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Romani is an Indo-Aryan language that is part of the Balkan sprachbund. It is the only New Indo-Aryan spoken exclusively outside the Indian subcontinent. [27] Romani is sometimes classified in the Central Zone or Northwestern Zone Indo-Aryan languages, and sometimes treated as a group of its own.
- Origins of Proto-Romani
- Development
- Dialects
- Para-Romani Languages & Cants
- Historical Sources
- History of Romani Linguistics
- Legacy
Romani language did not utilize a system of writing, and its origins have to be reconstructed by linguists. It is believed that speakers of Indo-Aryan, a branch of Indo-European languages, migrated into the Indian subcontinent in the 2nd millennium BCE. The oldest written examples of an Indo-Aryan or 'Indic' language are the Vedas, sacred texts whi...
Linguist Andrea Scala identified four main 'layers' of the Romani vocabulary. The foundational layer of the language is Indo-Aryan. Indo-Aryan words present in modern Romani are primarily those that describe core concepts like the environment, agriculture, food, kinship, emotions, and time. Words related to these topics are less likely to change ov...
The absence of a standardized written form contributed to a great degree of variation between Romani dialects, some of which are not mutually intelligible. These dialects are often broadly grouped according to the geographic area in which they developed and the languages which influenced them. The complex history of Romani migration, which has seen...
A number of Para-Romani languages formed in bilingual communities through the mixing of Romani vocabulary with the grammar of locally spoken European languages. The structure of these diaspora languages and the conditions they developed under are similar to Jewish mixed languages such as Yiddish and Ladino. Para-Romani languages belong to a variety...
Reconstructions of Proto-Romani and its development into the extant Romani dialects are complicated by the scarcity of early written Romani. The oldest known example of written Romani was transliterated into Latin by Johannes ex Grafing, a Benedictine monk living in Vienna c. 1505-1510. The Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge, written by En...
Many medieval and early modern European writers mistakenly assumed that Romani was an invented thieves' cant, used to hide criminal activities from outsiders. This assumption was based on negative stereotypes about Romani as a class of criminals rather than a community with a distinct culture. As early as Vulcanius, some scholars began to character...
The study of the Romani language created the framework for the study of Romani history and culture and inspired academic interest in other areas of Romani history. The first works on the Romani migration were published shortly after the discovery of Romani's linguistic origins and created a surge of interest in documenting Romani folklore and custo...
- Arienne King
Apr 19, 2024 · Romany languages, group of 60 or more highly divergent dialects that are genetically related to the Indo-Aryan (Indic) languages. The Romany languages are spoken by more than three million individuals worldwide, and the more remotely related Domari group of dialects (whose speakers seem to have.
- Tista Bagchi
Romani, or Romany, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 5-6 million Roma people throughtout Europe and the USA. The largest concetrations of Roma people live in Turkey, Spain and Romania. In English these people are often called Gypsies. The language is closely related to the languages of northern India, particularly Punjabi, and the Roma ...
Apr 3, 2023 · The defining feature across Romani communities is the use of Romani, an Indic language with close ties to languages like Sanskrit. It has changed considerably over time due to the wide geographic diaspora of its speakers and because it was transmitted almost exclusively orally until the modern period.
- Arienne King
- 'Romani' and 'Roma' are the most widely accepted umbrella terms for groups who speak or historically spoke Romani and have a common origin in the I...
- There was no unified Romani identity or nation. Romani communities are found throughout the world as ethnic minorities.
- Romani Gypsies are usually Christians.
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Most Romani speak one of several dialects of the Romani language, an Indo-Aryan language, with roots in Sanskrit. They also often speak the languages of the countries they live in. Typically, they also incorporate loanwords and calques into Romani from the languages of those countries and especially words for terms that the Romani language does ...
Nov 4, 2015 · 5 November. UNESCO proclaimed the World Day of Romani Language in 2015 to promote the preservation of Romani language and culture, improve the well-being of Romani people, and recognize the importance of all languages, whose diversity is a source of strength for all societies to share.
