Chal

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term used among Romani people for a young man or boy, similar to lad or fellow
2. A word in the Romani language meaning a boy or young male, often used as a casual form of address
3. Referring to a young male within a Romani community, especially a boy or a youth

Etymology: "Chal" is a clipping of "Romanichal," the English word for a Romani person, and its story runs through the Romani language itself. The Romani word "Rom" means "man" or "husband," and the Romani ethnonym "Romani ćhal" (or "Rom ćhal") combines it with "ćhal," meaning "son" or "offspring" of the Roma. English borrowed this as "Romanichal," which has been recorded since the nineteenth century in reference to Romani people of England, and then shortened it to "chal." The English form passed through Angloromani, the mixed dialect spoken by English Romani communities, which preserved the "ch" sound that the Romani original carries. Speakers who used the term, and the community it named, were the source of the English usage, so the clipped form reflects an insider's word for their own people rather than a term coined by outsiders.