Learn Romani - Das Duma Rromanes is now a KINDLE BOOK
(no matter what dialect you speak, the grammar sections are REALLY useful)
Highly recommend it!
Page from the “Kur’ani: Irame ki Romane Chib”
~ Muharem Serbezovski (2005, Sarajevo)
(Qu’ran written in Romanes and Arabic, so beautiful)
Kibori
Mahala Rai Banda
Page from “Romano Startorro” - “Roma Start” a learning book for children.
Sarajevo, 1990.
(not sure what dialect, possibly Banatiski, Gurbet, or Sremski)
Map of the World entirely in Rromanes.
Accurate country names courtesy of Translation Romani.
Feel free to use!!AHHH AWESOME~
(aw pout… different to my dialect :(
ie: italija = Talijansko)
There is this weird pause I take before singing, sorry. I lost track of my thought!
JAJ~ SO sukar and SO talented.
*still jealous*
bah. I’m too shy to sing. U__U
But šukares gilabas! Wonderful singing from a wonderful Romni :)
Evolution Of Language: Rromanes
English Hindi Lovari(Balk) Kalderash(Rus) AngloRom
door daravaja vudar porta wodder
day dina djes dyves divvus
flower phula luludji cveto lulu
woman mahila monačej džuvly juvali
chicken cikana kajn čavrin canni
pig su’ara bal balyčny bawlo
tongue jibha čib čip jib
cabbage gobhi šax jarmi shok
water pani pani pany panni
gold sona sumnakaj suvnakaj sonnakey
worm varma čjermo kirmo kurmo
eye ankha jakh jakx yak
eyes ankhem jakhe jakxa yakkor
Just a sample of words in various dialects of Romanes, as well as their Prakrit (Hindi) root words. Some terms, such as worm, were based upon loan words. Worm comes from the Persian or Kurdish word. Other words, such as pig, have merely evolved from the Hindi root word. However, given the pronunciation of “L” in many Romanes dialects, the word is likely less distant in pronunciation than in its written form. Very obviously, some words were heavily influenced by local languages. All dialects of Romanes have influence from contact with local languages.
Also, pardon title abbreviations. “AngloRom” is shortened from Anglo-Romany, the Lovari dialect is Balkan Lovari & Kalderash is Russka Kalderash.
Leksa Manuš recites his poem “Ušten, Romale!” (1990)
From Riga, Latvia. Lotfitka Romani (^__^)
Recorded at the Fourth Internation World Congress of the Romani Union.
“Ušten, ušten, sare o Roma, ušten” (Rise, rise, all Roma, rise)
Ánde Mol Hi o Chachipé
“Ánde mol hi o chachipé
i sa me tehariná
sa mi túga the mi bax,
me asvá, mo barvalipé,
mi ljubáv, mo sastipé.
Man víshe níko ináj po thém,
ináj ma amalá,
josh sámo achilá mi tsáhra,
me ichardé chemáne,
me teharináke bahvaljá.
Bistardém kaná trézno semá
mo razúm e mol lijá.
Kaná meráva, mató ka aváv.
Pála nikaté ináj shukár,
mánge hi shukár i gadijá.”
Semso Avdicaj…
shukar…
Baxtalo Hederljezi~
I wish all my fellow Roma a great St. Georges Day ( Djurdjevdan ) if y’all celebrate it!
We won’t be having a sacrifice (sheep) or a feast—probably not even any dancing or what not.
But, I still want to remember it and celebrate how best I can!!!
Sastimaske! ッ
T’ avel baxtalo Hederlezi vaj Djurdjevdan tumende savorende!
Beautiful Pages from the book “Molilese” by Medelaha El Ghali.
“dinavelpe Liturgijake ašunimasa amalikane dilabimase katar Eparhija Bačko”
- Serbian translation: priča se čita uz zvuke Liturgije u izvođenju hora Eparhije Bačke
- English translation: story is read to the sound of the liturgy, performed by the choir of the Diocese of Bačke
Roma Language
Romani is the only Indo-Aryan language that has been spoken exclusively in Europe since the middle ages and whose vocabulary and grammar are related to Sanskrit. It is part of the phenomenon of Indic diaspora languages spoken by travelling communities of Indian origin outside India. The name Rom or Řom has related cognates in the names employed by other travelling (peripatetic) communities that speak Indic languages or use a special vocabulary derived from Indic:
the Lom of the Caucasus and Anatolia insert Indic vocabulary into Lomavren, their variety of Armenian. The Dom of the Near East, originally metalworkers and entertainers, speak Domari, one of the most conservative modern Indo-Aryan languages. In the Hunza valley in the north of Pakistan, the population called the Dum, who are also metalworkers and musicians, speak a central Indic (i.e. not a local) language.
There is no ”easy” way to classify dialects of the Roma language. One must first select the criteria on which a classification is to be based. Sometimes dialect classification is based strictly on geography, sometimes strictly on the structural features – lexicon, phonology, morphology – of the dialects. In the latter case, it is necessary to select those features that are of global relevance and that can be used as a reference grid to compare the different dialects and to determine the relationships among them. Scholars often disagree on which features should be given greater attention as a basis for a classification. As a result, it is not unusual to find different classification models. There is also an objective difficulty: some dialects may share ”typical” features with two distinct dialect branches. Such transitional dialects are part of any linguistic landscape. It is therefore almost impossible to postulate clear-cut divisions between dialect groups or ”branches”.
Several factors are responsible for dialect differentiation in Romani language
- The migration of Romani-speaking populations throughout Europe, in different periods
- The geographical spread of structural changes, creating ”isoglosses”
- The influence of contact languages
Based on these criteria, the main dialects of the Roma language are:
1. The Balkan dialects, called “Southern Balkan” are spoken in Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria,
Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Romania, Ukraine and Iran. Dialects belonging to this group include Arli (Macedonia, Kosovo, Greece), Erli (Bulgaria), Mečkar (Albania), Sepeči (Greece, Turkey), Ursari (Romania), Crimean Romani (Ukraine), Zargari (Iran) and others.
The diagnostic of characteristic features of this group of dialects include:
- “sine” for “he/she was”,
- 3rd person pronouns: “ov”, “oj”, “on”,
- shortened possessive pronouns “mo” for “my”, “to” for “your” ,
- demonstratives “akava” and “adava”, sometimes “akavka”,
- loan verbs are usually adapted with “-in”, future tense in “ka”, sometimes in “ma”.
2. The Balkan zis-dialects, called “Drindari-Burgudži-Kalajdži” are spoken in northern and central Bulgaria and Macedonia. They include the dialects of the Drandari/Drindari, Kovački, Kalajdži and Burugdži.
Diagnostic features that contrast with the rest of the Balkan group include:
- demonstratives “kaka” or “kǝka”,
- loan verbs are adapted with “-iz”, “z” in “zis”= day and “zi”= soul, “c” in “buci”=work and “cin”=to buy,
- reduction of “e”- “kerela” as “kerla”=she/he does.
3. The Southern Vlax dialects are spoken in Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, BosniaHerzegovina, Macedonia, southern Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, and Turkey. They include the dialects of the Gurbet or Džambazi and groups known by other names such as Kalburdžu and Čergar.
Their diagnostic features include:
- “seha” or “sesa” for “he/she was”,
- 3rd person pronouns: “vov”, “voj”, “von”,
- possessive “mǝnro”= my, “čo”= your,
- demonstrative “gava”,
- nominal plural endings in “-uri”, “-ura”,
- loan verbs are adapted with “-isar”, future tense in “ka”,
- negation in “in” or “ni”
4. Northern Vlax dialects are spoken in Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Serbia, as well as in migrant communities worldwide. The most widespread and well-known Northern Vlax dialects include Kelderaš (Kalderaš), Lovari, Čurari and the dialect of the Mačvaja.
Their diagnostic features include:
- “sas” for “he/she was”,
- 3rd person pronouns: “vov”, “voj”, “von”,
- possessives “muro”=my, “čiro”=you,
- nominal plural endings in “-uri”, “-ura”,
- loan verbs are adapted with “-isar”, “-osar” or shorted forms “-i”, “-o”,
- negation in “či”.
5. Southern Central dialects are spoken in Hungary, Slovakia, northern Slovenia, eastern Austria, Ukraine and Romania. They include the dialect of the Romungri, Vend and Burgenland Romani.
Their diagnostic features include:
- “sina” for “he/she was”,
- 3rd person pronouns: “ov”, “oj”, “on”,
- demonstratives in “ada”,
- loan verbs are adapted with “-in”
- imperfect in “-ahi”.
6. Northern Central dialects are spoken in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, and Ukraine. They include East Slovak Romani and the dialect of the Bergitka Roma of Poland.
Their diagnostic features include:
- “ehas” for “he/she was”,
- “hin” for “he/she is”,
- 3rd person pronouns: “jov”, “joj”, “jon”,
- demonstratives in “kada”,
- loan verbs are adapted with “-in”,
- imperfect in “-as”.
7. Northwestern dialects are spoken in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Finland. They include the Sinti-Manuš dialects of Germany, France and surrounding regions, as well as Finnish Romani or Kaale dialect.
Their diagnostic features include:
- “his” for “he/she was” (Sinti only),
- 3rd person pronouns: “jov/job”, “joj”, “jon”,
- 9 demonstratives in “kava”,
- loan verbs are adapted with “-av”, “-ar”.
8. Northeastern dialects are spoken in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
Their diagnostic features include:
- “isys” for “he/she was”,
- 3rd person pronouns: “jov”, “joj/jej”, “jone”,
- demonstratives in “adava”, “dava”,
- loan verbs are adapted with “-in”.
Other dialect groups
Some additional dialects show their own distinct features. This is due either to a period of isolation from other dialects or to the development of features shared with several different dialectal branches. As separate groups we can define the following:
- British Romani, including English Romani and Welsh Romani (now extinct, and surviving as a vocabulary only, known as “Angloromani”)
- Iberian Romani, including Spanish Romani, Catalonian Romani, and Errumantxela (Basque Romani), all extinct and surviving as a vocabulary only, known as “Caló”
- The Romani dialects of southern Italy, including Abruzzian and Calabrian Romani
- The Slovene Romani dialect known as Istriani, Hrvati or Dolenjski
- The Romani dialects of Iranian Azerbaijan, Zargari and Romano
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