  

/ ˈʃɛltə /

noun

1. a secret language used by some itinerant tinkers in Ireland and parts of Britain, based on systematically altered Gaelic

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Etymology

Origin of Shelta

First recorded in 1875–80; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

In after years I discovered an Ogham inscription and the famed Ogham tongue, or Shelta, “the lost language of the bards,” according to Kuno Meyer and John Sampson.

From Memoirs by Leland, Charles Godfrey

I have always supposed that the tinkers’ language spoken of by Shakespeare was Romany; but I now incline to think it may have been Shelta.

From The Gypsies by Leland, Charles Godfrey

Our informant could give only a single specimen of the Shelta literature. 

From The Gypsies by Leland, Charles Godfrey

Our informant did not know whether this word, of Romany origin, meant, in Shelta, policeman or magistrate.

From The Gypsies by Leland, Charles Godfrey

But of late years the old tinkers’ families are mostly broken up, and the language is perishing.” p. 358Then he proceeded to give us the words in Shelta, or Minklers Thari. 

From The Gypsies by Leland, Charles Godfrey