Romany language

Romany language
Indo-Aryan language of the Roma (see Rom), spoken in many countries of the world, with its greatest concentration of speakers in eastern Europe.

Romany is believed to have separated from the northern Indian languages с AD 1000. Its dialects, which include many loanwords from languages where the Roma have lived, are classified according to the languages that influenced them: Greek, Romanian, Hungarian, Czecho-Slovak, German, Polish, Russian, Finnish, Scandinavian, Italian, Serbo-Croatian, Welsh, and Spanish. Romany has no tradition of writing but a rich oral tradition. In the 20th century some collections of Romany poems and folktales were published in eastern Europe.

* * *

also called  Gypsy  or  Gipsy 

      language, related to the North Indo-Aryan (Indic) languages, spoken on all five continents by Roma (Gypsies), who are generally considered by physical anthropologists to be of Indian origin. The main concentrations of Romany speakers are in eastern Europe. The Romany language, like the Roma as a minority people, seldom has received any legal recognition.

      It is likely, from the evidence of comparative linguistics, that Romany separated from related North Indian languages about AD 1000. Modern Romany dialects all over the world have been classified (by the Slovenian scholar Franz von Miklosich) according to their European originals, of which there are 13: Greek, Romanian, Hungarian, Czecho-Slovak, German, Polish, Russian, Finnish, Scandinavian, Italian, Serbo-Croatian, Welsh, and Spanish. The dialectal differentiations originated during the Roma's stay in the regions where these languages were spoken; while living in these regions, they accepted many loanwords from the native languages and sometimes phonetic and even grammatical features.

      The vocalic ( vowel) and consonantal (consonant) systems of all Romany dialects are clearly derived from Sanskrit (Sanskrit language). Some of the changes correspond to those undergone by modern Indian languages; others represent a more archaic state (e.g., the preservation of initial consonant clusters dr-, tr- and medial st[h], ṣṭ[h]); and a few are difficult to explain. The vowels of a typical central European dialect (Cracow-Lovari) are i, e, a, o, u. Indo-Aryan retroflex consonants have disappeared from the consonantal system, while Slavic fricative and affricate sounds have been accepted.

      Romany possesses a grammatical system analogous to that of the modern North Indian languages. The Romany direct case represents the Sanskrit nominative and accusative, while the oblique is derived from the genitive. Various postpositions (elements occurring after the noun) can also be added, as in Hindi or Bengali, for other syntactic purposes. The verbal system has three persons, two numbers, five tenses (present, imperfect, perfect, pluperfect, and future), and three moods.

      It is in its vocabulary that Romany best reflects the wanderings of its speakers. The main sources (apart from the original Indian stock) are Iranian (doshman ‘enemy,' from Persian doshman), Armenian, Greek (drom ‘way,' from δρóμος), Romanian (bolta ‘shop,' from boltă), Hungarian (bino ‘sin,' from bűn), and the Slavic languages (glas ‘voice,' rebniko ‘pond,' grob ‘tomb,' dosta ‘enough,' ale ‘but'). Indo-Aryan words include bokh ‘hunger,' from Hindi bhūkh; bāl ‘hair,' from Sanskrit bala; gelo ‘gone,' the past participle of źa ‘go' (compare Bengali jawa, gælo); and rat ‘blood,' from Prakrit ratta.

      There is no tradition of writing in Romany, but a rich oral tradition exists. One of the reasons for the survival of the language is its usefulness as an argot, or secret language, since the Rom style of life often leads to conflict with neighbouring communities. In the 20th century, poems and folktales were published in Romany in several eastern European countries, using their national scripts. Non-Roma (often referred to as gadje, a name usually considered pejorative) have also sometimes published in Romany.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Romany language standardization — There are independent groups currently working toward standardizing the Romany language, including groups in Romania, Serbia, the USA, and Sweden.Where it is being pursuedA standardized form of Romany is used in Serbia. In Serbia s autonomous… …   Wikipedia

  • Vlax Romany language — language familycolor=Indo European name=Vlax Romany nativename= states=Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Albania, Colombia, Hungary and 21 other states worldwide speakers=1.5 million fam2=Indo Iranian fam3=Indo Aryan fam4=Central Zone fam5=Romany… …   Wikipedia

  • Welsh-Romany language — language familycolor=Indo European name=Welsh Romany nativename=Romnimus states=Wales (United Kingdom) speakers=Probably extinct as a first language. fam2=Indo Iranian fam3=Indo Aryan fam4=Central Zone fam5=Romany iso2=rom|iso3=rmwWelsh Romany… …   Wikipedia

  • Kalo Finnish Romany language — language familycolor=Indo European name=Kalo Finnish Romany nativename=Fíntika Rómma states=Finland, Sweden speakers=7,002 (of which 5,410 in Finland and 1,592 in Sweden) fam2=Indo Iranian fam3=Indo Aryan fam4=Central Zone fam5=Romany nation=… …   Wikipedia

  • Serbian Romany language — The Serbian Romany language (ISO 639 3/SIL code: rsb ) is the mixed language of Serbian (a South Slavic language) and Romany (an Indo Aryan language). It is spoken by the Roma people in Serbia. In October 2005 the first text on the grammar of the …   Wikipedia

  • Balkan Romany language — Balkan Romany is a classification of the Romany languages as spoken on the Balkan peninsula, in Southeast Europe. Spoken in:Albania, Greece, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Republic of Macedonia, Romania; parts of Turkey and UkraineForms*Serbo… …   Wikipedia

  • Baltic Romany language — Baltic Romany or Baltic Romani is a Romany language in Poland, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and other countries. The ISO 639 3 code is rml.Most speakers are Roman Catholics. The number of Baltic Romany speakers is about 60,000. 30,000 speakers live …   Wikipedia

  • Romany — (or Romani) relates or may refer to:*The Roma people, also known as Gypsies *Romany language, the language of the Roma * Romany , the pseudonym of a broadcaster and writer of Roma descent, George Bramwell Evens * Romany (album), an album by The… …   Wikipedia

  • Romany writing systems — The Romany language has for most of its history been an entirely oral language, with no written form in common use. Although the first example of written Romany dates from 1542 wikiref | id= Matras 2002 | text= Matras 2002 it is not until the… …   Wikipedia

  • Romany — n. & adj. n. (pl. ies) 1 a Gypsy. 2 the Indo European language of the Gypsies. adj. 1 of or concerning Gypsies. 2 of the Romany language. Etymology: Romany Romani fem. and pl. of Romano (adj.) (ROM) …   Useful english dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”