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- 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 been the ones to have been given the name gypsy, and also Spanish gitano, French gitan, from Greek Aigyptiakós ‘Egyptian’) by another two and a half million throughout North Africa and West Asia.
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Romani (/ ˈ r ɒ m ə n i, ˈ r oʊ-/ ROM-ə-nee, ROH-; also Romany, Romanes / ˈ r ɒ m ə n ɪ s / ROM-ən-iss, Roma; Romani: rromani ćhib) is an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities. According to Ethnologue, seven varieties of Romani are divergent enough to be considered languages of their own.
- Names & Identity
- Romani Language
- Origins in India
- Early Migrations in The Middle East
- Arrival in Europe
- Entry Into Western Europe
- Persecution in Europe
- In The Americas & Australia
- Historiography & Romani Studies
For most of history, there was no universal name for the Romani in their own language; different groups of Romani speakers and their descendants used different names for themselves and each other. The closest thing to an endonym in the Romani language is the word Rom/Romni, meaning a man or woman. In the present day, 'Romani' and 'Roma' are the mos...
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. Its grammar and vocabulary changed due to conta...
Linguistic studies have revealed that the Proto-Romani language developed in India in the early Middle Ages. The evolution of Proto-Romani through contact with other languages has allowed historians to reconstruct the movements of Romani speakers before historical accounts mention them in any detail. The exact time of their migration is unknown. Mo...
The ancestors of the Romani soon arrived in West Asia, where some groups split off in separate directions before rejoining each other later on. Some of their communities were fully or partially nomadic, while others lived in permanent settlements. This flexibility allowed them to easily adapt to Central Asia and the Middle East, which was already h...
In the 11th century, widespread conflict in the Mediterranean spurred some Romani to migrate from Armenia into Greece, where they were first recorded by Byzantine chroniclers. From there, they spread into Southern and Eastern Europe, and established communities throughout Byzantine Greece and the Venetian Empire. As some Romani moved further northw...
The first accounts of Romani in Western Europe describe groups of Gypsies who arrived in the 14th century under the direction of leaders identified as counts or dukes. These groups were much more organized than previous migrations and were typically small, numbering between 40 and 200 people. These parties identified themselves as pilgrims to ensur...
Romani in medieval and early modern Europe were often subject to racism and persecution. Despite the Romani in medieval Western Europe being uniformly Christian, they were frequently described as heathens in contemporary accounts. Like many other minority groups in medieval Europe, they were treated as outsiders and falsely accused of acting as spi...
Romani were first brought to the Americas and Australia through colonialism. During the European colonization of the Americas, Romani prisoners, slaves, and indentured servants arrived in North and South America. Beginning in 1538, Romani prisoners in Portugal were deported to the colonies of the Portuguese Empire and subjected to forced labor. The...
During the Enlightenment, prejudice towards Romani became somewhat lessened, and European scholars became curious about the previously disregarded historical and linguistic heritage of the Romani. The first systematic attempts to study the Romani language were made in the 18th century, and the first collections of Romani folklore were published in ...
- Arienne King
Apr 26, 2023 · In the Romani diaspora, many people speak mixed Para-Romani languages or have adopted the majority language of their home country. What country speaks Romani? Romani is a minority language spoken by an estimated 3.5 million people around the world.
- Arienne King
In the English language, Romani people have long been known by the exonym Gypsies or Gipsies, which most Roma consider a racial slur. [84] [85] The attendees of the first World Romani Congress in 1971 unanimously voted to reject the use of all exonyms for the Romani, including "Gypsy".
May 17, 2024 · Summarize This Article. Roma, an ethnic group of traditionally itinerant people who originated in northern India but live in modern times worldwide, principally in Europe. Most Roma speak some form of Romany, a language closely related to the modern Indo-European languages of northern India, as well as the major language of the country in which ...
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- The Roma are an ethnic group of traditionally itinerant people who originated in northern India and today live worldwide, principally in Europe. Mo...
- The Roma people live principally in Europe, especially in the Slavic-speaking lands of the Balkans and central Europe. Many Roma live in Romania, B...
- The word Roma is the plural form of Rom. Many Roma refer to themselves as Rom, a generic name that means “man” or “husband.”
- Because the Roma are a traditionally nomadic people, they have often been blamed for many evils by local populaces and majority groups and persecut...
Apr 19, 2024 · 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 been the ones to have been given the name gypsy, and also Spanish gitano, French gitan, from Greek Aigyptiakós ‘Egyptian’) by another two and a half million throughout North ...
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.
