Rromani

Introduction

The rromani , or romani (female word), is the Langue spoken by the Rromane Chave, people originating in the North of the India towards the beginning of the 2nd millenium by the Turks Ghaznévides then by the Turks Seldjoukides in their colonization of Asia Mineure.

See also: Migration of Rroms of India in Europe

The rromani is a Indo-European language Indo-Iranian branch and more precisely Indo-Aryan. The rromani is not a " patchwork" Indian languages. It developed starting from one only popular language or Prakrit spoken in the average valley about Gange and whose erudite form was the Sanskrit.

During the long stay of its speakers (1071-1381) in the Sultanate of Roum, under domination Seldjoukide in Minor Asia, and where the official language was the Persan one and the vernacular languages the Greek and Armenian. The rromani grew rich in way by many words of origin known as Armenian néo-Persian ( pārsi-ye darbāri , post-pahlavi), and Greek only Byzantine pontic.

The loans with the various European languages with which it was in contact are posterior at the 14th century.

The rromani is divided into three great groups or layers. First layer were detached the “Atlantic branch”, now reduced to a few tens of words used by Kalé (Iberian Gipsies) and the Gipsies (anglo-rromani), then the speeches sinto-manouches , closer to the “common rromani”, with important loans with the Germanic languages and Baltic. The layer III, whose most known form is the kelderàri , was formed by sound shift starting from the speeches of layer II and loans with the Rumanian , other languages of the Balkans and with the Slavic Langues.

Some distinguish seven still alive varieties of rromani:

  1. vlax in Albania, Bosnia-Herzégovine, Hungary, Moldavie, Montenegro, Romania, Ukraine, Serbia and adjoining countries;

  2. rromani of Balkans , in Bulgaria, Greece, Moldavie, Macedonia, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, Serbia and adjoining countries;
  3. rromani of the Wales;
  4. rromani of Finland;
  5. sinte in Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Swiss, Serbia and adjoining countries;
  6. rromani of Carpates in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine;
  7. rromani of the Baltic , in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Bielorussia, Ukraine and Russia.

There exists since the Années 1930 a literature rromani. Written originally in Cyrillic characters, it uses the Latin alphabet today. In the transcription standardized, R and rr do not note same the Phonème. Rromani is thus a C-W communication scientific, preferable, at least in the didactic works, with romani .

Examples

Several forms or roots coexist sometimes, according to the dialects.

Some figures in Europe

French words of origin rromani

French borrowed various words from the rromani, especially in the ic field Argot, such as for example dikaver ( √ dikh : to look at), maraver ( √ mar : to beat, wound, kill), chourer and chouraver ( √ horn : to fly), gadjo ( gajo : guy)…

With reading

the good French works on the Rromane Chave are rare, but this one is a good start, even if some points are ardently discussed:
  • “ Let us speak Tzigane - History, culture and language of the people Tzigane”, Vania de Gila-Kochanowski (Harmattan, Paris, 2001): 20,30 € approximately. ISBN 2-7384-2624-7. An audio version also exists.

For the english-speaking, a method to learn the dialect vlax :
  • “ Learn Romani : Das-dúma Rromanes”, Ronald Lee (University off Hertfordshire Near, Hatfield, 2005): 22,15 € approximately (see bond of the university below). ISBN 1-902806-44-1.

External bonds

  • Dictionary rromani-French/French-rromani (for Windows only)
  • University off Hertfordshire Close, Romani Studies

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