What is the Romani Language? Peter Bakker and Hristo Kyuchukov. Presentation by Chris Duiven

Transcription

1 What is the Romani Language? Peter Bakker and Hristo Kyuchukov Presentation by Chris Duiven

2 How Many People Speak Romanes? Many Roma hide their identity to avoid discrimination, and many also deny speaking the language In many countries, Romanes is not recognized as a language Difficult to estimate the total number of Roma (estimates between 10 and 20 million)

3 There are approximately 5 million Romanes speakers in Europe Estimates of about 8 to 12 million people who speak Romanes in the world (including the Americas and Australia)

4 Bilingual Roma Virtually all speakers of Romanes are bilingual Most Romani children learn Romanes as their first language, and learn other languages due to the media and education Only monolingual Roma are children of preschool age Roma generally also speak the official language of the country where they live

5 Lost Language Roma in Bulgaria speak Turkish or instead of Romanes in their everyday communication Many Christian Roma in Bulgaria prefer to speak only Bulgarian, and their children learn only Bulgarian This has happened in areas of many other countries as well, including the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Turkey.

6 Rules of Politeness (Pativ) Te del pativ to give respect, to provide food, to show hospitality Hospitality is one of highest values in Roma communities Provide food for guests automatically The guests should eat or taste to show respect The host may indicate: Amen sam žuže Roma or we are clean Roma No horse meat, dog meat, donkey or pork Impolite to thank host: it is the host who should be thankful to guest for opportunity to demonstrate hospitality

7 Asking and Thanking Not customary/polite in Romanes to say please Instead, Roma say Give me De man cigaretl a Services like these are seen as natural rather than as a form of kindness, and not usually thanked for Polite tone of voice and facial expression Adding ča or only to emphasize that the request is an insignificant one

8 Oaths Used to stress the truth of something said or downplay something said by others Te merav dži tosara : may I be dead by morning! Te na vakeres ča te bašos : may you not speak but only bark! reaction to inappropriate behavior Oaths are extremely rich in form and content

9 Taboo Words Human Body: not to be discussed between a man and a woman Sexually Related Topics: taboo between young and old Discussing the diseased Everything related to the lavatory Names of diseases

10 Romani Folklore Paramisa: narration, usually performed by a man Meet in the biggest house in Roma colony Silence from audience, except for sighs of awes and laughter: signs of appreciation Long (bare): can last four or five hours Short stories (zarne): funny, dirty, mostly told by young boys

11 Romani Songs Attribute high value to their songs Where there are Roma, there you can hear a song A Rom will sing as long as he will live in this world Daughter in law tested by ability to sing Sing well avoid harassment Criticism in Songs Not polite to criticize directly Under the Eye : anyone who does not behave according to romipen (norms of Roma culture) Hire singer to publicly perform if need to express distress, confession or repentance at bašaviben

12 Romani Language Games Very popular: Shows that Romani are interested in their language and its development or purity How do you say? Truest or purest Romanes word: winner is regarded as čačo Rom (real, true Rom) Proficiency in Romanes and ability to use beautiful words is highly valued

13 Questions What might be responsible for the areas, like Bulgaria, where Roma no longer teach Romanes to their children? Why might proficiency in Romanes and ability to use beautiful words be so highly valued in other areas where Roma live? How do the Roma in the areas that no longer teach Romanes to their children differ from the Roma that practice the language games?

14 Works Cited Bakker, Peter and Kyuchukov, Hristo What is the Romani language? Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press, pp (Ch. III Language use: Ch IV: Language and Culture)