A one-off online video with children speaking English words in Gammon will hit cyberspace as part of Cruinniú na nÓg 2020 this weekend.
'In other words' features five Dublin children translating words from English to Gammon.
Gammon, which is also called Cant, is a mixed language with heavy influences from Irish and Hiberno-English and is a part of Traveller culture.
The video aims to highlight Ireland’s rich linguistic and ethnic diversity by sharing words used in daily life by members of the Traveller community including children.
It features Kitty McAleer asking her children Margaret, Jack and Kate McAleer, and her nephews Bill and Johnny Connors to translate everyday words from English to Gammon.
Margaret McAleer, 13, told RTÉ's News at One the Gammon language is used by young Travellers and is part of their identity.
"I hear loads of young Travellers saying it – like teenagers, children. I am thirteen year old and I know the language very well," said Margaret McAleer.
"We are able to communicate with each other without other people knowing what we are saying," added Margaret McAleer.
"We pick it up from our parents and our grandparents and everyone is saying it," said Margaret McAleer.
The online video was shot by Kitty McAleer of STAG (Southside Travellers Action Group) on her mobile phone and compiled by artist and folklorist Michael Fortune.
"For us it is part of our identity. It is part of what we have and we want to keep it as well," Kitty McAleer told RTÉ’s News at One programme.
"The children from a very young age learn it. I like the way children are continuing to use it," Ms McAleer added.
""Although the Gammon-Cant language is found all over Ireland, like all languages, there are many regional and family differences in pronunciation, spelling and meaning. Some of these words are fixed in time, while more are changing and evolving," said Michael Fortune."This short film is by no means a comprehensive study of thelanguage - far from it. Instead it is intended to highlight something which is very special and deeply personal for many Traveller families," added Mr Fortune.
"For so many people we don’t know that the language exists and it is a lovely way for us to hear them," said Mr Fortune.
'In Other Words’ was commissioned Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council as part of its 2020 Cruinniú na nÓg Programme.
The English words translated in to Gammon in the ‘In Other Words’ video are:
Boy - Sublick 👦
Girl - Lackeen 👧
Man - Feen 👨
Woman - Beoir 👩
Priest - Coonick
Country People 👨🌾
Clothes - Tugs 👚👕
Shoes - Gilimors👟
Eyes - Ogalers 👀
Hair - Nuck 💇💇♂️
House - Keen 🏠
Tay - Weed🍵
Food - Peck 🍽️
Bread - Dura 🍞
Money - Crap or Grade 💵
Horse - Curra 🐎
Dog - Comra 🐶
Car - Roga 🚗
Embarrassed - Taken, Soiled/Galune 😳
Cruinniú na nÓg 2020 is a national day of free creativity for children and young people. It takes place on Saturday, 13 June.
'In Other Words' can be viewed on the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Council website and at Michael Fortune’s folklore.ie Facebook page.
